Finally, I'm getting the time to get to writing about something I have wanted to do for EVER at Lumigrate. (And finally, in mid October 2016 and after, I'm editing it and adding in some NEW things in comment, below). I'm getting to write health education that is focused about our pets, so I'm creating this topic with a focus on FOOD. Anyone who knows animals knows food is a major source of enjoyment for them. Think of Garfield, the cartoon cat. Snoopy and his food bowl.
When I tell people that I believe dogs and cats have had, over many years and decades, had a similar increase in symptoms that are basically "doggie autism" or "kitty autism", the usual response is to pause and think for a few seconds and say 'that makes sense, but I'd never thought of it'.
In the summer of 2015 I finally started seeing a little bit on the Internet from others working with animals to support what I was seeing and saying. In the summer of 2016 I'd get to have a brief conversation with Dr Temple Grandin and was thrilled she agreed with me about this being a likely situation -- and she and others have agreed to be interviewed or otherwise collaborate with me on information for me to provide that to the Lumigrate audience of YOUsers.
Many people know, and many do not, that I was around a lot of dogs as a child; my parents via my mother's wanting to have a stay-at-home career, had gotten into golden retrievers when in England with my dad's USAF military career at the time -- breeding, showing, selling puppies via their AKC kennel, Terranglo Kennels.
Home movies (I'm so old they were 8mm) show me pulling up on what may have been their pride and joy dog, Adam, who had risen to 'Grand Champion' at AKC competitions when I was young, yet they continued to have more problems than not with the litters' viability, and the veterinary bills were such that after basically a decade, they were still just breaking even financially.
It wasn't just "breaking the bank", it was breaking my father's heart and tender, autistic-like spirit, to be the one often being the one taking the dog for euthanizing, then burying the puppies' bodies in the ever-growing pet cemetary at the bottom of their mountain, near the kennel. Hip displasia, which you'll see at the very end of the list of "healthy" vs. "nonhealthy" pet symptoms, below, is mentioned as something that should not be occurring if a pet is "healthy".
Water and food and air --- hence, what was in the soils -- we can today suspect as part of the issues for the wellness level of my 'community of origin'. I was born with what we today can clearly see were "environmental health" issues, and I've been fighting the symptoms ever since.
One of the highlights of my childhood was the dogs, and ironically I've not had a dog of my own as an adult. Why would that be? The usual reasons, for someone with environmental health issues; responsible pet ownership/ guardianship requires quite a lot of money and I've spent money instead on figuring out how to stay well enough to enjoy life and function. This 'stuff we all have' gets into our brains (from the gut to the brain) and today we see rampant problems in people with attention and focus, spatial orientation, ability to process information correctly, responses to emotions that are not 'quite right' and on and on. The more I studied what I saw with humans, the more I saw the parallels with people's pets.
My learning disabilities affected my work performance in the 'fast paced' world of medicine. That was the word choice of the manager at a rehabilitation hospital (that is a nationally known big business) when they trained me, a place I resigned from within a couple of days once I figured out the monkeybusiness they were doing and got the manager's response to my questions just in case I was piecing the dots together incorrectly.
"They know how to make money and that's all I'll say" an old doctor who'd founded the hospital that was bought up by this big company at some point -- I just happened to be at a party with him just prior to my first day of training and after being hired.
Were the workers so incapable in their minds that they couldn't figure out what was going on there was not legal? Or were they aware of how what we were being asked to participate in was unethical and illegal? Why would they go along with it? To have a paycheck? Because it just didn't matter to them? That was after only a handfull of years after having begun my allopathic career as an occupational therapist in my mid 30's, I guess it just took me a long time to see all the dots, connect the dots, AND have the Internet become a tool for me in the last ten years to learn what the TRUTH IS. Before the Internet it was rare you'd connect with someone who'd have anything to say that helped you piece things together, or reinforce.
And so, currently, as I have recently taken an animal into a veterinary hospital / clinic. I suspect the veterinary world is now invested in by similar or same companies and leadership that has made the mainstream, organized, "mangling medicine" for humans the problem that it is for consumers, and the money-maker it is for those making the money.
Fond memories I have of the classmates I had whose fathers were our veterinarians in the area I grew up in, not big businesses.
Those with complex chronic symptoms in their brains and other body parts will have the effects in their professional lives: underachieving, underemployed, lack of funds for something you just don't take responsibly unless you have the time, home, and finances for pets. Please think about the priorities YOU have, and consider shifting some of your expenditures to doing better for those "furry friends" who depend upon you. Don't just rush over reading this, is my suggestion for YOU.
YOU have to be in the center of your pet's 'YOU model' as their human advocate, chosing the providers of information, food, medical providers, WATER (think quality/ safety of water for long-term wellness not just short-term).
So, off my soap box I will climb, and now into my photograph box. Below is a photo taken in the summer of 2009 when a litter of kittens was to come into the home of someone I was connected to; at Thanksgiving I'd end up being the human foster parent guardian of the cutie tortie in this photo; she was five months old. The first home she was given to had been tumultuous and broken up due to addictions and behaviors of 'this stuff we all have affecting us'.
It was, I and others believe, 'meant to be', to teach me, and lead me to information which has taken all this time to get put together and onto Lumigrate, which had been born in the spring of 2009, probably about the time these kittens were being conceived.
I realized early on with her that sensory integration / sensory processing disorder was something she appeared to have, and was seeking self-therapy via her play. I don't have a lot of contact with 'autism moms', so it didn't occur to me that she had "feline autism". I would come to believe she did, and maintain that message more loudly every day I go on and more information supports my theory.
I'd read what an autism mom said about the pupil dilation and behavior 'fit' occurring after eating certain foods. She was in a group I was invited to join, studying about using medicinal mushroom extract and veterinary medicine fenbendazole as a protocol for reversing symptoms. This was almost to the day three years after I'd suddenly and unexpectedly been savagely attacked -- crazily attacked -- by a cat who had always been without any aggression issues, behavior issues, etc. .... she'd just chewed incessantly and seemed to have what I'd call sensory integration processing problems. "Feline autism" seemed to be a reality.
It absolutely broke my heart, what happened to her health when she was two (euthanized four years after she was conceived), because I simply could not find anyone who knew what her symptoms 'meant', who could collaborate with me and figure out what to try for treatment. I was an 'autism mom' in a way, and there is nothing more dedicated to helping their babies than those mothers WHO HAVE THE DESIRE to SOLVE THE PROBLEMS AND the ability.
I took my responsibility seriously, and I took it personally when I couldn't find anything that helped enough, fast enough, before it progressed and she was deemed a dangerous cat and having to be euthanized. The veterinarian had several cases of it, though she didn't know what it was, in her long career. She said they're in so much psychic pain from the confusion in their brains about what reality is that they often felt to her they were welcoming the euthanization.
However, so many of these cats, dogs, horses and kids have moms or human guardian owners whose brains are goofed up with 'this stuff' that's combining to cause our environmental health issues, along with all the other body parts that get affected, they're struggling and spread thin, seeing through a haze or fog, sometimes called fibro fog or chemo brain (which is known to start BEFORE the chemotherapy so it's not just from the chemo, right?); so it's a 'catch 22'.
Those who have that ability to help and advocate are very much needed to pair with those needing assistance. Find someone to help you, if you need help to learn or 'do' some of the steps. Persist, it takes me a lot of time to find the people who I've patched together to help. Compensate them somehow. We are in this together. We're ultimately 'one', and we will shift this situation around together -- we simply have to decide to unplug from the mainstream and live our lives differently.
With my cat, in 2012/2013, I'd find dead ends and frustrations, similar to what you hear 'autism moms' go through. I even went to the "outside the box" providers I knew of or was told about, and today on the Internet I can find more experts in the US putting out new information that aligns with what I was and am figuring out: she had feline autism, as I've said, above.
