Holistic Veterinary Care LLC

07/14/2025

It turns out that in dogs, like everything else, heart health depends upon the health of the microbiome. With natural therapies, there are easy ways with supplements that we can support microbiome health. Probiotics, prebiotics, correct diet, and whole food supplements such as Standard Process Canine Enteric Support in combination with heart healthy supplements such as Standard Process Cardio Plus are great ways to support the microbiome and the heart at the same time.

Based on the Chinese calendar of the year, this combination is an excellent choice for the summer months.

07/14/2025

Given the extreme natural disasters that have happened recently, this pet disaster preparedness checklist could be very useful (courtesy of Volhard Dog Nutrition).

03/03/2025

If you're not familiar with this podcast, this is a great episode to start with....especially with the recent excitement in the news.

Watch live here every Thursday at 11 PM PT (2 PM ET) and catch up on past episodes and episode segments.

11/26/2024

Most dogs with chronic intestinal disease (decreased appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and sometimes weight loss) do not typically have a gastrointestinal infection. Changing the diet and using appropriate supplements is more effective than antibiotics.

This article includes suggestions for supplemental support for dogs with chronic GI symptoms.

Antimicrobial use for chronic enteropathy needs to be reconsidered and replaced by other supportive interventions that do not harm the gut microbiota.

11/12/2024

With any behavior problem, regardless of the age of your dog or cat, you need to review your pet's gastrointestinal health. Testing for worms can be part of this, but you need to ensure that you're feeding a broadly varied, balanced, raw diet. Getting supplements that support the gastrointestinal system is also important.

Canine Enteric Support and Feline Enteric Support from Standard Process Inc. are two of my favorite supplements for restoration of gut health in dogs and cats!

10/21/2024

The question of communicable disease often comes up with puppies. Many vets recommend keeping your puppy at home and not exposing them to any other dogs or new environment until they are finished with their full set of vaccines. This is a terrible idea!

We must socialize our puppies and the window of opportunity is between 8-16 weeks of age. Puppies who have not been socialized can only be desensitized after this time. That is a lot harder. During the initial 8-16 weeks, puppies are more open to new experiences, new dogs, and new people. We obviously have to support and protect them while making sure they have safe encounters with the world. If this time is missed, puppies go into a more fearful stage of development and they will likely regard other dogs and humans with suspicion for the rest of their lives.

The risk of disease is dwarfed by the need for socialization. Unsocialized dogs are harder to train, more likely to bite people, and more likely to end up in a shelter.

Check my website for classes about puppies and young dogs!

10/20/2024

Puppy biting only gets worse if puppies are reprimanded for putting their mouths on people. The best way to deal with this issue is to redirect the puppy to an appropriate toy that has a texture that they like to bite into. It's also important to not engage in rough play with the puppy. Feeding your puppy raw food instead of carbohydrate laden kibble will also help their brains function more normally.

Check my website for the next upcoming class about puppies!

10/19/2024

Mouthing and play-biting are normal puppy behaviors. This is how young animals without opposable thumbs explore their world. They're also learning basic behaviors that would be necessary for hunting and for the play aggression that is part of adult dog ritual behavior.

Even so, it's hard for humans to deal with those sharp puppy teeth. Our puppies need to learn bite inhibition without turning biting into a problem. Katie K9 will be presenting training techniques for young puppies at our next seminar. Check my website for more info!

10/18/2024

When we get puppies, they are often thought of as blank slates. However, many behaviors and responses are already built-in. During the first few weeks of life they learn from birth order, their mothers, and exposure to things in the environment (noises or walking on different surfaces). It's our job as the new family member of these puppies to introduce them to the world in a way that educates without alarming them.

Check out my website for the next class about puppies!

10/17/2024

The water that we offer our pets can have significant effects on their health. Issues with water quality will often be seen as increased drinking, increased urination, accidents in the house, and even incontinence. The best sources of water are ones that you would drink yourself. If you refuse to drink the tap water in your home, don't feed it to your dogs or cats. If you're using RO or distilled water, it must be re-mineralized before offering it to dogs and cats. Even then, problems can arise and it can be helpful to do an experiment with offering bottled water for a couple of weeks to see if the symptoms clear up.

Check my website for new classes about natural health for your dog!

10/15/2024

The importance of feeding cats a varied diet can hardly be overstated. If you have a kitten or young cat, you must offer them fresh food in great variety! Now is the time to encourage your young cat to experiment with different textures, odors, and taste.

By the time cats reach about a year old, they typically become less flexible and more set in their ways. Offer your young cat any type of food, both meat and non-meat items. The only things to avoid are onions, grapes/raisins, xylitol, chocolate, and macadamia nuts.

Check my website for classes to learn how to feed a more natural diet!

http://www.kymythy.com/articles11.htmlv

So, what’s the big deal about food? Why does it have such a huge influence on a body’s health? Well, simply put, food is body-fuel. It nourishes each and every cell in the body and creates the energy necessary for life to happen. It’s an overly simplified analogy, but food is to living beings ...

10/14/2024

Dogs and cats who suffer from behavioral problems, including anxiety, aggression, and restlessness, can often be helped by eliminating dry pet foods (kibble) from their diet.

Feeding a balanced raw diet is an important step towards resolving your pets' behavioral issues.

Join one of my classes to learn how to feed a natural species appropriate diet! Find more information on my website!