The consumption of raw meat by your dog and cat is both natural and time proven. Our pets are carnivores for a good reason…. they are designed to eat freshly killed meat. The feeding of raw meat to carnivores provides the opportunity for the biological system to function more in tune with its design, that is; a quiet immune system supporting healthy structure and function and freedom in movement without fear of invasion.
This greater vitality gotten by eating meat in the raw state more than compensates for the greater possibility of exposure to parasites or potentially harmful bacteria. Healthy living is not living in isolation from pathogens (an impossibility, as we are connected to the world around us as evidenced by our NEED to eat) but rendering pathogens harmless through a powerful state of health.
The foundation of long lasting health is vital food; fresh wholesome and varied. Parasites (and yeast for that matter) are indicators of an already weakened immune system; not the cause of disease. These organisms are physical indicators of marginally diseased and weakened tissues. As the weakness intensifies, the prevalence of parasites (and yeast) will intensify.
Thorough cooking and processing of food (not including grains) renders food weak, for in the heating process almost all of the life giving molecules are destroyed. Grains have natural resistance to higher temperatures, as summer temperatures out in the sun, in the field all day can naturally be quite high.
Processed food offers survival instead of health. In this weakened/survival mode, parasites run rampant, as immunity is disturbed and confused for lack of appropriate raw materials. A disturbed and confused immune system modified by chemical drugs can only respond partially in the direction of health for a short time, and then it usually collapses into a deeper level of disorganization expressed as deeper disease. The need for chemical medicine reflects an irreversible collapse in one or another of organs or systems; dependence has been achieved, this is one step further from true health.
The dependence on chemical drugs is the scenario of life on processed food. As it happens to us as humans it will continue to happen to our pets. This is the history of veterinary medicine for the last 40 years; more disease(s), more cures with less health. This is the legacy of commercial pet food. Dogs and cats were never intended to eat anything from a can or a bag filled with over cooked, dead foods that are waste products from the human food industry. There is no wonder the health of our pets continue to decline.
Parasites and their hosts have made a long time agreement. It is not in the benefit of the parasite to kill the host (do not bite the hand that feeds you), nor is it truly possible to be totally free of all parasites once they have infected the host. It is all in the degree of balance. In a healthy system the parasites are severely limited in numbers and locations. As the degree of health becomes less, the parasite numbers and presence throughout the body increases until their containment is no longer possible. This is nature’s way of maintaining a certain degree of excellence in the population dynamics.
It is very commonly seen that it is the stunted, poor doers that are most susceptible to parasitic loads throughout the system. Often times many de-worming treatments are necessary before worm loads are reduced. Worm medicines, just like antibiotics do only part of the job, contrary to common belief. It is necessary for the immune system to finish the work of these chemicals and maintain the diligence of ongoing surveillance. The efficacy of these immune functions is a result of the degree of overall health of the system.
A healthy living system has an accurate and deep-seated understanding of what is self and non-self. This is defined shortly after birth and the refinement of function is the degree of health in action. Healthy immune function keeps a clear discernment between self and non-self; the system works silently while life goes on; careful not to over-react and attack elements of the system (autoimmune diseases) or non-threatening elements from the environment (allergic diseases). While this is carefully regulated; a healthy immune system is also efficient in destroying potential pathogens very early on, quietly, before too much of a battle has to be processed by the system as a whole (symptoms of disease). The result is quiet, healthy living in spite of “pathogens” all around. This is a state of living with little or no fear, it is IMMUNITY itself, expressed as WELLNESS, a knowing that all-is-well.
This can only happen when the raw materials needed for smooth function are available to the cells of the body. This happens automatically when proper nutrition flows in, from an appropriate diet, plenty of exercise, sunlight and periods of adequate rest. The fixing and medicines of life are internally endowed, and with an efficient delivery system throughout the body, necessary materials are made available just before they are needed, not after. “Food is medicine and medicine is food” is the by-line throughout the history of medicine, let this not be forgotten.
Brought to you by
William Pollak, DVM
Fairfield Animal Hospital
1115 E. Madison Ave
Fairfield, IA 52556
“Holistic & traditional approaches to support the best of animal health.”
Available online at https://www.healthyvet.com