Natural Communities Magazine A magazine devoted to the local natural wellness culture.

Does your four-legged companion have a weight problem?

According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP), there’s a 50-50 chance your pet is among the 33 million dogs and 51 million cats that are overweight or obese.

That’s right – half the dogs and cats in the U.S. are too heavy to be healthy.

This statistic goes hand-in-hand with the meteoric rise in human obesity. Obesity rates in the U.S. are among the highest in the world. Sixty-four percent of adults and 25 percent of children in America are overweight or obese.

Per Dr. Ernie Ward, founder and president of APOP:

“Pudgy pooches and fat cats are now the norm. This is the first generation of pets that will not live as long as their parents. Even worse, the majority of today’s overweight pets will endure painful and expensive medical conditions — all of which can be avoided. We’re loving our pets to an early — and painful — death.”

Risk Factors for Pet Obesity

• Breed. Specific breeds of dogs are more apt to be overweight than others, including Cocker Spaniels, Dachshunds, Dalmatians, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Rottweilers, Shetland Sheepdogs and mixed breeds.
• Gender. Neutered dogs of both sexes are twice as likely to be overweight as intact dogs. Male cats are genetically predisposed to become heavy, and the risk increases if your male kitty is neutered.
• Age. The risk of overweight increases as your dog or cat gets up in years.
• Activity level. Lack of sufficient exercise increases the risk of obesity in your pet.
• Diet and feeding habits. Pet food high in carbohydrates and fats is the biggest cause of obesity in both dogs and cats. Too many treats is also a problem, as is an “all-day-buffet” feeding schedule in which your pet’s bowl is kept constantly full.

Knowledge of these risk factors can give you the information you need to help your beloved dog or cat maintain a normal weight and good health.

For example, in order for your male, neutered, 6-year old Rottweiler to stay fit and healthy, it’s crucial that he gets a balanced, species-appropriate diet and adequate daily exercise.

How Do You View Your Pet’s Weight?

As more and more companion animals grow overweight, it seems pet owner perception of what constitutes a healthy size for their pet is becoming distorted.

Increasing numbers of pet parents are viewing too-heavy cats and dogs as being a normal, healthy weight. According to APOP, a third of dog owners and almost half of cat owners view their overweight pets as being a normal size.

If your dog is a large breed, you’re even more apt to look at a too-heavy weight as normal. Almost half of all Labrador and Golden Retrievers are overweight or obese, and almost half of all Retriever parents incorrectly view their dog’s weight as normal.

If your female Labrador Retriever is of normal build and weighs 90 pounds, in human terms she’s as heavy as a 5 foot 4 inch woman who weighs 186 pounds.

If your tiny Yorkie weighs in at 12 pounds, now you’re looking at 223 pounds on that same 5 foot 4 inch woman.

An average build cat weighing 15 pounds is equivalent to a 225 pound 5 foot 9 inch man. If you put five more pounds on that 15-pound cat, it’s the same as putting another 75 pounds on the 5 foot 9 inch man. Each pound on a cat is the equivalent of 13 to 15 pounds on a human.

In short, it’s important for pet owners to understand the implications of just a few extra pounds on a dog or cat.

Reality Check

As a general rule, your pet is at a healthy weight if the following factors apply:

• Ribs and spine are easily felt
• There is a waist when viewed from above
• Abdomen is raised and not sagging when viewed from the side

Your dog or cat is overweight or obese if:

• You cannot feel the ribs or spine beneath fat deposits; fat deposits extend to the chest, tail base and hindquarters
• The waist is distended or pear shaped when viewed from above
• The abdomen sags when viewed from the side
• The chest and abdomen appear distended or swollen

If you’re not sure whether your pet is overweight, you should consult your veterinarian. Together you can determine what your dog’s or cat’s ideal weight should be, and the best way to help your pet achieve and maintain a healthy size.

You can also take a look at this matrix to see general weight ranges for most dog breeds.

How Overweight and Obesity Can Ruin Your Pet’s Health

Common health problems seen in overweight and obese dogs and cats include:

• Diabetes or insulin resistance
• Joint problems, osteoarthritis
• Respiratory disorders
• High blood pressure and heart disease
• Kidney and liver problems
•  Cancer

Our companion animals can’t tell us when they don’t feel well or are in pain. Often, we don’t realize a pet is sick until the situation is very serious or even life-threatening.

Veterinary expenses for a serious or chronic condition can be very costly. By keeping your dog or cat fit and healthy, you can dramatically reduce the risk of a serious illness which could damage your pet’s health and wreak havoc on your finances.

