September 9, 2025 • 29 mins
Dr. Randy Aronson, a holistic integrative veterinarian, tackles the silent enemy: chronic inflammation in dogs and cats. Joined by Heather Enajibi (Natural Pet Food Group), we reveal how inflammation contributes to common pet issues like arthritis, allergies, kidney disease, and GI problems. Learn the subtle warning signs most pet owners miss and the role of anti-inflammatory nutrition.
Discover why moving away from high-carbohydrate, processed foods to a biologically appropriate, high-meat diet is the most powerful tool for prevention and treatment. We discuss the hidden costs of traditional treatments, like steroids and antibiotics, versus the long-term benefits of a holistic, anti-inflammatory approach. Empower yourself to make proactive choices for your pet's wellness and long-term health.
#PetInflammation #HolisticPetCare #DogNutrition #CatHealth #IntegrativeVet #ChronicInflammation
Feline Natural: https://us.felinenatural.com
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TAKEAWAYS
- 90% of senior dogs show signs of chronic inflammation.
- 75% of cats over age 10 develop inflammatory conditions.
- Chronic inflammation can lead to serious health issues like Cushing's disease.
- Early detection can prevent 60% of chronic conditions caused by inflammation.
- Diet plays a bigger role than most people think in managing inflammation.
- High meat diets are biologically appropriate for pets.
- Kibble is often highly processed and can be inflammatory.
- Holistic approaches can be more cost-effective than traditional treatments.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:08):
Greetings everyone.
Did you know that 90% of seniordogs show signs of chronic
inflammation, but only 15% ofowners recognize the early
warning signs?
Inflammation is the silent enemylinking many pet health problems
that seem unrelated.
It contributes to arthritis,kidney disease, allergies, GI
(00:29):
issues, and even cognitivedecline.
Learn how to spot the subtlesigns and symptoms which dietary
changes can make the biggestdifference at any age.
Welcome to Pause, Reflect, andHeal.
I'm Dr.
Randy, and today I'm joined byHeather and Ajibi from Feline
Natural.
In this episode, we're going totalk about how inflammation
affects our pets in ways mostowners never realize.
(00:53):
I mentioned dogs a minute, butdo you know that 75% of cats
over age 10 develop inflammatoryconditions?
As I've said many times on thispodcast, many common pet
behaviors we discuss as normalaging are actually red flags,
and inflammation could be at theroot of today's pets problems.
(01:13):
Today we're going to have a bigdiscussion about how diet plays
a bigger role than most peoplethink in either fighting or
fueling the often silent problemof inflammation.
And we'll look at otherlifestyle factors as well.
I'm very fortunate to be joinedby Heather and Ajibi.
Heather is a lifelong animaladvocate who began her journey
(01:34):
operating an animal rescue anddiscovering the power of
nutrition through her own heartdog's severe allergies.
With over a decade in the petnutrition industry, she works
for Canine and Feline Natural, aNew Zealand company known for
its commitment to sustainabilityand animal welfare.
Heather's mission is to helppets through species
(01:56):
appropriated food and informedchoices, building strong
relationships with bothretailers and pet parents.
Heather, before we get started,is there anything else you'd
like to share with our listenersabout your background?
SPEAKER_01 (02:08):
Yeah, well, um I was really fortunate enough to kind
of land with this great companyand work with Dr.
Mark Roberts, who has his PhD inanimal sciences.
Um and what I learned from himwas if all disease stems from
inflammation and an unhealthygut, let's bring food into this
to bring inflammation down andtreat gut health.
(02:30):
And that's been a really bigpassion of mine since I've lost
one dog to Cushings.
And as we're going to talk abouttoday, I accidentally brought
another Cushings dog into mylife a couple months ago.
And I'm regaining my passioninto this industry by watching
it change a dog so quickly.
So can't wait to talk to youabout sweet rose.
SPEAKER_00 (02:52):
We're excited.
And uh, you know, the universedoes work in strange ways, I
must say.
So usually if we don't get itright the first time, sometimes
it can really help us work itout the second.
But you know, your pet's itchingmay not be just allergies, it
could be inflammation silentlywreaking havoc.
We're gonna define the uh whatinflammation uh symptoms might
(03:13):
look like, and then we'll talkabout some of the things.
So, Heather, tell us basicallyyour thoughts on inflammation in
dogs and or cats.
SPEAKER_01 (03:23):
Well, I mean, we see it everywhere, and I think um,
as you mentioned, so many thingsthat we do attribute to either
just aging or allergies or youknow, this really all comes down
to inflammation and an unhealthygut.
So, I mean, I think so many ofthe problems that people bring
their pets into the vet for arethey really just come down to
(03:43):
inflammation and what can we doas advocates for our pets to
reduce it?
Um it it's so many things.
It's as as you know, when I evenhear people say my dog stinks,
I'm like, why does your dogstink?
You know, I'm like, my dog'swell, one of my dogs currently
stinks a little bit, but she'snot she's not going to by next
month.
So you know, I I haven't bathedmy other dog in so long because
(04:05):
he doesn't need it, you know,and I think people don't I mean,
we think about things likearthritis or itchy, scaly skin,
but there's just so much thatinflammation causes, even
behaviors, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (04:18):
And and just things that I tell people are kind of
red flags are things likelicking pool paws, allergies,
uh, fatigue, stiffness afternaps, picky eating.
Um, you know, these can all besigns.
Uh and classic inflammation thatgoes on for years is called
chronic inflammation.
And this is where we really getinto trouble with some of our
(04:39):
pets.
Uh unchecked, you know, we wesee things like Cushing's
disease that you mentioned,kidney disease, uh, even small
bowel lymphoma in our cats thatis on an incredible rise.
Um so uh I think that you knowwe want to make sure that we
know that we can pick thesethings up before uh before
things happen.
And obviously early detectioncan prevent 60% of some of these
(05:02):
chronic conditions caused byinflammations.
So um we'll talk about that, butlet's talk about the diet trap
because I know this is right upyour alley.
Um I I want our listeners toknow that Canine and Feline
Natural is an amazing company,and they've made incredible
strides to help us with thisproblem.
And anytime uh a company alignsthemselves to do that, um
(05:25):
obviously I'm totally on board.
So talk a little bit about uhthe food situation, if you
could.
SPEAKER_01 (05:31):
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, I so my beliefs and whatI have seen work throughout my
career here, but alsospecifically in the last couple
of months, is feeding an a uh adiet that is 100% pasture-raised
meats.
We've got greenlit mussels inall of our formulas.
Usually you see that in a jointsupplement aisle.
We're putting it right into ourfood.
(05:52):
So again, omega-3s.
You know, you're changing thebalance there.
You're um and really thepasture-raised meats is a big,
big thing that people don'tthink about.
You don't think about thecortisol levels in a factory
raised meat.
They don't think about I mean,and and really just the animal
welfare aspect of it.
New Zealand has done an amazingjob in the way they farm, which
(06:15):
we get to reap the benefits hereby feeding the food.
Um and yeah, just a high meatdiet because biologically
appropriate diet is what ananimal would, you know, it's
it's what they're meant to eat.
