​Animal Acupuncture - Is It Safe? And can you really treat my dog?

Animal acupuncture is a wonderful thing and Oscar had it regularly to keep his back muscles in good order and to alleviate any spasms he had in his stomach.  Having the acupuncture on a regular basis kept him topped-up and fighting fit.

If you want to know more about it, then here is some more information from Emma, the practitioner of Natural Veterinary Care and Oscar's therapist and vet.

What conditions can be treated?
In animals, acupuncture is primarily used to alleviate pain associated with musculoskeletal pain such as arthritic joints, post orthopaedic surgery and back pain. However, it can also be used as an aid to treatment in certain skin conditions such as allergic skin disease and some functional conditions such as recurrent constipation in cats and irritable bowel type problems in dogs.

What Can You Expect From Animal Acupuncture?
An acupuncture session will usually last around twenty to thirty minutes. The initial consultation will last longer in order to enable me to gather your pet’s full history and perform an examination. In addition, I will need to contact your regular Veterinary Surgeon to obtain consent for treatment prior to our first consultation.

A course of four to six weekly treatments is usually recommended, followed by a maintenance treatment every four to six weeks depending on the problem and how your pet responds. Acupuncture can almost always be claimed for on pet insurance, providing the condition that the animal is receiving acupuncture for is covered by the policy.

With animal acupuncture, isn’t it hard to make them lie still?
Most animals tolerate needle placement extremely well. I have even had some dogs fall asleep during treatments! During animal acupuncture, if your pet does become sleepy during or after the treatment, this is usually a sign that he or she will respond well to acupuncture. Having said that, if your pet doesn’t become sleepy this does not mean that there will be no response. Approximately 80% of animals will respond well to acupuncture.

The number of needles placed and the length of time they are in place for during treatment is individual to the patient, and you will probably see one of three things following treatment:

1. Your pet may seem more painful the day after treatment. This may mean that too many needles were placed or the needles were stimulated too frequently. Subsequent treatments can be adjusted if this occurs.
2. You may see no response. This could be due to a small but transient improvement too small to see, or because insufficient needles were placed. Again subsequent treatments of animal acupuncture can be adjusted if this occurs. Little or no response can seem disappointing, but please remember that we cannot say that an animal will not respond until he or she has received four treatments.
3. You may see an improvement. My clients often report an improvement in demeanour before an improvement in mobility. Any improvement will typically last up to three days after the initial session, and subsequent treatments should provide longer lasting results!

If you feel your pet may benefit from acupuncture or have any questions please contact me!
I am also able to provide home visits – please contact me for details.”

If you have a dog with a debilitating condition where more medication is all that is recommended, I cannot encourage you enough to give this a try. You have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

Animal acupuncture is fast becoming recognised in the main stream as a safe, non-intrusive treatment for many ailments, which is great; the added benefit with acupuncture is that there are no side-effects that perhaps traditional western medicine may have.  If you have any other questions about this treatment, please feel free to comment below or contact me directly.

Protein for dogs is essential for optimal health…

Protein is a major building block to health and is needed for growth, maintenance and repair of the entire body, so without good quality sources, a dogs body will deteriorate over time.

Certain, ‘essential’ amino acids can only be gotten from ‘complete’ proteins such as meat, dairy, eggs and poultry.  These amino acids are broken down, absorbed and reformed to create new proteins that are used in the body.

It is also necessary for the production of antibodies, which fight against infection and illness, and is the main nutrient that keeps your dogs coat shiny and bones strong. Protein is a major component of all muscles, tissues and organs and is vital for practically every process such as metabolism, digestion and the transportation of nutrients and oxygen in the blood. 

Why Is Protein For Dogs Particularly Essential?

Our domestic dogs are carnivores and are most similar to wolves - they only differ by a mere 2% genetically from their wild ancestors; their digestive systems are just the same.

In the wild a wolf will mainly live off the prey they have caught.  From this, they will eat various parts including certain bones, muscle meat, organ meat (kidney, heart, liver etc) and the stomach contents.

So, with that in mind, would it not make sense that to thrive, a domesticated dog’s food should simulate, as much as possible, the natural diet?  And be fed food that the stomach can easily draw nutrition from?