My Pet is Too Heavy – What Can I Do About It?

The best way to keep your pet healthy is to prevent him from becoming fat in the first place. If you’re sure your dog or cat is at a normal size right now, do everything necessary to help him maintain a healthy weight.

Consider all risk factors that apply to your pet, and make necessary adjustments to keep his weight in check as he grows to adulthood, moves into his senior years, or has other lifestyle changes that affect his health or activity level.

For those of you with overweight pets, it’s time to take action.

• If you’re giving your dog or cat regular pet treats, be aware that pre-packaged commercial treats are a primary reason for excess weight in many pets.

These snacks are loaded with carbs, sugar and fat and are specifically designed to create intense cravings in your dog or cat.

According to Dr. Ward of APOP, giving a premium pig ear to your 40-pound dog is the equivalent of you sitting down to a snack of six 12-ounce cans of soda.

“Even a single, small dog bone treat given to a 10-pound dog is no different than a person eating two chocolate doughnuts,” says Ward. “The truth is, we rarely stop at one dog treat. Give a few each day and you’ve fed the equivalent of a dozen doughnuts.”

Click here for a list of popular dog treats and their caloric content.

• If you’re the parent of an overweight canine, review APOP’s general information sheet for weight reduction in dogs for some excellent tips and guidelines for getting your too-heavy pooch down to a healthy size.
• You should feed your pup a balanced, species-appropriate diet and make sure she’s getting a minimum of 20 minutes of heart-pumping aerobic exercise every day.
• If it’s a feline member of your household that needs to slim down, review my video and Valuable Tips for Helping Your Heavy Cat.

Obesity in dogs and cats is an escalating, dangerous trend.

There’s not a single more important step you can take for your pet’s longevity and quality of life than to help your best furry friend achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

By Dr. Karen Becker, a proactive and integrative wellness veterinarian.

Regular at-home physical exams can help you learn what is normal for your pet’s body, and therefore allow you to detect when something is not normal.

While it’s still important to take your pet for a professional exam at your vet’s office at least once a year, you can keep watch on your pet’s health in between visits by getting to know what’s normal, and what’s not, for your individual pet.

Steps for Performing an At-Home Pet Exam

Perform the exam in a relaxed environment when your pet is not stressed or excited, or after an exercise session or nap (when they’re likely to be sleepy and ready to relax). Put them on your lap, start with the tip of their nose, and work your way to the tip of their tail.

• First check the nose for debris and take note of whether it is wet or dry. Your pet’s nose will not always be wet, it will typically vary from moist to dry throughout the day, depending on your pet’s body temperature, activity level and hydration.

• Then, take a look to see whether there is abnormal eye discharge. Again, you will likely know what is normal for your pet. For instance if your cat or dog never gets eye discharge and suddenly has it, it’s a sign that there could be a problem.

• Next check whether your pet’s pupils are symmetrical and look at the whites of their eyes. Red sclera (the part of the eye that is normally white) could mean inflammation of the eyes.

• If your pet is not accustomed to having its mouth examined, slowly acclimate your pet to facial massages so that you can eventually check their mouth, gums and teeth. When you can, check inside their mouth for lesions, swelling, and bad breath. Their gums should be pink, their teeth free of tartar and plaque, their tongue clear and the roof of their mouth clean and free from debris.

• Next, check the jaw line to see if it feels normal. Check the ears for debris, odor and cleanliness. Brush back the hair and look at the skin and coat. Check for excessive flakiness, lumps and bumps on the sides of the spinal cord, and evaluate muscle tone and weight. If you feel your pet is carrying extra weight I recommend addressing it by increasing activity and feeding a species-appropriate diet (a meat-based, carb-free living food diet).

• Look at their claws and the pads of their feet, there should be no debris between their toes. Check for heat and swelling over your pet’s body, and test the range of motion of the joints; do the joints move freely, without resistance or difficulty?

• Gently Palpate their belly to look for lumps and notice if your pet seems to experience discomfort. This is a good time to also gently check both mammary chains (do this for male dogs, too). Even if you don’t know the names of all the parts you are touching, if you examine your pet regularly you will begin to know what is normal for your companion. When there are changes you will notice them quite quickly because you are familiar with the terrain of his or her body. Also examine your pet’s bottom for cleanliness.

Start a Body Chart for Your Pet

If you notice an unusual lump, bump, wart or so on during your home exam and you don’t think it warrants immediate attention, it’s a good idea to start a body chart for your pet.

