by 
Kasara
in Articles, Blog
May 27, 2024
The recent pet food scare has sent many people into health food stores trying to find some decent food for their dogs. Also, many pets are trying to overcome illnesses of all kinds. I have had the pleasure of nurturing and fostering many dogs, am educated as a Traditional Naturopath, and have much experience working with natural health and herbs for the past 30 years. This is intended to give you some proven options to help your pet positively.
Dog Health
First, dogs have unique body systems, different from humans, horses, and other animals. It is important to learn about your animal as much as possible or talk to someone who understands this so you can use this information for your dog’s benefit. Some foods are ok for humans that are not good for dogs and certain herbs or nutrients should not be given to dogs. Because of space, I don’t have room to go through all of these, but they mostly can be looked up in popular pet health books or the internet. This is myfavorite pet health bookthat has many helpful guidelines that actually work and is affordable for most people.
Raw Food/Enzymes
It is optimal to give your dog quality raw meats, and raw veggies. It is an animal. If you feed “dead food” to your pets, you are neglecting the enzymes and nutrients that naturally occur in raw foods. Wild dogs do not cook their food first, they eat it raw. If you can’t do raw food, because of convenience for most of us or also because many dogs are conditioned to eat cooked food, at a minimum, be sure to put some enzymes in your pet’s food to aid in digestion, neutralize toxins, and help with elimination. There are many enzymes on the market, so it is best to research to get the best one to help your dog with any specific issues.
Blood Type Info
For those that prescribe to the blood type perspective, dogs are considered A blood types, and cats are considered B types. This means dogs should eat mostly “vegetarian” and stick to chicken/turkey or fish as far as meats. Having said that, recently I have noticed that many dogs are developing allergies to fowl. Most likely because of the poor diet, antibiotics, etc. fed to the birds when being raised. In fact, if you look at pretty much every dog food at the store, they ALL contain chicken, even if they say they are beef, bison, flavored, they contain chicken! Crazy!
Raw Milk
Raw milk is an option also. In fact, I have found Raw Goat milk has helped a plethora of dog issues repeatedly. One trick I learned when I have a small dog, is to purchase raw goat milk and pour into ice cube trays and freeze so it does not go bad. Then pull out and give to your pup as needed. Once the raw milk “goes bad” it is just fermented. Fermented milk isn’t bad, in fact, there are lots of benefits, once clabbered/fermented, it contains beneficial bacteria which is also helpful for dogs. Raw milk can be good for some issues and not good for others. Check with your dog health professional for the best results.
Grains vs Seeds
I remember driving in the car with my family when I was little and seeing grain silos along the side of the road and thinking how crazy it was to have grain outside — won’t they go rancid? Which is part of what is happening with pet foods. Grains do go rancid and can be harmful to us and our pets. Seeds are an option you can look to provide bulk and nutrition to your dogs. Seeds include flax, millet, quinoa, wild rice, or amaranth. Millet is probably the most nutritious and economical. I have found it useful in helping with arthritis when put with a homemade diet.
pH
There is much online about pH. There is a lot of misinformation, and here are somearticles if you want a deep dive into the acid/alkaline myth. Having said that, I had a dog, a Keeshond I raised from a pup named Mikalou that was away from my home for 1 year (it’s a long boring story so I will spare you the details).
More importantly, when he came back, he was 11 years old, he was overweight and I could tell that his joints were bothering him, he had trouble getting up and down the steps. Anyway, for the first month he was back he ate the dog food I made. That first month, everywhere he peed in the backyard, he burned the grass. This was information for me as it meant that he was pushing acid out of his body. This is a good thing! Now the acid was coming out instead of hurting his joints. This yellow grass situation lasted for about a month, which is typical. Natural health professionals often say that it takes 3 months to turn illness around and 1 month for every year you have had the problem. He was gone for about 1 year and eating what was most likely poor food which started making him sick. Putting him on a better diet helped him to drop about 20 pounds and eliminate his joint issues. Mikalou lived to be 17 years old. He was a great dog and taught me so much 😊
Stress
Diet is important for dogs, but just as important is the fact that our pets pick up on our emotions. That is their job as man’s best friend. They pick up our stress, our fears, our happiness, and our emotional baggage. I have learned, for myself, that if I really want to see how healthy I am, I must look at my pets as they are a barometer for my health. They are there as a tool to let me know what I should be looking at in myself to get healthier and I thank them so much for doing that. Numerous times people have come to me telling me that their dog has cancer, and of course, the next question is, who in your family has cancer? This is a common pattern I have seen.
Healthy Homemade Food
I have had hundreds of customers bring their pets to me to help overcome all kinds of skin, digestive and other issues, including cancers and tumors. I tell them all the same thing as far as diet.
Kasara’s Dog Food Recipe
- 1 pkg of frozen broccoli
- 1 pkg of frozen green beans
- 1 pkg of frozen butternut squash
- 1 pkg of ground beef (not frozen) or venison, buffalo or other meat
- Several stalks of celery
- Bunch of collard greens — or frozen if you can find — these are high in Vitamin B — and very good for dogs.
- 1 can of pumpkin — essential for dogs — which is why you will see it in many dog stores for sale.