The answer is… yes, of course!

What if the commercial food says it meets the minimum required amount of protein for dogs?

The majority of commercial foods today fall way short of providing your dog with the essential healthy foundation of protein that he or she will need in order to thrive.  And I mean ‘thrive’ not just ‘survive’…

You must be aware that the minimum amount of protein that must legally be in commercial dog food, for an normal adult dog, is ONLY 18% !  As long as the food meets this standard, then they can claim it is ‘balanced’ and meets all protein requirements.

This is not enough – as I have mentioned above, it is essential, and in LARGE amounts. This should equate to at least 70-80% of their diet.  Check the labels and make sure protein is high on the list – check out my blog on dog food reviews for more info on this.

As well as low levels of protein for dogs, a lot of commercial dog food has low quality protein which comes from undesirable sources such as soy, wheat and corn.  These are all extremely hard for your dog to digest – if at all – and provide no nutritional value whatsoever.

Why do they use these forms of protein?

Quite simply… because it’s cheaper.

Did you know that most breeds of dogs should genetically, live longer, sometimes even up to double what is normally accepted as a ‘good’ age, when fed a species appropriate diet (i.e. a fully balanced raw diet) as opposed to a commercially processed one?

Make sure your pet is getting a good quality food as without it, he could be facing the future with a multitude of health problems such as cancer, diabetes, digestive problems, allergies, heart failure and even death at an early age, as the body wears out from lack of proper protein for dogs.

Keep your dog safe and healthy and make an informed choice.

To your dogs health!
​

‘Meat by-products‘ or ‘meat meal’ or ‘animal derivatives’ are all, catch-all phrases, for essentially the same thing – ground up animals.

When you read a dog food label we want to see a protein source at the top, but more often than not we see a list that doesn’t even contain a specific type of meat (ie. chicken), just one of those insidious phrases mentioned above.  

Until a few years ago, I didn’t know exactly what any of that meant, and when I found out I was disgusted…

The phrase is actually a misnomer as it contains little, if anything, that you or I would consider as ‘meat’… if you’re thinking something like chicken breast, or pork loin, then forget it.  The truth is very, very different.

So why is a by-product not a good protein for dogs?

By-products are all the parts of an animal AFTER all the meat has been stripped away for human consumption.  According to Henry Pasternak in Healing Animal with Nature’s Cures “chicken by-products include head, feet, entrails, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, stomach, bones, blood, intestines and any other part of the carcass not fit for human consumption”.

Yes, things like liver and kidneys are good sources of enriched protein, but when the by-products are kept in large vats for weeks on end as the pile builds up before it’s shipped off to a rendering plant, all the virtues are long gone…

When the term ‘meat’ or ‘animal’ is used then it is an amalgamation of many types of animals from many sources, which can contain the boiled down flesh of animals we would find unacceptable for consumption.  Alarmingly, these meat by-products can include zoo animals, road kill and what the industry term ‘the 4-D’s’ (dead, diseased, disabled, dying livestock).

And in some cases (more evidenced in the US, but a large quantity of food is produced in the US) euthanised cats and dogs.  Yes, your pet could be a cannibal…  sobering isn’t it?

Although many manufacturers claim not to use euthanised cats and dogs, it is still actually LEGAL to do so, so until the legislation changes can you be totally sure if there is no reproach for doing this?

Given the crisis of ‘mad cow’ disease that exploded here in the UK, which stemmed from cattle being given infected food made from other cattle, it astounds me that we have learnt nothing from this awful tragedy.

I encourage you to take note of the type of protein for dogs you are being sold.  Be vigilant, be aware, and make a well informed, conscious choice about what food to serve to your beloved pets.  Don’t just help them to survive – help them to thrive!
​
Please share below any thoughts or questions you may have on other ingredients in commercial dog food…
​

The short answer is…yes, it’s a great part of raw feeding dogs! 

Obviously, if your dog has particular dietary requirements, then it’s best to check with your vet, but on the whole, fresh fruit and veg is great.
​
However, there is one caveat to that... 

