Rommel is a 6 year old Rottweiler who is gentle and strong willed and takes his role as the number one dog in the household quite seriously. I saw Rommel when his owners became concerned that over the course of three weeks he had vomited yellow liquid (bile) almost every night. The only abnormality I found during his physical exam was that his eyes were red. His blood work and tests on his eyes were normal.
In Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) the 12 major organs in the body follow a 24 hour circadian rhythm. Each organ is most active for 2 hours of the day or night. The liver and gall bladder are most active between 11 pm and 3 am. Rommel had been vomiting between midnight and 5 am. In addition, TCVM suggests that eyes reflect the health of the liver. Rommel's liver and gall bladder appeared to be showing an imbalance. Could it be emotional?
With further questioning, I determined that the 3 year old dog, named Koda, that the family began fostering 2 months earlier may be the cause of Rommel's problems. Koda would jump on Rommel, steal Rommel's toys and barreled out of the dog door first pushing Rommel aside. Rommel was reprimanded by his owners for snapping at Koda when he first joined the household. Now I suspect Rommel is angry and frustrated and it is having an impact on his liver and gall bladder.
I ask the owners to make certain that Rommel will be allowed to go out the dog door first and will be fed first while Koda is made to wait. Also, Rommel's toys are to be made off limits to Koda. Rommel will be allowed on the sofa while Koda must lay in the dog bed on the floor. All of these things are meant to help re-establish Rommel as the number one dog in the house.
One month after our visit, the owners inform me that Rommel is much happier. His eyes are no longer red and he has not vomited in 3 weeks. In fact, he is playing with Koda; now that Koda is showing the appropriate respect for the "top dog". The emotion of anger and frustration has been diminished and in turn the symptoms of an imbalanced liver and gall bladder are diminished as well.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Emotional Health
As a holistic veterinarian I rely on Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) to help guide my physical exam findings and to determine how acupuncture, herbal medicine, and nutrition might best help an individual patient. One of my favorite aspects of the TCVM approach is how emotion can directly influence the health of our animal compantions. When emotions are overwhelming and left unchecked the health of a patient is compromised.
Excessive worry can take a toll on the stomach and spleen while overwhelming and prolonged grief can compromise the health of the lungs and large intestine. Significant fear and anxiety can weaken the kidneys and bladder. Anger and frustration can adversely effect the liver and gall bladder. And emotions don't need to be "bad" to influence the health of a patient. The heart and small intestines can become imbalanced and weakened when a patient experiences overpowering and persistent joy.
Excessive worry can take a toll on the stomach and spleen while overwhelming and prolonged grief can compromise the health of the lungs and large intestine. Significant fear and anxiety can weaken the kidneys and bladder. Anger and frustration can adversely effect the liver and gall bladder. And emotions don't need to be "bad" to influence the health of a patient. The heart and small intestines can become imbalanced and weakened when a patient experiences overpowering and persistent joy.
worry = spleen and stomach
grief = lungs and large intestine
fear = kidneys and bladder
anger = liver and gall bladder
joy= heart and small intestines
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
I recently spoke with my mother-in-law about one of her cats who is not eating well and losing weight and so my thoughts today are to write about feeding our cat companions. There is an ideal approach to cat nutrition, however, there is also a very important exception to this ideal approach.
I have written about and spoken to many clients about our purring feline companions being "obligate carnivores." In other words, they are creatures designed and obligated to eat meat. A feline in the wild will have little, if any, direct ingestion of plant material. The analogy I often use is that of a cat living in a corn field. If there are no mice, voles, birds or other small prey to eat the cat would not turn to eat an ear of corn to survive. The cat would starve to death without meat. A cat's anatomy and physiology is designed to consume a diet rich in protein and fat with little to no carbohydrates (grain).
The teeth of a cat are sharp and designed to puncture and cut through meat and to do very little chewing. In fact, a cat's jaw can only move up and down and has no ability to make a lateral chewing motion. Dry food is typically swallowed whole and so the notion that dry food has dental benefits is a myth. Cats also have a relatively short small intestine and stomach designed for digesting small, protein rich meals.
