Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats (12 page)

H
EALTHY
P
OWDER

This rich mixture of nutrients is used in all the recipes. The recipes, by themselves, provide necessary protein, fat, and carbohydrate, but to make sure there is adequate vitamin and mineral content as well, we use this mixture of several important food elements, which are available at most natural food stores: nutritional or brewer’s yeast (rich in B vitamins, iron, and other nutrients); lecithin (for linoleic acid, choline, and inositol, which help your animal emulsify and absorb fats, improving the condition of its coat and digestion); powdered kelp (for
iodine and trace minerals); enough calcium to balance the high phosphorus levels in yeast and lecithin (enabling you to add this powder in any reasonable quantity to any recipe or other diet); and vitamin C (not officially required for dogs or cats because they synthesize their own, but clinical experiences suggest its value).

We prefer the use of nutritional (or torula) yeast in the formula but, as I noted earlier, it has become difficult to find the last few years. I don’t know why, but often all you can find is brewer’s yeast, which is very similar. The difference is that nutritional yeast is grown to be used as a food supplement, while brewer’s yeast is left over from brewing beer. Nutritionally they are basically the same, except that brewer’s yeast is higher in chromium, a trace mineral important in the use of sugar by the body. You can substitute brewer’s yeast in place of nutritional if it cannot be found.

HEALTHY POWDER

• 2 cups nutritional or brewer’s yeast
  
• 1 cup lecithin granules
  
• ¼ cup kelp powder
  
• 4 tablespoons Group I bone meal powder*
  
• 1,000 milligrams vitamin C (ground) or ¼ teaspoon sodium ascorbate (optional)
  

* Calcium and phosphorus in bone meal products varies. See the
Table of Calcium Supplementation Products
, to compare brands. I have grouped bone meal products into Group I, Group II, and Group III as a way of working with them in the recipes. In the recipes I am assuming the use of Group I bone meal sources, so adjust amounts if you are using a different brand. If you use a brand from Group II in this recipe, then double the amount of bone meal indicated. If you are using a non-bonemeal source (like eggshells or Animal Essentials calcium), then instead of bone meal, add 3 slightly rounded tablespoons of Animal Essentials calcium or 2 level tablespoons of powdered eggshell. These other sources will result in the Healthy Powder being a little on the low side for calcium, but adequate.

Mix all ingredients together in a 1-quart container and refrigerate.

Add to each recipe as instructed. You may also add this mixture to commercial food as follows: 1 to 2 teaspoons per day for cats or small dogs; 2 to 3 teaspoons per day for medium-size dogs; 1 to 2 tablespoons per day for large dogs.

V
ARIATIONS
:

Yeast substitution:
The yeast is optional, and if you prefer not to use it, then reduce the calcium in the Healthy Powder formula to 3,200 milligrams calcium or 1¾ teaspoons eggshell powder. Then use half the usual amount of Healthy Powder specified in each recipe. To replace the lost nutrients, add a complete multi-vitamin-mineral supplement for animals to the daily food, using the
amount recommended on the label. Do not add vitamin A, C, or E, because they should be adequately supplied by the pet vitamin.

Kelp substitution:
If your animal doesn’t like the flavor of kelp or you can’t find it, you can substitute ¼ cup of alfalfa powder. Kelp has wonderful trace minerals in it, but we also value alfalfa, also very high in trace minerals, as an adequate substitute. If neither of these works out, then obtain a trace mineral supplement at a natural food store. Look at the label and see what the dose is for a human being. Assume that human to weigh 150 pounds and reduce the recommended dose for the weight of your animal. For example, if your dog weighs 20 pounds, then the amount to use is 20 divided by 150 – 13 percent of the recommended amount. Use this as a guide as to how much of the tablet or capsule to give.

I am always a little nervous when concentrated supplements are given because it is possible to give too much. Using natural food sources for trace minerals is definitely my preference.

O
ILS

Fats and oils provide, spoonful to spoonful, more than twice as much energy as other food sources. A certain amount of fat in the diet is natural and necessary. Cats especially enjoy and consume large quantities in their natural diet. Fats are also required for the maintenance and growth of many tissues in the body. Of special importance, however, are the fatty acids, smaller components of fats that are necessary for good health. Many of them can be produced in the body from other foods, but some are acquired from the food eaten. An example is the fatty acid called linoleic acid (omega-6), which is a requirement for dogs and cats. It is found in fresh foods, in the natural diet; if available in the diet, a dog can produce whatever other fatty acid is required from this one fatty acid. Cats need linoleic acid and another one called arachidonic acid, so they have additional fatty acid requirements.

ANALYSIS OF THE HEALTHY POWDER INGREDIENTS 

Do these matter? Yes. Without adequate quantities come many health problems, including significant skin eruptions, loss of hair, skin that won’t heal from wounds, liver and kidney degeneration, increased susceptibility to infections, heart and circulatory problems, weakness, retarded growth, spontaneous abortions, sterility, impairment of vision, loss of ability to learn, symptoms similar to arthritis, and more. We can see from this list that these nutritional components are aptly named
essential
fatty acids.

