Nutrition and Food Therapy

There is much focus on pet nutrition in the last few years and it is with good reason. As we know all to well from human medicine, good nutrition is vital to the good health. The same is true for our pets, who rely on us as their pet parents to feed them healthy foods. I have yet to meet a pet parent who does not want to do feed their pet healthy food but the topic is overwhelming and how does one start the learning process?

Let’s first talk about Food Therapy.

Food Therapy is another branch of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). It is a practice of using foods to heal and rebalance the body. The belief is that foods have different energetic properties. Some foods are warming, such as chicken and others are cooling, such as duck. Based on the TCVM pattern diagnosed by Dr. Turenne, a recommendation can be made for what foods are energetically appropriate for your pet.

Food therapy can be used for a variety of reasons:

• Prevention of disease: Your pet may not have a disease but balance is always a goal. Food therapy can prevent disease!
• Treatment: Utilizing food therapy along with herbal and/or Western medications can help to treat a variety of diseases.

Now – how do you incorporate food therapy into your pet’s daily life? Dr. Turenne will make recommendations taking into consideration your time, your own eating preferences/philosophy and cost. Cooked, raw, dehydrated raw and canned food will be discussed, hopefully landing on a type of food that seems best for you and your pet.

If you are still overwhelmed, we can take this one step farther – we are able to offer pet-store consultations!! Our Licensed Veterinary Technician, Kelli, will accompany you to a local pet-store to go over the options and help you decide what food works best for you as well as helping navigate the Food Therapy recommendations Dr. Turenne made during your appointment.