3 Simple Steps

Prior to the 1930’s, dogs ate mainly “the feared” dinner scraps for thousands of years. Pet food consisted of “the even more feared” bones, with vegetables, meat, fruits, bread crusts, and anything else their human partners didn't finish themselves. Feeding was relaxed, for everyone knew how to feed his or her cat or dog. Feeding consisted of just a variety of foods, some raw, some cooked, and without planning, and was usually fairly balanced over time. No super high protein formulas, no calcium supplements, or rapid growth promoting puppy food. Also, no hip dysplasia, chronic ear and skin problems, cancers, and other ailments that plague our pets today. The first case of hip dysplasia was in 1935, soon after commercial pet food hit the shelves of supermarkets! Surprisingly to most pet owners today, these dogs lived long lives, from 15 to 20 years, and for generations, hardly experiencing any health problems. No scientifically processed diets, no perfectly balanced meals, and without the option or need for frequent vet care. Dr. Billinghurst, a veterinary surgeon, revealed how the few problems these pets did experience were simple. Most commonly a particular vitamin deficiency or excess, which was, and still is, easy to diagnose and is easily remedied. Now we have exchanged those simple, straightforward nutritional problems for a large mass of complicated, mysterious, crippling, and degenerative diseases that require major surgery, massive amounts of prescription drugs, and sometimes no treatment at all, leaving us with an unhealthy, doomed pet. Depressingly, most major health problems that have nutrition at their roots cannot be alleviated by modern veterinary medicine. The good news is that some of these same ailments are often greatly reduced or eliminated with the implementation of an appropriate raw diet! Dr. Billinghurst has changed the thinking of tens of thousands of pet owners about feeding their pets. He among many others has actually stated that “processed pet foods do not promote good health, and in fact, produce positively bad health”! In his book, Grow Your Pup with Bones, Dr Ian Billinghurst DVM reveals: “There is a mass of research commissioned by pet food manufacturers and carried out by independent bodies, which demonstrates that pet foods are responsible for a wide variety of degenerative diseases, including reproductive problems and skeletal diseases such as Hip and Elbow Dysplasia. A mass of clinical experience supports this research. The vets involved in this research acknowledge that the diseases caused by pet foods are rarely linked to their cause by the public or vets in practice. This is because such damning research has not become common knowledge within the veterinary profession.”

Until fairly recently, vaccinating your pet annually was considered a safe practice for many devoted pet owners and veterinarians. The purpose of these vaccines is to protect our pets from viruses such as; parvo virus, feline leukemia, distemper, rabies, and others, which until recently was thought of as the only means of preventing these dangerous diseases. This sounds like a logical plan initially, however, a few vital questions must be answered.

Are Vaccines Effective? Experts are now revealing that pets can actually retain immunity from initially modified live virus vaccines for up to seven years and more, exactly the way human beings do to their boosters. No scientific data exists that supports the manufacturer’s label directions to revaccinate annually! We must question why our human children do not require annual vaccines, yet our pets need several vaccines each year! Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital has done many studies that have led to the conclusion that when we vaccinate adult animals that were previously vaccinated with live virus vaccines (such as distemper and parvo virus), the animals' antibodies actually block the new vaccine! Neither their antibody levels nor memory cells are increased, thus providing no additional protection from the initial vaccine. This means that not only are annual boosters for parvo and distemper in most cases unnecessary, but more importantly, they put your pet in potential danger of serious adverse reactions that DO occur more than pet owners realize!!

Are Vaccines Safe? Major veterinary colleges and many veterinarians question the risk of yearly vaccinations. However, most pet owners are unaware of the growing frequency of severe side effects from vaccines, ranging from allergic reactions to some serious health concerns. Some of these side effects are worse than the diseases we are aiming to prevent, such as Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (a disease where a dog rejects its own blood) and sarcomas in cats. Less than 50% of dogs with Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia survive! Puppies and kittens are at even more of a risk with combination shots. When an animal is vaccinated, it is meant to introduce the disease to the body and subsequently the body is supposed to be able to fight off the disease by building an immunity to it. However, it becomes complicated with three or four way combination vaccines. For these vaccines, there is an introduction of three or four diseases into the animal's body at one time. The body can only fight one disease at a time and develop an immunity fairly easily for that particular disease. When injected with several diseases at once, the animal can begin to loose authority. When doing this to a young, immature, growing body, it can create a real problem. “With the use of multivalent (combination: 4 in 1, 6 in 1, etc.) Vaccines that are repeated year after year, the frequency and severity of these side – effects in our pets has increased dramatically.” Dr. Donna Starita Mehan

New Protocol! As a result of these facts, the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital has adopted a new program for how we vaccinate our pets. “Our adoption of this routine vaccination program is based on the lack of scientific evidence to support the current practice of annual vaccination and increasing documentation showing that over vaccinating has been associated with harmful side effects. Of particular note in this regard has been the association of autoimmune hemolytic anemia with vaccination in dogs and vaccine associated sarcomas in cats- both of which are often fatal.” They recommend that after the initial puppy and kitten series of shots, cats and dogs will be vaccinated one year later and every three years thereafter.

Other vaccines such as corona virus, leptospirosis, and lyme are considered unnecessary. The effectiveness of the Lyme disease vaccine is often questioned. Many veterinarians and educated breeders we have contacted, do not recommend vaccinating for these three diseases. The American Animal Hospital President, Michael Paul, DVM, stated, “The intent of the opinion paper is to encourage veterinarians to consider vaccination procedures as medical decisions and not automatic actions prompted by a calendar.”