Holistika Veterinary

09/21/2023

Stella relaxing at her vet appointment today

04/24/2023

We agree with much of this. However, sometimes we will recommend rice if we are trying to put weight on or keep weight on a pet. Also not mentioned here: most rice has arsenic in it due to farming practices from the 1950s. So not a great food for daily feeding!

I have to admit I have some strong opinions. And I know some of my opinions are completely contrary to “everything you read on the Internet“. But there’s always a reason I disagree.

So what am I talking about today? Rice.

It’s everywhere. Even conventional veterinarians who are adamantly opposed to people food, they’ll tell you “feed chicken and rice“ if your dog has a sensitive stomach or diarrhea or some thing like that.

What’s my problem? There are three aspects that I feel should also be covered:

First, rice is definitely bland for us humans. That BRAT diet thing. Banana, rice, applesauce, toast. So if we have the flu, we’re supposed to eat these bland foods. That’s for humans! There are times what works for humans works for dogs and cats. In the case of a sensitive stomach, it’s absolutely not the case!

Why is that? You might ask

Humans produce lots of amylase. Amylase is a digestive enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates. Specifically rice. Dogs and cats have very little amylase by comparison. And if their intestines are messed up, dogs and cats have even less amylase. So if you feed them rice and their guts are screwed up, you’re likely to make things even worse!

Some people think rice is a good binder. Plug the dog up. I would argue with you that cheese is more likely to plug up the system.
But if you wanted some thing that’s socially acceptable and a little bit easier to digest and known to help with diarrhea: how about canned pumpkin?

So when we’re talking general dietary distress and look at the chicken and rice concept, I would argue that it’s more appropriate to feed chicken. Only. Unless of course the dog or cat is sensitive to chicken.

What do we use rice for? Me personally I think it makes my sushi rolls taste absolutely fabulous! But if I eat 75% carbohydrates at every meal, like many common dog food diets, I won’t fit through my front door. Because most dogs and cats are neutered, they no longer have the hormonal driven ability to maintain lean, muscular body weight. They are like post menopausal women. Say the word carbohydrate and we all get fat.

We can try to argue that there is nutritional value in rice. Let’s be real. It’s primarily a very cheap filler, AKA a source of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates turn into sugar. Excess sugar is stored as fat. Rice makes us fat.

Now here’s my pet peeve. To explain this, I’m going to give a short science lesson. (by the way, every veterinarian, physician, nurse, chiropractor, healthcare, professional, learns this information the very first year of medical training. Maybe they forget?)

Food is primarily made up of protein, fat and carbohydrate. Sure, there’s a little bit of vitamins and minerals but it’s mostly protein, fat and carbohydrate. So we eat our food. It goes into the stomach. A well functioning stomach has high levels of acid. The acid breaks proteins down into tiny little pieces called amino acids. The amino acids are absorbed by the body and turned back into muscle. Like, you know, muscle. Or the heart. Because the heart is a muscle. Next the food goes into the small intestines. The duct from the gallbladder is right across the intestinal street from the duct from the pancreas. The gallbladder contains bile. Bile breaks down fat.

So what’s left? That’s right. Carbohydrates. The primary job of the pancreas is to digest carbohydrates! Not fat. Not proteins. Sure, the pancreas has a small function of digesting fat and protein; the primary job of the pancreas is to digest carbohydrates!

So if a dog has an upset stomach, it’s always possible that it has a pi**ed off pancreas. If there’s any possibility at all that the dog has a pi**ed off pancreas, why in the world would we feed rice which makes the pancreas even more pi**ed off?

Now you’re probably asking yourself why in the world your veterinarian told you that pancreatitis was a fat problem? That is a beautiful question! There is a blood test to evaluate the function of the pancreas. It measures pancreatic lipase. (Lipase is an enzyme that digests fat – AKA lipid.) So if the pancreatic lipase is high, the dog has pancreatitis. But it doesn’t mean the illness is a lipid or fat issue, it just means the lipase is high, but we absolutely need to stop feeding freaking carbohydrates because the primary enzyme made in the pancreas is amylase.

Why are 99.7% of veterinarians continuing to tell people that their dog has pancreatitis and absolutely must avoid fat? Marketing. Pure and simple.

It’s the pet food companies teaching the veterinarians that it’s a fat problem. And it’s a matter of forgetting the first year of veterinary school. I kid you not. Every single veterinary student learns in physiology class first year of vet school the primary function of the pancreas is carbohydrates metabolism.

So please. Skip the rice. It’s a cheap filler, has very little nutritional benefit and could be making things worse especially in dogs with pancreatitis.

02/25/2023

Rare Los Angeles snow day!

01/18/2023

01/14/2023

Rawhids have more chemicals than we realize. Worth reading Rodney Habib's description in the comments below!

THE MOST DANGEROUS PET CHEW EVER: RAWHIDE!

How can one of the most popular chew sticks on the planet be so dangerous for your pets, you ask? I mean, most dogs chew on rawhide for hours on end, and not only does it keep them busy, but they seem to last forever.