We've make it we'vecommercialized pet food and
taken them really far outsidewhat they would self-select.
SPEAKER_00 (06:32):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (06:33):
And, you know, studies show if you allow an
animal to self-select theirdiet, they're gonna select a
diet high in protein, high infat, extraordinarily low in
carbs.
So I do tend to look at carbs askind of like, ugh, you know,
reduce that carb level.
Yes, our food can help heal yourpet, but keep them out of there
in the first place.
Uh you can keep them healthy bystarting this diet early instead
(06:55):
of like I'm doing now,correcting a lifetime of of most
likely inflammation her entirelife.
SPEAKER_00 (07:02):
So and I when I work with my my uh pet parents, we
set that stage early in a puppyand kitten's life uh on what
that looks like.
But let me um let me just backup and and tell our listeners uh
kind of a a really small shorthistory.
Uh when I was um a young guy,which was before the light bulb
(07:22):
was invented, um, we didn't havekibble.
Uh so the ranch dogs and thefarm dogs ate what we ate.
Uh and they ate verybiologically appropriate,
high-protein type diets thatHeather has alluded to.
Kibble came along because itwas, you know, easy.
And so now we have these superuh heat-treated, highly
(07:43):
processed diets producing thingslike advanced glycolation end
products, malliard reactionproducts that are toxic to our
cats and dogs.
And besides that, they use thesimple carbs like soy, corn,
wheat, rice, and white potato.
And these turn to sugar, whichare incredibly inflammatory for
(08:04):
our pets.
So uh, you know, often when Ihave a second and third opinion
uh in hospital or on mytelemedicine cases, we
immediately work to get thosecarbs, the simple carbs, out of
a pet's diet.
We immediately work to get thecarbohydrate level down.
Because even on some of thereally good kibbles, there's
(08:25):
still 40 or 50 percent carbs.
And as Heather alluded to, thesecan really cause a lot of
inflammatory problems that we'reseeing.
And that, you know, that doesn'teven talk about rendered fats or
other types uh, you know, plantor proteins that can trigger
immune systems.
SPEAKER_01 (08:41):
4D meats, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (08:43):
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
You know, I I tell the story,and and people probably don't
want to hear this, but when Iwas my first year of veterinary
school, um we went to a meatprocessing plant and we saw what
the uh big food companies weretaking as far as their protein.
And honestly, it was stuff offthe floor, it was tumors, it was
animals that were euthanizedwith euthanasia solution in
(09:05):
them.
Uh so you know, these are thethings that really could be a
problem to say the least.
SPEAKER_01 (09:10):
Well, and I always think, you know, we all know
what a human uh like a hot dogyou get at the ballpark.
You know what part of the meatthat is.
Well cheap pet food is what'sleft after the hot dogs are
taken.
unknown (09:22):
You know?
SPEAKER_01 (09:23):
So that's really, really bad.
SPEAKER_00 (09:26):
Exactly.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (09:28):
Yeah.
So the quality of sourcingmatter a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (09:31):
No question.
No question.
And so, you know, what I tell mylisteners is uh I make a slow
transition off of the productsthat they're on.
I'm I'm not a fan of many of theprescription diets, and the
reason I'm not is because of thesame thing that Heather and I am
talking about.
That many of these are made withsimple carbs, they're highly
processed.
(09:52):
And, you know, often what you'llfind in the allergy dog, let's
say, or the GI dog is uh what wecall elimination diet.
So the veterinarian's gonna trythis diet, and many times they
go to lamb and rice, which isreally a bad choice because in
Chinese medicine, the threemeats that we stay away from
(10:12):
also in inflammation are lamb,venison, and chicken.
So uh, and then you know, andthen these diets are made with
the simple carbs and like rice,which basically is inflammatory.
So I really like to use testingto help me get to where I'm
going to and end up on a companylike uh canine or feline
(10:33):
natural.
Uh the testing that I do is uheither a food sensitivity test
like Nutriscan or a food allergytest like VDI.
Uh and then I also use biome,which a lot of people don't know
a lot about, but you know, thisis the biggest catchword in
human medicine right now.
And once we discover how yourdog or cat's biome is off, we
(10:54):
can correct just withsupplements.
And as you heard me say, nomedicine, we're talking about
supplements.
So between that and diet, wecould really make a big
difference.
SPEAKER_01 (11:04):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (11:05):
So, you know, also you've you've had this
experience.
We we've talked about Rose andwe've talked about your other
dog.
Um you know, there's a real um areal uh catch with um, you know,
like using things like steroids,you know, uh, you know, they may
stop the itching, but what's thecost?
And you know, so you know, thestandard out, you know, outline
(11:26):
for these kind of animals manytimes is a very strong
antibiotic, something like metacuh metronidazole, which as I
tell people is so damaging toour pets.
You know, metronidazole wascreated uh by human surgeons so
that if they got into your bowelinto surgery and leaked
something, you'd have nobacteria to leak because it
(11:47):
wipes out everything.
Yeah.
Um, and so you know, this plusthe anti-inflammatories, the
steroids, the apoquels, theatopicas, which are immune
lowering or uh uh you know,immune suppressing can really
cause problems.
And as we can talk about, uh thevet bills can be quite
outrageous.
Yeah um so just I think sincewe've talked about this, let's
(12:11):
talk about your cushionoidexperience.
Yeah.
Um and we'll talk about uh, youknow, maybe Rose and how she,
you know, how she presented andthen how she looked after you
tried your your your uh routine.
SPEAKER_01 (12:23):
Yeah, yeah.
So um, and actually that that'suh the slides that we'll be
showing here, one of them talksabout because part of the
traditional treatment forcushions was putting her on
Hills KD, lamb specifically, um,and the cost of that.
You know, and and I if you'velooked at the ingredient panel
and you put it up against acanine natural or feline natural
(12:44):
ingredient panel, they readvery, very differently.
But what really surprised me wasthe Hills cost almost the same
as our 94% meat, no corn, soy,wheat, fillers diet.
It blew my mind because I knowwhat was in that can and that
kibble.
Why did it cost?
Why is it gonna cost$300,$400 amonth to feed her that?
(13:08):
Um so that was a big part of it.
Um but with Rose, so yeah, Itook her in, 14 years old.
I actually thought she was gonnabe a hospice foster.
I was just gonna give her acomfortable place for a couple
weeks, did the blood test,everything started steering
towards um cushions.
And then about 12, 13 years ago,I lost Nina to Cushings, and I
did all the traditional stuff.
(13:29):
I would have done anything forNina.
And so I followed all the vetadvice, did all the things, and
all I did was sort of prolongher life probably another eight
months, and she was prettymiserable because those
medicines were apparently quitetoxic because she was not doing
well.
And so I decided, well, I've gotkind of nothing to lose with
Rose here.
So let me put my money where mymouth is and do the
(13:54):
anti-inflammatory diet that Italk about.
I did not expect it to turnaround as fast as it did.
Um and she you'll see in theafter picture within 23 days.
