Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

th

I am surrounded by sick animals these days. No, I don’t mean Republican Party kind of sick animals, I mean dogs that are definately not physically well.

I’ve been a petsitter for over 15 years, and you learn a few things along the way. I have been caring for a couple of Husky’s for the past few years, and one of them became very sick recently and has been diagnosed with IBD; Irritable Bowel Disease. IBD has been in my life for about 25 years. My Mother was diagnosed with Crohns Disease that long ago, and I watched her go through 3 major operations and life with an illeostomy, and all that involved. An illeostomy is a bowel bag that is attached to the upper intestinal tract. An colostomy is a bowel bag attached to the lower intestinal tract. Too much information already?

So this sweet female Husky has IBD and is being put through with Veterinary System Ringer as she is treated with heavy drugs, feeding tubes, biopsies and yada yada yada. She is so skinny now she looks like a coyote.

So why do some dogs get IBD when others who are eating the same diet do not? Some dogs’ constitutions are not as vigorous, so their gut may be more susceptible.  The main culprit, in my opinion, is conventional or GMO grain based kibble diets.  Grain based diets are very hard on the digestive tract for dogs.  All grains have an enzyme coating on them that makes them difficult to digest.  In order for grains to become digestible, they must be presoaked in an acidic solution;  think Sourdough Bread.  This breaks down the enzyme coating that makes seeds and grains unattractive to those species that might like to eat them.

On top of that grains that have been genetically modified (GMO), have actually been formulated to destroy the gut (YES!), and it doesn’t take that long for an animal to start having digestive difficulties.  Add to that that animals are usually on repetitive diets so their bodies develop an allergic reaction to eating the same food for long periods of time.  All of this leads to inflammation of the gut.

And there are always other factors as well, such as environmental stress, and dogs that are over-bred such as Golden Retrievers, who manifest a whole host of problems from their overbreeding.  These dogs tend to have skin allergies and sensitivities their entire lives.

So if you are feeding your animals diets that are grain based, with conventional or GMO food bases, you could be in for problems in the future.  Or, you may be one of the lucky owners with animals that sail through these problems with no difficulties.  The thing is, if the animals do start to develop gastral-intestinal problems, it could be very costly for you in the long term if you choose to try to correct the problems.   Just sayin’ it might be worth your time to talk with someone at a holistic petfood store that is in the know, or do your own research.  Our pets deserve our forward thinking educated loving care.