Holistic Pet Food For Best Nutrition

Holistic Pet Food can heal what ails your pet and result in a cure of allergies and other types of chronic illness.

Many illnesses and chronic diseases can be traced back to poor quality pet nutrition. If Veterinary Bills are mounting and you can't figure out what is wrong with your dog or cat, chances are it is food related. Holistic Pet Nutrition is one cure found.

First and Foremost

Holistic pet foods are one the greatest products to come our way in many years. Even though this idea seems new an innovative, holistic nutrition for pets was introduced back in 1974 to the U.S. by Sissy Harrington-McGill, founder of Solid Gold Health Products.

Sissy discovered this excellent type of nutrition strictly by accident while traveling to Germany in search of a particular Great Dane bloodline. Being a breeder of Great Danes, she found the German Danes were outliving the dogs in America by 4-6 years. Average life expectancy here in the states was 7-9 years, while in Germany the Danes were living from 11-13 years.

She felt this could be an important discovery and was quite possibly related to nutrition. So she gathered up a few samples of German dog foods and took them back with her to discover the secret of their nutrition and in what way it may be linked with how the dogs in Germany were outliving their American counterparts.

Sissy began the process of showing the disbelieving FDA the first all natural dog food appropriately named Hund-N-Flocken (Dog Food Flakes=English Translation). Germany had been creating natural dog food as much as 20 years earlier than it's inception into the United States.

Solid Gold was born out of this first diet and has since grown over the past 30 years to have a total of eight individual dry diets for dogs and an excellent dry cat food called Katzen-Flocken. They also have an excellent canned food for dogs and cats. It is nutritionally complete, and for those who want more meat introduced to the diet. Also a whole concept line of vitamins, supplements, skin care, curative remedies, snacks and treats. Sissy believed in this total concept in order to provide a complete health care program to assist animals in recovery and restorative capabilities to bring about the best in our pets. Solid Gold is the forerunner and the leader in holistic animal nutrition in this nation.

What Does Holistic Mean?

Source: Merriam Webster
Main Entry: ho·lis·tic
Pronunciation: hO-'lis-tik
Function: adjective
1 : of or relating to holism
2 : relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts <holistic medicine attempts to treat both mind and the body> —ho·lis·ti·cal·ly /-ti-k(&-)lE/ adverb

Put plainly, the entire animal needs to be treated as a whole. Treating problem areas only serves as a temporary fix, and treats the dissected part from the whole body, and certain ailments can turn chronic and begin to afflict other areas of the body. Many times it can be linked to exposure to toxins, foods, outside pollutants, pet toys, and so on and so on. This in turn frustrates the dog or cat owner when their pocket book drains and their beloved best friend seems no better than before they began a series of tests and the over use of steroids and medications.

The outcome for their poor family pet is, he or she looks and feels terrible, taking on the early signs of an aging pet. This doesn't need to happen and can be prevented and in many cases the signs of aging can be reversed with Holistic Medicines and Nutrition.

What To Watch For

If you see ongoing chronic problems in your pet, nutrition should be your first strategy after a thorough physical by your Vet. Remember to investigate all causes and not simply go by what the Vet says. Choose the Veterinarian open to holistic cures and diets, not one that creates a cycle of drugs as the only answer. Some things to look out for on this small list since chronic ailments can be endless.

• Poor pigmentation of skin and coat


• Constant shedding and Hot Spots


• Chewing or excessive licking at feet and base of tail


• Chronic Ear Infections: Scratching at ears and head shaking


• Runny, goopy eyes and runny nose


• Rashes, odor on skin, excessive oiliness


• Obesity or can't maintain weight


• Pancreatitis, diabetes, seizures, liver ailments


• Lethargy, listlessness, body aches and arthritis


• Poor stools, soft or small overly firm (constipated)


• Bladder or kidney stones, chronic cystitis (especially in cats)


• Vomiting food portions or a yellow froth on occasion

Solving The Problem

Holistic Nutrition in most cases will solve many recurring issues and many allergy symptoms in your pet. Here is a list of things that can cause outward signs of poor health, behavioral changes and mood swings in your pet and should be avoided in other diets.

• Added Salts


• Sugars (Beet Pulp)


• Fillers (example: Peanut Hulls)


• By-Products, (typically 4D animals) explained in Dog Allergies Article.


• Artificial Flavors, Colors, or Preservatives


• Wheat, Corn, and Soy Grains (leading cause of allergies)


• BHA, BHT, or Ethoxyquin (Chemical Preservatives)


• Sunflower Oil (known cancer causing ingredient)

Even so called professional diets will have many of these harmful ingredients in them unbeknownst to the pet owner. Read your labels carefully and check them periodically since some of the larger Professional dog food lines have sold out to commercialized conglomerates and they tend to change or use cheaper ingredients that will alter the quality of the food forever. Grocery store dog and cat foods are the worst. What may have been excellent to feed once, may no longer be the case. In many cases once these offending ingredients are removed from your animals menu, marked improvement can occur rapidly, and in most cases complete recovery can happen within 6 months.

The Foundation

When choosing a diet for your pet, key ingredients are important. Unless you provide a whole food, preservative free concept to your pet, you will continue to see a decline in health and well being, and possibly an early unnecessary death occur.

Ingredient List:

1. Beef, Bison, Lamb, Turkey-Free Range, Salmon (not by-products)


2. Amaranth, Barley, Brown Rice, Millet, Oatmeal, Quinoa, Rye (whole grains or single processed)


3. Apples, Blueberries, Broccoli, Carrots, Cranberries, Lentils, Potato, Pumpkin Meal, Sweet Potatoes and Tomato Pomace (Fruits and Vegetables)


4. Chicory, Flax Meal, Marigold Extract, Parsley, Sea Vegetation, Thyme and Yucca Schidigera. (Herbs and Supplements)


5. Raw Foods- Frozen Meat products prepared for pets, and raw vegetables. (Dogs and cats alike love chewing on various raw veggies.)

This list looks pretty extensive, but if you shoot for this in your search for the ultimate in holistic foods, your pet will be all the better for it. Many chronic ailments will disappear. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and in this case of holistic health care, nothing rings more true. Remember all the proper diets in the world won't be effective if you purchase them loaded with preservatives, by products, or they have been over-processed. With a proper healthy diet, the change in your pets overall condition and behavior will be nothing short of amazing. The task can be daunting, but you will be rewarded with many care free healthy years with your pet.