Um I was hoping for 90, youknow, honestly.
I I I I love our food and I sellour food, but I did not believe
(14:14):
that it could do that in 23days.
But I've got the metadata onthose photos so I can prove it.
SPEAKER_00 (14:20):
I love it.
I love it.
Yeah, you don't have to youdon't have to prove it to me
because I've seen the samething.
And so I just want to back upand let our listeners know uh
about Cushings.
So Cushing's disease is anoveractive adrenal gland.
It's production of too much uhcortisol and steroid that's
affecting the animal.
(14:40):
Uh often often comes uh with uhsymptoms of drinking a lot of
water, urinating a lot, uh uhalways being hungry, uh, but
not, you know, not reallygaining weight, um,
restlessness, pot belly, uh umintense breathing, or you know,
a lot of uh panting and whatnot.
So uh these are often somewarning signs, and often your
(15:01):
veterinarian could could pick upuh the telltale signs of
cushions.
There are some specific teststhat we do to really nail it
down because there are two typesof cushions, one coming from the
pituitary gland and one alsocoming from adrenal tumor, which
is a little bit more difficultto deal with.
Uh but Heather did absolutelythe right things.
And in my world, I would haveadded, you know, because I have
(15:25):
this um ammunition, I would haveadded the food sensitivity or
allergy test.
I would have added the biome tobalance their body uh to help.
But um the diet plus uh theChinese herbal medicine uh for
marbles is is a great way to go.
And uh and you know, you can seethe results.
And and obviously we're talkingabout um, you know, these these
(15:47):
these medications um that areimmune suppressive.
So here in Arizona, just forexample, and and all really
across the United States, thereare many fungal diseases that
live in the soil.
Uh here we have a fungal diseasecalled coccidiomycosis or valley
fever.
And when you start putting ananimal on immune suppressive
(16:07):
drugs like atopica or apoquel,uh cyclosporin, uh, or some of
the asteroids, uh, you'relowering the immune system.
And guess what happens?
We may get the signs to improve,but now we have a valley fever
dog.
And I've seen it time and timeagain here.
And so I really, really cautionpeople to really take a good
(16:28):
look and and listen to podcastslike this to make sure you
really understand uh you knowwhat's going on and what we
might be able to do.
SPEAKER_01 (16:35):
Right.
Yeah.
And I think what what you'd findis uh what I found with Rose's
case is it's$300 less a month todo this holistically.
Um, so I think so often peopleassociate holistic or high
quality feeding with bigexpense, but I think you really
need to look at the biggerpicture on fluids, antibiotics,
kind of this whole kind of wheelyou get into of chasing side
(17:00):
effects and how much moreaffordable it is to actually do
it.
And you know, just seeing Roserun, you know, because she's not
so stiff.
You know, we talked about othersite symptoms of inflammation,
stiffness, you know, and youthink about that with yourself.
You know, you hear people sayall the time, oh, I had too much
pasta or something like that,and my joints hurt.
(17:20):
Well, what is a 50 plus percentterrible quality kibble going to
do to those same joints for yourpet?
And they live such short lives.
Like correct, correct.
Let's throw everything good atthem in their short little lives
so we so we have them with usfor longer.
SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
Yeah.
I just want to mention, if wecould, uh to uh make sure if
you're watching this episode andyou like it, uh subscribe to the
YouTube channel that it's on.
Look at Spotify and Apple.
Uh you'll see these podcasts onthere.
And also uh follow us at Dr.
Randy PetFet because many ofthese podcasts will be on there,
(17:58):
plus articles and whatnot.
A lot of information that I Igive my clients uh that will
really educate our pet parentsbecause Heather's job, just like
mine, is to educate you and makesure that the more information
you have, the better off yourpet's going to be.
Uh and and Mark.
So talk a little bit about um II want to mention I want to
mention feline natural becauseI'm really interested.
(18:21):
I'm interested in both products,obviously, but talk a little bit
about how that maybe have comehad come about and and what what
you know forms it's in so peoplecan listen because I I really
want them to know what theoptions are.
SPEAKER_01 (18:33):
Yeah, yeah.
And our and our feline is trulyexceptional because you, you
know, your cat is an obligatecarnivore.
So why are you going to feed,why are you going to pay for a
lot of fruits and vegetablesthat your cat does not need?
So our feline diets are 98% meatplus the greenlit mussels.
Something else we do when I talkabout anti-inflammation
(18:55):
anti-inflammation.
Um, our cans and pouches, wedon't add any gelling agents
because that's something elsethat can be, it can upset the GI
tract.
Um, we just add water and cookit.
So um you're keeping it veryclean, you're not upsetting kind
of the balance, but very, veryhigh meat, very high quality
meat and green lit mussels.
(19:17):
And we it comes in freeze-driedpouches and cans.
We get a lot of great feedbackon our freeze-dry freeze-dried.
Um, there is a perception outthere that cats don't like
freeze-dried food, and I think alot of times it has to do with
the format.
Um we have a great little pelletthat gives the cat the
mouthfeel.
So I really encourage people totry it because I think they'll
(19:38):
be surprised.
Even if it's just a treat fortheir cat, it's a great way to
boost the nutrition on top ofwhatever else you might be
doing.
Um, and the cans and pouches fordiabetes, um, you know, we have
less than 1% carbs in our felinediets.
SPEAKER_00 (19:53):
That's amazing.
I mean, just that level versusif we talk about 40 to 50
percent simple carbs in many ofthe kibble type diets.
Um, I I don't have any of mycats that I'm working with on
kibbles uh unless I really haveto.
There's some cats that we justhave to offer some crunchies
occasionally, but I try to avoidthat at all costs.
But I also like the freeze-driedproducts because you're adding
(20:15):
water and cat we need our catsto be drinking.
You know, we we talk about usinguh multiple fountains in the
house uh with purified water sothe cat really has access to a
lot of water because chronickidney disease in cats is a
terrible problem.
And again, another inflammatoryproblem.
And the the again, we're workingon things that we want to be
(20:36):
proactive.
And Heather and I are educatingyou guys that we want to do
these things so that we don'tsee you for these issues.
I always tell my my pet parents,I like to talk myself out of
business.
I I also mentioned I'm not achiropractor, what to see, don't
want to see them every week.
Um but I think the more that wecan do this, the better off we
(20:56):
are and the better off um we wecan be.
Um so you know, we just I thinkjust kind of getting through the
misconceptions, you know,there's a statistic out there
that um if you um do some simplediet switches, you can get 40%
of the um inflammatory markersout of your animal's pet in
about 30 days.
(21:16):
Uh now I tell people, you know,when I try to do these things,
like like Heather said earlierwith Rose, um I expect, you
know, 90 days, you know, sixmonths.
So I tell people many times it'sit's a slow process, uh, but
often we see the changes veryquickly.
And adding things like omega-3sinto your pet's diet, uh,
(21:37):
looking at uh also some really,really good probiotics, uh, goat
kefir, let's say, or sauerkraut.
Um, there are some great naturalthings that we can do to balance
your your pet's body.
And we see this through thebiome testing.
