Trying the Whole Pet Diet

Up All Night

2008-09-25T23:14:00.002-04:00

Just a note - Jerry has been restless and keeping me up at night again!

This happened for months, until we got the treat ball! We are still using the treat ball but I am concerned that he is downing too many treats and it may effect his health, insulin need, or urinary tract.

I read a case study of a cat who was restless at night, howling and knocking things from tables, his issue was hunger and the yogart helped!

Jerry's issue I think is also related to hunger because when I get up to feed him OR when I fill the treat ball, it seems to keep him busy. It could also be related to attention, we've been busy lately and not spending as much time.

Try-- alternating treat ball, hiding treats, bedtime playtime, and cat CD for awhile?

Challenges at the start

2008-09-25T23:09:00.003-04:00

Dream Coat - when I arrived home, Jerry was very interested in the bottle, so I opened it with great ceremony as something special for him. He sniffed and was interested, even licked it from my finger and the lid! When I put some on his food, he would not eat the food, and now regards all of his food with suspicion! (bit of a set back...)

For Katie I poured some on her dry dog food -- gulp, gulp, gone!

Yogurt-- Jerry was interested, then turned his nose up. Would not lick it from the spoon or try it from the plate.

Katie-- licked it off the spoon and gobbled down the plop on her plate!

So... the plan: We are going to start slightly off from the book at this point, because I am really curious to see how Katie does with the yogurt and her yeast.

Jerry- it makes sense to either start him with Cod Liver Oil, which he may like the taste of more, or simply start with the food for him. But... he wont eat his new batch of Spots Stew (canned) because he is still regarding everything with suspicion!

Katie seems to be digging her ears tonight... a reaction from the yogart? It says there may be some initial aggravation, so I will monitor.

(re-cap: Katie on yogart, Jerry on Spots Stew for a start. Only doing ONE at a time, so we can tell what is working.)

Research... Yogurt & Garlic

2008-09-24T17:40:00.004-04:00

I still have not officially started the plan, but am laying the groundwork for it to begin. And, in reading ahead... I saw "YOGURT"

Yes - yogurt for pets... it says its actually great for them!

And - Aha! Katie's last trip to the vet revealed that her skin and ear problems are actually YEAST infections (which can occur anywhere on the body of humans or animals, by the way) and perhaps NOT related to food allergies at all.

When human's have yeast problems, we use yogurt (live cultures!) and garlic! Both can be used for dogs!

Our book says Yogurt with live cultures is a great source of calcium plus all sorts of other great benefits for pets, just like humans! Its important that it be raw, un-sweetened, plain, unpasturized yogurt.

So, not just trusting one source, I am researching!

The helpful folks at Nature's Pantry said Raw - Unpasturized yogurt has to be ordered, but is available in local organic form! Pasturizing kills all the live bacteria, then its added back in. So, raw is sometime better because all the cultures (not just the added back in ones) are present. For now, we are going to try to pasturized kind with Jerry and Katie in small quantities to see how they like it.

Also, I may start with just this -- if I begin with too many products at once I will not know which is working!

The WEB says:

- The ASPCA blog says Yes from lots of dog owners that yogurt works great for them!
- Most of the blogs are people giving their input... having trouble finding a vet's input

Not much available on the web... found a great website for Mulligans Stew Pet Food, which seems to have similar ideas to this book and the developer of the food is a homeopath! Going to have to check out the site and their links more...

Decisions to Make...

2008-09-24T17:34:00.004-04:00

In preparing to start this switchover, some issues to consider have come up:

1- The Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) described in chapter 1 sounds like just the thing for Katie! So before I start this chapter, I need to decide if I am going to purchase all of these oils. I discovered that Halo offers a "Dream Coat" liquid which is similar ingredients (wonder why not the same ingredients). Which would be easiest? Which would be most likely to happen in our busy schedule!

Our friend the Homeopath suggested not using Soybean Oil (genetically engineered) and that rosemary in the home recipe may be too strong... we will consider these when making our own...

2- do I cook my own stew, using the recipe in the book for Spot's Stew or buy it in cans... the buying is more expensive than the food we have now, but how likely am I to cook for the dog & cat when I hardly cook for myself!

This is where Brad comes in... (laugh), when I suggested HE be the cook, he mentioned that these pets are going to eat better than most people!

Also, in calculating... making it ourselves (which includes buying chickens and a big stock pot), after the initial investment, will be about $4 per day for Katie (plus labor!). Her Walmart Kibble costs us about $1 per day. Spots Stew cans will costs approx $2.50 per day...

So, today I went to the store to purchase the Dream Coat and a can of Spot's Stew for each. I think we'll try to prepared stuff for now and if it really works, then we will move into considering making our own.

Getting Started!

2008-09-22T12:31:00.005-04:00

Here I am, book in hand, getting really excited about starting on this journey! In reading about how important a healthy diet is for pets and getting these carnivores back to basics (rather than dry old kibble) - PLUS the amazing impacts caused by the dry foods, I cant wait to start!

One of the things I will do this week (as part of this week's goals) is to start a journal and carefully evaluate where Katie and Jerry are now in their health. AND be honest with myself about the type of food we are eating now!

As my boyfriend Brad and I embark on a journey to eat better ourselves, it feels like the right time to start for the pets too.

I am getting set up to share the details of this "experiment" here, to keep track of it for myself but also for others who may be considering this also.