Many "outside the box" of human wellness information in holistic, forward-thinking circles are recently calling 'chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)' 'adult autism'. Other topics at Lumigrate will elaborate about SpoildeyCat, so please go with those if you wish, I think they'll be of great help to people challenged by pet problems. I wanted to open this topic with the overview of my history with cats and dogs.
My life-long history with pets has sometimes had some 'bad luck'; my first puppy was taken by coyotes AFTER the cleft palate surgery my parents paid for was successful. Remember earlier when I said they were not making money on their litters of puppies due to veterinary bills? That was another example -- Pootsie my first puppy.
My first kitten disappeared when we were on our only vacation of significance, and years later a kitten made it's way to our mountain home who I pieced together was the kitten, probably, of that kitten that wandered away in 1969 and grew up.
She was always very tiny, and had a lot of bad things happen to her -- her ears were frostbitten before she found us, she lost a foot to the fan on the Jeep when my dad got in it to come get me at dog training, and then she became partially paralyzed from a spinal cord injury from a horse kick or car hit we figured (more likely the car), requiring me as a tweenager to regularly manually empty her bladder by sqeezing it. Her bowels didn't stop things right, nor was the movement of the intestines to mix things up right, so she had loose stool leak from her ongoing so she had to hang out on a towel when inside, and be in a big cage sometimes.
And we fed her cat food that I look at today, and the list of ingredients, and wonder WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED had we not fed her that crap? Sorry, that's what it was -- best known brand, there was even a store just for that brand up the road a mile. I think the business is still there. They're still in business and one's located near where I'm working right now, in Grand Junction, Colorado, editing this topic on October 14, 2016.
Was that a way to have the veterinarians making more money, making us think that brand of food was great for our pets and everyone fed it and so we were comparing similarly fed pets and nobody would know how unwell they were? How far back did this strategy go to get people convinced the foods to purchase were good? Why did we get away from feeding our animals real food? We'd make rice with ground beef for dogs that were unwell, per our veterinarian's advise, why didn't we feed that all the time, or similar? So many things I would love to 'do over' if possible. Going back is not possible, only the present is where we can be, so I hope this yelps YOU with your present pet and it's food.
I'd come to realize I was connected to working with O'Rio Grande when he was the age my beloved dog had been when I left for college. His health was so deteriorated as all his human siblings had left for college and the parent uprooted and went to live in the 'big city', leaving the dog with a family member coming every day to 'visit' and feed and give fresh tap water. His father was a border collie from up the road; my dog's father was a collie from up the road.
His mother was a yellow lab who'd been a fabulous, experienced mother of many healthy laboradore puppies; mine's mother was a golden retriever who'd not had previous puppies because she had some mental retardation which was likely from her dying as a puppy and being brought back to life after a few minutes, but they weren't sure she'd be a good mother AND they weren't sure it was not a genetic issue SO you don't breed a dog like that. Not in my parent's belief system at least. So now I have that second chance! Working with the owner to teach what I believe is causing his issues, and what to do about them -- and what it will cost to change things -- and having them purchase and make those changes -- then becomes the long-term situation to work within.
I got lucky with my second puppy, she lived almost 16 years, eating the brand of food the cats did. She won first place in dog training, and was just as sweet as could be; anxious though. She didn't like being at dog training and around the other dogs, she did it because I was requiring it of her. So I didn't go on, the next year would entail jumping and things that would just not be 'her thing'. She and I spent time together literally every day except that month on vacation in 1969 when she was a puppy, something planned in the family to visit grandparents that summer before her mother was unexpectedly impregnated by an interloping male collie, as I said before.
We'd hike, play in the creek, sit and think on 'our rock' on the mountain, and I know now I would not be who I am today had it not been for that time and influence. Earthing / grounding / discharging sitting on that rock with my arm on her. It was basically like meditation, sitting there. And she'd nudge me with her nose if I quit soothing her with my left arm on her back and neck.
O'Rio did this the first day I met him with the owner's friend who he had formed a close attachment to. This similarity put my 'radar up' and I put on my thinking cap in June of 2015 and believe he has canine autism, fibromyalgia, movement disorder, depression, hypothyrodism (and I might presume could benefit from iodine like so many people, but this takes input from experts I'm having to secure) -- and thankfully all his symptoms improved -- and rapidly -- upon my becoming his primary caretaker and then the information provider to the owner and the rest of his human family.
RIGHT NOW if you're feeding your dog water that you're not sure what's in it, and if you know what's in it and you're not comfortable with it -- not purifying the water or getting purified water, I suggest you start NOW on that. Most people have water in their homes for themselves that could be shared with their pet, and then continue looking at how to get the ideal water for your needs in your home where you're living. Then next, work on food, as well as if they're getting frequent walks to eliminate, long enough walks to get things pumping around -- it's part of our elaborate detoxification system. It's not necessarily going to cost you money to make improvements, and in the long run you'll likely save money on decreased costs AND your animal will have an improved quality of life.
When you have a lot of dogs, as we did with Terranglo Kennels, you run out of names after a while, and we were at that point with this one and her sister, who was going to a family friend. So we named them after the two types of jam on the counter -- peach and pineapple. They renamed Pineapple when they took her to their completed, custom built home in the mountains nearby. Peach got to become a semi house dog and be my dad's last dog of his life, transitioning my parents from working and having kids at home to being retired and being together without all the work things keeping them busy before.
The dog in the photo below is Scooter the Wonder Dog, she was the dog of the man I jokingly referred to as my 'insignificant other' -- we never lived together, he wasn't up for that commitment stuff, and he had episodes on a regular basis that were identified and labeled as 'PTSD'; since he'd been in a war everyone thought that was the reason but I had training from the VA psyche unit and knew they'd studied the brains of people who did and didn't have PTSD symptoms, and there were physical differences AND there was a connection to their family of origin's behaviors. Dots to 'connect', which would take me my whole career as an OT to figure out, and then after. I might still be polishing what I figured in my years as a health information concierge and provider of innovative education.
I happened to work at a place when he and I got together with the therapy manager having a program at the high-end nursing home / retirement community for therapy dog certification. So Scooter breezed through at the age of approximately fourteen, to become a therapy dog.
Scooter lived to about 19, he said when we last talked, which was after Lumigrate was on the Internet. We were all together for a few years, and they followed me when I moved to western Colorado in 2003/4. She went on to become HIS 1:1 therapy dog, as I noticed in the mornings first thing act 'on eggshells' around him on days when he would later blow up at some point.
From the anxiety, from the 'stuff inside, like all of us' making his behaviors be different than it would be otherwise. He'd attribute the blisters on his skin which was associated with Agent Orange exposure he was told, to his state of mind and 'irritation'.
"I have to get medical help, Mardy, somewhere, this stuff is driving me nuts." That was one of the last things he said to me. I said 'see the naturopath on my website, I'll help you get that (paid for/compensated)" but he was like a rolling stone now with an RV and off he went. That was 2009. I hope he's kept up with new information here. He was a training coordinator in his industry, and I'm not saying anything publicly that he did not say publicly. Frustrating it is though, as I know he'd be improved had he stayed and done what I'd suggested.
But that wasn't his reality. He thanked me for demonstrating that no matter how difficult or long-standing my issues, I worked on them, and things improved and I'd keep whittling away. That was, perhaps, the reason for our sharing time, for him -- for me, it was to learn SO much, including much from Scooter the wonder dog. He fed her a food that had a dog on the bag that looked a lot like her. Now, is that a good reason to chose the food you feed?
It was the same maker as the food my family fed ours that I 'grew up with'. I'd like to think had we progressed her diet and he'd seen the effects it would have been food for thought about what he was consuming. This is how animals show us the way!