Often that's something that wecan correct uh just with some
routine over-the-counter typeproducts.
SPEAKER_01 (21:57):
Yeah, yeah, and then yeah, I'm glad you mentioned the
kefir because um that's alsopart of Rose's diet is 25% of
her caloric needs are comingfrom that.
Um I've been consulting a lotwith Chelsea Kent from Solutions
Pet Products and Dr.
Roxanne Stone.
So that's part of what we'redoing with her, as well as um a
fish gelatin called fishjiggles, you know, omega-3s,
omega threes, omega-threes.
(22:17):
But you'll see that on the chartthat exactly her diet and what
it costs to do to turn itaround.
SPEAKER_00 (22:24):
And it was more and it was remarkable, remarkable.
SPEAKER_01 (22:27):
Yeah, yeah.
And I would like to say though,because you did mention like I
expected 90 days.
You I and I think I a lot ofpeople give up because of the
detox.
They mistake what's the detox,they mistake that for the dog
getting worse or the cat gettingworse when really it's detox.
Because as great as Rose looksnow, she still has dandruff, she
still has some smell.
(22:47):
She's detoxing.
Sure.
14 years of whatever happened toher.
You know, and so I I always wantto encourage people, don't give
up.
I mean, my I feel like Rose wasan exceptional case, unexpected,
but I think 90 days makes sense,maybe even six months, depending
on how many years of kind ofthey've got to shed all of this
and get rid of all of the thosetoxins.
(23:08):
So I really I always want toencourage people do not give up.
If you if things look a littleworse that first couple weeks,
that's fine.
It's fine.
SPEAKER_00 (23:15):
Yeah, and and we get we, you know, we really get um
scientific evidence when we whenwe run our biome testing with
this, and we'll see the highlevels of, let's say,
Streptococcus in their stool oruh uh C.
diff or C perf in there, whichcan really cause issues.
And and you know, as um Heatheris mentioning, you know, the
smell often comes frommalesthesia yeast or staph
(23:37):
bacteria.
Again, very often an imbalancein the bowel situation.
And many, many times uh changingor or helping the biome improve
really makes a huge differenceand and getting a lot of that
out of their body.
But you're absolutely right.
I've had multiple times whenI've talked to my owners, uh my
pet parents, um, about you know,doing these types of things, and
(24:01):
they call me in a week and say,God, you know, doc, you know,
she's so much worse.
And I go, remember that, youknow, like Heather said, this
has been 14 years ofinappropriate diet and the wrong
type of situations and thechronic inflammation and the
dysbiosis.
We've got to correct.
And it's got to come out.
It's got to come out somewhere.
It either comes out in them earinfections or or
(24:23):
protodermatitis, licking oftheir feet and foot infections,
or severe skin problems.
But it will correct.
Um, you just have to hang inthere.
And it sometimes is like yousaid, it sometimes can be tough
getting people to walk themthrough that first, you know,
let's say two to four weekssometimes can be really
difficult.
SPEAKER_01 (24:40):
If your entire diet was McDonald's and then you go
with a really healthy whole fooddiet, you're not gonna feel
great in that in that interimwhile your body figures it out.
Uh I love that Rose was ananomaly, but I I just don't I I
want people to stick with itbecause I mean it will work.
SPEAKER_00 (24:59):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Um, did do you feel like isthere anything we we missed?
Uh, you know, I know we weretalking about our best treatment
is prevention, and preventionstarts in the food bowl, which I
think we've really made thatpoint.
Anything you think we could adduh to this before we're done
talking about Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (25:15):
I mean I I also want to just also talk, I mean,
obviously I sell a brand, butthere are so many things you can
do.
Um, adding, you know,blueberries, kale, papaya,
alfalfa.
There's so many things that youcan add from your own fridge,
sardines.
You know, there's so much youcan do on top of whatever else
you're doing just to boost.
Um they are I mean, the studiesare showing even just 20% of
(25:36):
Whole Foods on top of kibblemake all of these changes.
Obviously, I want you to bringthose carbs way down.
But um I I just I would I don'twant people to get discouraged
by thinking, oh, I that my thestore I go to doesn't carry you
or things like that.
You know, uh there are otherthings you can do that you just
(25:56):
have in your own fridge or yourown pantry that might help.
SPEAKER_00 (26:00):
And and and I I I I'm I'm not I'm assuming I this
is correct, but I would imagineisn't canine and feline natural
available on some online storeslike Chewie and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_01 (26:09):
Oh yeah, and we sell direct.
I really encourage people to gointo your independent pet store
because we really want tosupport those brick and mortars.
But you know, we'll come to youwherever you're at.
And I I know I think we've evengot um something that's coming
at the end of this that youknow, uh a discount code to our
own website.
But please I know you've got agreat store near you, Dr.
(26:30):
Randy.
Um you know, so we uh we'rereaching out to them now.
SPEAKER_00 (26:34):
So yeah, I I um OKFeed, which has been my my
mainstay, is about a mile fromPaul's veterinary center here in
Tucson.
And I'm always going in therelooking at what they're doing
and talking to Michelle and theother people there and saying,
hey, we need to be doing a lotmore with this feline natural
product.
Uh I'm gonna be sending youpeople.
And she always listens to mebecause she knows I send them.
(26:57):
And and you know, and ends upthat you know, the a lot of that
food walks out the door.
So it's it's great.
And uh I'm using it and I I'menjoying it, and my cats love
it.
My two Devin Devin Rexes arehaving a great time.
Um, talk about our palatabilitythen.
We win.
Yeah.
There you go.
Absolutely, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (27:14):
Because all of this doesn't matter if your cat won't
eat it or your dog won't eat it.
SPEAKER_00 (27:18):
Exactly, exactly.
I mean, that's another whole bigthing.
You're absolutely right.
It's absolutely right.
And I I also mentioned um wetalked about other additives,
but you know, even on thesupplements like omega-3s,
people mistake, you know, purefish oil for that omega-3-6
product, and omega-9s can bevery inflammatory for our cats.
So you have to watch that.
(27:39):
Um, I also tell people I reallylike to have my omega-3s in a
gel cap because in a bottle, assoon as you pump or open the
bottle, oxygen enters, and thecat has to form these free
radicals, the scavenger, thatoxidative uh oil.
So it's always a little bitsafer and fresher if you could
do it that way.
Stinkier, because many times youhave to pinprick the capsule,
(28:00):
and people don't always likethat.
But it does it does work reallywell.
And the good news is most catslove fish, so it it works out
that it works really, reallywell.
SPEAKER_01 (28:09):
Very small price to pay for your for all everything
they bring to our lives, right?
SPEAKER_00 (28:13):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Heather, I can't thank youenough.
And I I want to tell ourlisteners again, um, go on
Instagram and follow us at Dr.
Randy PetFed or uh subscribe tothe YouTube channel.
It really helps us bring peoplelike Heather to you.
Um we're gonna be talking aboutum feline natural at uh I
believe the um Cat WritersAssociation, where I'm gonna be
(28:36):
doing uh a uh a keynote.
