Traditional vs natural feed and medicine for dogs
Ask anyone who has a border collie, raises dogs, or knows someone who has dogs…their main expense, other than feed, is the vet and health care. Going to the vet with toenail clippings, shots, stool samples, worming medicine, skin conditions, etc. can be reduced by watching the foods they eat and how that food affects their body, and also learning how to do many of these things yourself.
The answer today, to lessen the financial load, is to attempt to learn the right combination of natural and traditional methods for their dogs. This consists of raw diets, herbs, acupuncture, acupressure, natural massage, Bach Flower Remedies, homeopathy for dogs and the like as the large array of choices for the owners. The increase in holistic practices in medicine has the increased interest in dog and other animal owners, for many reasons.
One of the main issues for preventive health is the feed that goes into the dog, and their seems to be a fine line between those who feed natural herbal/ raw diets and those who feed commercial feeds. Both sides have excellent points, and it mainly depends on the needs and desires of the owners. Personally, I feel that commercial feeds are not of high enough quality, and are simply convenient for the owner/breeder. There are some that are good, but an understanding of the ingredients needs to be understood to be of adequate nutrition for your dog; if your dog is nutritionally sound, it will not become ill. Watch for the energy level, the skin and coat condition, nervousness, and physical symptoms. If these are not adequate and cause you concern, change feeds and research some natural diets and herbal preventive medication.
I feed natural as I feel it is much better for my dogs, learning many things while doing so: a balance of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are good, while improving joint and skin health; moderate protein content are for non-working dogs; use foods with meat as the protein source – lamb is the easiest digestible, chicken next, and then beef; and using foods with corn or soybeans can cause some problems.
Fleas and ticks are being controlled naturally by the usage of garlic, brewer’s yeast, and various herbs. But many pharmaceutical companies also have begun making natural controls such as products made from pyrethrins, an natural insecticide in the daisy family, also using growth inhibitors with other chemicals that control fleas and ticks specifically…instead of general pesticides.
Natural feeds and herbal diets for pets are nutritious and suitable, if they are prepared and used properly. The canine diets of Dr. Richard Pitcairn and Dr. Ian Billinghurst use high quality diets combined with herbal remedies and preventive measures, also using homeopathic mixtures. By checking on their websites and learning to make your own healthy dog diets, your dogs will increase in health while your vet bills will go down!
My vet regularly tells me that feeding raw bones and raw chicken is bad for my dogs. As regularly as he sees them that is. Which is... well, never. The raw meat and bone is so bad for therm that they never have to visit the vet. Well there's a thing.
I understand that aesthetically pleasing hunks of raw bone on the carpet are not. Tripe breath in the morning isn't great. And in particular when your border collie is a cute lovable bundle of fluff, seeing her scrunch up raw chickens can be a bit of a shocker. But it's GOOD for them. Do vets seriously think dogs in the wild would open a can? Or cook their meat to get rid of the bacteria? My border collies are smart, but not that smart!
