Holostic Pet Products

lovepets

Im currently researching the demand for Holostic Pet products, particularly food and supplements and would be interested in some feedback. The pedigree dog industry is huge, between the purchasing of puppy's and show's etc. Its an unfortunate reality that a lot of these dogs are inbred resulting in abnormalities and health issues. I, myself have a pedigree dog, who is a significant member of my family and I will do anything to keep my beloved as healthy as possible and have been looking into alternative diets, supplements, and homeopathy.
Whether your dog is a pedigree breed or not, they are huge parts of our lives and what I want to know is, how do other people feel? Are other pet owners interested in keeping their pets happiness and health at an optimum? Would you spend that little bit extra to ensure that your animal is getting the nourishment that he needs.
What do dog owners currently feed their dogs? Where do you source your dogs food? Is it a generic brand from the supermarket or from a petstore? Are you interested in an alternative diet? Do you buy from petstores or on line and why? Do you have faith in natural food supplements or homeopathy?
All feedback, constructive or otherwise is welcomed.

Owen

To be quite frank and honest, the mere mention of pet homeopathy would put me off buying anything from your business. It's disturbing that someone intent on improving the health of animals would peddle such unbelieveable lies.

I currently buy my food from a specialised pet bricks and mortar shop that does holistic foods, but they're intelligent people running it and haven't gone over to the quackery of homeopathy and never will. Thank god some people with sense are still left in the world.

lovepets

Thanks Owen, I appreciate your comments. I do understand that there are very mixed emotions in relation to homeopathy, some people have faith in it, others dont and everyone is entitled to their opinion on that one.
If you were to take homeopathy out of the equation, in general, how do you feel about alternative pet care? Do you buy from your bricks and mortar store for a particular reason? Is there a specific food you buy from them, and if so, why is that your choice?

Owen

I generally tend to stick with the likes of Barking Heads, Burgess, or Luaths - I prefer the higher meat content (Of actual meat, not tumors or eyeballs), low ash - mostly just the natural ingredients designed to work with a dog's digestion system.

But I really must emphasise that I and many others would boycott a store that while well intentioned stocked any form of homeopathy. My dog gets enough water at home, and I don't pretend it's medicine when giving it to her.

lovepets

I agree with the preference for higher meat content in food. My own dog is a big fan of Barking Heads. Have you explored the Raw Food diet options?

Owen

I have, but the guilty owner in me cringes when she has her first day or so of runny poos, I hate putting her through that, especially if I'm away from her nd she's holding it in. I know it'll resolve itself, but I always crack and put her back on a dry and wet food diet.

lovepets

Iv just started my dog on raw food, but iv been mixing it with his dry food just to introduce it in stages, he has a delicate digestive system, so for both our sakes I didnt want to upset his natural rhythm. But he absolutely loves it.

DogsFirst

Hi LP

I studied science for ten years and as a result was naturally skeptical of the whole field. But in the last four or five years I have been exploring more and more holistic cures to canine illness, especially using food, as is my field. The results were so astounding that I quit my dream role as supervisor with Guide Dogs Australia, a lifelong ambition, to pursue the field full time. I now run the odd nutrition seminar for vets and canine professionals, here and abroad (the first non-vet independent to do so, recognised by the Irish Vet council) and Australia.

Point is, like most others I don't understand homeopathy but so many holisitic vets can't be wrong. I recently finished a great book by Goldstein, Natural Therapy for Pets, I'm sure you've read it. The results speak for themselves.

In terms of raw feeding and natural or holistic vets, Ireland is way behind the likes of the US, Australia and even the UK . The cash figures do the talking here. As dry food sales fall, the raw dog food market is growing exponentially in the US, 30% of Aussie dog owners feed raw, maybe 10% of UK breeders but the number is almost negligible in Ireland, certainly in the public sector, if the Euromonitor Pet Food Reports are to be believed (check them out online).

Fresh (raw) natural (meaty) dog food is a tough sell in Ireland. Of the countries I have operated in (Australia, UK and Ireland) I have met with the harshest of resistance here at home. in the words of Oscar Wilde, we are a nation of cynics, like seeing a guy walking down the road with sun glasses on, what's his deal?! We are slower to adopt natural approaches, there seems to be a view that a natural approach (using vitamins, herbs, avoiding antigens) is a bit airy-fairy. Only my experience to date.

Ireland as a result is a difficult market. I am a member of the skeptics society (very different to a cynic, a skeptic says yeah maybe, prove it, whereas a cynic is someone that dismisses the idea as false with no experience in the matter). I met John Randy, the guy who ate 400 holistic sleeping tables in front of congress, rang 911 and told them he had overdoses, they asked on what and on hearing the pills were holistic laughed and hung up. These are the stories we hear.

I don't think it's fair for Owen to say you're peddling lies. Psychiatry met with much harsher criticism 100 years ago, acupuncture 40 years ago, holistic practitioners (evolving into food allergists and dietitians) still today (try telling the Irish that 3/10 of them are gluten intolerant, hence all the arthritis, congestion, bad skin, malabsorbtion, joint failure and mental illness on the island).

Large scale comparisons of homeopathic versus conventional medicine are extremely difficult to pursue, as you need to fiddle with sick patients in favour of new therapies, this is an extremely hazardous practice.

Don't be put off by the haters but if 9/10 people in a dog show laugh at you, you're going to do well paying the bills by launching products. I spent two years travelling round, doing a few seminars etc, maybe that's the way to go, build a bit of a fan base. Boards can be a tough place to do this, for every fan you acquire there are 3 google bandits that are looking for a debate. It is after all a discussion forum. I learnt this at the start and have reduced my presence to a minimum and got cracking on my own site, working much better.

Owen

DogsFirst wrote: »

I don't understand homeopathy

DogsFirst wrote: »

I don't think it's fair for Owen to say you're peddling lies.

Yes it is. Homeopathy is the act of selling water, pretending it's medicine, and basically ripping people off and preying on their weaknesses. It's a blight on society, and disgusting.

CatFromHue

What's the cost of raw feeding work out against dry food?

Regarding the Holistic or Homeopathic dog foods you may be best contacting a Holistic or Homeopathic human food supplier and and trying to work with them for the dog food.

DogsFirst

Owen wrote: »

Yes it is. Homeopathy is the act of selling water, pretending it's medicine, and basically ripping people off and preying on their weaknesses. It's a blight on society, and disgusting.

And they took our jobs.