Nutrition

"Food is medicine, but processed food is poison, and there is no medicine that can undo the damage of processed food."

- Dr. Robert Lustig, author of Metabolical

  • Diet is the most important aspect of your pet’s care. Fresh foods are optimal: raw or lightly cooked, commercial or homemade.

  • Processed foods filled with sugars and simple carbohydrates eventually cause inflammation.

  • Feed adults once to twice daily – dogs and cats are better adapted to fasting than they are to overeating.

  • Variety is the secret to success.

Vaccination

Cats and dogs should only be vaccinated when their bodies are mature enough to respond to the vaccine, as the maternally derived antibodies that protect the puppies and kittens start to decline, reducing the need for multiple shots and side effects. Vaccines are a medical procedure, only recommended for healthy individuals, and should be personalized for each patient’s circumstances. Distemper and parvovirus vaccines have been shown to last up to 14 years and revaccination does not increase antibodies. In cats, panleukopenia vaccine has been shown to last over 7 years. It is not necessary to repeat them every 3 years. The best way to determine if your pet is protected is to run a titer test, where antibodies against distemper, parvo and adenovirus are measured in dogs and panleukopenia, herpesvirus and calicivirus in cats.


Resources

Age and long-term protective immunity in dogs and cats

Prevalence of Neutralizing Antibodies to Canine Distemper Virus and Response to Vaccination in Client-Owned Adult Healthy Dogs