For your dog to get the nutrition from the fruit by being able to digest the produce, it ideally needs to be broken down… i.e. bashed, mashed, smooshed or grated and ground, to release the goodness.  A dog’s digestive system is a lot shorter than ours, so there isn't that much time to break things down.

In the wild, a wolf (our domestic friends differ by only 2%) eats the fruit and veg mostly from the contents of their preys stomach, where it is already semi-digested; so we need to replicate this as much as we can to benefit our pets digestion.

Can dogs eat fruit with the skin on?

Absolutely.  You may want to remove things like the skin from bananas, the peel from oranges and grapefruits, or the hairy outside of a kiwi – I don’t think anyone, let alone a dog, would like to eat those.  But keeping the skin on things like apples and peaches adds to the nutrition. 

However…

Again, I have one caveat – that you use organic produce where possible.  If you don’t, then yes, it may prove more beneficial to remove the skin, as this is where most of the chemicals and pesticides will be held and could outweigh the goodness that it may contain.

Be aware that grapes and raisins can cause problems in some dogs, so best to avoid those.

If you’ve got any ideas on fruit and veg recipes for your dog, or any questions on why you should give raw feeding dogs a go, comment below.

Stay fruity!
​

If you want to make your own treats and need a good dog treats recipe, there aren’t many places you can look on the Internet that give you sound, knowledgeable advice about how to make them.  Believe me, I know…

Oh, there are quite a few recipes out there, but certainly not ones that will enhance your dogs’ health.  In fact, the majority are recipes for hard biscuits that are made from indigestible white flour and peanut butter, amongst other inappropriate things.  I don’t know where the idea came from that peanut butter is a great source of nutrition for dogs, but believe me, it isn’t!!

And with all the pet food and treat recalls that seem to be on the increase, I think it’s even more important we take control of our pet’s nutrition.

Whats in Each Dog Treats Recipe?

For those who need some ideas on recipes I have compiled an e-Book with 7 of the top Oscar’s Organics recipes.  

Each recipe has a full, step-by-step guide on how to make it.  I have also listed each ingredient, with a full explanation of what the health benefits are which shows why I chose to include it in the treats.  Most of the ingredients are there because I was looking for ways to help Oscar and to improve his health:

For example, I started using certain spices like cinnamon in the first dog treats recipe I devised. I incorporated it into the treats as it can stimulate the digestive system and helps with gastrointestinal spasms and nausea.  Oscar suffers from a form of IBS, where occasionally, the intestines spasm in the opposite direction, so for him it’s perfect and helps soothe and regulate his system.

This e-Book is a result of years of research and trial and error in creating these treats and gives you all the reasoning behind every ingredient I use and I would like to share it with you.  I encourage the use of fresh, species-appropriate ingredients that will enhance your dogs’ health, not destroy it.  As I’ve mentioned on other occasions, just because it’s a ‘treat’, doesn’t mean it has to be bad for your dog.

This eBook gives you not one dog treats recipe, but 7.  You may find other offers such as ‘101 recipes’ or some other such high number – but don’t let the number fool you – these are 7, fully researched and tested treats that I guarantee your dog will love and (providing they don’t have any underlying health issues) will definitely benefit from.
​
Happy Baking!

Do you know the right fat for dogs and what you may be inadvertently feeding them?

If you feed your dog commercial pet food such as kibble, you may have noticed the pungent smell when you open a new bag of food… This is due, very often I’m afraid, to the odour of rendered fat, restaurant grease, or other oils too rancid or deemed inedible for humans.  Yet this unpalatable and indigestible form is still used and listed as ‘fat’ under the guise of it meeting your pets nutritional requirement.

Restaurant grease has become a major component of feed-grade animal fat over the last fifteen years.  This grease is often held in huge drums that may be kept outside for weeks, exposing it to extreme temperatures with no regard for its future use.  It is taken to rendering plants where it is mixed with other types of fat which end up as fat for dogs and cats in their food.

These fats are then stabilised with powerful antioxidants (chemicals) to stop further spoilage, and then this blended product is sold to end users, including pet food companies…

These fats are sprayed directly onto the kibbles and pellets to make an otherwise bland or distasteful product palatable.  Pet food scientists have discovered that animals love the taste of these sprayed-on-fats and the manufacturers are masters at exploiting this.