Well if you understood what it took to make this toxic “raw” leather stick, you would quickly understand what the problem is.

Aside from the horror stories circulating all over social media these days, of pets needing emergency surgery after consuming rawhide, the majority of pet parents today, especially the newbies, believe that this chew is some sort of dried up meat stick. Let me debunk that myth right away!

A rawhide stick is not the by-product of the beef industry nor is it made of dehydrated meat. Rather, rawhide is the by-product of the “Leather Industry”, so theoretically it is a leather chew. Sounds awesome, right?

“Producing rawhide begins with the splitting of an animal hide, usually from cattle. The top grain is generally tanned and made into leather products, while the inner portion, in its “raw” state, goes to the dogs.” TheBark.com

So, how does this leather, which is conveniently rolled up into pretty shapes, actually get made into those rawhide chews?

Follow along my friends and I will enlighten you on how this hide travels through a leathery process where it transforms from hide to a not-so beautiful, colorful, chew stick. Here is a paraphrased tutorial that was explained by the whole dog journal several years back:

STEP 1: Normally, cattle hides are shipped from slaughterhouses to tanneries for processing. These hides are then treated with a chemical bath to help “preserve” the product during transport to help prevent spoilage.

(No one wants to purchase a black, spoiled rawhide stick!)

Once at the tannery: the hides are soaked and treated with either an ash-lye solution or a highly toxic recipe of sodium sulphide liming. This process will help strip the hair and fat that maybe attached to the hides themselves.

(No, no one wants to see a hairy hide…)

Next on this glorious journey, these hides are then treated with chemicals that help “puff” the hide, making it easier to split into layers.

The outer layer of the hide is used for goods like car seats, clothing, shoes, purses, etc. But, it’s the inner layer that is needed to make the rawhide. (Oh and other things like gelatin, cosmetics, and glue as well!)

STEP 2: Now that we have the inner layer of the hide, it’s time to go to the post-tannery stage! Hides are washed and whitened using a solution of hydrogen peroxide and/or bleach; this will also help remove the smell of the rotten or putrid leather. Bonus!
(Research also shows that other chemicals maybe used here to help the whitening process if the bleach isn’t strong enough.)

STEP 3: Now it’s time to make these whitened sheets of this “leathery by-product” look delicious! So, here is where the artistic painting process comes in.

“Basted, smoked, and decoratively tinted products might be any color (or odor) underneath the coating of (often artificial) dyes and flavors. They can even be painted with a coating of titanium oxide to make them appear white and pretty on the pet store shelves.” - whole-dog-journal.com

“…the Material Safety Data Sheet reveals a toxic confection containing the carcinogen FD&C Red 40, along with preservatives like sodium benzoate. But tracking the effects of chemical exposure is nearly impossible when it’s a matter of slow, low-dose poisoning.”– thebark.com

Ok, now that these hides have been painted, it’s time for the final process.

STEP 4: Getting it to last forever!

Because the FDA does not consider these chews to be food, really it’s a free for all when it comes to the manufacturers of these leather strips, and the products they may want to add to these chews, to get them to last forever. Any sort of glue can be added here to get these bad boys to never come apart.

When tested: Lead, arsenic, mercury, chromium salts, formaldehyde, and other toxic chemicals have been detected in raw hides. So it’s safe to say that any sort of glues can be used as well!

Finally, it’s time to package and attach all the glorious marketing labels to the product.

Check out the fine print warning that’s attached with some of these rawhides:
“Choking or blockages. If your dog swallows large pieces of rawhide, the rawhide can get stuck in the esophagus or other parts of the digestive tract. Sometimes, abdominal surgery is needed to remove them from the stomach or intestines. If it isn’t resolved, a blockage can lead to death.“

(Oh, how lovely…)

And there it is! It’s now ready to be shipped to store shelves where it can be purchased for our loving animal companions.

How do proactive veterinarians feel about these chews?

Here is world-renowned veterinarian Dr. Karen Becker's take on the matter:

“The name ‘rawhide’ is technically incorrect. A more accurate name would be processed-hide, because the skin isn’t raw at all. But the term “rawhide” has stuck.

Rawhide chews start out hard, but as your dog works the chew it becomes softer, and eventually he can unknot the knots on each end and the chew takes on the consistency of a slimy piece of taffy or bubble gum. And by that time your dog cannot stop working it -- it becomes almost addictive.

At this point, there’s no longer any dental benefit to the chew because it has turned soft and gooey, and, in fact, it has become a choking and intestinal obstruction hazard.“

P.S. Ready for the jaw dropper?

An investigation by Humane Society International stated in their report, “In a particularly grisly twist, the skins of brutally slaughtered dogs in Thailand are mixed with other bits of skin to produce rawhide chew toys for pet dogs. Manufacturers told investigators that these chew toys are regularly exported to and sold in U.S. stores.” – dogingtonpost.com

Rodney Habib Pet Health Site

"An educated, informed and well-researched community of pet owners can only put more pressure on the pet food industry to be better! When pet owners know better, they will only do better!"

11/05/2022

Pretty sunset views of our little home we call Holistika ♥️