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Linda Arndt ~ Canine Nutritional Consultant
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Feed Program To Help Boost Immune Function



2012 UPDATE: Here is information on a nutritional product that is ideal for Cushings and Addisions in Canines


The Immune Boosting Program

This program is a comprehensive and consists of 6 major components. You can purchase the supplements separately or in Kit# 11 for Immune Support.

1. Dog Food - Natural/Holistic Super Premium - kibble and canned
 
2. Filling N The Wholes - whole food supplement to boost immune function
 
3. Nzymes - Dietary enzymes - missing in all commercial foods - antioxidants
 
4. Colostrum - to boost immune function
 
5. DMG-L - to boost immune function
 
6. Optional - Liquid Health Level 5000 - joint support supplement
 
Optional - Variety - canned meats - raw options - fruits and vegetable

Where To Purchase Products

1. DOG FOOD - Precise Holistic Complete line up or the Nutri-Source or Pure Vita line up of foods is ideal for your pet.

2. FILLING N THE WHOLES - a product that supports digestive, heart, joint and immune health a great product to enhance your dogs commercial food and to fill in the nutritonal gaps not covered in the diet. www.firstchoicenaturals.com

3. NZYMES - dietary enzymes - in chewable Pet Treat or Granular (goes further) www.nzymes.com

4. COLOSTRUM - Research shows Bovine Colostrum will regenerate and rejuvenate the immune function, as well as heart muscle www.firstchoicenaturals.com

5. DMG-L - shown to help seizures humans - www.firstchoicenaturals.com or 765-287-8288

6. Optional: Liquid Health Level 5000 - joint support supplement (glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM and herbs).

OPTIONS FOR VARIETY ADD - fruits & veggies & any holistic canned meats or if you prefer to have a raw component use one of the Honest Kitchen Foods. that is carried by First Choice Naturals. I use it to top dress my kibble and provide the best of both worlds.


DO NOT SOAK KIBBLE AND LET SET, OR USE HOT WATER ON YOUR KIBBLE IT WILL DESTROY THE INTEGRITY OF THE NUTRIENTS AND PROBIOTICS - YOGURT LIKE CULTURES ON THE FOOD.


2. Filling N The Wholes - is an easy and natural way to provide essential whole food nutrition from functional foods, and it fills in the nutritional holes in your pet’s daily diet. It supplies probiotics; digestive enzymes, phyto-nutrients from green foods, antioxidants, important trace minerals, amino acids, omegas, over 95 Immune Factors, 5 Immunogloglins, metabolic factors, natural growth factors and 8 essential glyconutrients. The addition of Filling N The Wholes helps to support digestive, heart, joint health and immune function all in one comprehensive product.

Ingredients:

Barley Grass, Organic Sprouted Flax Seed, Vitamin C, Arabinogalactin, Bovine Colostrum, MSM, Brewers Yeast (Saccharomyces Cerevisiac), DMG-HCI, L-Carnitine, at least 68 Trace Minerals, Lethicin, Glucosamine Sulfate, Type IV Collagen & Type II Collagen, Probiotics & Proprietary Enzyme Blend; Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Thermophilum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, and Dried Yucca Schidigera.

Filling N The Wholes is compatible with 4 in 1 Probitics or BakPakPlus if more probiotics are necessary. It provides maintenance doses of supplements not found in most commericial dog foods or homemade or raw diets, and if additional supplements are needed for therapeutic doses, contact me for assistance at GrDaneLady.com .To order contact Dr. Wagner at www.firstchoicenaturals.com



3. Dietary Enzymes - in pet treats or granular (multiple pets)

Nzymes - is Dietary Enzyme in a chewable healthy pet treat or in granular form. Nzymes put the "living component" back into a cooked, processed, stored dog food. Enzymes are heat sensitive and lost in processing/cooking of all commercial foods or making home cooked diets. As owners we must put dietary enzymes back into the diet, in order to maintain proper wellness and not deplete the body of this important resource. This can be done by the addition to your diet with a product called Nzymes, a chewable pet treat, or granular form which can be sprinkled on the food to replace what is lost. In other words, Nzymes provide the body with the right nutrients to allow the body to make the chemicals necessary to detoxify (clean out) the body and repair itself.

Nzymes helps with the following:

  • Allergic reactions
  • Natural anti-inflammatory ~ so you can avoid risky medicines like Rimadyl
  • Arthritis
  • Orthopedic problems ~ HOD, OCO, Pano, Wobblers, Hip Dysplasia, ACL
  • Epilepsy and Seizures - due to vaccine reactions
  • Vaccine reaction prevention
  • Cleanses residual toxins from medicines, flea and parasite preparations.
  • Boosting the immune system
  • Reduces shedding
  • Itchy ears
  • Yeast infections
  • Bladder infections
  • Hotspots
  • Reduces healing time from injury, surgery (cropping/bloat/c-sections)
  • Reduces recovery time from anesthesia.

