The old adage, you are what you eat
has great truth to it and although food and nutrition are excellent in helping to prevent problems and also in playing an important role in the healing process, do not solely rely on good food to heal your dog or cat.
The 10 year study done by Dr. Francis M. Pottenger, MD from 1932 to 1942 with over 900 cats found that the cats being fed a deficient diet were quite sick.
He also noticed that it would take four generations of an optimal diet before the health problems began to go away. We can't wait four generations for your dog or cat to get healthy as your pet will only be here for this one generation. Therefore, it is vitally important that you continue working with excellent vets. My preference are more natural healing methods.
Always err on the side of caution. Do not leave problems unattended. Treat each problem now and address the underlying cause.
It is safe to assume that your dog or cat, although they may look healthy, really are not. The study by Dr. Pottenger told us that after only one generation of eating a deficient diet, problems occur.
Furthermore, each generation got worse and worse if eating a deficient diet. Dr. Pottenger basically defined a deficient diet as meat that was fed cooked and an optimal diet as meat that was fed raw. This study is extremely interesting to say the least and is an easy read for anyone really concerned about nutrition.
In this study, Dr. Pottenger found that the cats eating a raw meat diet were extremely healthy and produced purrfect progeny. The cats eating the raw meat had excellent resistance to disease, vermin, parasites, and so on. These cats also behaved in a predictable manner.
What all of this tells us is that good, natural, wholesome foods are an excellent way of helping to prevent problems. This study also told us that problems can become very deep seated in as little as four generations (and based on Dr. Pottenger's report, it is safe to assume that a good majority of dogs and cats have been eating a deficient diet for more than four generations). It is for this reason that modes of healing like homeopathy, herbs, acupuncture and so on may be needed in conjunction with good, natural nutrition.
Based on Dr. Pottenger's famous study, it is not just what you feed, but how it is fed (ex. raw vs. cooked). While feeding good natural foods can help solve problems, sometimes the problem that a pet suffers from will need more than good nutrition.
You must be wise in your decisions when it comes to your pet's health. If your pet is sick, contact your professional vet immediately.
You may find it necessary to use a healing method in addition to good food. Giving your pet's body the extra help it requires will help get your pet back in balance faster and more easily. This in turn means a better chance your pet will successfully get rid of its problems.
Although in an ideal world, the following two quotes would be all we need to know and do, the principle behind them still is part of the healing process and is still worth knowing. But, we do sometimes need the help of professional vets to help get our animal friends back to good health.
We must also remember healing can be complicated and healing can take a long time in some cases. Food is food and every animal needs food. Since you must provide food, it only makes sense to provide food that is good, pure, wholesome and natural.
If we eat wrongly,
No doctor can cure us;
If we eat rightly,
No doctor is needed.
— Victor G. Rocine, a Norwegian homeopath circa 1930
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.
— Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, 460 – 376 B.C.