Pet Newsletter - About Common Diseases and Conditions in Your Pet

September 2007

In this month's newsletter we would like to share a very important article written recently by Dr. Lisa S. Newman, owner of Azmira Holistic Pet Food and Lifestyle Center regarding the pet food you are feeding your beloved pet:

"Spring was a scary time for all: contaminated pet food ingredients from China caused kidney failure in our dogs and cats. Pet owners rushed to buy natural brands, assuming it would be better. Sadly, several of those were shown to be contaminated as well. What a statement this made on the quality of ingredients chosen for pet food! But it also showed us something...

When a poison is used in the grain chosen for the food, the immediate correlation between the pet food fed and the failure of the metabolizing organs is easily seen. But what about the thousands of other cases of kidney failure/disease in general? Could regular pet food be the culprit? The most common diseases and conditions (i.e. obesity, diabetes, allergies, FUS, arthritis, cancer) all share the same path from wellness to symptom. Regardless of the diagnosis, each is created the same way. It starts with diet! What you feed your pet is crucial to your pet's long and healthy life.

Poor quality pet foods may cost less at the register but cost more in long term veterinary care. The Animal Protection Institute, of Washington, D.C., reported that the average dog lives twelve years, costing $13,000 in care. Only $3000 goes to the food bill! The rest is spent mostly on medical costs for easily preventable diseases. When a poor quality pet food is fed, the result is always the same; you create a toxic pet. A toxic pet becomes a prematurely aging, diseased pet. Food is the difference between life and death, beyond starvation. Without easy-to-digest and assimilate food the body cannot heal well. It may survive, but won't thrive.

Less expensive pet food contains less nutrition to begin with. The pet food industry is based on the remnants of our food manufacturing industries. What is considered not fit for human consumption is ferried to the pet food mills for further processing. This includes 4-D animals (dead, dying, disabled or diseased), moldy grains, rotten vegetables, milling by-products and even recycled leather (for protein) or cardboard (used as fiber.This way the human food companies can make money from their waste and the pet food manufacturers have inexpensive ingredients to use. Even restaurants recycle their cooking grease, used as 'tallow' in pet food. These practices and other questionable ingredients are all sanctioned by AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials). These ingredients, being far from wholesome and healthy, are not easily digested.

A good quality diet can help prevent health conditions by providing the body with the clean fuel needed to thrive. Easy to digest pet foods are made with the highest human-grade ingredients, free of by-products, sugar, salt, yeast, chemicals, artificial flavors or colors. These diets provide animal protein as the first ingredient, whole ground grains, fresh fruits and vegetables. They include superior supplementation, such as proteinated minerals, and barrier packaging to maintain the food's freshness. Avoid plastic-lined, paper bags because rancid pet food is difficult to digest. Pet food loses its nutritional value as it ages in opened bags; never buy more food than you can feed within a month's time.

Regardless how old or sick your pet is, whether or not he or she seems healthy to you now, all pets will benefit from a change to a better brand of food. Highly digestible, human-grade quality food is assimilated more thoroughly, rendering greater nutritional support for needs such as symptom reversal, while producing less waste in the blood to hurt healthy cells. The more obvious results can be seen within six weeks as old, worn out skin and coat cells are replaced with much healthier cells.

Become an educated label reader; call the manufacturer and ask about their nutritional philosophies and quality control; invest time in choosing your pet's diet; it is time and money well spent. Even if your pet needs herbs, homeopathic remedies or medications, good nutrition is always needed. Switching to a better food will help prevent, manage or even reverse most health conditions."

About the author

Dr. Newman holds doctorate degrees in Naturopathy and Holistic Nutrition and has spent the last twenty-five years applying what she has researched to pets. She is the author of nine books including, Three Simple Steps to Healthy Pets: The Holistic Animal Care LifeStyle.

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