He didn't stick to, nor really have, a 'vaccine plan' like what I've created information about on Lumigrate, and she became deaf within hours of having vaccines just before moving. Was the vet suggesting getting ahead on vaccines so they'd make that extra money? Who knows. But I learned from that, as I'd just gone AGAINST my vaccine plan and gotten my first flu vaccine, with similar symptoms and also visible skin symptoms -- finally being able to really see the cause and effect for me with vaccines. And the dog. Our teachers often have a lot of fur on them! And I realized in taking a dog to a veterinary appointment recently that how they suggest or not about the vaccine schedule in the computer is a good indicator if it's a good 'match' for you with that veterinarian and possibly clinic if that's their M.O. for operations.
Same photographer of both photos below, coincidentally, who will remain anonymous. Many 'fractures' happen today in relationships. Have you noticed that? I did. But I was also changing so much, setting 'the bar' for the kind of people I'd tolerate and not. Which brings me to talking about 'behaviors'. In humans or our pets, just because the bar is lowered to a level because that's what the norm is now does not mean it's healthy behavior. "Normal" is now very unwell. Know what healthy and unhealthy behavior symptoms are and use these things in your self work or when working with others, including your pets. Chose whether you're going to work with that, around it, or avoid it. Too many animals are suffering because people are not figuring out what they need in their home environment and with their lifestyles, including diet. Food and water. (Water quality not just availability / quantity.)
Again, our teachers often are those closest to us. Take the opportunities presented by your interactions to learn and grow OR keep doing as you're doing and keep gettin' what you got, as the saying goes. And appreciate what those people or animals brought you in the past and let it go, focus on today and what YOU can DO TODAY for YOU and others you have the capacity to influence.
So it's with great pleasure to have the information on Lumigrate which I've built over the years, and get back around to consulting with people but now not about occupational therapy and from the box of conventional medicine, but simply as someone being a concierge of information and learning. I certainly use all the experiences from my life, including what I know from being an occupational therapist, and my years prior to that in major University health education. But this is more FUN when we can include DOGS and CATS! There, I was the person who set things up for those getting nutrition advise, and it was all students and no dogs or cats. However, I see such commonalities in what humans and other animals can be doing for their food and drink. So this topic finally comes to fruition.
It was inspired by seeing this link going around Facebook, and it was simply the right information at the right time as in 2015 I have consulted with people who have had as part of their family system a cat and now a dog (as well as the adults and children involved, some of which are adults but with massive issues that are simply not being resolved by 'the system', so they want or get with me the outside the box advise on things to learn). It's a topic from HolisticAndOrganixPetShoppe titled about the top 12 worst dog food brands.
holisticandorganixpetshoppe.com/top-12-worst-dog-food-brands.html [1]
YOUsers who know me can figure how I resonated with this when I read it, at the above link:
Veterinarians were not taught about nutrition in college. So do your homework. Find a good holistic vet [2] or animal nutritionist that is educated in nutrition and doesn't work for a pet food company.
Whatever you do, remember, this is your furry family member. It is your responsibility as a pet parent to give the best foods you can provide to extend his/her quality of life. Which also means less visits to the vet.
If you're willing to pay a high price for quality commercial pet foods, then you can also afford a homecooked or raw diet. [3] In fact raw diets may cost less than your premium kibbles or canned foods. You may feed 12 oz to your dog of kibble and only have to feed 8 oz of raw. So you save on money that way as well.
It's a great website, and has a lot of interesting stuff, as well as the best brands and a LOT of 'grate' information! You can have portraits of your pet, even. 
I have included pets in our vaccine planning thread, and have continued to carry the torch about my feline friend and partner in life for a few years, connecting dots as to what caused her issues, abd "forwarding the ball", so to speak, with the theory that we all basically have one extent or another of autism symptoms --- "we" meaning not only people, but cats and apparently also dogs now too.
A local animal behaviorist I contacted about my cat, Teri Thomas, emailed back that she'd put it together that dogs were having autistic symptoms in her experience, she asked if I knew about Temple Grandin and 'sensory integration', which I have for many years.
When I was in OT school learning about SI I thought the dysfunction seemed like a minor form of what is going on with 'autism'. This was the mid '90s, I'd not heard of 'autism spectrum' yet. So I LOVED IT that a local animal behaviorist in 2013 was seeing this stuff similarly and that in turn helped me process what I thought. Others substantiating it, my perhaps substantiating their thinking too, it's a 360. Yes, the Internet is such a helpful tool for advancing what we 'know'.
What we were taught in the conventional, allopathic training at University was staggeringly lacking, and I remember thinking 'are doctors learning to be doctors sitting through equally bad versions of education with equally impaired students going on to become our future providers? Wow, there are only a handfull of us in this room I'd want as an OT, I wonder if that's true for medical doctors".
And I would suppose it was the case across campus in the classrooms where the chosen ones for the veterinary medicine program were gathered together learning what the power that be and fund wanted them to be learning. You'll notice that the DVM expert I lead to on this thread will talk about what they experienced in the late 1970s/early 1980s with education. YOU need to know these things and always keep them in mind when looking for those to advise you.
No matter what area of your life. I work hard to have Lumigrate be a FREE resource available to YOUsers and I do not exclude anything from what I write and make available so that people only get that if they're one to support my work with exchanging whatever they'll exchange in helping me to keep things afloat. If someone is able to DIY, it's here. If they prefer or need assistance, then I'm here to go with it. The About tab tells the current how to get ahold of me (I've yet to figure out how to update the info at Contact Us, which I actually had figured out once in the past and then couldn't figure it out again but the About functions like writing in forums or blog so I can update that as things change).
The more we see the commonalities between the disciplines ... and the species, the more we'll be able to believe the common cause(s) and therefore perhaps find the solutions too. Remember, my topics are never aimed for those who are going to spend 15 minutes and expect their lives to change. Think of this as a seminar you sign up for, or a class, or a degree program, depending upon your goals and your condition or that of whomever you are working to help.
My favorite story about my early times advising people 1:1 after starting Lumigrate was someone who'd probably known me when I was born. He was somewhat of a dog expert in the Front Range and had contacted me to ask about a family member with what is diagnosed conventionally as an autoimmune disorder. I said via Facebook chat 'you know that grains are associated with inflammation' essentially and he stopped and LOL-ed and said that he's long told people not to feed dogs grains but hadn't thought about that information applying to humans. Stop and think about that, and about what YOU might see if you just stop and think.
Quit expecting others to figure things out for you; put your heads together yes, get new info too. But do as much as you can in that regard and own it. I experienced that with SpoileyCat's case, the local vets I went to would give me their behaviorist assistant and they just were not thinking, they were regurgitating and not listening and processing my details with what they knew already. So I'd press on.
There is AMPLE evidence if you look into 'evolutionary ______' ... fill in the blank with psychiatry, medicine, etc., that the more people eat like their distant ancestors, the more they have the symptoms associated with wellness. I certainly cite as a major source, Westin A Price, DDS, and his foundation that is focused on human nutrition and his research stemming from seeing the drastic change in the mouths of his patients from the 1910s to the 1920s, there was a marked difference. (You can Search on his name at our Search bar at Lumigrate, presuming it's working, and find many, many things that I've provided since 2012 or so that help guide our YOUsers to knowing about those who support and teach his work.)
Another favorite highlight was the owner of the local pet supply company that helped me so much with my cat in 2011-2013. Regarding feeding cats, she basically painted a picture of a housecat taking down a cow, though genetically perhaps the big cats did take down things like that. Why is there not mouse in a can?