Nzymes are from sprouts (food) so they do not conflict with diet or any medications. I have used the Nzymes for 20 years for my animals and I take the human product and have seen remarkable changes our health. By incorporating Nzymes into the diet, you are putting back the "living component" into the modern processed and cooked diets. This gives the body the tools it needs for repair and good health.

Website to order : http://www.nzymes.com/ - 877- 816- 6500 - 8:00-6:00 PST


4. Colostrum - is the first "pre-milk" fluid produced in the first few hours from the mammary gland of mammals, and it carries all the antibodies to protect the young when the immune system is new and underdeveloped. Bovine Colostrum is often used due to it's rich source of antibodies, growth factors and nutrients and may provide passive immunity to the newborn against various infectious microorganisms, particularly those that affect the gastrointestinal tract. Children who were not breast-fed do not receive the natural antibodies from their mother milk, and often have a lifetime of allergy problems. Likewise young puppies/kittens who do not nurse, are often not protected by the antibodies from mother's colostrum.

Research shows Colostrum will regenerate and rejuvenate the immune function, as well as heart muscle. It is highly recommended for pets (humans) with cardiomyopathy and other heart disease or diabetes issues.

I use Dr. Wagner's bovine colostrum for myself and my elderly dogs, it is guaranteed "first milking". www.firstchoicenaturals.com


5. DMG - L

DMG also known as pangamic acid, or B15 is a rather sweet-tasting substance that was described in a recent article in the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine (1990, 481-86) as a "natural, simple compound with no known undesirable side effects." The article described an experiment in which DMG was used to try to enhance the function of the immune system of laboratory rabbits and the immune systems of the animals given DMG showed 300% to 1,000% better response to infection than the controls. I have personally found DMG-L to be very beneficial to helping animals with seizures. There is much research that shows it's benefits in children with autism and seizures in adults. Not all sources are the same, my prefence is Dr. Wagner's DMG-L - www.firstchoicenaturals.com or 765-287-8288


6. Liquid Joint Supplementation

I have used Liquid Health Level 5000 joint supplementation with great success on my dogs. It is particularly noticeable when you introduce it to an elderly dog diet - they respond very well to joint nutritional supplementation. The amount of glucosamine in better dog foods is barely a maintenance level dosage, which is why I supplement my dogs. Whereby it is beneficial for all breeds ages and sizes, the large and giant breeds are particularly vulnerable due to their size, rapid development as a puppy and later tendencies toward bone cancer - normally of the long bone or growth plate.

SHIPPING OVERSEAS - Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom - more added daily so check with the company to see if they ship to your country.

For more complete information and ordering go to this website: Liquid Health Level 5000


Options For Variety - Meats - Fruits - Vegetables

MEATS: I use a holistic canned dog foods for variety .I mix a couple of tablespoons of canned meat with tepid temperature water and make a gravy.

Do NOT use grocery store brands they are full of preservatives and 4D meats (dead, diseased dying and disabled) and they give the dogs stinky gas and are full of unhealthy fillers. NO homemade concoctions of meat/rice combinations that you make up at home, they are very unbalanced in their calcium and phosphorus levels and can cause growth problems.

FRUITS &VEGETABLES:

I think it is important to incorporate some real foods into you dogs diet on a daily basis. Not only is this done for nutritional purposes, but because the dog gets bored eating the same thing day in, day out!! This is a list of recommended foods to use in moderation:

yogurt, buttermilk berries melons, apples, banana, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, oranges, squash, sweet potato, green beans, zucchini - minced/diced/raw/cooked - they love frozen berries and melon balls!! Pulverized fresh veggies are best for digestion.

NO raw onions, grapes or raisins, macadamia nuts.

Linda's Very Veggie Soup - 2 large cans of chicken or beef broth - (low sodium for heart or elderly dogs- or homemade). Add LOTS of veggies - carrots, green beans, wax beans, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and couple cloves of garlic. The idea is to use this as the filler so you want it to be hearty and filling.