Simply draw a simple diagram of your pet’s body and note whatever you’ve found in the appropriate place on the picture. Be sure to include exactly where it was found, when you found it, how big it is and whether you’ve noticed it getting worse.

If you notice a lump that has gotten worse a day or two later, that warrants a trip to your vet.

Remember, in order for you to know what’s abnormal about your pet you first need to know what’s normal. Performing regular at-home exams is a simple and very effective way for you to keep a close eye on your pet’s health.

By Dr. Becker
Source: www.mercola.com

315 E. Decker st.
Viroqua, WI 54665
www.risingsunvet.com
 608-637-2227

Even the best diet may not give an animal everything it requires

By SHAWN MESSONNIER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Dear Dr. Shawn: After reading The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats, I know that you’re a big believer in using supplements. But since I feed my dog what I think is a good natural diet, is supplementation still important?

Answer: I’m a big believer in feeding the proper diet AND combining the best diet with whatever supplements your pet requires. I’m assuming that your pet is healthy and does not have any specific needs that I should address. The foundation of any holistic health program starts with a natural diet, preferably free from by-products and chemicals. Even the best diet may not provide everything your pet needs to maintain health. This is because diets are formulated for the “average” pet, and I’ve yet to see an “average” pet. Evidence from studies supports the benefits of vitamin and mineral supplementation. This is especially true for pet foods that are not natural or holistic. Many foods lack nutritional enhancement, and the ingredients used are by-products from human-grade materials that aren’t fit for human consumption and are deficient in important nutrients. The diet is a starting place, and supplements are used depending upon a pet’s specific needs.

Here are some recommendations that will be true for all pets:

• The supplement should be produced by a company with a good track record. Ideally, the manufacturing company will have the stamp of approval from the National Animal Supplement Council (www.NASC.cc). The supplement should be scientifically formulated.
• The supplement should be formulated with the finest all-natural human-grade ingredients.
• Supplements should be economical to allow you to enhance your pet’s diet and ensure the pet is getting all essential nutrients daily. A little bit of money spent maintaining health is better than spending a whole lot of money to treat illness.
• The supplement should be easy to give to your pet; using a supplement as a treat is better than having to force a pill down. There are many good supplements your doctor might recommend; one of my favorites that I recommend in my practice on a daily basis is by Pet-Togethers and is called PetCentrx “Vim & Vigor”. It’s a wellness formula for pets. By using this high quality supplement, along with feeding a great diet, you’re ensuring your pet’s long term health and wellness.

Dr. Shawn Messonnier is the author of “8 Weeks to a Healthy Dog” and “The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats.” Send questions to Paws & Claws Animal Hospital, 2145 W. Park Blvd., Plano, TX, 75075, e-mail him at shawnvet@sbcglobal.net

Source: dallasnews.com

Vim & Vigor Daily Supplements

“The Pet-Togethers supplement, Vim & Vigor, is my FAVORITE supplement for dogs and cats. It comes in a delicious treat form (chewable treat for dogs, flavored powder for cats.) I use it to maintain health in my healthy patients (and in my own pets!) and it’s my starting supplement for pets with any illness.”
- Dr. Shawn Messonnier, DVM
-Dr. Shawn, is a natural pet vet and the author of several books on natural health for pets. He is the host of the weekly award-winning radio show, “Dr. Shawn-The Natural Vet”, on Martha Stewart Radio SIRIUS channel 112 on Tuesdays from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM (EST).

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Vim & Vigor - Nothing Short of a Miracle! “Vim & Vigor” formula for dogs and cats is serious nutrition that provides serious results. Nothing will convince you more of the incomparable benefits of PetCentrx than personally witnessing the miracles in your feline. If your pet is like many today with nutrient deficiencies, you can expect remarkable changes within just a few weeks, including:

• More Energy
• Healthier Appearance
• Greater Mobility
• Stronger Bones and Muscles
• Fewer Veterinarian Visits
• Happier Disposition
• Greater Rest
• Better Digestion
• Fuller Life

Visit the Pet-Togethers web site.

Click (here) to read dr.shawn’s latest article.

Pet Togethers website
 866-638-7381

For Your Pet

Goal #1 - Preventing disease.

This goal seems simple enough, let’s prevent disease so that your pet never becomes ill. I would actually prefer to see healthy pets rather than ill ones. It’s obviously not practical or possible for a pet to never become ill, but we can do a lot to minimize illness. While vaccines may be appropriate at times, a holistic approach appreciates the fact that most of the diseases we see in practice are chronic degenerative diseases. Conventional medicine really does a poor job of preventing and treating these disorders, as it is better suited to treating acute problems like infectious disease.