Around that time, I was connected to Dr Christina Chambreau (see below), a holistic DVM and eduator on the east coast (of the US) that's an educator about homeopathy and holistic medicine in veterinary circles, again due to the uniquely interesting problem with my cat at that time. When given proper things for wellness, and not given the things that work against them cats ideally live into their 20s, dogs (depending on breed) into the high teens -- similar to the humans in some places living to 120s (see the topic about water and interviews with Joseph Bender).
The human part I knew from the acadamy of anti aging MDs I'd collaborated with in the past, but I'd never heard that longevity information about dogs and cats. It makes sense. We're all being impacted by basically the same corruption of the systems we've been lead to believe were who we should follow. We as the HUMAN GUARDIANS have the responsibility to offer our pets, to the best of our abilities, the 'right stuff'.
I remember a man who was in Chow Down Pet Supply (a growing pet supply store that started in my 'home town' on the Front Range of Colorado and then expanded to the Western Slope where I 'migrated to' in 2003/4). He was there to purchase food for his dog and happened to be there when the owner was there and was educating him. I was waiting my turn to talk with her as she just was 'the bomb' when it came to information for this baffling, unique problem with my cat.
I realized how much she was saying about the DOG that the MAN was PAYING ATTENTION TO because he LOVED HIS DOG and how it was actually information that applied to what the MAN was eating too! I wondered if he would make the connection, or if he'd be like the dog expert I refer to, above, who didn't make the connection until I showed it to him. Hence my titling this Animals Showing Us the Way. Plus their love and devotion and many other things show us the way to healing our selves and the world/ Earth!
The man I'd advised in 2009 did follow up with me, the family member did get on a path to a new level of healer -- they didn't go so far as to do all that change to the diet away from what the norms of society were at that time, but they were experiencing improved symptoms. And they were satisfied with that, not wanting to do something as drastic as give up bread.
BUT, it turns out, as time went on, NEW sources came out that I've included at Lumigrate, namely Dr. Stephanie Seneff and others, who are showing us that it was ultimately an interplay with many factors but which stems from the way agriculture was using glyphosate, the active ingredient in "Roundup"; the ultimate problem was NOT the 'gluten' IN MOST CASES (not for those with "true celiac disease", though, which is a very low number of cases).
It has to do with the shikimate pathway the cells use, such as the micro-organisms in our guts. This will apply to dogs and cats too! And I've continued to cover these things in the forums at Lumigrate.
So look around the forums. I 'bump' the better things and update them so they're at the top of the forums, and have created things in the blog to lead people to the essential information OR created new forums that are titled in a way they'll be prioritized by our YOUsers. Just put in the time to click around the forums (and blog's most recent topics). You'll find the leading edge, cutting edge information that I've set up for YOU ... and your pets.
I'm looking forward to bringing some more easy to read, enjoyable APPLICATIONS of this information too.
For starters, here's the link to the topic I created about my cat, and added onto i when I found information about a holistic veterinary medicine doctor who'd put information on the Internet this year (2015) about her connecting dots to a client's cat's behavior being autistic-like and how treatment was successful. Here's the link to where I added that comment on to the 2013 thread that I started; my cat had been euthanized within a month prior. I was like a dog on a bone wanting to figure this out! www.lumigrate.com/forum/being-advocate-your-pet-my-story-spoildeycat-my-greatest-10-pound-teacher#comment-2911 [4]
AND my first 'job' with dogs growing up at my parents' commercial kennel was scooping poop in the runs, and then also helping with the water buckets -- fresh well water given to them every day after you'd run the cold water to get any of what is coming out of the long pipes out of the long pipes. And then the food, which was kibbel with water put onto it, stirred a bit, and served once a day.
So please learn about water today. There's much about water that we simply are remiss in knowing and are inadvertently harming our selves, children, pets, parents, spouses, friends, lovers, etc. Here's the link to what I've prepared on Lumigrate (yes, it's something for a day or a week on it's own to really go over it fully, but at least I narrowed the information down for YOU!). www.lumigrate.com/forum/water-key-environmental-wellness-or-illness-more-important-today-ever-many-aspects-consider [5]
Live and learn. Learn and live better! ~ Mardy
Dr Chambreau is the homeopathic / holistic veterinary expert and educator I referred to, above, who I used personally in 2013 with my baffling cat (which I came to figure had something that would equate to autism in humans, but only later, after she was euthanized because I couldn't figure it out even with the resources I was turning to, back at that time). This is the link to her website's home page: christinachambreau.com/ [6]
After I had something to report to her, I called back to tell Dr Chambreau what I'd been told by the 'local' holistic veterinarian I was told about when asking where I could go to get titers done for vaccine rather than simply going by schedule. "The only one in the area is in Montrose", I was told (this was in late 2012 or very early 2013). So that's where I went with my cat, and thankfully, that holistic veterinarian, also a woman of about Dr Chambreau's age, interestingly, did have experience with the condition. Thankfully. It was AWFUL to have something that was so baffling and dangerous for me, and clearly confusing and frightening and AWFUL for the poor cat.
Dr. Chambreau remembered us, was very accessible, interested, and I will presume will continue to help advance the knowledge of those who focus on animal wellness from a holistic standpoint going forward. I was very pleased to see the new information on her website when working on this in July 2015.
In my opinion, the increase in special needs pets today goes hand in hand with the childrens' trends, so use your 'stone' to get the birds in your home -- treat the whole system. And much tracks to the foods and diet; I want to provide the link to her website's coverage of information on this aspect, specifically. This is a 2014 nutrition panel which is on a drop down on the tabs at her website: christinachambreau.com/learn-more/hunt-valley-videos [7], and you'll see the video of her presentation at the top with this verbage:
A panel of leaders in holistic health for animals and people spoke on feeding fresh foods for animals. Especially valuable are the slides in Kendell Reichart’s talk showing the changes seen in red blood cells for raw fed dogs versus kibble fed.
You'll see four videos, the first says "Christina Chambreau".
Here's an overview of what she presents if you watch the video:
Nutrition whether for people or for animals. What's best, fresh or processed? Fresh.
What's the next step? Best to get the ingredients at a big store or at a local farm? Local farm.
Does that really make a difference? (everyone agrees, they think so)
How many of you are still feeding processed canned or dry and why?
We need to learn how to do raw.
Messiness and bones all over the place with big dogs.
A specific diet from a 'prescription food' made for a specific problem that has helped symptoms, is why one person is still feeding a prepared, processed product.
Now, Dr C points out/asks: if you had allergies, would it be better for you to be eating things made fresh from things you purchase locally or a processed, prepared diet that was commercially made.
A lot of people don't feed raw because the veterinarian dissuades them. So Dr C gives her background as a DVM, if someone needs a vet "telling them what to do". However, she continued, those people out there telling you what to do can often know more than she does. What did they learn in veterinary school about nutrition? One class, one credit.
In college they went to a pet food company, back in the late 1970s (as she became a veterinarian in 1980). And it was sponsored/ taught basically by a pet food company. They were dogs living in cages, they were being bred to do well on that food. She never thought about that though, at the time -- it just seemed good that the food was doing well for dogs.
Reasons not to use raw were asked. Answers included Convenience. Portion size. How to know all the organic and what's fed to animals for meat. So going grain-free kibble was what one in the audience was doing. Do you know where that food is coming from? If you're concerned about what ingredients to get, be more concerned when it comes from a bag or can. The honesty of the company for what is in the bag compared to reality. And then the AFCO rules... beef dinner can mean 5% beef. Beef flavor can have no beef.
One woman who tried feeding raw gave her dog chicken and the dog looked at her. Plus aren't there supposed to be other vitamins with it. Another person said price, because with four beagles it would be a large quantity. Also nutrients and what they need.
