We all try to feed our dogs and cats as best we can, given the restrictions of time, budget and ingredients. But, even so, our pet is unlikely to be getting everything he or she needs. I know what the pet food manufacturers say – 100% balanced, blah, blah. But the way I see it, if the food was perfect, our pets would be a lot healthier.

So, in formulating Everypet Formula, I’ve added a lot of things that aren’t present in the commercial dog foods. They might also be missing from your average home cooked or raw diet.

This is what is in Everypet Formula:

Vitamins:

I’ve put in the following vitamins – Vitamin A, C, E, D, B (1,2,6 and 12), Nicotinamide, Pantothenic acid, Folic acid and Biotin.  I’ve added them at therapeutic levels, but well below the toxic level, so that you can easily add Everypet Formula, even if your feed contains vitamins as well.

Probiotic:

Metchnikoff, a Russian scientist, was the first to notice that certain populations of people lived longer because they ate a lot of yoghurt. He proposed that this was because the bacteria present in yoghurt (the ‘good’ bacteria) were able to control the pathogenic ‘bad’ bacteria.

He showed that a wide range of diseases, ranging from dryness of skin and gastrointestinal disorders to atherosclerosis, are curable by the use of probiotics. This is basically just a ‘numbers game’. If the good bacteria (like probiotics) outnumber the bad pathogenic bacteria, your pet will get sick less often and recover from infections quicker.

MSM (Methylsulphonyl methane):

MSM is a naturally occurring substance which has been found to have very significant positive effects during double blind placebo controlled clinical trials. A lot of other health benefits have been ascribed to MSM (anti-allergy, digestive benefits, antiparasitic and antimicrobial), although these benefits are not as well researched as the arthritis claim.

The way it works isn’t really known yet. Scientists are guessing that it works because it is a bioavailable source of sulphur. Sulphur is a very fragile element and, although it is present in large quantities in fresh foods, even minimal processing or storage causes the suplhur to be lost.  With the result that most animals are deficient in sulphur.  MSM corrects this imbalance by supplying sulphur in a form which is easy to use and stable to store.

Evening Primrose Oil:

The main active ingredient in Evening Primrose oil, GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) is an Omega 6 Fatty acid – as necessary for good health as vitamins.

Your pet’s body uses essential fatty acids to make various prostaglandins and leukotrienes. These are substances which influence inflammation and pain; some of them increase symptoms, while others decrease them.

Taking GLA swings  the balance over to the more favorable prostaglandins and leukotrienes, making it a potent anti-inflammatory. One double-blind study followed 56 people with rheumatoid arthritis for 6 months. Participants received either GLA or a placebo. The group taking GLA experienced significantly fewer symptoms than the placebo group, and the improvements grew over time. Other studies have found similar results.

Spirulina

Spirulina is a type of blue-green algae. (The name was inspired by the spiral shapes of these plants.) It contains high levels of various B vitamins, beta-carotene, other carotenoids, and minerals, including calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and zinc. It is also a source of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). Spirulina is a rich source of protein – dried spirulina contains about 70% protein by weight.

Apart from its anti-oxidant properties, spirulina  is active against  allergic reactions such as hay fever and hives, helps to protect the liver from toxic chemicals and reduces blood pressure.

Kelp

Kelp is Ecklonia maxima, a seaweed.  It contains a wide array of vitamins, minerals and amino acids and has been proposed as a treatment for all sorts of diseases.

I use it mainly for its vitamin/mineral/amino acid content and for its ability to prevent the absorption of toxic metals.