by Dr Greg on August 11, 2009
In his book,”In Defense of Food,” Michael Pullan suggests that the “western diet” (high carb, high saturated fat, low omega fat, low antioxidants) caused many native populations to get ill once they adopted that way of eating.
Fast food and packaged food in place of native diets led to health problems in native Aborigines, Hawaiians, and Japanese popuations that changed their tried-and-true eating habits passed down from generation to generation over thousands of years.
Isn’t that similiar to the high-carb, low-fat, commercial, dog food ingredients that we have forced on a native canine population that had been eating a certain diet for thousands upon thousands of years. Now it seems that our dogs are suffering from more obesity, arthritis, immune diseases, and cancer just like other native populations of humans that changed their diet.
The great thing is, every diet can be changed easily and economically using by reading the label for ingredients, and adding healthy human food and oils.In Dog Dog Dish Diet: Sensible Nutrition for Your Dog’s Health I try to reverse the affects of the commercial diets on some individuals that cannot tolerate them. Bone Appetit!
by Dr Greg on August 8, 2009
Cousin Strider's gone to pot! Yeah, what do you suppose he's eating these days?
One of my great concerns is that the foods we are feeding our dogs today are so far removed from the diet of both wolves and the early ancestors of our dogs. It’s not just the fact that animals in the wild survive on a natural diet of game, berries and whatever they can forage, it’s the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates that’s way off. In Dr. Greg’s Dog Dish Diet: Sensible Nutrition for Your Dog’s Health, I explain the difference between the typical commercial diet and the natural wolf diet…and what this should tell us about feeding our dogs. I use what I know as a vet (30 years in practice), a lifelong dog owner and as a student of wolves’ natural diet to suggest simple but important changes you can make in your own dog’s diet. I feel certain that NOT feeding our dogs’ inner wolf is the source of a lot of problems, ranging from dry, itchy skin and red, gooey ears to upset stomach and bowel disorders…and much more that I go into in the Dog Dish Diet. (By the way, these illustrations are by Caleb Laughlin and appear in the book.) Bone Appetit!
by Dr Greg on August 2, 2009
If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you may know that I’ve started talking about the coming publication of my book Dr. Greg’s Dog Dish Diet: Sensible Nutrition for Your Dog’s Health. I’m very excited about the publication, in part because it’s my first book but more so because I believe it’s going to bring relief to a lot of dogs. And I think it’s going to save pet owners both aggravation and money on vet bills.
You’re probably wondering how a dog diet book can save you money. Well, I’ll tell you. After 30 years as a veterinarian and a lifetime spent loving dogs, I’ve seen a very dramatic correlation between the food our pets (dog as well as cats) eat and their tendency to suffer from dry, itchy skin; red, inflamed ears; stomach [click to continue…]
by Dr Greg on July 18, 2009
I have to admit part of the blame for puppy mills. My profession neuters almost every pet to prevent an epidemic of unwanted puppies. Veterinarians and the dog-owning public have given the responsiblity of puppy production to:
- Responsible breeders (that try to not breed dogs with medical or behavioural problems),
- Irresponsible breeders (that breed dogs to obtain looks and ribbons without regard for problems),
- Puppy mills (that run an assembly-line operation or breed for the buck), and
- People that can’t afford the surgery or do not care enough to consider it.
What ever happened to the cute litter of mixed breed puppies down the street? They account for only 10% of my new puppy visits, [click to continue…]
by Dr Greg on June 18, 2009
Not all human foods are good for our dogs. This is the subject of my recent article for our local magazine, Gilroy Today. My editor has graciously allowed me to reprint the article here. Bone Appetit!
I’m not sure why — if it’s because Gilroy is famous for garlic or that the smell of it being processed is so much a part of our daily lives here in Gilroy — but I am often asked about ridding pets of pesky fleas by feeding them garlic. The truth be known, I eat a clove of Christopher Ranch garlic daily for its heart and other healthful effects. However, even in small amounts, garlic and onions are not as healthful for our pets. Unfortunately, both onions and garlic do bad things to our pets’ red blood cells. And, fewer red blood cells means less oxygen for their bodies, which can be dangerous. Fortunately, there are easier ways to deal with fleas. I often recommend Advantage (topical drops) applied monthly.
Garlic is not the only healthy human food that is not good for our cats and dogs. Here’s a short list of some foods and food ingredients that have been known to cause medical problems: chocolate, bread dough, macadamia nuts, grapes and raisins, and xylitol sugarless gum sweetener. Avocados are also on many lists, but I have yet to see or hear about a dog with guacamole toxicity. I know other dogs besides my lab take any opportunity to enjoy some guacamole! Curious about this, I looked into the background for this toxicity claim. It seems two dogs suffered medical problems after eating a straight avocado diet for a year or two, in Kenya, Africa. I guess the lesson is to use common sense and not feed your pets a single food ingredient for a year.
I support giving dogs and cats healthy food and treats right out of our human diet. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this as well as testing my theories on my own pets and my patients, as many of you who are clients know. The last few years I have come to realize that all commercial foods are not universally healthy for all individual dogs and cats. I don’t have space to go into everything here, but consider how a piece of shrimp is tasty to one person, an itchy nuisance to another and downright deadly to someone who goes into anaphylactic shock. Some ingredients and preservatives in dog and cat food may cause itching, red ears, puking, diarrhea, and frenzied grass-eating nausea. [click to continue…]