We've only been feeding processed food about a century. Until right after WW2, most were not fed processed even though it was available. When we had TV dinners for us, there as stuff left over to make something with so they came up with more popular foods. Dr Morris was a vet who saw dogs and cats eating table scraps who by that time were not healthy. So the dogs got the tripe, the lungs, or scavenged rotten or fresh meat -- dogs can mostly eat very rotten meat and do fine. So his clinic he cooked vegetables and meat and that was the beginning of Hills pet food company. It was bought out by Colgate Palmolive and they had a different commitment to the animals.
When she became a vet, cats were dying because people trusted the regulators in the government to be having the processed foods be correct, but there wasn't enough taurine in it, which was causing the cats to be ill. Also, some companies just took dog food and labeled it for cats.
Then they changed things to address the urine problems in cats and screwed that up.
She started out with doing homeopathy but she couldn't cure a lot of animals until they got onto better food. They had to have enough nutrition in their body to really heal.
She's been teaching since 1987, so she's talked to tens of thousands of people. She hears over and over, the goop in the corner of the eyes has disappeared, the dog quit eating plastic, the dog quit licking the photographs, the cat stopped drinking water, I don't need to give them baths all the time.
If you buy chicken at the store, you know it's organic or not. You know it's a chicken leg at least. If you have it in a can, you don't really know what you're purchasing and if it's fresh and local you know even better.
How do you know how much food to eat? How do you know what volume of food you should eat -- answer, my stomach is full. How do you know how much to feed your children? Answer, there is no one right answer. Feed to where they look lean and strong.
How many of you feed the amount it says on the dry food? They're trying to sell more food --- 'nobody feeds what it says on the bag'. The answer is YOU figure it out for your dog.
Our dogs and cats are all different.
How are dogs and cats designed. They have gripping and tearing teeth. They have one big set of bone crunching teeth. Their jaws only go up and down, they do not go side to side. They are not designed for chewing. The incisors in the front are to gnaw meat off of the bone. So if you're not giving them bones with a little meat, those teeth are never exercised.
So for a healthy jaw and healthy teeth, you need to feed pieces of meat that are big enough to sink their teeth into, whether that's heart or liver. Sometimes dogs will do enough gnawing on carrots or a big vegetable will do it.
Notice what else is happening to my body when she demonstrates this eating movement? Her whole body is getting chiropractic-like adjustment when I eat.
The stomach in dog and cat, like ours is, is acid, but the food sits there a long time. Acid doesn't do much for grains and vegetables, it's for meat.
The intestines are really short --- that's why you have to puree the vegetables for them to consume.
In the wild what do they eat? Something with fur and skin, bones, muscle meat, organs, and ground up, predigested vegetables in the stomachs and intestines. That's what they're designed for anatomically to eat. So that's where she comes in to make her raw food recommendations.
How many of you have heard different opinions on how people should eat?
Does that mean that being Westin A Price and mostly meat and fermented vegetables is right for everyone, or being vegan is not the way to raise a child? No. Once you're into this fresh foods for animals camp, you're going to get the same thing, all kinds of opinions.
Richard _____ talks about grains, and he's committed to sustainability on the planet and he's wanting us to not see us raising animals to feed our pets. But she's as committed to that but looks at it differently. If every one of you found four or five people who hunt deer, or go to a butcher shop. If you could feed your animals that, or for just the cost of butchering --- about a dollar a pound -- you'd not be eating meat intended for people.
If you go to local farms, you can get chicken feet, chicken backs, turkey necks, hearts,liver, ears, gizards -- things that most Americans don't eat. I believe in this, however, rather than feeding a lot of grains. However, she says again that she respects Richard __________. It's perhaps possible to feed grain and have them do well.
So there are all these opinions. You have to do what Arbor was talking about; you watch your animal and see how your dog or cat does. Keep a journal. She's been doing this for years. People about 13 years ago told her to write a book. She realized what was missing in what was available already was the people DECIDING what was best for their animal. So her book is called The Journal. There are some introduction pages on how healthy they can be, and overview. You need to read and know the early warning signs of illness, that's important, then it talks about how to make the journal FUN and work....
Write in pretty, FUN colors, what the animal is doing. We want to track the ill symptoms but we want to track what they're doing well.
And then holistic alternatives, such as nutrition like is the focus of this seminar being recorded, and not vaccinating. (Please see the vaccine plan / vaccine rights topic at Lumigrate, have a plan for your pets and people.)
As part of the beginning introduction, she talks about animals that are really healthy and what we see. That's where conventional veterinarians are lacking. They tolerate a lot of illness because they don't know what to do with it.
How many of you have dogs who have crud in the corners of their eyes? What about skin odor and they need bathing on a regular basis? Chronically waxy ears you're having to tend to? These are early signs, it's not there's an ear or eye infection, but the underlying vibrational pattern that is running the animal is out of whack.
Each animal (and each person) is born with a certain energetic pattern, based upon the mother's health and etc. Each one is sensitive to certain things. Some animals can eat dry food their whole life and live a long life, or get vaccinated their whole life and be fine. Others are so sensitive on their first vaccine they die, or there are only certain foods they can eat. That's why on the Internet and elsewhere you're going to get so many opinions.
By and large, her experience of feeding fresh food since 1990 is 80% of the animals that go onto a raw food diet are significantly better. And if they had those early warning signs, they'll go away. Cats on a raw food diet rarely if ever will drink water. That's healthy, as long as they're not on dry food.
Then there's a master symptom list. It shows you how to look for early warning signs.
Then you write in the journal how they are doing.
So if you're changing the diet, you write that down in the journal.
If you have a dog doing well on an elimination diet. So if it seems to be allergic to chicken, you'd start with feeding raw beef. However, about 80% of the time, once they're on a raw food diet, what was cooked and processed causing allergies/problems can be fed raw without it causing problems. Not always, but usually.
Dogs on a raw food diet eat less volume AND that means less stool to clean up. And the stool is just white powder and it completely dissolves. Think about that for a moment. When we're feeding processed food they have huge, stinky stools. When you're feeding fresh, appropriate foods for that individual animal, they're that small and they just melt. So what's in the processed food is filler and they can't digest it. You may discover that the stools get worse at one point when you start feeding differently.
She goes to a local farm, they carry these tubes for $1.50 a pound, which is beef heart and beef scraps. Right now she has one cat, her limit is two cats from my husband because I travel so much. Then she has a bag of chicken backs. They're sort of free range chickens. ... he gets them at 4 weeks and then they have a few weeks they're running around loose. I'm not saying this is THE BEST, but it's what works for her and for her cat. She sits down in front of the TV ... her cat wants the pieces to be about 1-2 inches.
She has a friend in Florida who rescues cats and she feeds once a day, and she's a vegan. She got a container out from the fridge that had thawed of chicken legs and thighs and has a friend put them in containers for the freezer with 10 as she has 10 cats. She has a friend that puts them in the containers as she can't stand handling it.
She gave each cat a thigh or a leg, with the skin, the bone. Each animal has differences in what they can do .... pancrease might not be healthy in a dog whose owner in the audience said her dog can't do skin or fat ... Standard Process pancreas supplement is what she mentions maybe trying. Dr C relates about a case with a cat that got symptoms from chicken, throwing up.
For her cat she chops things up into small pieces, then adds coarsely ground meat, then pureed liver and pureed vegetables. Cats need about 10-20% vegetables. She purees the liver because the cat likes it better. She uses beef liver, not chicken, because it's cheaper. ($1 versus $4 per pound).
How easy it is, it takes three hours one afternoon about every six or eight weeks, putting it into the freezer and she's not made the improvement yet to do away with plastic and go to metal or glass, she's using plastic. Best to thaw it in your fridge. This is how easy it is to serve breakfast, because some people think this is going to be harder. There are hunks in there that the cat actually gets to use his teeth and he's sinking his teeth into it.
If you have a dog at home, you can prepare ahead or make them part of your family's meals every night.
