Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats by Richard H. Pitcairn and Susan Hubble Pitcairn (1995, Paperback, Illustrated)

The book, Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, comprehensive guide, providing a natural, healthy approach to feeding your dogs or cats, it extensively enlightens the reader about the make-up of commercial pet foods, tells one of the pollutants in our homes that could cause problems for our pets and offers an holistic approach to treating a myriad of diseases or maladies that dogs or cats may have.

I purchased this book three years ago after dissatisfaction with the choices of dog foods. I wanted the best for my pet friend and I was unable to find a commercial food without some kind of ingredient name that I could not recognize or having ingredients listed such as, meat by-products, poultry by-products, etc. I was in search of a food with all natural ingredients for my pet and could not find it.

I came across Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats one day while in the pet store. It seemed like just the ticket for which I had searched high and low. Without hesitation I purchased it.

Dr. Pitcairn’s discussion in the first chapter deals with personal experiences as a veterinarian. He relates experiences as a “traditional” veterinarian and also some of his findings/stories of pets who were brought to him and the miraculous changes when proper nutrition (natural diet) was used to boost the immune system.

In his second chapter he talks about what a commercial pet food really contains: wastes from slaughterhouses, heavy metals, sugars, pesticides, herbicides, artificial colors and preservatives and the list goes on. Foodstuffs or slaughterhouse wastes unfit for human consumption goes into commercial pet foods. Then, everything is heated at such high temperatures that it is unclear how much of the nutrients from the food or from the supplements added our pets really receive.

In succeeding chapters he discusses supplements and then gives a few recipes to ease the transition from kibble to all home prepared food, which is a must anyway so as not to upset your pet’s digestive system. These food supplemental recipes that are mixed with the kibble are using foods that you would have in your kitchen on a daily basis. When making any change in your pet’s diet the new food should be gradually introduced and increased over a two week period. He then continues with about ½ dozen recipes for dogs and the same for cats. There are puppy and kitty formulas as well as recipes for special situations.

There is so much in this book, I can’t really brief you on all. I do want to say that within one to two months on a diet meal from this book, my dogs coats were shiny, there eyes bright, they were more alert, had more energy and there anal gland impaction (possibly related to allergic reaction to commercial pet food) cleared up. It has been over a year since I committed to this approach and I would not do it any other way. It’s not always easy. On those days when I am really tired I think oh, for the convenience…but than I quickly remember the benefits my dogs have gained and the complements received from others and I don’t long for the convenience.

I have recommended the book to friends and my veterinarian, whom inquired as to what I feed my dogs because of their shiny coat. My dogs just had their annual health visit with blood drawn to check liver and kidney function, as well as for diabetes. Tests results showed levels within healthy normal range. This is the only book you need.

There are three editions to this book; I own two of them. Each edition just gets better and better!

This book is very thorough concerning dogs and cats, their needs, behavioral and physical issues, and natural alternatives for treatment. Those natural alternatives include nutrition, homeopathy, herbal remedies, and more.

While this book has been extraordinarily helpful with day-to-day issues, what makes me thankful for this book is that by using the nutritional information (and then "cooking" for my pets) I have literally saved the lives of three of my pets.

The first one, Roxie (white cat with black spots), is the reason why I bought the book. She lost 25% of her body weight in two weeks and her bloodwork showed a very high white blood cell count. What was even more strange is that apparantly there are two kinds of white blood cells, and she had very few (less than 20%) of the kind that are supposed to make up 80% or more of the white blood cells.

We even took her to an oncologist, who couldn't identify what was wrong and told us chemo was an option if they did exploratory surgery and found something treatable. Oh, and there was a very good chance she wouldn't survive the surgery.

So I got this book, and without "diagnosing" her I began "cooking" all her meals (I say "cooking" because there wasn't any heat involved). This book gives lots of recipe options, even including vegan recipes, so that you can find the right recipe that fits into your budget.

Based on the homepathic emphasis in the book, I also called a homeopathic vet in Colorado (she ended up having about 2 doses of a rememdy).

Roxie got sick at 2 1/2 years old and the oncologist and my vet said she had about 2 weeks to live. That was over 12 years ago, and she's still going strong! She doesn't live like a weakly or sickly cat - she is heathy and active. Oh, and I only had to "cook" for her for about a year - after that I was able to switch her to a high quality, no by-products kibble.

Two of my dogs have also been saved out of life threatening situations through using this book - I won't tell their stories because I think you get the idea! Currently I am using this book to treat a young dog with heartworm. While she still may need the traditional arsenic based treatment (it is very hard to treat heartworm), this book has helped me build up her immune system so she will have a much better chance of surviving traditional heartworm treatment and she is much more likely to need fewer treatments than the 3 originally recommended.

Thank you Dr. Pitcairn!

My 7yr. old Blue Heeler, Desi,was diagnoised with a Toxic Liver and my Vet suggested I either put him down or immediately start him on Steroid shots and antiboitics and he would at least have a 10% chance of pulling thru it. I did not take his advise on either count. Instead I bought this book, immediately started my Dog on an herbal liquid Liver Detox and a raw or slightly cooked meat & vegetable diet. My Dog was also anemic and had not been eating his hard processed dog food anyway. I was mixing my own concoctions for a few days until this book arrived and I was able to use some properly balanced meal ingredients. Within 7 days of using the Liver Detox and raw meat diet, Desi was acting as if he was starving to death but I could only feed him small meals until he was used to eating more. Within 10 days of this Natural, chemical free treatment Desi is eating properly, has much more ambition and is probably 95% back to being his self. I will continue to prepare these healthy meals for him for the rest of his life and in a couple weeks I will take him back to the vet to have his liver tested again, I think my vet will be surprised that Desi is even alive! Thanks for writing this book Dr. Pitcarin!

Dr. Pitcairn's veiws on nutrition are right on! for the most part. According to all the research I have put into my dog's need's nutritionally. I agree with him on 99% of his reccomendations. I fell short on 2 of his theory's, one with his view on feeding grains. As it is well recognized that dogs do not require grains as part of their diet. And if you look at the ingredients of most good as well as bad, dry dog food they are mostly containing grains for use as fillers (making the dog food companies rich). Secondly,I also do not agree with his theory on added Calcium. If you read any canine nutritional books you will see that if the dog's diet is well balanced no added calcium should be supplemented when feeding a homecooked diet. As a matter of fact it will cause more harm then good. My advise is get yourself a text book to read along with Dr. Pitcairn's book and you will have the perfect diet! By the way love his name... Pit-cairn he could be a designer dog breed (Pit Bull and Cairn terrier mix). Keep reading, our dog and cat friends deserve the best.

There is a lot of good information on the care of your pets. The main reason I bought it was for the information on making your own pet food and the health benefits thereof. The bood is chock full of great information to keep your pet healthy naturally.