“The Truth About Holistic Pet Health”

A holistic approach to our pet’s health addresses the entire body rather than its parts, encompassing the body, mind, spirit, and even the environment. The application of various modalities is done in a synergistic way to help stimulate, strengthen, and support the body’s own biological processes and natural defenses. This care is used as a means of preventing as well as reversing biological imbalances which can lead to health or behavioral problems.

Nutrition is central to holistic animal care and good nutrition is the key to a foundation of emotional wellness and health. What we feed our pets can often be the deciding factor between health and disease. Poor nutrition will quickly lead to an imbalance, cripple the body’s curative abilities, and possibly create behavioral problems. Regardless of the amount of attention, drugs, or natural remedies given to animals, if they are not receiving adequate nutrition, their own curative response is hindered.

In recent years there has evolved a new way of thinking about the foods we give to our pets. During this time, many books on the subject of  “natural nutrition” have been written, some espousing a diet of mainly fresh raw foods and others recommending a home-cooked diet for your dog or cat. To put this issue into perspective, it is important to realize that the history of commercial pet foods is only a recent one. Until the 1930s, commercial pet foods did not exist. Interestingly, the rates of animal illness have increased exponentially since that time. More than ever, our companion animals are suffering from arthritis, cancer, and allergies; conditions that are often unquestionably the result of poor daily nutrition.

Perhaps the simplest and most effective way to get your pet on the path to good, lifelong health is to avoid commercial brand pet foods; the common brands found on the shelves of grocery stores that are simply a mix of rendered “bone meal” and “meat meal” and “chicken by products” that can, by law, be manufactured from the waste of the human food industry. These products include such disgusting “food” as road killed animals and diseased and disabled cattle that could not be certified for human consumption; and yes, the news reports are telling the horrible truth - euthanized shelter pets and zoo animals are also part of this mix. There is little regulation of the pet food industry anywhere in North America and what is most commonly known as “meat meal” is simply what results when a mixture of sick animals, dead of various causes, are processed at high heat until the rendered result can be processed into pet food.

Fortunately, there are some very reputable natural and organic pet foods on the market today. These foods are made by small, privately owned companies that understand your pet’s nutrition needs and that promise to only use quality human grade ingredients for their products. These healthy foods are not much more expensive (some even less) than the junk food offal being manufactured by the big corporations. By simply offering your pets a natural, organic diet appropriate to their species, your pets will be healthier and happier and you will save money on all those veterinary bills, special shampoos, and drug therapies that are often only necessary in the absence of good nutrition.

Provided by Joy Drawdy, Earth Pets Natural Pet Market, 500 NW 60th Street, Gainesville, (352) 331-5123.