2010-07-18

My story begins a little differently. As far as I knew — I did not have a sick pet.

My dog, who is now 8 years old, was getting gray hair far earlier than I thought was normal — she's had two operations on her back legs due to stretched out ligaments from chasing squirrels, and had the mid life bulge around her mid to back section — but the vets never said anything about her being too heavy at 60 pounds.

I purchased a juicer and wanted more info on juicing and came across the Juicing Book website. As I read further, I saw the pet nutrition link and forgot all about me and was intrigued that there was even a reference to pets on a juicing site.

I had been making my dogs food since the Chinese scare of tainted pet food. What I didn't know then, was while I was looking after her best interest — I was slowly killing her at the same time.

So, long story short, I dove into the whole raw diet for Rudy. I cut her off of all cooked foods starting in either February or March of this year, 2010. She wasn't keen on it and wouldn't eat for several days, no matter what I put in her bowl. I soon discovered that she didn't mind eating meat that was partially frozen. Now, she eats her food enthusiastically, cold or room temp.

Her change in diet did come with some repercussions. She had the most awful gas for a couple of days in the beginning and it about killed us. Jesse informed me that this was her body detoxing and should end shortly — which I'm all too happy to report did.

He suggested that she would benefit from some supplements; especially the digestive enzymes and the Pet GO which supports the organs and glands for a reason I don't remember... but I too have to use digestive enzymes among other supplements, and this made sense to me as well.

About 4 or 5 months into her new eating regiment she started urinating what looked like coffee colored urine. She didn't behave stressed out, still ate her food but it was a pretty disturbing sight. So I took her to the vets and they did an ultra sound and said she had no blockages, and wanted to send me home with antibiotics (which I didn't use); but in the meantime I hit Jesse with an email asking him what his thoughts were. Again, he informed this that this was more likely another sign of detoxification as she was expelling kidney sediment from her kidneys. He never knew that she had bladder problems from an infections as a puppy; but because of the dark urine it was a kidney issue. Sure enough, without any antibiotics or other drugs her urine cleared; she had terrible gas again for a couple of days and every so often it will creep on us again — but we are now familiar with the fact that this is a detox mechanism.

Jesse also explained to us that the flushing of the kidney sediment from the kidneys has helped prevent the forming of kidney stones, which obviously make me happy to know!

By the way, while at the vets office, she weighed 53 pounds (which means she has lost 7 pounds while eating all the food she wants). She looks amazing, her coat is becoming back to normal and her figure looks really good — the middle age spread is gone and she doesn't waddle when she walks.

The picture doesn't do her any justice — but hope that you can see the color of her hair becoming natural again as opposed to gray.

We can't thank Jesse enough for holding our hands thru this process — it will be much easier for the next puppy that we get — but all the information and assistance is beyond words.

— Nancy and Rudy

2008-09-14

I took on a dog that was very, very skinny, extremely stressed, and sick with a major cold and diarrhea caused by an intestinal parasite that he picked up at an overcrowded animal shelter. That was August 22, 2008. He was only the second dog I've had, and I didn't feel all that equipped to handle him (I'm still learning!).

I was scared to death he was going to die on my watch. But I immediately ditched all commercially prepared food and started feeding him by hand, scrambled eggs, rice, and cheese. I started doing research and found your book, which I enjoyed and printed. I've employed its recipes (for the most part — I still have a cultural need to just sear the meat before serving, still mostly raw, and I still include rice), but the results have been phenomenal. I bought a $20 food chopper at Wal–Mart to chop the vegetables and the organ meats, and for most things it works just fine. I use cheese as training treats. And this was while he was on medication, which as we all know can hinder weight gain.

Now he's a happy bundle of energy, more than I can handle, actually. We go out for long, energetic walks and today I bought my first set of running shoes in over 15 years. We may wind up saving each other here!

Because of his poor health, I took pictures of him every day to examine his progress in detail to make sure I could tell for sure whether he was improving or getting worse. They wound up being great before and after testimonials for the power of healthy food for your dog. These pictures are only 10 days apart! Except for the last, which is 3 weeks from the first, I think. I'm allowing him to stay lean and energetic, and we're working on building up muscle.

Thank you for your very helpful website – Nancy

2011-05-29

Thank you so very much for your on–line book. China, my 11 year old Shi–tzu has had food allergies for 9 years. I have spent thousands on diets and medicine but recently nothing worked. She was stinking like a cow pie under your nose even though I washed her twice a week with Rx shampoo. Her skin was hot to the touch and oily in just hours after a thorough bath not to mention the hair falling out all over. Anywhere the dog went she left her oily stink — the carpet, the furniture — it was a huge job just cleaning after her trying to keep the house smelling neutral. She was so miserable I considered putting her down as she couldn’t enjoy life and was a touch me not due to her allergies. I have spent countless hours searching for a way to feed my dog so as not to exacerbate her condition. One vet even suggested that she may be allergic to her own anal gland exudate!

Because of her allergies, I started her on just raw meat and warm water for one week and plan to add one ingredient a week until she is on a complete and healthy diet.

In just one week China is smelling and acting like her old self again. I am elated with the progress, I have seen in my dog, on your diet recommendations! China is even wagging her tail again! I can’t thank you enough for your on–line book — you have literally saved China’s life.

Leslie and China