But if you're listening and youhave a big organization of cats
and dogs that need a speaker, uhI'd love to come.
And I'm sure I could probablyget Heather to tag along if we
if we can make that work.
SPEAKER_01 (28:48):
So let's let's talk food.
SPEAKER_00 (28:50):
There you go.
I love it.
Heather, thank you so so muchfor being here.
Um thanks everybody at yourcompany for allowing uh this uh
us this time and uh pleasure.
Look forward to working togetherin the future.
SPEAKER_01 (29:02):
Absolutely.
Thanks.
SPEAKER_00 (29:04):
Have a great rest of your day.
SPEAKER_01 (29:05):
Thanks, you too.
Okay, everybody.
SPEAKER_00 (29:07):
Bye, everybody.
Greetings everyone.
Did you know that 90% of seniordogs show signs of chronic
inflammation, but only 15% ofowners recognize the early
warning signs?
Inflammation is the silent enemylinking many pet health problems
that seem unrelated.
It contributes to arthritis,kidney disease, allergies, GI
(00:29):
issues, and even cognitivedecline.
Learn how to spot the subtlesigns and symptoms which dietary
changes can make the biggestdifference at any age.
Welcome to Pause, Reflect, andHeal.
I'm Dr.
Randy, and today I'm joined byHeather and Ajibi from Feline
Natural.
In this episode, we're going totalk about how inflammation
affects our pets in ways mostowners never realize.
(00:53):
I mentioned dogs a minute, butdo you know that 75% of cats
over age 10 develop inflammatoryconditions?
As I've said many times on thispodcast, many common pet
behaviors we discuss as normalaging are actually red flags,
and inflammation could be at theroot of today's pets problems.
(01:13):
Today we're going to have a bigdiscussion about how diet plays
a bigger role than most peoplethink in either fighting or
fueling the often silent problemof inflammation.
And we'll look at otherlifestyle factors as well.
I'm very fortunate to be joinedby Heather and Ajibi.
Heather is a lifelong animaladvocate who began her journey
(01:34):
operating an animal rescue anddiscovering the power of
nutrition through her own heartdog's severe allergies.
With over a decade in the petnutrition industry, she works
for Canine and Feline Natural, aNew Zealand company known for
its commitment to sustainabilityand animal welfare.
Heather's mission is to helppets through species
(01:56):
appropriated food and informedchoices, building strong
relationships with bothretailers and pet parents.
Heather, before we get started,is there anything else you'd
like to share with our listenersabout your background?
SPEAKER_01 (02:08):
Yeah, well, um I was really fortunate enough to kind
of land with this great companyand work with Dr.
Mark Roberts, who has his PhD inanimal sciences.
Um and what I learned from himwas if all disease stems from
inflammation and an unhealthygut, let's bring food into this
to bring inflammation down andtreat gut health.
(02:30):
And that's been a really bigpassion of mine since I've lost
one dog to Cushings.
And as we're going to talk abouttoday, I accidentally brought
another Cushings dog into mylife a couple months ago.
And I'm regaining my passioninto this industry by watching
it change a dog so quickly.
So can't wait to talk to youabout sweet rose.
SPEAKER_00 (02:52):
We're excited.
And uh, you know, the universedoes work in strange ways, I
must say.
So usually if we don't get itright the first time, sometimes
it can really help us work itout the second.
But you know, your pet's itchingmay not be just allergies, it
could be inflammation silentlywreaking havoc.
We're gonna define the uh whatinflammation uh symptoms might
(03:13):
look like, and then we'll talkabout some of the things.
So, Heather, tell us basicallyyour thoughts on inflammation in
dogs and or cats.
SPEAKER_01 (03:23):
Well, I mean, we see it everywhere, and I think um,
as you mentioned, so many thingsthat we do attribute to either
just aging or allergies or youknow, this really all comes down
to inflammation and an unhealthygut.
So, I mean, I think so many ofthe problems that people bring
their pets into the vet for arethey really just come down to
(03:43):
inflammation and what can we doas advocates for our pets to
reduce it?
Um it it's so many things.
It's as as you know, when I evenhear people say my dog stinks,
I'm like, why does your dogstink?
You know, I'm like, my dog'swell, one of my dogs currently
stinks a little bit, but she'snot she's not going to by next
month.
So you know, I I haven't bathedmy other dog in so long because
(04:05):
he doesn't need it, you know,and I think people don't I mean,
we think about things likearthritis or itchy, scaly skin,
but there's just so much thatinflammation causes, even
behaviors, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (04:18):
And and just things that I tell people are kind of
red flags are things likelicking pool paws, allergies,
uh, fatigue, stiffness afternaps, picky eating.
Um, you know, these can all besigns.
Uh and classic inflammation thatgoes on for years is called
chronic inflammation.
And this is where we really getinto trouble with some of our
(04:39):
pets.
Uh unchecked, you know, we wesee things like Cushing's
disease that you mentioned,kidney disease, uh, even small
bowel lymphoma in our cats thatis on an incredible rise.
Um so uh I think that you knowwe want to make sure that we
know that we can pick thesethings up before uh before
things happen.
And obviously early detectioncan prevent 60% of some of these
(05:02):
chronic conditions caused byinflammations.
So um we'll talk about that, butlet's talk about the diet trap
because I know this is right upyour alley.
Um I I want our listeners toknow that Canine and Feline
Natural is an amazing company,and they've made incredible
strides to help us with thisproblem.
And anytime uh a company alignsthemselves to do that, um
(05:25):
obviously I'm totally on board.
So talk a little bit about uhthe food situation, if you
could.
SPEAKER_01 (05:31):
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, I so my beliefs and whatI have seen work throughout my
career here, but alsospecifically in the last couple
of months, is feeding an a uh adiet that is 100% pasture-raised
meats.
We've got greenlit mussels inall of our formulas.
Usually you see that in a jointsupplement aisle.
We're putting it right into ourfood.
(05:52):
So again, omega-3s.
You know, you're changing thebalance there.
You're um and really thepasture-raised meats is a big,
big thing that people don'tthink about.
You don't think about thecortisol levels in a factory
raised meat.
They don't think about I mean,and and really just the animal
welfare aspect of it.
New Zealand has done an amazingjob in the way they farm, which
(06:15):
we get to reap the benefits hereby feeding the food.
Um and yeah, just a high meatdiet because biologically
appropriate diet is what ananimal would, you know, it's
it's what they're meant to eat.
We've make it we'vecommercialized pet food and
taken them really far outsidewhat they would self-select.
SPEAKER_00 (06:32):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (06:33):
And, you know, studies show if you allow an
animal to self-select theirdiet, they're gonna select a
diet high in protein, high infat, extraordinarily low in
carbs.
So I do tend to look at carbs askind of like, ugh, you know,
reduce that carb level.
Yes, our food can help heal yourpet, but keep them out of there
in the first place.
Uh you can keep them healthy bystarting this diet early instead
(06:55):
of like I'm doing now,correcting a lifetime of of most
likely inflammation her entirelife.