A holistic approach utilizes several steps in order to prevent disease. First, feeding a natural diet, free of harmful chemicals and byproducts, minimizes cell damage. Minimizing vaccines and the unnecessary use of medications and toxins is also important. Finally, a well-prescribed supplement regimen can reduce inflammation and oxidation in your pet’s body, decreasing the chances of your pet developing chronic diseases.

Goal #2 - Say NO to Drugs.

One of the most important aspects of a holistic health care plan for your pets is saying NO to drugs whenever possible and finding alternatives to traditional medications. Drugs certainly have their place in the treatment of many diseases, and we shouldn’t totally abandon their use. In my opinion, they work best for acute problems (such as serious infections and the occasional flare-ups of chronic problems like allergies and arthritis.) More chronic problems (and often minor acute problems) respond best to alternative therapies like herbs, homeopathics, magnetic therapy, chiropractic, and acupuncture. Chronic use of conventional drugs is often more expensive than alternative treatments, and side effects are much more commonly encountered when using conventional medications than when alternative therapies are used. Additionally, many pets treated with chronic drug therapy develop side effects from these drugs, or even another disease from the drug therapy! This means that even more drugs are used to treat these secondary disorders, leading to further increases in side effects or second or third diseases.

Finding natural, alternative therapies is a safer, healthier approach for treating the pet with chronic problems. When drugs need to be used in treating diseases in pets, especially chronic diseases, the LOWEST dose of the drug that provides relief should be used for the SHORTEST amount of time. This approach minimizes side effects, and also gives the pet the “correct” amount of drug it needs at that time. Feel free to email me for my handout about natural therapies that can be used in place of conventional medications.

Goal #3 - Heal the pet rather than treat disease.

In veterinary school, which focuses only on conventional medicine, doctors learn to properly diagnose and treat signs and symptoms, and hopefully diseases. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this approach (even holistic doctors need to diagnose the correct problem before they can treat it), if our ONLY concern is treating the disease, then we are failing our patients.

The holistic approach focuses on the PATIENT and not the DISEASE. This is a radically different view of medicine. Healing the patient means, as much as is practical, restoring it to a normal, healthy condition. A normal, healthy patient is, for the most part, disease free. Notice I have not talked about curing disease. We can restore health even in pets which harbor a fatal disease such as cancer. They can be “healthy” as long as possible, fighting off the cancer, keeping it in remission, and “living with their disease.”

Talking about cancer as an example, Dr. Kevin Hahn, one of the contributors to my latest book, The Natural Vet’s Guide to Preventing and Treating Cancer in Dogs, admonishes us not to forget that “there is a pet attached to that tumor.” Rightly so, his focus (and that of doctors who take a holistic view of health and disease) is on treating “pets with cancer” rather than “treating cancer.” This different approach is the essence of developing a holistic approach to caring for yourself as well as your pets.

Goal #4 - Offering hope for the hopeless.

Offering “Hope for the Hopeless” is actually my favorite of our 5 goals. Many cases of illness are considered hopeless by conventional standards. Maybe there are no therapies for the specific problem (an example is liver cancer), or maybe the pet has not responded to the appropriate therapies. Before you give up, before you euthanize your pet, consider alternative therapies. I have seen way too many pets that were deemed “untreatable” that responded well to a holistic approach.

While not every pet can be cured, many can heal enough to live a good quality life and coexist with their diseases. One of my favorite cases is Lexie, who was 2 years old at the time I saw her. She was correctly diagnosed with polyarthritis and treated by her conventional veterinarians, one of whom was a specialist in internal medicine. Unfortunately, the treatment made Lexie sick, and she also developed diabetes due to her therapies. Her doctors told the owners that no more could be done for her and that she should be euthanized. Fortunately, Lexie responded to a number of holistic therapies. She is doing great at this time. While she still has her polyarthritis, she has been in remission for several years and is taking minute amounts of medications that do not make her ill.

Pets like Lexie are a prime reason why I remain committed to a holistic, integrative approach to pet care. It’s particularly rewarding to help pets that conventional medicine cannot help. These cases are not considered “hopeless” when viewed from a holistic perspective.

Goal #5 - Saving money on pet care.

I’m often asked if a holistic pet care program costs more than a traditional pet care program. In general, the answer is “no.” It’s usually less expensive to prevent problems rather than treat them. Additionally, using natural therapies usually, but not always, costs less than conventional drug therapy.

