For all the scientific advances of the industrial age (since late 1930s) cats, dogs and humans are on a very slippery slope in this, the early 21st Century.

Gastrointestinal and immune diseases are epidemic. There are over 150 million domestic cats and dogs in the United States alone! If only 10% of them are unhealthy that represents some 15 million cats and dogs. It’s good to be a veterinarian today.

Cats and dogs suffer with; Allergies, Arthritis, Diabetes, Constipation, Crohns Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Kidney and Urinary Infections, Feline Leukemia, and Dog Cancer, to name just a few of the human diseases and disorders afflicting them.

How many people and pets do you know who are taking multiple medications? Do you know any person or pet that has been “cured” by taking medication? Me neither. It would seem medications are not the answer. So what is?

Well, self control, for starters. Do you really think a few pharmaceutical pills can make up for a lifetime of bad habits? And what toll do both of these take on future generations? Clearly, they come with a high price.

What exactly do we share in common with our pets? We breathe, eat, drink, and sleep. We live ever more stressful lives. Within these most basic shared elements lay the answers to “Why?”.

The United States population doubled since 1950! Housing, feeding and transporting 300+ million people comes at the expense of cutting down billions of acres of oxygen giving forests.

AIR: Increasingly, each generation since 1950 is breathing a lot less oxygen and a lot more carbon dioxide. Chemical cleaners can be very toxic, especially to pets walking and breathing nearest the floor. These chemicals can burn. Pets often lick their paws to remove the burn only to ingest the chemicals. These can’t be good things, but they are not the most pressing issues.

WATER: Bottled water has become a multi-billion dollar industry because we rightfully fear the innumerable chemical residues commonly found in tap water; let alone what even more dangerous chemical combinations these toxic residues might become. This is a biggie, but not the biggest!

We’re multi-tasking our tails off, juggling bills, work, family, home, relationships- now that’s stress! Where sharing full course meals daily with family was once common, meals have been reduced to a necessity; mostly ingested on the fly, or in front of the computer.


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