Mix everything but the canned pumpkin into a large pot. I put the squash and other frozen items in the bottom as they take longer to cook. Keep the percentage around 75% veggies and 25% meat. Cooking the meat into the veggies helps to flavor the veggies. Add a cup or two of water for processing and cook up. I also add in a few Tablespoons of coconut oil. This helps their coat, and works on transportation in the body, preventing stagnation which is one of the main causes of disease. Mix often to break down the meat and mix everything well. You can then put it into a blender to mix it all up, especially if you have picky dog that picks out the meat and won’t eat the veggies. I used to have to do that for my dogs, but now they love the veggies. This whole thing will keep in the fridge for a 1.5 weeks. I often freeze a small container so I have as back up and when for when I travel.
When serving, I pour hot water over the food to heat it up for my pup and I sprinkle brewer’s yeast over to prevent fleas and I add in a quality multi-vitamin. Put cooked food into containers to refrigerate or freeze as needed and feed your dog per their size needs.
You can use fresh or frozen veggies. Frozen tends to be less expensive, more convenient and is already chopped up. Zucchini is also great. I try to grow a lot in the summer and freeze to add to the food. Sometimes I add spices, sometimes kale, chard, lettuce, spinach, bok choy, whatever other vegetables you have at home you can chop up and put into the mix. I do recommend paying attention to which items are helping and or not with your dog. Dogs respond quickly when given the correct nutrients and I have seen changes within hours sometimes, so it is fairly easy to see what is working and what isn’t.
If your dog does NOT have immune, fungus, or blood sugar issues, you could add in pear, apple, carrots or parsnips, beet greens, turnips, rutabaga, sweet potatoes, squash, etc. if you like. Pumpkin is especially good for dogs which is why you often see it in pet stores. I avoid tomatoes and onions as a rule. Once your pet is better, you can try adding in some natural dry food, like Canine Caviar which is the only commercial dog food that I recommend,www.caninecaviar.com. Keep the number of veggies that your pet is getting at 75% a day, this will help them to stay healthy. If your dog is sensitive, you may need to stay with just the homemade food. That is what I do and all 3 of my little dogs are well into their teens.
Each pet is different, and some are picky of course, but typically if you add in meat with the veggies, animals usually eat it. Another trick is to sprinkle flaxseed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, or salmon oil over the top or mix it in to give it flavoring. This is very good for their coats, bowels, circulation, etc. When we cook meat for ourselves, we will add hot water to the pan drippings and then pour that over the dogs’ food also, they love it!
Supplements
Each animal’s issues can be unique. But there are some regular products available to help overall.
Enzymes, as I mentioned before, are great to help with digestion. If you can help an animal’s digestion, you can help their body overcome a lot, because now nutrients are getting where they are supposed to be. Another product that is good for cats and dogs is black walnut.
Black walnut is high in iodine, which helps dogs displace the chlorine and fluoride in the water they typically drink, and the bromine that they are exposed to from pesticides. Also, black walnut is very good for killing parasites, fungus, and other organisms. We find if we give our dogs and cats black walnut regularly with the raw food, they no longer get fleas or ticks. It is very good to brush your pet’s teeth with also. I do this once a month on my dogs and put a natural productwww.petkiss.comin their drinking water, which does an amazing job of removing plaque and this saves me the expense and their discomfort of teeth cleaning at the vet.
Other supplements I keep on hand include Astragalus (for stress/supporting adrenals), B-Complex (also for stress/adrenals), Vitamin C, Herbal Trace Minerals, probiotics, and Zinc (to help the body heal). I muscle test to determine what is best for each of my dogs. The book mentioned above discusses muscle testing dogs or you can read an article I wrote on muscle testinghere. ALWAYS read the labels of the products as sometimes there are ingredients you should NOT give dogs. Check with your natural pet professional for the best results.
Another popular herb for pets is slippery elm. Slippery elm is wonderful for nourishing the colon and stopping diarrhea, and tummy upset. It can be sprinkled on food easily. We call it herbal “Pepto Bismol” around here.
Goodies
The other very important thing is when you give your dog’s goodies. Most of the goodies out there for pets are just junk food. They contain sugar, artificial flavorings, colorings, and other toxic substances that are harmful to dogs. I give my dogs small pieces of meat or salmon as a treat or bones that you can often get from butchers — but try to get organic or at least hormone free ones, else the bone marrow often contains the toxins that are given to the cow in the first place which again will not be good for your pet. There are some natural treats out there, but they can be challenging to find, and of course, there are many recipes on-line that you can make yourself.
As always, it is your choice. You can take the time to feed your dog healthy to thwart off future illness, or you can deal with the aftereffects of poor health down the road, which typically costs a lot more in money and heartache. I hope this gives you some ideas on how to help your pet live the longest, healthiest, and happiest life.
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About the Author
Kasara is educated as a Mental Health Therapist, Master Herbalist, Traditional Naturopath and Energy Worker with over 35 years of helping thousands of clients find alternative health options that work. She writes articles onMedium, and on her websitehttp://truhealth.com/. You maysubscribe to her Medium accountor her newsletter to stay connected.
May 27, 2024