There are several reasons for this. Supplements are usually less expensive than drugs, especially if generic medications are not available. Chronic drug therapy usually requires frequent laboratory monitoring of the pet to ensure side effects have not developed; this is usually not necessary with natural therapies. Drugs can cause secondary diseases, which require even more drugs to treat these diseases; this doesn’t happen when using natural therapies. For those times when a natural approach costs more, keep in mind that your pet will usually be healthier and live longer with this approach. It’s impossible to put a price on that!

And finally, I always encourage pet owners to use pet health insurance, which can cut the cost of any preventive or therapeutic program. If you want to save money on pet care, usually combining pet insurance with a natural health care program is the way to go.

Shawn Messonnier, DVM, is the author of The Allergy Solution for Dogs, and the award-winning The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats. www.petcarenaturally.com

by Ward Johnson

In my ongoing adventures as proprietor of the world’s smallest pet food company, Sojourner Farms, this is one question that I find myself asking people time and time again. Obviously the answer is ‘no,’ but that certainly doesn’t seem to make it an easy concept for most folks to understand. After all, it seems that most pets in this country eat cooked food — and it’s my belief that this isn’t the way it was supposed to be.

My belief isn’t just based on common sense. I’ve done plenty of highly scientific studies over the years to prove my theories. Many times I have placed various cats and dogs in front of my stove, and without fail, they don’t know how to work it. In fact, out of 15 dogs and cats tested since my study started, not one of them knew how to turn on the stove! Not only that, but none of my “test animals” knew how to use a microwave either (although I did know a dog once who could fetch me a beer). I would have to guess that these were probably astonishing results to most of this country’s pet food manufacturers. After all, these companies make processed, cooked, pelletized, and preserved pet foods in the form of tiny pellets and canned mishmash that we’re told are perfectly “natural” for pets to eat. When I hear this, I picture undomesticated dogs, killing their prey, and then turning them into kibbled pellets before sitting down for a meal. Or how about your cat building a little bonfire in the backyard to make his newly-killed mouse safe for consumption. Sounds pretty silly, eh?

When I was a young boy, I can remember my dog, Chuggers (named after a cozy little bar in Chattanooga) being diagnosed by a local vet as having a “bad thyroid.” Her coat began to fall out, and she grew sores all over her body. Her temperament became horrible, and soon she had to be put to sleep. No amount of “prescription diets” or powerful medications could save her. Sometimes I wonder how things would’ve changed had I known then what I know now. When I graduated from college and began work as the manager of a holistic veterinary clinic in Minneapolis, I saw cases like Chuggers every day. Hundreds of dogs and cats came in, time after time, displaying variations on the same mysterious illness. Sometimes it manifested itself in other ways. Some animals had cancer, some had hip displaysia, some F.U.S., leukemia, kidney failure, liver disease, and so on, and so on, and so on. I couldn’t figure out what in the world was going on. Why were our critters suffering from so many chronic and seemingly incurable illnesses? Soon it became clear that a major contributor to these problems was in fact diet. We had been feeding these dogs and cats pelletized, processed pet foods (made of horribly suspect ingredients in many cases) for around 50 years (which was around the time that corporate America figured out that they could profit from the thrown-away waste and by-products by turning it into “pet food”) and it was finally catching up to us. These pets were meant to eat as they would in the wild. They needed fresh, raw foods, that still contained vital enzymes, nutrients, and trace minerals. They needed their owners to take the time to make up fresh food, rather than relying on simply tearing open a bag and pouring its contents into a bowl.

When I think of traditional dog food, I think of what it would be like for me if I had to eat pelletized people food. What if I took all of the things that I normally eat (in the form of by-products and feed deemed “not suitable for human consumption”) and then fused them into a tiny pellet that I could eat everyday and get 100% of the daily nutrition that I need? I’d say life wouldn’t be all that fun. I think of how good-old Chuggers must have felt, when no one could figure out what to do, even though the answer was so obvious. One thing is for sure, and that is that I will never make that same mistake again — and I will always continue to tell people my story, to stop them from making that same mistake. Whenever I’m feeling down; whenever I start to think that reeducating this country is too daunting a task; whenever I get the feeling that I’m fighting a losing battle — I just remind myself that every time I talk to someone about this story, I’ve hopefully changed a critter’s life. Perhaps I’ve prevented another case like that of Chuggers. Hopefully that person told someone else their story too, and they told someone, and they told someone — and I daydream that pretty soon, everyone will realize at once, that they’ve never seen an oven in the wild.

Source: www.thenaturalpetvet.net