SPEAKER_00 (07:02):
So and I when I work with my my uh pet parents, we
set that stage early in a puppyand kitten's life uh on what
that looks like.
But let me um let me just backup and and tell our listeners uh
kind of a a really small shorthistory.
Uh when I was um a young guy,which was before the light bulb
(07:22):
was invented, um, we didn't havekibble.
Uh so the ranch dogs and thefarm dogs ate what we ate.
Uh and they ate verybiologically appropriate,
high-protein type diets thatHeather has alluded to.
Kibble came along because itwas, you know, easy.
And so now we have these superuh heat-treated, highly
(07:43):
processed diets producing thingslike advanced glycolation end
products, malliard reactionproducts that are toxic to our
cats and dogs.
And besides that, they use thesimple carbs like soy, corn,
wheat, rice, and white potato.
And these turn to sugar, whichare incredibly inflammatory for
(08:04):
our pets.
So uh, you know, often when Ihave a second and third opinion
uh in hospital or on mytelemedicine cases, we
immediately work to get thosecarbs, the simple carbs, out of
a pet's diet.
We immediately work to get thecarbohydrate level down.
Because even on some of thereally good kibbles, there's
(08:25):
still 40 or 50 percent carbs.
And as Heather alluded to, thesecan really cause a lot of
inflammatory problems that we'reseeing.
And that, you know, that doesn'teven talk about rendered fats or
other types uh, you know, plantor proteins that can trigger
immune systems.
SPEAKER_01 (08:41):
4D meats, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (08:43):
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
You know, I I tell the story,and and people probably don't
want to hear this, but when Iwas my first year of veterinary
school, um we went to a meatprocessing plant and we saw what
the uh big food companies weretaking as far as their protein.
And honestly, it was stuff offthe floor, it was tumors, it was
animals that were euthanizedwith euthanasia solution in
(09:05):
them.
Uh so you know, these are thethings that really could be a
problem to say the least.
SPEAKER_01 (09:10):
Well, and I always think, you know, we all know
what a human uh like a hot dogyou get at the ballpark.
You know what part of the meatthat is.
Well cheap pet food is what'sleft after the hot dogs are
taken.
unknown (09:22):
You know?
SPEAKER_01 (09:23):
So that's really, really bad.
SPEAKER_00 (09:26):
Exactly.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (09:28):
Yeah.
So the quality of sourcingmatter a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (09:31):
No question.
No question.
And so, you know, what I tell mylisteners is uh I make a slow
transition off of the productsthat they're on.
I'm I'm not a fan of many of theprescription diets, and the
reason I'm not is because of thesame thing that Heather and I am
talking about.
That many of these are made withsimple carbs, they're highly
processed.
(09:52):
And, you know, often what you'llfind in the allergy dog, let's
say, or the GI dog is uh what wecall elimination diet.
So the veterinarian's gonna trythis diet, and many times they
go to lamb and rice, which isreally a bad choice because in
Chinese medicine, the threemeats that we stay away from
(10:12):
also in inflammation are lamb,venison, and chicken.
So uh, and then you know, andthen these diets are made with
the simple carbs and like rice,which basically is inflammatory.
So I really like to use testingto help me get to where I'm
going to and end up on a companylike uh canine or feline
(10:33):
natural.
Uh the testing that I do is uheither a food sensitivity test
like Nutriscan or a food allergytest like VDI.
Uh and then I also use biome,which a lot of people don't know
a lot about, but you know, thisis the biggest catchword in
human medicine right now.
And once we discover how yourdog or cat's biome is off, we
(10:54):
can correct just withsupplements.
And as you heard me say, nomedicine, we're talking about
supplements.
So between that and diet, wecould really make a big
difference.
SPEAKER_01 (11:04):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (11:05):
So, you know, also you've you've had this
experience.
We we've talked about Rose andwe've talked about your other
dog.
Um you know, there's a real um areal uh catch with um, you know,
like using things like steroids,you know, uh, you know, they may
stop the itching, but what's thecost?
And you know, so you know, thestandard out, you know, outline
(11:26):
for these kind of animals manytimes is a very strong
antibiotic, something like metacuh metronidazole, which as I
tell people is so damaging toour pets.
You know, metronidazole wascreated uh by human surgeons so
that if they got into your bowelinto surgery and leaked
something, you'd have nobacteria to leak because it
(11:47):
wipes out everything.
Yeah.
Um, and so you know, this plusthe anti-inflammatories, the
steroids, the apoquels, theatopicas, which are immune
lowering or uh uh you know,immune suppressing can really
cause problems.
And as we can talk about, uh thevet bills can be quite
outrageous.
Yeah um so just I think sincewe've talked about this, let's
(12:11):
talk about your cushionoidexperience.
Yeah.
Um and we'll talk about uh, youknow, maybe Rose and how she,
you know, how she presented andthen how she looked after you
tried your your your uh routine.
SPEAKER_01 (12:23):
Yeah, yeah.
So um, and actually that that'suh the slides that we'll be
showing here, one of them talksabout because part of the
traditional treatment forcushions was putting her on
Hills KD, lamb specifically, um,and the cost of that.
You know, and and I if you'velooked at the ingredient panel
and you put it up against acanine natural or feline natural
(12:44):
ingredient panel, they readvery, very differently.
But what really surprised me wasthe Hills cost almost the same
as our 94% meat, no corn, soy,wheat, fillers diet.
It blew my mind because I knowwhat was in that can and that
kibble.
Why did it cost?
Why is it gonna cost$300,$400 amonth to feed her that?
(13:08):
Um so that was a big part of it.
Um but with Rose, so yeah, Itook her in, 14 years old.
I actually thought she was gonnabe a hospice foster.
I was just gonna give her acomfortable place for a couple
weeks, did the blood test,everything started steering
towards um cushions.
And then about 12, 13 years ago,I lost Nina to Cushings, and I
did all the traditional stuff.
(13:29):
I would have done anything forNina.
And so I followed all the vetadvice, did all the things, and
all I did was sort of prolongher life probably another eight
months, and she was prettymiserable because those
medicines were apparently quitetoxic because she was not doing
well.
And so I decided, well, I've gotkind of nothing to lose with
Rose here.
So let me put my money where mymouth is and do the
(13:54):
anti-inflammatory diet that Italk about.
I did not expect it to turnaround as fast as it did.
Um and she you'll see in theafter picture within 23 days.
Um I was hoping for 90, youknow, honestly.
I I I I love our food and I sellour food, but I did not believe
(14:14):
that it could do that in 23days.
But I've got the metadata onthose photos so I can prove it.
SPEAKER_00 (14:20):
I love it.
I love it.
Yeah, you don't have to youdon't have to prove it to me
because I've seen the samething.
And so I just want to back upand let our listeners know uh
about Cushings.
So Cushing's disease is anoveractive adrenal gland.
It's production of too much uhcortisol and steroid that's
affecting the animal.
(14:40):
Uh often often comes uh with uhsymptoms of drinking a lot of
water, urinating a lot, uh uhalways being hungry, uh, but
not, you know, not reallygaining weight, um,
restlessness, pot belly, uh umintense breathing, or you know,
a lot of uh panting and whatnot.