Depending upon how many and how big your animals are. So at farmer's markets, just before they close, a lot of the farmers are willing to ditch the vegetables to you for feeding your animals. So then you may process the vegies that night. It depends on how many and how big your dogs are, you might buy equipment that makes this easier.
But say you are with one dog ... you always keep your food processor sitting out. You can cut off the hard part of the broccholi that looks not good for your dinner. Eat your vegetables, put the leftovers in the food processor. Some people say only raw and only cooked vegetables, and she says use both as some things are more bioavailable cooked and some raw.
What about if you have olive oil or garlic in your foods that you'd give to the animals.
There's very little you should not feed your animals. She doesn't recommend putting extra onion in when preparing for your dog. Say you made a tomato sauce that had onions in it ....
You don't want to feed expensive chocolate to them, cheap chocolate is fine, avocado is fine. Garlic is fine. There's a food called AvoDerm, it has avocado ..... you can't feed the skin or the pit, but avocado is fine. So you could put some rice in if you had some of that with your dinner. One woman in Columbia who had a very large dog realized that her dog needed 1 T of rice per day was needed in with the three cups of food the dog was consuming. (She had a healthy pet food store.) So if you notice the way the dog looks based on these experiments just like with yourself.
She is of the belief of no grains, in the wild do your dogs eat animals that are eating rice? Maybe wild rice. Corn? Maybe, for a few months the mice might when the corn is ripe. They'll be eating seeds and other things. If you had some left over, it's fine to put it in IF it's not a problem. Dr Pitkaren says yes to grains.
Another example about foods
Grapes were brought up. They were killing dogs, they thought, because grapes and strawberries are among the most pesticided foods. Then a dog died that the owners had not allegedly sprayed their grapes, but it wasn't that carefully investigated. Could a neighbor have sprayed, perhaps, for instance. So if you've been feeding grapes and raisins, stick to organic. If you've never fed them, don't do it, just 'cause she's kind of on the fence about it --- in the wild would they really eat grapes?
Most importantly, YOU need to find out what works for YOU and your dog. If you looked at the early warning signs and didn't notice any difference when you were doing vegetables. You can get the early warning signs on her website, you don't need the journal for that.
As far as nuts go. They don't digest nuts if they're whole. They might appear to chew but they're not really able to chew a note up. The stomach acid likely doesn't digest it.
Animals that are supposed to 'chew their food' have flat teeth. Mammals that are supposed to chew their food will have flat surfaces on their teeth, like cows, horses, people.
If it's a treat for your dog and your dog LOVES it, then it falls in the category of 'am I going to spend money that gives my dog fun because they enjoy it that's not giving nutrition'. It's perfectly fine -- anything can be shared as a 'treat'. But some people might not be able to afford anything but what they need for nutrition. Dogs aren't eating a lot of grains, so you buy all these human snack treats that are all raw and nuts,
She married into Baltimore and they eat lox and bagels with cream cheese for breakfast. But give some of that to dog as a treat UNTIL you go to the journal. The question always is what did my dog eat just before the symptoms? Is it the bagel, the cream cheese, or the lox.
She relates that one of her main purposes in life is to be the mediator. YOU need to figure out what works for your animals.
Question from someone with a pet with missing teeth. You have to be appropriate to that. Remember, they are not 'chewing'. You may need to experiment. You certainly do small chunks, better than ground but ground's an option. Do you do raw fish, like a whole fish. Yes and she said better yet, you take the fillets off for yourself and give the head, tail and backbone to the animal.
"Don't feed cooked bones, they splinter?" How many heard this? How many have heard veterinarians say this? She was lecturing to 200 technicians once, and asked. Only a few knew that the problems they saw was from raw. Bones CAN get stuck. A stick can get stuck somewhere. Raw bones don't really cause problems often. What causes the problem ... the chicken leg, for instance, has all this stuff that hooks the muscles onto it. The dried out bone with nothing hooked onto it that a dog gets is the problem.
Dogs in the wild are not likely to eat a dried out bone unless they're starving. It's a slightly higher risk, they don't necessarily make a problem. After you've cooked bones for a soup, look at how flexible they are. What about choking? That can happen, in 30 years she's never had one choke and die. She doesn't recommend you put out food and leave no matter WHAT kind of food, processed or fresh / raw. Stay around so you know nothing got stuck.
Someone in the audience said they'd get on the floor with her dog with a leg on a bone. "It was a bonding experience". The dog would take the meat off the bone and eat it, quickly. Another 'frenchie' she has will eat fast, regurgitate it sometimes.
Another in the audience talked about another person who fed raw, the dog ate fast, threw up and the owner removed the dog from the room and cleaned it up rather than just letting it eat it.
Dr C said she has a few clients who have their dogs scavenging in the woods and their food bills are $0 now -- just keep them off the roads.
It has to be a bite wound to get rabies .. they say it doesn't but it really does. So an animal can eat an animal that has rabies without getting rabies.
SO:
There are health benefits.
You'll save money.
You won't have as many stools.
Your dogs will live longer.
The dogs like the food.
You know what is in the food, so you can do an allergenic diet. You don't know what is in processed foods.
How many who are feeding raw feel it's more, less, same? It costs her 1/4 what it would cost me to feel a high quality canned to my cat, she said because she's making it not purchasing a raw food diet.
As you'll see with Kendall and _____ in their presentations,
I don't know about vitamin D toxicity, but feeding a raw food diet should help the body cleanse, then if you support that with holistic modalities that should clean that up.
Lyme -- if you have a healthy animal it won't show symptoms of Lyme. If you have a positive antibody for Lyme but it's asymptomatic, don't even worry about it. Feed a raw food diet.
For those who haven't already been feeding raw, just from hearing her so far, how many have been converted.
Then at the end we'll have Kathleen ask. If anyone's left then ... we'll go in the lobby and talk (because they might need this room).
A woman in the audience says: I buy almost 500# at a time, and have three freezers, one woman said.
One very important piece, this is new 'freaking news'. A month and a half ago on their monthly homeopathy veterinary webinar, even with the free range chickens -- really truly chickens running around and eating grass not just with a door they could go out -- if they are being fed GMO grains, you develop problems in your dogs and cats.
So now we need to up the ante. But local, free range AND..... she digresses --- there's a farm called The Contented Rooster Farm in Hartford's farmer's market, and the man says that we've gotten to expect these chickens that have big breasts ..... we've bred them in a way they can't get their nutrition naturally, they have to be fed grains .... 90% of their nutrition comes from grains, even if they're outside 24/7. Sonow we need to find did the beef get finished on grain or not?
What about our venison .... the farm across from her kills deer year round because they're eating on the farm, so the deer are eating GMO soybeans and corn all the time, she wants deer from the woods. Your neighbors are spraying the grass, do you want the deer that's hanging out on your lawn? So today, this year for her, it's about upping the ante about what we're eating and our animals are eating.
Other seminars at this tab are :
Kendell Reichart
Kevin Matthews
Kathleen Lester (and summary)
7 Keys to Health Animals, from Christina Chambreau's website:
christinachambreau.com/learn-more/7-keys-to-healthy-animals [8]
which includes the afore-mentioned early warning signs which people are encouraged .. YOU are encouraged to document in a journal using COLORFUL things about the happy, good things with the pet so it's not a journal focused on 'problems'..... from the link:
EARLY WARNING SIGNS OF ILLNESS FOR DOGS AND CATS
- Is your companion really healthy?
- Can you tell if the treatment you selected is deeply curing?
- Can your companion be healthier than you realize?
Most health problems are the result of an underlying energy imbalance, made worse from poor diet and vaccination. They are rarely acute diseases (except injuries). Therefore, you may find that the problem does not clear up as you expect or it recurs.
