Asheville veterinarian Dr. Laurel Davis offers “Stories from a holistic vet,” the blog of a holistic vet and “animal interpreter” with a clinic in Asheville, NC. Dr. Laurel also offers intuitive animal health, vaccination and lifestyle advice for animal companions and their human friends across the USA.
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Is a Raw Diet Always Best?
Gracie, my 13-year-old Lhasa Apso, is curled up at my feet as I write this blog. She was a rescue 9 years ago, a puppy-mill puppy. Although she was burdened with hip dysplasia, arthritis and nasty, dirty teeth, her Jiminy Cricket personality shined through, and she had us immediately convinced that, indeed, life is good. Even today as I bathed her, cradling her back legs because they no longer effectively hold her upright for any length of time, her cloudy eyes held mine in complete trust.
My plan for her right from the get-go was to turn this little girl around. She would be Asheville’s Holistic Vet’s poster dog, eating the raw food diet that I often recommend! Wrong! Working with Gracie reiterated to me that not every dog benefits from a strictly raw diet. At this point in her life, with 9 years of a gradual (and I mean gradual) introduction of raw food into her diet, she eats ⅓ freeze-dried raw, a spoonful of bona fide homemade raw, and the rest is high-end canned food. Obviously, a raw diet was just not meant to be.
When I work with patients at Sunvet Animal Wellness Clinic, my goal is to match each animal with what diet works best for them, taking into consideration what also works for their family. I acknowledge there are many four-legged family members originating from a long line of nutritionally deprived genetics and over-vaccination. These are important factors to take into account when deciding what food sources to introduce. Over time, I have developed and followed these tenets:
- Never assume individuals will do well when fed a raw diet.
- Check to make sure what proteins best serve the individual. This is done using clinical kinesiology at my practice.
- Do some basic reading about Raw Meaty Bone diet and Biologically Appropriate Raw Food diet (also known as BARF diet). This allows them to get a feel for what they will be feeding their pals. I want them to be on board with what food prep might be like.
- Remember that you have all the time in the world to make this switch. Under my guidance, you will be monitoring any gastrointestinal stress, such as vomiting or, more likely, diarrhea and making adjustments as needed.
- Some dogs and cats will never do well being raw fed, and that’s okay too.
Yes, I love what a paleo diet can do for your buddies, but each individual has his/her own needs. What’s important is to connect deeply with your animal and to HAVE FUN pouring a lot o’ love into whatever yummy meals you create for your furry friend.
Shine on,
Dr. Laurel
Dr. Laurel Davis is a holistic Asheville vet offering phone and Skype consultations for animal lovers everywhere.Call 828-254-2221 or order an Ask Dr. Laurel™ phone or Skype session or bring your dog or cat to her downtown Asheville, NC clinic. Read more patient stories.
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