Do you have a fur-baby that has skin issues or other allergies? Welcome to the club! There seems to be a growing epidemic of pets out there that are more susceptible to allergies, skin conditions, tumors etc than there ever was before. Because, there is so little of this seen naturally out in the wild, I strongly feel as though it's a part of domestication. Something that we found with our Bostons, that’s a running trend, is that they often don’t have thick, shiny hair naturally. Some of that is definitely dog food and what they put into their system...and if they are a newborn, what their mother ate or her overall health.
When our little Odie was a puppy, his skin was pink and his fur was thinner and finer, so it was easy to see the irritated skin underneath. He also had giardia when we first got him which is an intestinal parasite. So, we did have to clean his system of that. However, the skin issues persisted. Fortunately, I was doing a Dr. Axe protocol for healing my gut and thought maybe some of the same concepts would work for our pupper-duppers. I was absolutely correct!
Since I was making my own bone broth on a weekly basis, I shared with Odie who literally would stop eating in protest if I wouldn't add the broth to his food. What a ham! Within a couple of months, his hair became thicker and fuller and his skin no longer had those pink undertones. Currently, he has the most beautiful coat of all of our pets because he has been on this diet for so much longer. Bone broth is supposed to be very healing for the digestive tract and prevents permeation of toxins and food stuffs that really shouldn’t be getting into the bloodstream. This is so essential to radiant health and healing for obvious reasons. Really, all that I did was to add a few tablespoons to his dog food each day and reheat it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. I made bone broth ice cubes for a puppy snack and was pleasantly surprised that it was warmly welcomed!! I would also add a little greek yogurt to his food from time to time and try to incorporate more healthy table scraps and limit the dog food to being more of a filler than the main course. I totally created a monster of a glutton by doing this. Our little Odie just absolutely adores food now and we need to start dialing back his portions according to our vet who is really avidly against the pet obesity crisis. I will include a link below to a site made by other dog lovers that make their own pet food if you would like to try your hand at that. I can't help but find it to be a bit of a feel good activity on a lazy Thursday night.
Moving forward, when we got Charlie from the Humane Society,
he had very similar issues except he was a 4 year old dog!! I can’t help but
feel that foods really
do make a difference at all ages. It's not a fix it and forget it type of thing that we all kind of hope for but health and longevity is so worth it in the end! Once you start changing your pups diet, you might notice a food sensitivity or two. Each time that I would
add Greek Yogurt (regardless of plain vs with fruit etc) to Charlie's foods, he would get really
snotty and his eyes would turn beet red. Listening to that dog hack up a flem globber is not the most pleasant experience in the least. However, I’m sure a lot of that will clear up once
we really get his gut cleaned. Until then, we will be omitting dairy
from his diet and will slowly incorporate hints of it after we start seeing the
healing effects of the bone broth.
I'm sure that to some of you, that sounds like nonsense! BUT, once the gut is healed and continued maintenance is established, the sensitivities fall away. There is evidence of this with humans
who have allergies. The strategy is that if you begin by ingesting very small (sometimes almost
microscopic) amounts of the allergen (IE peanuts and other things that cause
anaphylaxis in humans) daily, the immune system will slowly but surely start to
recognize the substance as non-toxic and will start to finally utilize the food
as it would in a person who does not have an allergy or a sensitivity. Micro
dosing with micro increases are key as well as strengthening the gut. Obviously, I'm not a physician nor a veterinarian so, I will stay away from those allergies that could cause sudden and immediate death to the woman's best friend in this house. Yet, I feel that those that are just "sensitivities" can be cured. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but I would also consider this one of those tell-tale signs that what you're doing either is working or needs a little improvement.
How to make your own bone broth: I typically
just put a whole chicken in the crock pot and let it simmer all day long with a good enough portion of water to cover roughly half of the chicken. Those who know me, pretty much know that measuring isn't my forte'. This is an easy-peasy, hard to mess up process. You should always make sure that to have free-range and antibiotic free birds for cooking to ensure as pure of a batch for your own ingestion and the ingestion of your pets.
You can actually use other forms of bones such as beef and fish as well. Each
one has their own nutritional value. If you are just going to buy some bones
from your butcher, you might consider adding a tablespoon of vinegar and some
veggies for some added flavor and allow them to cook on low for 24 to 48 hours.
Always be sure to keep adding water as needed. Sometimes, when it’s just the
bone that you are using adding water is necessary. Otherwise, you can always
just buy bone broth from Amazon or Dr. Axe. You can always click on one of my
Amazon links or just click on the references list for Dr. Axe’s site and there
will be an option to go to his store. Buying Bone broth, can be spendy.
Something that is somewhat similar is gelatin. You would want to use the flavor
free or all natural to get the same effects.
Some final tips and a brief overview of other points to get you rolling on incorporating the bone broth:
Use it as a substitute for water when cooking (for yourself and your pup...it's great for both of you)
Keep the fatty layer, that's great cholesterol for the skin and coat!
Make ice cubes for treats
Add to their normal food daily (it will help them to eat the foods that they don't particularly love)
Try this and let me know what your experience was with it in the comments below!
Some final tips and a brief overview of other points to get you rolling on incorporating the bone broth:
Use it as a substitute for water when cooking (for yourself and your pup...it's great for both of you)
Keep the fatty layer, that's great cholesterol for the skin and coat!
Make ice cubes for treats
Add to their normal food daily (it will help them to eat the foods that they don't particularly love)
Try this and let me know what your experience was with it in the comments below!
References:
https://www.caninejournal.com/homemade-dog-food-recipes/
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