So uh these are often somewarning signs, and often your
(15:01):
veterinarian could could pick upuh the telltale signs of
cushions.
There are some specific teststhat we do to really nail it
down because there are two typesof cushions, one coming from the
pituitary gland and one alsocoming from adrenal tumor, which
is a little bit more difficultto deal with.
Uh but Heather did absolutelythe right things.
And in my world, I would haveadded, you know, because I have
(15:25):
this um ammunition, I would haveadded the food sensitivity or
allergy test.
I would have added the biome tobalance their body uh to help.
But um the diet plus uh theChinese herbal medicine uh for
marbles is is a great way to go.
And uh and you know, you can seethe results.
And and obviously we're talkingabout um, you know, these these
(15:47):
these medications um that areimmune suppressive.
So here in Arizona, just forexample, and and all really
across the United States, thereare many fungal diseases that
live in the soil.
Uh here we have a fungal diseasecalled coccidiomycosis or valley
fever.
And when you start putting ananimal on immune suppressive
(16:07):
drugs like atopica or apoquel,uh cyclosporin, uh, or some of
the asteroids, uh, you'relowering the immune system.
And guess what happens?
We may get the signs to improve,but now we have a valley fever
dog.
And I've seen it time and timeagain here.
And so I really, really cautionpeople to really take a good
(16:28):
look and and listen to podcastslike this to make sure you
really understand uh you knowwhat's going on and what we
might be able to do.
SPEAKER_01 (16:35):
Right.
Yeah.
And I think what what you'd findis uh what I found with Rose's
case is it's$300 less a month todo this holistically.
Um, so I think so often peopleassociate holistic or high
quality feeding with bigexpense, but I think you really
need to look at the biggerpicture on fluids, antibiotics,
kind of this whole kind of wheelyou get into of chasing side
(17:00):
effects and how much moreaffordable it is to actually do
it.
And you know, just seeing Roserun, you know, because she's not
so stiff.
You know, we talked about othersite symptoms of inflammation,
stiffness, you know, and youthink about that with yourself.
You know, you hear people sayall the time, oh, I had too much
pasta or something like that,and my joints hurt.
(17:20):
Well, what is a 50 plus percentterrible quality kibble going to
do to those same joints for yourpet?
And they live such short lives.
Like correct, correct.
Let's throw everything good atthem in their short little lives
so we so we have them with usfor longer.
SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
Yeah.
I just want to mention, if wecould, uh to uh make sure if
you're watching this episode andyou like it, uh subscribe to the
YouTube channel that it's on.
Look at Spotify and Apple.
Uh you'll see these podcasts onthere.
And also uh follow us at Dr.
Randy PetFet because many ofthese podcasts will be on there,
(17:58):
plus articles and whatnot.
A lot of information that I Igive my clients uh that will
really educate our pet parentsbecause Heather's job, just like
mine, is to educate you and makesure that the more information
you have, the better off yourpet's going to be.
Uh and and Mark.
So talk a little bit about um II want to mention I want to
mention feline natural becauseI'm really interested.
(18:21):
I'm interested in both products,obviously, but talk a little bit
about how that maybe have comehad come about and and what what
you know forms it's in so peoplecan listen because I I really
want them to know what theoptions are.
SPEAKER_01 (18:33):
Yeah, yeah.
And our and our feline is trulyexceptional because you, you
know, your cat is an obligatecarnivore.
So why are you going to feed,why are you going to pay for a
lot of fruits and vegetablesthat your cat does not need?
So our feline diets are 98% meatplus the greenlit mussels.
Something else we do when I talkabout anti-inflammation
(18:55):
anti-inflammation.
Um, our cans and pouches, wedon't add any gelling agents
because that's something elsethat can be, it can upset the GI
tract.
Um, we just add water and cookit.
So um you're keeping it veryclean, you're not upsetting kind
of the balance, but very, veryhigh meat, very high quality
meat and green lit mussels.
(19:17):
And we it comes in freeze-driedpouches and cans.
We get a lot of great feedbackon our freeze-dry freeze-dried.
Um, there is a perception outthere that cats don't like
freeze-dried food, and I think alot of times it has to do with
the format.
Um we have a great little pelletthat gives the cat the
mouthfeel.
So I really encourage people totry it because I think they'll
(19:38):
be surprised.
Even if it's just a treat fortheir cat, it's a great way to
boost the nutrition on top ofwhatever else you might be
doing.
Um, and the cans and pouches fordiabetes, um, you know, we have
less than 1% carbs in our felinediets.
SPEAKER_00 (19:53):
That's amazing.
I mean, just that level versusif we talk about 40 to 50
percent simple carbs in many ofthe kibble type diets.
Um, I I don't have any of mycats that I'm working with on
kibbles uh unless I really haveto.
There's some cats that we justhave to offer some crunchies
occasionally, but I try to avoidthat at all costs.
But I also like the freeze-driedproducts because you're adding
(20:15):
water and cat we need our catsto be drinking.
You know, we we talk about usinguh multiple fountains in the
house uh with purified water sothe cat really has access to a
lot of water because chronickidney disease in cats is a
terrible problem.
And again, another inflammatoryproblem.
And the the again, we're workingon things that we want to be
(20:36):
proactive.
And Heather and I are educatingyou guys that we want to do
these things so that we don'tsee you for these issues.
I always tell my my pet parents,I like to talk myself out of
business.
I I also mentioned I'm not achiropractor, what to see, don't
want to see them every week.
Um but I think the more that wecan do this, the better off we
(20:56):
are and the better off um we wecan be.
Um so you know, we just I thinkjust kind of getting through the
misconceptions, you know,there's a statistic out there
that um if you um do some simplediet switches, you can get 40%
of the um inflammatory markersout of your animal's pet in
about 30 days.
(21:16):
Uh now I tell people, you know,when I try to do these things,
like like Heather said earlierwith Rose, um I expect, you
know, 90 days, you know, sixmonths.
So I tell people many times it'sit's a slow process, uh, but
often we see the changes veryquickly.
And adding things like omega-3sinto your pet's diet, uh,
(21:37):
looking at uh also some really,really good probiotics, uh, goat
kefir, let's say, or sauerkraut.
Um, there are some great naturalthings that we can do to balance
your your pet's body.
And we see this through thebiome testing.
Often that's something that wecan correct uh just with some
routine over-the-counter typeproducts.
SPEAKER_01 (21:57):
Yeah, yeah, and then yeah, I'm glad you mentioned the
kefir because um that's alsopart of Rose's diet is 25% of
her caloric needs are comingfrom that.
Um I've been consulting a lotwith Chelsea Kent from Solutions
Pet Products and Dr.
Roxanne Stone.
So that's part of what we'redoing with her, as well as um a
fish gelatin called fishjiggles, you know, omega-3s,
omega threes, omega-threes.
(22:17):
But you'll see that on the chartthat exactly her diet and what
it costs to do to turn itaround.
SPEAKER_00 (22:24):
And it was more and it was remarkable, remarkable.