If so, you are dealing with an underlying predisposition to illness, and these clues to underlying ill health will help you select a remedy and monitor the results. As we cure animals of “disease”, we find that certain other “NORMAL” things go away, too. Do not be satisfied until most of the following symptoms are gone. In young, apparently healthy animals, these apparently “normal” problems may be the only indications to start treatment.
This is only the beginning of a list – as more animals are cured we will find new levels of health. Tracking these is easy when you use the Healthy Animal’s Journal by Dr. Christina Chambreau (www.HealthyAnimalsJournal.com [9])
SKIN:
Doggy smell; attracts fleas a lot; dry, oily, lack-luster coat; excessive shedding; not grooming, ear problems – waxy, oily, itchy, recurrent mites; eye discharge, tearing, or matter in corner of eyes; raised third eyelid; spots appearing on iris; “freckles” appearing on face; whiskers falling out; fragile, thickened, distorted claws that are painful or sensitive to trim.
BEHAVIOR:
Fears(of loud noises, thunder, wind, people, animals, life); too timid; too rough or aggressive (even at play); too hard to train; barks too much and too long; suspicious nature; biting when petted too long; hysteria when restrained; clumsy; indolent; licking or sucking things or people too much; not using litter box or not covering stool.
DIGESTIVE:
Bad breath; tarter accumulation; loss of teeth; poor appetite; craving weird things (rubber bands, plastic, dirt, cat litter, paper, dogs eating dog or cat stools, rocks, sticks…); sensitivity to milk; thirst – a super healthy cat on non dry food will drink at most once a week; red gum line; vomiting often, even hairballs more than a few times a year; mucous on stools; tendency to diarrhea with least change of diet; obesity; anal gland problems; recurrent parasites.
MUSCULAR/SKELETAL:
Stiffness when getting up, early hip dysplasia; tires easily in hot or cold weather; can no longer jump up on counters, or go up or down steps.
TEMPERATURE:
Low grade fevers – Normal for healthy cats and dogs is 100-101.5.
AGE & REPRODUCTION:
Should live a long life (Shepherds 17 years, Danes 12, cats 24). should be able to conceive easily, deliver normally, and not pass on “genetic breed” problems.
I'm really not seeing information about water on her website. Dogs dying, cyanobacteria are Internet search words, and then put in your area if you're curious about your area, or there might be 'health alerts' for people too. That is a strategy I have suggested to those utizing my advise 1:1 to get them 'tuned in' and paying attention and out of the mayhem sometimes of their lives which is distracting them from LEARNING WHAT IS GOING ON so they can DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. In 2014 and 2015 so far I know there were mainstream stories from California and Florida and in between. Just look at those a little then look at standing water where you are and 'do the math'. Look at a variety of sources, I'm providing here what I think are good options. Here's, again, what I posted, above about WATER because I think it's critical:
and then what I have on the blog from Mothers and Fathers Day 2015 about what I want everyone to become familiar with about emerging research: I notice that in about 8 weeks it has had 690 reads, and I noticed the topic that ultimately is lead to about Steve Beddingfield and his protocol (which includes information about dogs and cats) and his research, Facebook group, etc. which was posted six months ago had surpassed the 5,000 read mark at six months. Good to see the numbers of people being reached today because of Lumigrate being something I opted to create, based on things that were just 'coming my way' back in 2006-2008; Lumigrate launched in March 2009 and I've been promoting it on Facebook since before it was even on the Internet for people to go to!
Here's what I want everyone to be aware of (and you'll see it also comes around to pointing to the above water link, and many other links on Lumigrate). www.lumigrate.com/blog/what-i-want-every-mother-and-others-know-then-go-there-cause-all-problems-presented-emerging-re [10]
.... please GO and START there, and find your way through the various threads and links to this end, what is on the Steve's images, theories, protocol thread in the forum about Internet activists, where there's a comment on this very long and complex thread about dogs and cats, and the protocol, the theory, the causes of our illness as Steve calls it, seeing that we all ultimately have one root cause of things across the board (for a vast majority of our issues).
It is our responsibility as guardians of those on Earth we're here to help to MAKE THE TIME to DO OUR WORK and LEARN, then put things into ACTION depending upon what we EACH THINK IS THE RIGHT THING. Don't just do something because he or she or they say so, come up with what YOU think; own it, and as Dr Chambreau and I suggest (in general) JOURNAL IT. Figure it out! Do it! Whatever 'it' is for YOU.
Again, live and learn. Learn and live better! ~ Mardy
PS - if you're finding this valuable and want to let me know, please get ahold of me, and if you're wanting some guidance, same goes. Again, at the About Tab at Lumigrate.com -- www.lumigrate.com/page/about-us [12].
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate [13] and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!
Links:
[1] http://holisticandorganixpetshoppe.com/top-12-worst-dog-food-brands.html
[2] http://www.ahvma.org/Widgets/FindVet.html
[3] http://www.holisticandorganixpetshoppe.com/raw-dog-food-diets.html
[4] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/being-advocate-your-pet-my-story-spoildeycat-my-greatest-10-pound-teacher#comment-2911
[5] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/water-key-environmental-wellness-or-illness-more-important-today-ever-many-aspects-consider
[6] http://christinachambreau.com/
[7] http://christinachambreau.com/learn-more/hunt-valley-videos
[8] http://christinachambreau.com/learn-more/7-keys-to-healthy-animals
[9] http://www.HealthyAnimalsJournal.com/
[10] http://www.lumigrate.com/blog/what-i-want-every-mother-and-others-know-then-go-there-cause-all-problems-presented-emerging-re
[11] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/steve-his-images-his-protocol-and-facebook-group-community-and-other-resources-chronic-illness#comment-2814
[12] http://www.lumigrate.com/page/about-us
[13] http://twitter.com/lumigrate
[14] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/animals-showing-us-way-feeding-our-pets#comment-2968
[15] http://www.cornucopiapetfoods.com
[16] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/animals-showing-us-way-feeding-our-pets#top
[17] http://www.lumigrate.com/user/login?destination=node/2207%23comment-form
[18] http://www.lumigrate.com/user/register?destination=node/2207%23comment-form
Comments
I was inspired yesterday by someone who's studied so many facets of things similarly to me, who has focused on reversing symptoms in the young one they had inadvertently damaged through lack of knowledge but then rolled up sleeves and learned and now contributes to teaching and sharing the messages of what to do, who has a young cat. Feeding a good mix of wet canned foods and wondering about doing raw, knowing enough about what is needed to be concerned about DIY. I thought a quick overview of Dr. Geoffrey Broderick's book Compassion for Pets -- Help Reverse Aging and Extend the Life of Your Beloved Companion might be appreciated.
And if it's here for one, it's here for all, right?
My copy of the book is dated and signed by Doc on 10/23/16 -- To Mardy, Together we are changing teh lives of our precious animal children with truth and Cornucopia, using organic nutrition to help prevent disease and return our loving pets to health and a lifespan that they enjoyed when I was born. Blessings and love, Doc
You are Fantastic, he wrote under his signature (and clearly his dedicated assistant Bonnie or someone had written the message in the book, which I appreciate his effort in having someone do that for him to say all that).
I'd heard him being interviewed on One Radio Network and called after the show. I emailed while the show was on and had my question read about folic acid -- kind of. I'd been encouraged that Doc had been receptive to new information the host had provided him about sulfur and health on a previous interview, and it turns out Doc started buying it from him and distributes it with his other supplements. He developed a mix of nutrient supplements in the late 1970s. My goodness, my first dog was still alive then, I wish I'd known then what I know now.
