Book Review: Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Dr Pitcairn

Dr.Richard Pitcairn is a veterinarian that graduated from  the UC Davis veterinary school in 1965  and the founder of the Animal Natural Health Center Education Program which were established in 1986. This education program was set to be focused on the homeopathic approaches used to heal animals. Often such approaches emphasize as well the importance of providing home prepared and raw foods versus feeding the all so popular and often harmful commercial feeds.

Several of these holistic approaches are listed in Dr Pitcairn's book :Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. Dr. Pitcairn early in his career worked as a practitioner in a mixed animal clinic. Unsatisfied by the results brought on by using traditional veterinary medicine protocols, he decided to go more in depth and received a  Ph.D. in veterinary microbiology and immunology from Washington State University.  After ward, he also grew interested into trying alternative medicine . He started therefore to study how nutrition affected the animal's body and how it could help it heal.

However, because gravely ill animals could not be helped by nutrition alone, he started considering the use of herbs and grew interested in the practice of homeopathy.  He then opened a private practice in  in Santa Cruz, California where he emphasized the use of homeopathy, herbs and nutrition.

Dr. Picairn's book is a goldmine for those pet owners that are interested in learning about alternative treatments to traditional veterinary care. The book is divided into sections where homeopathic and nutritional solutions may be found to treat a variety of ailments affecting pets.

In particular, there is an interesting and quite broad section that focuses on giving owners a glimpse of what is really found in commercial dog food. The definition of '''meat by products, bone meal, chicken meal, carbohydrates, fats and fiber'' are explained in detail providing an insight of all the bad ingredients people are feeding their pets.

This section is then followed by the advantages of feeding pets a raw diet and provides some interesting readings from the studies of Dr. Pottenger, which focused on the benefits of feeding cats a raw diet. This section also provides an inner look into all the chemicals,additives, preservatives and artificial colorings added to commercial pet food that further plays a role in lowering the immune systems in pets and making them significantly prone to sickness.There are  also several recipes for home made diets for dogs and cats that may be helpful for pet owners trying to supplement their pet's kibble.

Dr. Pitcairn's book is really a helpful book for those looking for alternative options to traitional medicine. Owners of dogs and cats with chronic conditions that do not respond to medications may give the advice found on this book a try. This book is a goldmine of information on treating pets through homeopathy and may also be helpful for veterinarians looking for alternative solutions to complement or even replace traditional methods of treatments  which are standard of vet school.