The best source of fat, which your dog needs, is direct from a fresh, dietary source and if you feed your dog a raw food diet, then chances are it is already included in the food.

However, if you do feed your dog commercial food, then there is a high likelihood they are missing Omega 3 in their diet.

So, what is a good fat for dogs that provides omega 3?

An easily accessible oil that is rich in Omega 3 and provides essential health benefits, is cod liver oil or fish body oil.

Cod liver oil helps to overcome more problems seen in modern food than any other single supplement.  Cod liver oil supplies vitamin A, vitamin D and the Omega 3 essential fatty acids in an activated form.

Vitamin A – essential for a healthy immune system and healthy mucous membranes, which includes the gastro-intestinal (digestive) tract, the urogenital (reproductive and urinary) tract, the ears and the eyes.

Vitamin D – essential for healthy calcium metabolism, which means among other things healthy bones.

Omega 3 fatty acids balance out the Omega 6’s in the diet, produce vital anti-inflammatory effects and are essential for normal growth and development, including most especially the nervous system.

If you have any questions on good and bad fat for dogs, comment below, we’d love to hear from you.
​
To your dog’s health!

STOP!  Read The Label – You May Be Shocked…

We all want what’s best for our pet, and with all the mass marketing going on, we have a plethora of manufactured food to choose from…

Are you blindly following what you read on the internet; what you see on tv adverts?  Behind the pretty packaging, do you really know what’s in your pet’s food?   Can you tell from the label? Have you even read it??

For a while, when I used to feed Oscar processed food, I didn’t know to look.  I trusted the big brand names, what other people told me, and the reviews you see around (that are sometimes actually paid for by the brands themselves).  It wasn’t until much later, when I started to look more closely and started to read independent dog food reviews that I discovered just exactly what some of the ingredients were and how misleading a label could be.

I’ll go into more depth about the content of some manufactured food in other blogs, but today I thought I would share some things I learnt about reading the label, so you can start to make an informed choice about the food you feed your dog.

The worst offender is dry, kibble food, and the labels can mess with your head while trying to work out exactly what proportion of each ingredient really make up the whole.

Let me be straight – I don’t advocate using the majority of commercial food (kibble and wet) at all on a daily basis, but if you feel that’s what is best for you and your circumstances, then please, read on, so you know what you are buying and are able to choose the best food you can…

Protein For Dogs - What's The First Thing To Look For?

​The first ingredient should ALWAYS be a protein – meat, poultry or fish, and listed as a specific type – i.e. chicken.  At the very least, the 2nd and 3rd ingredients should also be a specific, named meat.  Your dog is carnivorous by nature and needs to have a diet high in protein.  If it’s not first – ditch it before you even go any further down the list.

Why is it important for it to be first on the list?

Everything is listed in descending order, i.e. the first ingredient is the most and the last ingredient is the least.  BUT, it’s done by wet weight, not volume.

What does that mean?

It means, that when all the ingredients were raw, that percentage was used to create the ingredient list…

The one thing they don’t tell you in normal dog food reviews:

To make commercial pet food, they dehydrate the ingredients.  The thing with raw meat is, in it’s natural state, it is around 70% water, so when it’s dehydrated it shrinks massively and the volume of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th ingredients on the list are then likely to make up the bulk of the food.  These other ingredients are so often all grains, so the protein source could actually be less than 20% of the total food – and that’s bad. A diet high in grain can cause untold health problems for your dog as the years progress.

What is grain?

Some grains are: brown rice, white rice, barley, corn, millet, and any derivative of those such as rice ‘flour’ or corn ‘gluten’.

Is there anything else to look for besides protein for dogs?

Yes – splitting; splitting is when a manufacturer lists different components of one food as separate items, to hide the fact it makes up the bulk of the food…

Here’s an example from a label I found, which looks ‘ok’ on first glance:
INGREDIENTS: Chicken, brown rice, white rice, rice bran, rice gluten and rice flour

This sounds like there are a lot of ingredients, but apart from ‘chicken’, they are, in fact, all named parts of the SAME ingredient…a lump of cooked rice.