OR

6. Variety - A Safe Balanced Raw Meat & Fruit/Veggie - OPTION

If you want to introduce some raw meat, fruits and veggies to your dogs diet, the is is the best way to do it because it is balanced in it's calcium and phosphorus ratios and free from pathogenic bacteria and parasites. This is a freeze-dried dehydrated raw turkey or chicken diet, all you have to do is reconstitute with filtered water, let sit a few minutes and serve. Do not get lazy and simply sprinkle this on the top of their food, make sure you use it reconstituted with water first -so it does not draw all the water out of the dog's gut, causing the dog to want to drink water in excess. The food dehydration process takes place so the ingredient are still considered raw yet done at a temperature to kill any pathogenic bacteria. Enzymatic activity in dehydrated foods is simply suspended until the food is rehydrated with liquid.

The Honest Kitchen dehydrated raw dog food is available in two formulas:

FORCE (21% protein - 14% fat) - Chicken, Flaxseed, Potatoes, Celery, Cabbage, Sweet Potatoes, Zucchini, Green Beans, Apples, Honey, Alfalfa, Kelp,Yogurt, Bananas, Papayas, Basil and Rosemary.

EMBARK 29% protein - 16% fat - Turkey, Flaxseed, Potatoes, Celery, Spinach, Carrots, Coconut, Apples, Kelp, Eggs, Sesame Seeds, Bananas, Cranberries, Rosemary.

Note: Since you are using this to top dress your dog's food for variety and not as the whole diet, you can use either one of these formulas even for Great Dane puppies. Just use in reasonable amounts so you are not adding too many calories during growth stages.


HOW I MIX MY DOG FOOD

I add my supplements in the AM just because it is easier to do it all at once. I make gravy of tepid temp water and Eagle canned meat and add the Ox-E-Drops to this mixture.Top dress with a little fruit or veggie or the Honest Kitchen mixture at least with one meal a day.

WATER ON KIBBLE - Puppies 8-10 weeks use 1/4 - 1/3 cup water + 1-2 tablespoons canned meat. You want the food moist but not floating and sloppy. For older puppies and adults I will use 1 cup of water per meal along with my Eagle canned meat.

OPTIONAL - Top- dress the dog food with Honest Kitchen

  • 8-10 weeks 1 Teaspoon - Tablespoon - depending on size of breed
  • 11-16 weeks 3-4-teaspoons - Tablespoons
  • 4 - 6 mo 1/4 cup
  • 7 - 8 mo 1/2
  • 9 mo - 18 months 1/2 - 1 cup daily
  • Adults - 10% - 15% of daily diet with Eagle Pack Foods

Do not microwave, soak or use hot or very warm water on your kibble. It will destroy the integrity of the friendly yogurt type cultures and the fragile vitamins/minerals and amino acids on the food.

Water On Food:
Commercial foods need to be fed with moisture so dogs don't over consume water after a meal, and so the kibble does not pull moisture from the dogs system in order to break down properly. Use
"tepid" temperature water never hot or warm and never soak your food as it breaks down and destroys nutrients. Mix up and feed immediately. I use approximately 1 to 1-1/2 cups of water for adults per each meal. Adjust accordingly for puppies. If they have loose stools, you may be using too much meat or water than necessary. Adjust that before you panic and think they are sick.

Drinking Water:
It is very important to
NEVER withhold water from your dog. This can lead to over consumption and bladder infections. Use common sense, do not let them drink excessively after exercise or dinner. Like a horse, let them cool down and then drink. I have found if I have water available in several places, they never overdo it since they know it is available to them when they need it. That way they drink less amounts of water, but more frequently.

Withholding water for fear of bloat is a myth. Stress is the cause and bloat/torsion is the response. It is much more complicated that simply saying water is the cause of bloat.

(See my article on Bloat and Torsion for details) (See On My Soapbox)


Nutritional Support For Special Needs

Vaccine Reactions:
To help prevent this problem in adults, make sure they are on
Vitamin C and Nzymes. I use the Nzymes Product to support the immune system, and prevent vaccine reactions.

Anesthesia / Surgery:
This is important information about anesthetics and giant breeds. Print out for your vet. Also for any elective surgery, i.e., spay, neuter or emergency surgery such as bloat/torsion. I use Nzymes to detoxify and help with fast healing.

Heart Problems:
If you own a giant breed or one prone to heart problems it is recommended that you use the highest quality protein food and supplement with these components. These are nutritional substances from food sources and do not conflict with medications or each other and are good to use for heart disease. Supplements for Heart Disease.


1) Co-enzyme-Q-10 - 90 - 120 mg daily www.firstchoicenaturals.com

2) Taurine and L-Carnitine - Two amino Acids are critical to strengthen the heart -
You can get these from the health food store. Make sure you select a very good brand so they are usable by the body.

Taurine 100 mg a day
L-Carnitine 100 - 200 mg a day

These dosages are taken from the newest textbook Small Animal Clinical Nutrition and would be increased if the dog had been diagnosed with actual cardiomyopathy.

