Articles that apply dogs or are specifically written about dogs are here!

How to Choose an Integrative Holistic Veterinarian

Editor's note: Dr. Christina Chambreau has graciously given us permission to reprint her classic article. It’s been lightly edited and updated. How to Choose an Integrative Holistic Veterinarian The reasons you may want to have a holistic veterinarian on your team: Your pet is ill and you want to treat them holistically. You want to prevent illness, save money and have your companion live a long life. Who is an integrative veterinarian? A licensed veterinarian trained in using conventional drugs and diagnostics. They have also been trained in one or ...

2026-07-15T15:59:42-07:00July 15th, 2026|
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Fiber and the Carnivore Microbiome

Fiber and SCFAs It is an established dogma of nutrition and medicine that plant fiber is indispensable for good health. Thousands of studies have linked higher fiber intake with better digestive health, improved metabolism, lower inflammation, and reduced risk of chronic disease. Fiber does this by feeding the microbiome. Fiber, which only found in plants, is fermented by microbes in the colon into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetate, propionate, and butyrate. We are still discovering the many vital roles of SCFAs. They help maintain the intestinal barrier, nourish the ...

2026-07-05T09:08:11-07:00July 5th, 2026|
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The PURR Act: The Pet Food Industry Should Not Regulate Itself

The pet food industry wants the federal government to let it govern itself. It's not like they've ever killed tens of thousands of pets with dangerous, contaminated food... wait, what? They have? Good grief!

2026-03-07T15:02:58-07:00November 25th, 2025|
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BEAM: Clarify Your Pet’s Health Journey

B.E.A.M. stands for Behavior, Energy, Appetite, and Mood, and it gives you a quick, reliable snapshot of your pet’s overall wellbeing. When BEAM looks bright, things are good. When BEAM goes down, something’s off — even if you don’t see an obvious symptom yet. Genetics, Epigenetics, and the Exposome Modern medicine often focuses on genes, as if they are the cause of disease (they’re not). CRISPR-based drugs and genetic editing are the hottest areas of research right now. But genes are not the whole story. DNA is the blueprint that ...

2026-07-04T13:11:03-07:00November 25th, 2025|
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Please Don’t Give Pets as Gifts

Updated 12/22/25 This is Brody, who is a very good dog. Giving is a wonderful thing, and we all have good intentions when shopping for our loved ones. You can easily picture a child opening a beautiful box with an adorable kitten inside, or of covering their eyes and leading them into a room where a puppy wearing a big bow is waiting. We have these joyful images lingering from our own childhood, as well as from social media, TV ads, and movies. A pet may feel like ...

2025-12-22T10:18:34-07:00November 29th, 2023|
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Grain-Free Dog (and Cat) Food, Taurine, and Heart Disease

FINAL UPDATE 12/27/22  The FDA has closed its investigation into this matter, saying there is "insufficient evidence" to establish a causal link between diet and DCM in dogs. They will not be providing any further updates.  NOTE: We now know that, as suspected all along, the purported link between grain-free pet foods and heart disease was entirely speculative. I can say with confidence that grain-free foods DO NOT cause heart disease in dogs or cats. There was and is no scientific evidence to support FDA's original theory, much less its naming ...

2022-12-30T22:31:45-07:00August 3rd, 2018|
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Sleeping with Pets

Many thanks to Kellen Smith at Tuck.com for allowing us to reprint this excellent article, which is one of many helpful insights. Many of us allow our pets to sleep with us, but is it healthy? Are there health risks to letting your dog or cat share the bed with you? How does it affect your relationship with your pet? Below we’ll cover the trends and facts about sleeping with your pet, the benefits and risks, and tips for establishing bedroom boundaries with your furry family members. How common is ...