SPEAKER_01 (22:27):
Yeah, yeah.
And I would like to say though,because you did mention like I
expected 90 days.
You I and I think I a lot ofpeople give up because of the
detox.
They mistake what's the detox,they mistake that for the dog
getting worse or the cat gettingworse when really it's detox.
Because as great as Rose looksnow, she still has dandruff, she
still has some smell.
(22:47):
She's detoxing.
Sure.
14 years of whatever happened toher.
You know, and so I I always wantto encourage people, don't give
up.
I mean, my I feel like Rose wasan exceptional case, unexpected,
but I think 90 days makes sense,maybe even six months, depending
on how many years of kind ofthey've got to shed all of this
and get rid of all of the thosetoxins.
(23:08):
So I really I always want toencourage people do not give up.
If you if things look a littleworse that first couple weeks,
that's fine.
It's fine.
SPEAKER_00 (23:15):
Yeah, and and we get we, you know, we really get um
scientific evidence when we whenwe run our biome testing with
this, and we'll see the highlevels of, let's say,
Streptococcus in their stool oruh uh C.
diff or C perf in there, whichcan really cause issues.
And and you know, as um Heatheris mentioning, you know, the
smell often comes frommalesthesia yeast or staph
(23:37):
bacteria.
Again, very often an imbalancein the bowel situation.
And many, many times uh changingor or helping the biome improve
really makes a huge differenceand and getting a lot of that
out of their body.
But you're absolutely right.
I've had multiple times whenI've talked to my owners, uh my
pet parents, um, about you know,doing these types of things, and
(24:01):
they call me in a week and say,God, you know, doc, you know,
she's so much worse.
And I go, remember that, youknow, like Heather said, this
has been 14 years ofinappropriate diet and the wrong
type of situations and thechronic inflammation and the
dysbiosis.
We've got to correct.
And it's got to come out.
It's got to come out somewhere.
It either comes out in them earinfections or or
(24:23):
protodermatitis, licking oftheir feet and foot infections,
or severe skin problems.
But it will correct.
Um, you just have to hang inthere.
And it sometimes is like yousaid, it sometimes can be tough
getting people to walk themthrough that first, you know,
let's say two to four weekssometimes can be really
difficult.
SPEAKER_01 (24:40):
If your entire diet was McDonald's and then you go
with a really healthy whole fooddiet, you're not gonna feel
great in that in that interimwhile your body figures it out.
Uh I love that Rose was ananomaly, but I I just don't I I
want people to stick with itbecause I mean it will work.
SPEAKER_00 (24:59):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Um, did do you feel like isthere anything we we missed?
Uh, you know, I know we weretalking about our best treatment
is prevention, and preventionstarts in the food bowl, which I
think we've really made thatpoint.
Anything you think we could adduh to this before we're done
talking about Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (25:15):
I mean I I also want to just also talk, I mean,
obviously I sell a brand, butthere are so many things you can
do.
Um, adding, you know,blueberries, kale, papaya,
alfalfa.
There's so many things that youcan add from your own fridge,
sardines.
You know, there's so much youcan do on top of whatever else
you're doing just to boost.
Um they are I mean, the studiesare showing even just 20% of
(25:36):
Whole Foods on top of kibblemake all of these changes.
Obviously, I want you to bringthose carbs way down.
But um I I just I would I don'twant people to get discouraged
by thinking, oh, I that my thestore I go to doesn't carry you
or things like that.
You know, uh there are otherthings you can do that you just
(25:56):
have in your own fridge or yourown pantry that might help.
SPEAKER_00 (26:00):
And and and I I I I'm I'm not I'm assuming I this
is correct, but I would imagineisn't canine and feline natural
available on some online storeslike Chewie and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_01 (26:09):
Oh yeah, and we sell direct.
I really encourage people to gointo your independent pet store
because we really want tosupport those brick and mortars.
But you know, we'll come to youwherever you're at.
And I I know I think we've evengot um something that's coming
at the end of this that youknow, uh a discount code to our
own website.
But please I know you've got agreat store near you, Dr.
(26:30):
Randy.
Um you know, so we uh we'rereaching out to them now.
SPEAKER_00 (26:34):
So yeah, I I um OKFeed, which has been my my
mainstay, is about a mile fromPaul's veterinary center here in
Tucson.
And I'm always going in therelooking at what they're doing
and talking to Michelle and theother people there and saying,
hey, we need to be doing a lotmore with this feline natural
product.
Uh I'm gonna be sending youpeople.
And she always listens to mebecause she knows I send them.
(26:57):
And and you know, and ends upthat you know, the a lot of that
food walks out the door.
So it's it's great.
And uh I'm using it and I I'menjoying it, and my cats love
it.
My two Devin Devin Rexes arehaving a great time.
Um, talk about our palatabilitythen.
We win.
Yeah.
There you go.
Absolutely, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (27:14):
Because all of this doesn't matter if your cat won't
eat it or your dog won't eat it.
SPEAKER_00 (27:18):
Exactly, exactly.
I mean, that's another whole bigthing.
You're absolutely right.
It's absolutely right.
And I I also mentioned um wetalked about other additives,
but you know, even on thesupplements like omega-3s,
people mistake, you know, purefish oil for that omega-3-6
product, and omega-9s can bevery inflammatory for our cats.
So you have to watch that.
(27:39):
Um, I also tell people I reallylike to have my omega-3s in a
gel cap because in a bottle, assoon as you pump or open the
bottle, oxygen enters, and thecat has to form these free
radicals, the scavenger, thatoxidative uh oil.
So it's always a little bitsafer and fresher if you could
do it that way.
Stinkier, because many times youhave to pinprick the capsule,
(28:00):
and people don't always likethat.
But it does it does work reallywell.
And the good news is most catslove fish, so it it works out
that it works really, reallywell.
SPEAKER_01 (28:09):
Very small price to pay for your for all everything
they bring to our lives, right?
SPEAKER_00 (28:13):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Heather, I can't thank youenough.
And I I want to tell ourlisteners again, um, go on
Instagram and follow us at Dr.
Randy PetFed or uh subscribe tothe YouTube channel.
It really helps us bring peoplelike Heather to you.
Um we're gonna be talking aboutum feline natural at uh I
believe the um Cat WritersAssociation, where I'm gonna be
(28:36):
doing uh a uh a keynote.
But if you're listening and youhave a big organization of cats
and dogs that need a speaker, uhI'd love to come.
And I'm sure I could probablyget Heather to tag along if we
if we can make that work.
SPEAKER_01 (28:48):
So let's let's talk food.
SPEAKER_00 (28:50):
There you go.
I love it.
Heather, thank you so so muchfor being here.
Um thanks everybody at yourcompany for allowing uh this uh
us this time and uh pleasure.
Look forward to working togetherin the future.
SPEAKER_01 (29:02):
Absolutely.
Thanks.
SPEAKER_00 (29:04):
Have a great rest of your day.
SPEAKER_01 (29:05):
Thanks, you too.
Okay, everybody.
SPEAKER_00 (29:07):
Bye, everybody.
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