Canine Anti-Arthritis Diets and Dog Foods
The first rule with arthritic pets is to keep them lean through the use of a proper diet.
In other words, keep their weight down because keeping a dog thin can alleviate some of the symptoms of arthritis. Obesity only increases the burden on painful joints, so help your dogs lose excess weight if they are suffering from arthritis, dysplasia pain and inflammation.
Helping your dog lose weight is a hard thing to do, especially when you cannot encourage more exercise, so how do you do this?
By improving the diet.
The first rule of an anti-arthritis diet for dogs is to remove grains from the diet since they typically increase inflammation and aggravate arthritis.
The number of humans who are “cured” of arthritis after going on grain free diets is simply amazing, as is the number who get cured by also eliminating “nightshades” from the diet – potatoes, tomatoes, peppers (red, yellow, green, jalapeno, pimento, etc.), cayenne, chili, eggplant, paprika, curry, and MSG.
For dogs, too, many animals improve simply by removing grains from the diet, so if you’ve been feeding your animal grains for years, this might be contributing to their problems. If you take them off grains, in many cases you’ll see their condition improve. This means that all forms of kibble are out since they contain a large proportion of grains, but some canned foods are okay if they are grain free.
The problem with grains is not just an allergic reaction, but the fact that many animals already suffer from “leaky gut” syndrome. Some of the pharmaceutical drugs used to treat arthritis in animals can irritate the intestinal tract and as side effects, these medications can degrade the gastrointestinal (GI) system’s ability to keep food substances from leaking into the general circulation. A dog can thereby develop inflammation and allergic reactions (namely arthritis) to food particles floating around in the blood circulation because of a leaky gut.
That’s why human enzyme supplements, such as Wobenzyme, work in countering arthritis since they help to cleave these molecules apart before they can produce an inflammatory reaction. The results of using drug medications is a two-edged sword because when the GI tract is affected, not only can food particles leak out of the gut but the intestines can lose their ability to absorb necessary nutrients as well.
Another factor about the diet is that pet owners often simply feed their dogs too much. Remember, research has shown that a dog can go without eating for a full five days before any health effects start to show! They don’t have to eat every day, and you can easily reduce the number of calories dogs consume by reducing the quantity of food you feed them by one-quarter to one-third. If you cannot easily make out by touch each of your dog’s ribs when you feel for them, there’s a good chance your pet is overweight and overfed (or not getting enough exercise).
Basically, an anti-arthritic and weight loss diet follows certain guidelines, some of which can be relaxed as your pet recovers:
- Eliminate grains from the diet (allergies to wheat and gluten, for instance, are often known to cause arthritis; modified food starch or MSG or spices usually contain gluten as a binder, filler or bulking agent as do ice cream, catsup, mayonnaise and so forth)
- Do not feed your dog peppers, white potatoes, tomatoes or eggplant because they belong to the “nightshade” family of plants, also known to cause arthritis
- Avoid citrus, especially oranges, which can also aggravate arthritis
- No dairy except raw dairy (yogurt is fine, cottage cheese is good)
- No added salt, sugar, flavorings, colorings, preservatives (no processed food, human or dog, not even treats)
- Cartilage from the ends of large bones is beneficial. Feed your dog raw meaty bones from a reputable source (to avoid potential diseases) and be certain the bones can’t splinter to cause a whole new set of problems..
- Feed small amounts of liver (no more than 5% of total diet)
- Fish body oil, which helps with inflammation, can be safely incorporated into the diet
- Add Ester-C (buffered vitamin C, calcium ascorbate or sodium ascorbate) with bioflavonoids to the diet instead of ascorbic acid, which can be irritating.
- Reduce the dietary fat by feeding your dog leaner meat and increase their fiber intake by feeding them veggies not commonly known to produce arthritis. Good veggies include celery, carrots, parsley, asparagus, broccoli, cilantro, and garlic.
Frankly, animals that tend to look and feel the best usually are fed home-prepared diets, rather than commercial dog food, and specifically, diets containing a certain balance of organic meats, vegetables, grains and vitamin/mineral supplements.
You can consult a book such as Love, Miracles and Animal Healing, by Dr. Allen Schoen and Pam Proctor (Fireside), for specific recipes. Other useful titles include Home Prepared Dog & Cat Diets (Donald Strombeck) and Let’s Cook for Our Dog (Edmund Dorosz). You can also ask a holistic veterinarian to help you design an appropriate diet for your pet.
Don't forget the natural supplements chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine sulfate.
The general consensus of holistic veterinarians and dog breeders is that most grocery-store pet food is not as good for your animal as a home-made, well-balanced and proportioned diet. However, if home cooking isn't feasible then learn to follow two general rules of thumb:
- Look for human-grade organic or quality meats and
- avoid grains.
Some top choices for commercial dog-food include PetGuard, Nutravet and Innova.
|