2024-06-01T15:23:31-07:00January 31st, 2018|
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Dr. Becker’s Homemade Flea & Tick Repellent Spray

My good pal Dr. Karen Becker has homemade recipes for flea, tick, and mosquito repelling spray... you can mist them directly on the fur, or spritz it on your hands and stroke on the fur. Shake well before applying. Store in the refrigerator. Apply every four hours as needed. These are effective, but you should still hand-check for ticks just in case, since they can carry so many diseases. Dogs: 8oz water 5 oz apple cider vinegar 10 drops Neem oil 10 drops Catnip oil 5 drops of ONE of the following ...

2017-04-07T14:18:52-07:00April 7th, 2017|
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Indoor Air Pollution

Updated 5/10/24 This might surprise you: it's very likely that the indoor air in your home is more polluted than the air outside! There are many factors, most of which are totally within your control. Some factors present a serious health hazard for your cat! A cat's sense of smell is about 40 times better than a human's; a dog's is up to 200 times more sensitive (depending on breed). Both cats and dogs (as well as many other animals) have a special sensory organ called "Jacobson's organ" or the ...

2024-10-30T18:55:26-07:00February 21st, 2017|
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Pets and Tobacco, Vape, and Marijuana Smoke

By Guest Author Chloe Bloom and Jean Hofve, DVM (Revised 6/3/20) For many years now, we have known how dangerous tobacco smoking is to health. The list of ways it can harm smokers seems to grow longer every year, as more and more research is conducted. Children, as well as pets, are at risk from smoke in their environment. Second-Hand Smoke It’s fairly well known that smoke from cigarettes (and all other tobacco smoke sources such as pipes and cigars) can harm non-smokers via passive intake, or “second-hand” smoke. Children ...

2020-06-03T11:48:30-07:00October 20th, 2016|
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Paleo Dog

Paleo Dog: Give Your Best Friend a Long Life, Healthy Weight, and Freedom from Illness by Nurturing His Inner Wolf is the latest book by award-winning authors Jean Hofve, DVM and Celeste Yarnall, PhD.* Paleo Dog is your guide to optimal health for every dog, from the most pampered Teacup Poodle to the most rugged Mastiff, and every breed, age, and lifestyle in between. “The Paleo Dog Program isn’t just about diet. It’s also about the dog’s whole lifestyle. Many factors contribute to degeneration, aging, and the tragically short life ...

2017-07-02T20:32:01-07:00July 2nd, 2016|
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Epigenetics

Jean Hofve, DVM; Revised 3/7/21 Epigenetics is the study of changes in the way genes are expressed that do not involve DNA. It turns out that DNA isn’t in charge the way we once thought it was—it's the proteins around the DNA that really control gene expression. These proteins are influenced by the environment. This means that anything in the environment can have a profound effect on any organism, including animals and people. Research in the new field of epigenetics shows that many factors experienced by your pet, or even your pet’s ancestors—from vaccines, ...

2022-03-07T13:54:10-07:00May 19th, 2016|
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Pet Food Contaminants

Updated 3/23/18  As part of my duties as an AAFCO advisor and member of several Working Groups, I attend numerous webinars and teleconferences. In one group, the discussion centered around the use of 4D meats and other rotten junk in pet food, and the consensus was that as long as these things are rendered (heat-processed) to kill pathogens, they're perfectly fine for pet food. Well, that just isn't true. So I put together the following document to show that there are MANY potential toxic principles in pet food that need ...

2018-03-23T21:59:08-07:00March 24th, 2016|
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Homeopathic First Aid: The Ten Best Remedies to Keep at Home

What is Homeopathy? Homeopathy is a system of medicine developed more than 200 years ago by German chemist Samuel Hahnemann. It is a form of “holistic” medicine, in that it takes into account the “whole” organism—its physical, mental, emotional, historical, and environmental conditions. Homeopathy relies on two fundamental principles: “like cures like” and “the minimum dose.” The first principle, “like cures like,” means that a substance, which—in a large dose—would cause a certain symptom in a healthy individual, will, in homeopathic potency, cure the same symptom in a sick individual. For instance, Syrup ...

2023-09-30T15:10:35-07:00March 4th, 2016|
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