Milk thistle is an extremely helpful herb for pets. The scientific name for Milk Thistle is Silybum marianum. (You want to be sure the milk thistle supplement you select is labeled with this technical name.) The parts of the milk thistle plant that contain the therapeutic constituents are the fruit, shells, seeds, and leaves. (You […]
Veterinary medicine is ever improving with the help of advanced technologies. Many veterinary clinics have equipment to run blood work in-office for fast results. Digital X-rays are making it easier to accurately diagnose certain diseases. Another recent addition to our treatment toolbox is low-level therapeutic lasers. Therapeutic lasers are sometimes called “cold” lasers to differentiate […]
Some in the holistic community are against all vaccines. I am not one of them. I worked at a humane society for five years and witnessed firsthand the deadly consequences when animals were not vaccinated properly. Vaccinations are an important part of pet healthcare. The incidence of certain deadly diseases such as distemper, parvovirus, and […]
Pet caregivers rely on government oversight to protect their four-legged family members from pet foods that contain potentially harmful ingredients. We assume pet foods are nutritious, and more importantly, safe. Unfortunately, neither of these assumptions is true. I have already written about nutritional issues with processed pet foods. Here we will explore a safety issue […]
Recently I went on a special house call to Disney World to answer this age-old question. You will never believe what I discovered. It all has to do with a nutrition study sponsored by the Iams Company in 2004. The research revolved around the idea that feeding extra DHA (an essential fatty acid found in […]
Cancer takes the lives of half of all pets over the age of ten. This terrible disease attacks the body from within. It causes pain and suffering as it gradually drags the animal relentlessly towards death. In order to deal with cancer, we must first understand it. Cancer is the result of a good cell […]
The recent sale of some of P&G’s pet food brands to Mars brought out the “experts.” In a news article, here’s what one pet food authority had to say: “Ninety percent of pets live on the cheapest pet food and survive,” says Nestle, co-author of “Feed Your Pet Right: The Authoritative Guide to Feeding Your […]
It is known that many animals consume specific herbs to treat ailments, a process called zoopharmacognosy (yes that is a real word). The use of herbs for medicinal purposes among humans has been documented to have occurred as far back as 60,000 years ago based on remains found in an ancient grave in Iraq. It […]
Hello and welcome to my blog. I’m Dr. Doug Knueven but I go by Dr. Doug for reasons that become obvious when you try to pronounce my last name. (By the way, it is pronounced “KNEEVEN” – you pronounce all the letters except the “U”) I was raised in a small suburb of Cincinnati named […]
Hills, Purina, and Iams are ingrained into the consciousnesses of every veterinarian from their professional infancy to their grave. Processed food is in our blood – Yuck. How can you expect a veterinarian to be open to the idea that real, raw food is anything but dangerous for pets? Veterinary college programs include nutrition training […]