Chances are, this particular dog food has a lot of rice in it and when all the ‘rice’ ingredients are added together, it will be far greater than the portion of chicken.

In order for the manufacturer to be able to put chicken first (indicating that there is more meat than rice in their dog food reviews label), they split the rice up into parts and weigh each of those parts; each individual part of the rice now weighs less than the meat.

If they just listed the rice parts as ‘rice’ then the ingredients list would look like this:
INGREDIENTS: Rice, chicken

See what I mean?  It’s tricky!

So, if you are going to use commercial pet food, take time to study the ingredients list – don’t assume because it’s a big named brand that it’s going to be beneficial for your dog.  On closer inspection, you may even find those brands you have trusted for years, are the worst culprits.  Do your own research and don’t be blinded like I was, for years.

I’m a believer in feeding your dog a natural, raw food diet which is high in good sources of protein for dogs, and if you’re interested in moving your dog over to this then check out A Complete Guide To Putting Your Dog On A Raw Diet.

Whatever you do, or whatever you feed your dog, be sure you are doing it with conscious intent…

I was once chatting to someone who had just bought a dog and they asked me – ‘How often should I be exercising my dog? Once a week…twice?’  The question astounded me somewhat as I thought it was obvious… but apparently not.  

And, since then, the amount of people I’ve come across who own a dog and who don’t walk them for days on end, is too numerous to think about. It appears to me, more often than not, that it’s those with a garden and/or those who own small dogs.

Those with gardens think that’s enough, and those with small dogs don’t think they need the exercise because they have the house to run around in – small dogs may have small legs, but they are still robust and need to walk and play and run, and while getting out into your garden is great, a walk is also about mental stimulation from the sights and smells out and about.

So, Just How Often Should I Be Exercising My Dog?

​Every day come rain or shine!  

Health permitting, you should be walking your dog at least twice a day for at least 20 minutes each time, and given the chance to run around off-lead, or at the very least on a long extendable bungee lead if needs be.  The chance to mix with other dogs is also essential for healthy social development.  If you have a problematic dog who has difficulty mixing with other dogs, then it’s advisable to get qualified advice from a trainer to work through any issues.

Remember, dogs sniffing and foraging around is equal to humans reading a daily  newspaper, having a catch-up chat or watching a favourite tv programme.

Every dog is different, fitness-wise, of course, and if you have any concerns about their fitness you should always visit your veterinarian and get them checked out and seek their advice.

I Have A Puppy…

Walks that are short and often are best.  It’s good to be aware that for around the first 6 months of a dogs life, their bones are still growing and are fairly ‘soft’.  So avoid encouraging them to leap and jump up and down excessively, as you could cause damage to their joints that might not show up until later on in their life – like arthritis or dysplasia.

Try not to let them go up and down stairs by themselves either, especially going down, as it’s a constant jarring motion – carry them down if you can, or walk before them so they can’t run.

My dog as so much energy, is there anything more I can do to tire them out while exercising my dog?

Try taking a toy, tennis ball, or football while out walking – most dogs enjoy playing fetch.  If you want to add some more distance to each throw, try hitting a tennis ball with a racket, or use something like a Fling ‘n’ Fetch ball launcher.

Frisbee’s are great too. Remember to try and throw them fairly low to the ground so your dog doesn’t have to jump too high to grab it, and soft ones made especially for dogs are best to prevent chipping of teeth!

Is there anything else my dog can do for exercise?

Yes – swimming is great. There are many hydrotherapy pools around now and you should be able to find one in your area.  Swimming is particularly good for those dogs with joint problems as the exercise is non-weight bearing.

While recovering from leg surgery, exercising my dog, Oscar, had to be done through swimming.  While the majority of dogs there were recovering from surgery etc., there were a couple of Retrievers who were there just for the fun of it, which was great to see.

Still wanting more stimulation for your dog?

There are other options: have you thought about agility or tracking?  There are many local clubs and a great place to start is agilityclub.org.  Your dog will have fun, get lots of exercise and above all mental stimulation, that can, in most cases, be more tiring than a long walk!