Deficiencies are common, and most animals suffer a
mild
deficiency that results in less severe symptoms. The usual symptoms of deficiency appear as a dull, dry coat, excessive loss of hair, greasy skin, accompanying itching and scratching, and a greater likelihood to develop skin infections or conditions like abscesses or ringworm. Deficiencies are common, because the fatty acids are the most fragile of all the food ingredients and the ones that break down first during processing and storage. This is a chief reason that food preservatives are used—in an attempt to protect them. Without preservatives, the contained fats become rancid, their use lost to the body, and also become toxic and poisonous (of course we prefer natural, nontoxic preservatives). Rancid fats have a very definite odor, rather acrid. You have likely smelled them yourself in fatty food that has sat around too long.

Essential fatty acids also tend to naturally reduce inflammation in the body. When deficient in animals prone to inflammation (such as with allergies or immune diseases), these conditions become worse than would otherwise be the case on an adequate diet. It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of these essential nutrients.

Sources of Essential Fatty Acids

• Linoleic acid (omega-6) is found in safflower, sunflower, corn, evening primrose, and borage oils. It is also found in poultry fat and pork fat (not much in beef or butter).
  
• Linolenic acid (omega-3) include fish oils (especially cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel, halibut, and herring). They are also found in canola and flax oils, flax seeds, walnuts, soybeans, and freshly ground wheat germ. It is thought that dogs and cats can make omega-3 from linoleic acid (above), and the need for this is not clear at this time. I advise people to include some omega-3 because I think it may be helpful and certainly spares the body having to convert it from the limited amount of linoleic acid present in most diets.
  
• Dried beans (great northern, kidney, navy, and soybeans) are inexpensive sources of both omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids.
  
• Certain fish are very high in omega-6 and omega-3, and the body can usually convert the fatty acids from fish more easily than from other sources. Good choices, in addition to those mentioned above, are sardines, herring, lake trout, and albacore tuna.
  
• Arachidonic acid, a requirement for cats only (or in dogs with very little linoleic acid in their diets), is present in some fish oils (like cod liver oil), pork fat, and poultry fat. All the functions of this nutrient in the cat are not known, but substances derived from arachidonic acid have important roles in the control of blood clotting, pain, inflammation, and contraction of the muscles of the intestines and bladder. Arachidonic acid is especially important for normal cat reproduction.
  

Use the cold-pressed oils; because they have not been heated excessively, they retain more of the essential fatty acids. At home, refrigerate them in a well-sealed container, and never heat them. Oxygen (from exposure to air) destroys them rapidly. If you like, you can premix vitamin E into the oil. Use 1,600 to 2,000 IU per cup. (Don’t pre-mix vitamin A into it, however, as this could create excesses in some recipes.) An excellent source of omega-3 is freshly prepared flax oil, which is available in the refrigerated section of natural food stores. Udo’s Choice, also refrigerated, is a brand that blends several oils together for a broader spectrum, with an optimal ratio of omega-3 and omega-6. It doesn’t have arachidonic acid in it, so that will need to be added separately. A convenient source of arachidonic acid is cod liver oil, available in natural food stores. Add 2–3 drops to the food each day.

These products are convenient, especially an oil blend like Udo’s oil, because the work has been done for you already. You can have very fresh and biologically active material in your refrigerator ready to use when you are preparing a meal or to supplement a commercial
food. Realize that it is very, very difficult for a processed food to contain adequate quantities, so it is excellent insurance to get in the practice of adding these fragile nutrients to food before serving.

Note:
You may substitute butter, beef fat, pork fat, or poultry fat (preferably the last two, which contain arachidonic acid) for up to 50 percent of the oil in the cat recipes (do not substitute butter in dog recipes). Cats normally have high levels of animal fat in their diets and do well with it. Cats also do better with an animal source of unsaturated fatty acids, like cod liver oil.

V
ITAMINS

Vitamin A

This important vitamin is included in many of the recipes, especially for cats. Most of the dog food recipes don’t call for it because dogs can make their own vitamin A from carotene, found in vegetables. (But if you omit vegetables from your dog’s diet, add about 1,000 IU of vitamin A for every cup omitted.) Cats, on the other hand, require a pre-formed animal source of vitamin A. They are also sensitive to either too little or too much in their diets, so adhere to the amount listed in each recipe. There are four ways to provide the vitamin A in each recipe:

• Cod liver oil.
  Because it is also an excellent source of unsaturated fatty acids, cod liver oil is highly recommended, if your pet accepts it. Seal well and refrigerate it to prevent rancidity. Read the label to see how many teaspoons provide the amount of vitamin A called for in the recipe.
  
• Vitamin A and D capsules.
  Buy the lowest potency. This will probably be 10,000 IU of vitamin A per capsule. Break open or pierce the capsule to use.
  
• Liquid vitamin A and D.
  These drops are more convenient than capsules, if you can find them. Get the variety sold for humans in health food stores. The typical potency is about 1,600 IU per drop. Use the number of drops closest to the total amount called for.
  
• Pet vitamins.
  These tablets will also add extra vitamins and minerals to the diet. If you use pet vitamins, you may omit both vitamins A and E from the recipes. Instead, simply add the pet vitamins directly to each meal as suggested on the product label.