I had a funny 'coincidence' with Bonnie from the start and found out by chatting with her until Doc could talk with me, that she's another like the afore-mentioned cat owner -- awake, studying all the Truth Movement information we have time to study. If I come across as encouraging people to check out Doc Broderick and Cornucopia Pet Foods it's because there was a package deal that came for me with my interactions with them. I remember assisting a legendary, maverick, "larger than life" guy and know how difficult it can be.
He would soon be turning 75 and then it was Thanksgiving and then the Holiday Season and so I just took the book and read it and contacted them in the spring. I still wasn't further in understanding my main concern about prepared pet foods than I was when I called him in terms of feeding O'Rio Grande, who I suspect has a canine version of MTHFR gene mutation or similar, since he has symptoms similar to what occurs in people whose detoxification pathways are not functioning correctly before and after birth. He's like a doggie version of me. My cat that inspired me to go into the rabbit hole about pet health in modern times was the feline version of some autism teens and young adults we've heard of -- crazy violent outbursts, pupil dilation and so on.
My favorite pet expert to contact who I've shared about at Lumigrate is Dr. Christina, and I'd emailed her about my concerns and she gave me the names of two people who are more specific to animal nutrition in their expertise than she, though I like her overall education online, and had transcribed a video presentation to make it easier for people to get the information.
I have yet to contact them because I felt our time doing home made food for O'Rio was going to be just the spring and by summer we'd be backing off to return to kibble and enhancements. But his symptoms reversed so much, his well-being was just shooting up amazingly, so we continued on and continue on today. He has kibble available as desired -- as organic as we could find -- because for him, in my opinion, getting the gut and keeping the gut well is key, and that means getting glyphosate and other toxic chemicals out.
We began with a small amount of canned food from Dr. Broderick, and the three key supplements he feels work in tandem and are needed. That provided about 1-2 weeks of food, depending on how much I took his advise and simply made dog food from my food. He seemed surprised to hear I ate as I ideally do, which is organic and foods that a dog could eat (when prepared properly for the dog which has different needs than a person).
As you turn the first pages in the book, you'll see a black and white photograph of a bust or the shoulders and head of a statue of a man with a beard and read:
The Table of Contents shows as follows: Dedications, acknowledgments, foreward by Richard A Passwater, PhD, and then chapters on Feeding healthy animals, What you need to understand, Pet food made anyway?, Read a pet food nutrition label, Meeting your dog's dietary needs, Meeting your cat's dietary needs, Supplements for pets - necessary or not?, Optimal feeding, Genetically modified organisms, The extruder, the goose that laid the golden eggs ... for the pet food cartel anyway, What is the cost to have a pet?, then Epilogue, and About the Author.
About the Author highlights --
Born October 23, 1941 in NYCity to first generation Irish/German first-generation American parents.
1950s - Rodeo cowboy and cast member in a wild west show.
Late 1950s-Early 60s - 82nd Airborn and 7th Infantry Division, Korea (I was born in 1960, thank you for your service, all veterans and others supporting our country and the beliefs we hold for America).
1961 - advanced pilot training, 1962 was in the first class of veterinary technicians in the US at techical college
1963-9 Kansas State University, B.S. DVM and opened Southdown Animal Clinic in Huntington, NY
Polo player, speaker and instigator in natural pet food movement in America and other fun details then
1975 - Developer and manufacturer of Cornucopia Natural Pet Food AND SO ON UNTIL PRESSent day (when book was published.)
To contact Dr. Geoffrey Broderick or Cornucopia Pet Foods please visit our website at www.cornucopiapetfoods.com [15] or email us at info@ (the website address); 229 Wall Street, Huntington, NY 11743, Pet Health Line 1-800-PET-8280 or 631-427-7479 --- or (his personality shows here) Fuhgeddaboudit!
I encourage people to purchase the book if they're into the details of his life. It's as much a fascinating read about his life as it is informative about the pet food industry and his approach to pet nutrition and veterinary medicine by using food to decrease the need for veterinary care and provide better quality and quantity of life for pets.
But let's dig in on the detail of saying it's a natural pet food, because that's where I was emailing and calling and inquiring, which he'd said he was always interested in making his food better and had not known of folic acid being problematic in people and the whole MTHFR gene mutation / detoxification pathway stuff that so many people I see on Facebook are aware of and living by now.
I'd not feel I could write this topic / comment until now because I'd needed clarification from someone on that and I was not finding anyone who had a comment or insights about it in the pet / veterinary world. I did find a human nutrition advisor who said she'd comment on things I'd prepare about folic acid and what occurs in people who have the methylation / detoxification pathway issues and presumably things were similar in other animals. The symptoms are certainly indicating it. Dr Broderick had said on our first phone call that anything that applies to people will apply to animals. That seems like a broadbrushing statement, though likely mostly accurate if not looking into specific details.
I've recently provided a new topic about Dr. Kessler in Germany, an MD who is teaching me about sensitivity to elements and testing for that --- in animals / people and products that can provide exposure. It's proving to make a tremendous difference in my wellness level. He suggests not adding a bunch of 'charges' of different things which comes with supplements, and looks specifically chronically at how the energy of the being is appearing and then what can correct it using a handfull or two of selective B vitamins and a handfull or less of minerals. (I'm sensitive to two things, which is not the norm, usually a person (or other) will have one if they have complex chronic health issues, O'Rio and many dogs and cats Dr. Kessler has tested for me are sensitive to mercury so we focus on mercury exposure so far in what I'm providing in the information at Lumigrate.)
He stated that if you do this type of practice that he promotes and practices, you're not needing to focus on the folic acid problem for those with MTHFR gene mutation because the detoxification pathways are being interfered with when the order of the system gets off from an exposure. At least that's how I understand it to convey it here. We didn't talk about it at length it was just in passing, which is all that usually happens in the time he gives for teaching me so I can reach others with the information via my platform with Lumigrate.
Great, so then as long as I'm doing these methods of Dr. Kessler's with O'Rio the folic acid added into the pet food won't be problematic to him, but is that going to be the case for everyone who buys pet foods with folic acid added? I don't think so.
And either way, folic acid is not 'natural', it's manufactured chemical version of folate, which is found naturally in foods. Legumes are high in folate, so short term I fed O'Rio some legumes to cover that base, along with meat, vegetables and fruit (finely chopped or done in a blender). For 'average bears' (in people or anything) it's said that folic acid is fine, good, of benefit, it's those 'smarter bears', 'persistent bears' that, in people, tend to have the gene variants and detoxification pathway issues folic acid is problematic in, per many educator experts' opinions. But is that just another wave of 'money making' in the health industry? I don't have the answer to that, but wanted to get YOU at least to where I'm at in this issue so you can go forward from here as effectively and efficiently as possible.
So that's my dilemma -- that I'm front loading onto this topic so readers will know I'm concerned that there's more improvements to be made within the pet food industry. So far NOT ONE MANUFACTURER representative I've talked to about GLYPHOSATE being used on NON GMO foods was aware of that practice, and this is common knowledge on Facebook in the thousands of people who are learning about healthy, natural foods. And since one of the crops it is used on immediately before harvest is peas and chick peas and those are used in pet foods heavily, I was literally stuneed to be the one telling them this information, new, for the first time.
And I was not calling the average pet food maker, or in person when they had a representative in my city. I was selecting out the quality foods to try and identify a SAFE PET FOOD from a glyphosate perspective. And then folic acid was right there under it as my top concern.
So I'm going to do a little highlight of each chapter of the book as I whittle away on this comment until it's done. I really do suggest you listen to the One Radio Network interview with Dr. Geoffrey Broderick from October 2016. He states on there a free consult will be given to any listeners who contact him. I would hope he'd extend the same to any Lumigrate YOUsers too, but it'll be good for YOU to hear the interview when you have an hour to do so. Put it on while you're making dog food, or you food. ~ Gratefully, Mardy
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate [13] and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!