Evolution of the cat has enhanced and eliminated certain biochemical functions because they are meat eaters. For example, a dog can convert the carotenes found in fruits and vegetables into vitamin A. But the cat cannot derive vitamin A from plant sources and must rely on animal sources, such as organ meat (liver), to get the essential nutrient need of vitamin A met.
Cats simply do not have a dietary requirement for carbohydrates (grain) and yet most cat food is made with corn and rice and other grains very similar to the diets made for dogs. A high protein diet is ideal. It is extremely important to note, however, that essential nutrients are missing from feeding just canned tuna, canned chicken or chicken livers and significant disease can be the result of feeding such a limited diet.
The good news is that there are formulated cat diets, both canned and dry, that are high protein and grain free. Innova EVO cat food is one such diet. All the essential nutrients are met with this diet and are ideal for our carnivore cats. It is my suggestion to try this diet to enhance the health and well-being of your cat. However, this is where I get to the big exception to this ideal feeding approach.
Domesticated cats often start life on a grain based kibble diet which accounts for the great majority of cat food available and this leads some cats to becoming what I refer to as "carbohydrate junkies". These cats likely crave the sugar high that comes with digesting corn and rice and other grains in their meal. And although they are obligate carnivores some of our domesticated cats will refuse to eat a high protein diet. While many cats make the diet transition from a grain based diet to a meat protein based diet smoothly, others will not. And while a high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diet is an ideal approach to feeding our carnivore cats, it is even more important that a cat eat every day even if it means feeding a carbohydrate based diet. If you have a "carbohydrate junkie" try to find food with meat listed as the first one or two ingredients rather than corn. Try a high protein diet, like Innove EVO for your cat, but more importantly, make sure your cat eats every day.
I have written about and spoken to many clients about our purring feline companions being "obligate carnivores." In other words, they are creatures designed and obligated to eat meat. A feline in the wild will have little, if any, direct ingestion of plant material. The analogy I often use is that of a cat living in a corn field. If there are no mice, voles, birds or other small prey to eat the cat would not turn to eat an ear of corn to survive. The cat would starve to death without meat. A cat's anatomy and physiology is designed to consume a diet rich in protein and fat with little to no carbohydrates (grain).
The teeth of a cat are sharp and designed to puncture and cut through meat and to do very little chewing. In fact, a cat's jaw can only move up and down and has no ability to make a lateral chewing motion. Dry food is typically swallowed whole and so the notion that dry food has dental benefits is a myth. Cats also have a relatively short small intestine and stomach designed for digesting small, protein rich meals.
Evolution of the cat has enhanced and eliminated certain biochemical functions because they are meat eaters. For example, a dog can convert the carotenes found in fruits and vegetables into vitamin A. But the cat cannot derive vitamin A from plant sources and must rely on animal sources, such as organ meat (liver), to get the essential nutrient need of vitamin A met.
Cats simply do not have a dietary requirement for carbohydrates (grain) and yet most cat food is made with corn and rice and other grains very similar to the diets made for dogs. A high protein diet is ideal. It is extremely important to note, however, that essential nutrients are missing from feeding just canned tuna, canned chicken or chicken livers and significant disease can be the result of feeding such a limited diet.
The good news is that there are formulated cat diets, both canned and dry, that are high protein and grain free. Innova EVO cat food is one such diet. All the essential nutrients are met with this diet and are ideal for our carnivore cats. It is my suggestion to try this diet to enhance the health and well-being of your cat. However, this is where I get to the big exception to this ideal feeding approach.
Domesticated cats often start life on a grain based kibble diet which accounts for the great majority of cat food available and this leads some cats to becoming what I refer to as "carbohydrate junkies". These cats likely crave the sugar high that comes with digesting corn and rice and other grains in their meal. And although they are obligate carnivores some of our domesticated cats will refuse to eat a high protein diet. While many cats make the diet transition from a grain based diet to a meat protein based diet smoothly, others will not. And while a high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diet is an ideal approach to feeding our carnivore cats, it is even more important that a cat eat every day even if it means feeding a carbohydrate based diet. If you have a "carbohydrate junkie" try to find food with meat listed as the first one or two ingredients rather than corn. Try a high protein diet, like Innove EVO for your cat, but more importantly, make sure your cat eats every day.
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