I don’t talk much about my pets anymore and I think that’s a very common transition that happens when you become a parent. Your pets that were once your babies are now truly pets when you have babies.
But I still love them and take their health very seriously.
In case you haven’t met them yet, here is our 1.5 year old Golden Retriever, Peanut, and our 2.5 year old cat, Baby Cat. In case you couldn’t tell, both are named by my 4 year old daughter.
Why do I take a different approach to health with my pets?
Well, I do that for humans so it is only natural for me to go against the grain and question the cultural norms in our society. Specifically, I think it’s unacceptable that the average lifespan of Golden Retrievers in the 1970s was 16-17 years old and now is only 10-14 years old. Our Great Dane lived 10.5 years and that breed’s lifespan is typically 8-10 years. She died peacefully in our backyard last fall.
Why does a natural dog death sound so rare to hear these days? Sure, there are emergencies and uncontrollable circumstances, but why has euthanasia become the norm?
According to Dr. Skylar Sylvester, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology) and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medical Oncology at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, it’s estimated that about 30% of dogs, or one in three, will develop cancer in their lifetime. In dogs older than 10, it’s closer to one in two, or 50%.
But we aren’t surprised by this information. In fact, I use it as fuel to fire my desire to give my pets the best opportunity to beat these statistics.
Here’s what I do…
raw food diet
If you’re still buying kibble from the store, I encourage you to watch the documentary Pet Fooled. In the documentary, Dr. Karen Becker talks about species-appropriate diets and says that many wild animals avoid foods that are unnecessary for their bodies (she uses the example that if you give a snake a salad, it won’t eat it and will just die), but our pets have been forced to consume additives and fillers.
Your vet may advise you against a raw food diet because the major pet food brands have a large part in funding vet students, therefore influencing their education. We aren’t surprised! It’s the same play out of the medical school playbooks and how they receive funding from big food corporations and big pharma.
We choose to feed our pets a raw food diet because I’m always going to reference the greatest science of all — the science of normal physiology and dogs are nearly identical to wolves and the tiger shares 95.6% of its genome with domestic cats. I believe cats and dogs are designed to be mostly carnivores!It’s difficult to decipher how to feed your pet a raw food diet using the internet alone so I consulted with Ronny LeJeune of Perfectly Rawsome.
No pharmaceuticals
There’s a time and place for pharmaceuticals, but I mean we don’t do vaccines, flea or tick preventatives, and heartworm prevention medications. Now let’s break this down…
VACCINES
Vets frequently recommend annual vaccinations, but over-vaccinating is linked to numerous health problems like allergies, autoimmune disorders, arthritis, diabetes, cancers, and more. Even if you still want to vaccinate, run annual titers to see if your pet still has the antibodies needed to be considered protected so you don’t over-vaccinate your pet. Here’s more information on titers from my vet.
A NOTE ON RABIES FROM CULTIVATING WILD
“Not every state has a rabies law statewide and laws can vary county to county and even city to city. There can be different requirements for dogs within city limits versus dogs outside of city limits. It’s important to consider the rabies laws in your specific town and know what would happen to your dog if it bit someone or was accused of biting. Would they be euthanized immediately? Would they be sent to a quarantine facility for a certain amount of time? Know what would happen to your dog if it was exposed to a rabies positive or potentially rabies positive animal. Would it be euthanized immediately? Would it depend on how up-to-date their rabies was?”
A NOTE ON PUPPY VACCINES
We contacted the breeder and told them that we would prefer to take our puppy to our own vet and requested for our puppy to not be vaccinated by their vet and they agreed, but this is not always an option.
FLEA + TICK PREVENTATIVES
The FDA has linked flea & tick preventatives to neurological problems in pets like seizures. These “preventatives” work by getting into your pet’s blood stream and concentrating in your pet’s tissues. Then a pest bites your pet and ingests the chemicals which then paralyzes the pest and the pest dies. I think Cultivating Wild is spot on when she says, “In order to poison the pests, you have to first poison the host — your dog!” Instead, we live a lifestyle that makes our dog an unlikely host. We use non-toxic pest control for our lawn like beneficial nematodes, peppermint castile soap, diatomaceous earth, and our pets wear amber collars.
Save $5 off your first order with The Organic Bunny for amber collars and other nontoxic pet care products by using code DRCOURTNEY.
HEARTWORM PREVENTION
My vet and I don’t agree on this one! He believes that it’s less invasive to give a pet a really small dose of pharmaceuticals to prevent heartworms because the treatment of heartworms is very aggressive — similar to chemo. You can read more about his perspective here. I understand and respect his logic, but it goes against how I choose to build health and I know the risks! This is where I’m able to make an informed decision because I understand there are risks either way. We use herbal remedies for heartworm prevention.
Save $5 off your first order with The Organic Bunny for herbal heartworm protection and other nontoxic pet care products by using code DRCOURTNEY.