3) Colostrum - this amazing product will regenerate and rejuvenate the immune function as well as heart muscle. It is highly recommended for dogs with cardio or other heart or diabetes issues. www.firstchoicenaturals.com

 


Section C - Support Information - Required Reading

Read this: Does My Vet Understand Nutrition?

Vaccines

There are several articles and photos of vaccine reactions at this website. You need to know how to prevent vaccine reactions, because vaccine reactions in some breeds will kill your dog in a slow agonizing death known as Immune Mediated Response, which is always misdiagnosed as HOD. So, here is info:

Prevention of Vaccine Reactions

The AAHA recommended schedule for vaccination

Dr. Jean Dodd's Vaccine Protocols

Vaccine Reaction Photographs


Special Alert - Antibiotic Reactions in Great Danes and Other Breeds.

Sulfonamide Antibiotics
Based on information gained from the National Bone Survey, I do not recommend using Sulfonamide* antibiotics to my puppy buyers because these drugs can cause serious side-effects like sloughing of skin and internal bleeding and HOD-like symptoms including;
fever, aching joints, swollen joints, lack of mobility, depression and anorexia. The following antibiotics are sulfonamides.

  • Ditrim
  • Primor
  • Tribrissin
  • Bactrim
  • TMZ
  • TMP/SDZ

Another commonly used, potentially troublesome antibiotics is Cephalexin (Keflex, Cefa-Tabs). This can also produces the same symptoms as HOD (fever,swollen/hot joints, immobility, anorexia) even in adult dogs. I will use Chephalexin, but with a watchful eye and if the dog starts acting lethargic and achy, we stop the antibiotic, since they are sensitive to it. Call the vet for an alternative antibiotic and make sure you are using a good Probiotic product to keep the digestive tract functioning properly.

I will not use Sulfonamides drugs on my dogs. A reaction can happen from 24 hours - 2 weeks of being on an antibiotic. If there is a reaction, my vet recommends Dexamethsone/Azium and discontinue use or antibiotic.

* Research references on Sulfonamides


Fleas - Heartworm

People ask me what I use for these problems. I use Interceptor as a heartworm preventative and for flea and tick problems I use a topical product- either Frontline Plus or Advantage, Advantix or Frontline products. I do rotate a different one each year. Because these are not systemic products, I feel a bit better about using them and because the dogs/cats and my self are also on Nzymes, which detoxifies the body, I am comfortable with using these products.


Special Alert - Other Breeds:

For Collie/Sheltie/Aussie and Sighthound Owners (could effect some Great Danes)

For those people who own Collies, Shelties, Sighthounds, Aussies, Border Collies, any breeds with Collie background or mixed breeds with any of these dogs in them, it is critical that you know there are certain medications your dogs CAN'T take. Do not leave it up to your vet to know this..YOU must print this out and know it - it is a matter of life or death.

These dogs have a sensitivity to Ivermectin (Heartguard Heartworm medication. Only use Interceptor heart worm preventative. Other related drugs you can not use on these breeds or there will be neurological damage.
Other related drugs you can NOT use:

Metronidazole (which is used for diarrhea and giardia)
Flagyl

Torbutol
Butorphanol
Morphine
Acepromazine
Ivermectin - Heart Guard

There are many different types of drugs that have been reported to cause problems in Collies, ranging from over-the-counter antidiarrheal agents like Imodium® to antiparasitic and chemotherapy agents. It is likely this list will grow to include more drugs as our research progresses.

Drugs that have been documented, or are strongly suspected to cause problems in dogs with the MDR1 mutation:

Ivermectin (antiparasitic agent)
Loperamide (Imodium®; over-the-counter antidiarrheal agent)
Doxorubicin (anticancer agent)
Vincristine (anticancer agent)
Vinblastine (anticancer agent)
Cyclosporin (immunosuppressive agent)
Digoxin (heart drug)
Acepromazine (tranquilizer)
Butorphanol (pain control)
Potential Problem Drugs

The following drugs may potentially cause problems when given to dogs that have the mutation. Biochemical studies have shown that this gene has the potential to act on over 50 different drugs.

Ondansetron
Domperidone
Paclitaxel
Mitoxantrone
Etoposide
Rifampicin
Quinidine

Morphine

Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine
Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology Laboratory
PO Box 2280
Pullman, WA 99165-2280
(Phone/FAX 509-335-3745)
VCPL@vetmed.wsu.edu

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-VCPL/


Additional Support For The Adult Dog:

 

Go here for Spay and Neuter information
Go here for leaky bladder information
Go here for anal gland problems

 

Go here: For other articles that pertain to Adult Dog Care

 


 

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