Chiropractic Care
Well, duh! I’m a chiropractor, but I don’t specialize in animals so I have a colleague come to my house every 4-6 weeks to adjust my pets! Animal chiropractic care is great for restoring optimal communication between their brain and body as well as maintaining fitness and mobility by promoting optimal musculoskeletal motion and function.
We use Dr. Katelyn Lackey with InStride Chiropractic. You can go to her or she will come to you! Just a heads up that you do have to have a written referral from your vet to utilize chiropractic care for your pet.
Integrative veterinary care
It’s important to have a health professional you can trust for your pets! I prefer to use someone that
I found a vet that will run titers, doesn’t want to over-vaccinate, and allows me to decline any pharmaceutical product! It’s important to have a health professional you can trust for your pets. I prefer to use someone that aligns with my goals and respects my right to choose what I think is best for my pet. There is a time and place for conventional medicine which is why I like to be under care with a vet, but I also appreciate that they will recommend chiropractic care, homeopathy, supplements, diet and lifestyle changes, etc. as a priority.
We go to Paws & Claws Animal Hospital and Holistic Pet Center in Plano, TX. Let them know you heard about them from me and you should get $25 off your first visit.
Lots of time spent outside
Yes, most of our pets are indoors, but I think we all need to be outside more often! Our golden, Peanut, loves to spend most of her day in our backyard. Our cat wants to be outside all the time, but she’s only allowed in the backyard while we’re out there so she can be supervised. I don’t want her hopping our fence and risk losing her or getting hit by a car. One of my daughter’s favorite things to do is put a harness collar on Baby Cat and bring her in the wagon with us on our morning walks.
Less grooming
Your pet has a microbiome too! Most dogs don’t need to be bathed (similar to humans, really). Their coats were made to be self-cleaning. Of course there’s a time and a place and you must take your dog’s breed into consideration, but we have only given our dog one bath in her 1.5 years of life and it was because she was covered in mud. We used Aleavia’s PetBiotics to protect her microbiome. We brush her every few weeks to prevent any matting from forming in her coat, but I’m constantly amazed at how shiny and healthy her coat is as well as minimal shedding. She doesn’t stink and her breath doesn’t smell and I give credit to the raw food diet for that.
Save 20% on Aleavia products with code DRCOURTNEY.
filtered water
I know what you’re already thinking. I’m that extra lady who only gives their pets filtered water as if my pets are little princesses in my home. It ain’t like that. I have a 4 year old princess so there’s no room for any additional royalty around here. My pets are just pets (that I love). I just know all the contaminants that’s inherently in our tap water like pharmaceuticals, chlorine, heavy metals, and chemicals like fluoride and I don’t think any of us should be consuming this water.
Save 10% on all water filtration products by using code DRCOURTNEY.
lots of training
Let’s not underestimate emotional health! A well-trained dog is peaceful and confident. Most aggressive behavior in dogs is actually anxiety and fear. Your dog’s breed may predispose them to certain behavior tendencies, which are important to consider. It is important to me that my dog obeys my commands the first time I say them and I don’t want to have to yell or shout. This still takes a lot of practice. I also think it’s important to have a strong recall. This is why we opted for e-collar training. It gives our dog freedom while we still have control to keep her and everyone around us safe.
Evaluating toxins in your pet’s environment
This means looking at the lawn and garden products you’re using as well as the bed they sleep on every night! Those are probably the two areas where you pets spend the most amount of time!Pet Beds
We recently switched our pet beds to Savvy Rest because they’re made with natural latex and organic cotton. I got a Savvy Doggy Waterproof Liner and Savvy Doggy Platform Bed made of sustainably sourced maple with zero-VOC stain. The reason I opted for a platform bed is because having your dog’s bed elevated creates a clear boundary for them to stay on their “place” when training. Our cat sleeps on the Savvy Rest Kitty Bed.
Save 20% on all Savvy Rest products with the code DRCOURTNEY.
FOR KITTY LITTER
There are a lot of fancy machines these days, but I just use a stainless steel open container with horse pellets for cat litter and my daughter’s chore is to scoop the poop everyday! You could also use shredded newspapers, whole wheat, sawdust, wood shavings (ensure the wood doesn’t contain phenols or other chemical additives), potting soil, or alfalfa pellets as non-toxic options.
I mean, if you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you’re going to notice a lot of crossover between this list and the things I recommend for us as humans!
Keep in mind that this information might not apply to you depending on the breed of dog or cat that you have! Take this information and put it through the lens of what makes sense for your pet and disregard what doesn’t.
And keep in mind that we can’t control everything. I don’t share this to overwhelm. I share this to provide a different perspective when it comes to the health of our pets. Sometimes we make decisions for our health or our family’s health simply because we don’t know that there is another way or that we have options.As always, I never recommend a one-size-fits-all approach to health for anyone — even our pets!
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and is for educational purposes only.
This article contains affiliate links which means that I receive a percentage of commission if any products are purchased through them. As always, these are brands / products / services I have used personally, believe in and support. Receiving a sample(s) of any of the above products in no way influences my opinion. Thank you for supporting me, Dr. Courtney Kahla, through your purchases!
