Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM is rooted in the principles of balancing the body's energies for overall health and well-being. According to TCM, the body's energies, known as yin and yang, should be in harmony for optimal health. Imbalances in these energies are believed to contribute to various health issues. TCM aligns with our beliefs at Poochie Moochie Edmonton. We like to approach pet health with a holistic view.
TCM believes that foods have energy too. Foods can be cooling, neutral, warming, or hot. This is called food energetics. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “Let food be thy medicine” by using diet you can create a balanced or neutral energy that better supports your pets body.
When a dog or cat has health concerns and is brought to a traditional Veterinarian the approach, is to treat the body as something to be managed.
The treatment is basically a single set of medical procedures and medication that are given to every single patient with a certain set of symptoms.
For example a dog with a skin condition is given antibiotics, steroids & prescription diet.
Symptoms are the body’s way of telling you what’s going on inside. Suppression happens when you use large doses that force the body to act a certain way. These medications work to hide symptoms. They don’t cure anything.
TCM looks at the pet with its own needs, sensitivities and looks at the underlying cause of all symptoms. One treatment plan may be completely different for another pet with similar conditions depending on different variables of their past history or environment.
TCM’s approach to allergies are to start at the root of the problem, by first addressing the disharmony that’s causing the symptoms to occur.
In the case of allergies, common symptoms include itchy and reddened skin, panting, and restlessness. TCM states that the combination of warm (the heat of allergies) and cool (the body temperature) is often what causes fiercely itchy skin.
Another condition to use as an example are UTI’s. They are looked at as a damp heat condition. UTI’s typically become chronic because the “dampness” is not cleared.
“Yin” represents the concepts of cooling, fluids, quietness, and passive behavior. “Yang” represents the concepts of heat, inflammation, outward energy, and aggressive behavior.
A healthy animal will have a perfect balance between the two. Referred to as Qi.
Western medicine looks solely at physical allergy symptoms such as itching, scratching, and lesions. But TCM also recognizes the less obvious symptoms of hot and cold conditions such as restlessness, irritability, and panting.
Cooling foods and herbs work to bring down the heat within the body, thereby reducing inflammation.
Not only can cooling foods help with allergies and UTI’s they can also help with anxious behaviour, chronic illnesses and during Summer they can even help prevent overheating!
Rabbit, Duck and Cod are considered the best cooling proteins. Spinach, cucumber and melons are examples of cooling produce. These are the best options for pets to soothe inflammation and cool them down.
Pork, Beef and Bison are considered neutral proteins. Sweet potato, pumpkin and green beans are neutral proteins. These are also considered a good option for an animal with allergies because they have little to no effect and are a good way to soften a too hot or too cold diet.
Chicken, Turkey, ginger and turmeric are warming foods. These can increase body temperature, they aren’t recommended for pets with inflammation but is recommended during colder seasons or for chronic cold conditions such as arthritis.
Lamb, Venison, Sheep, cayenne, and garlic are all considered foods with hot energies.
The food energetics are best used when feeding a raw diet.
You can choose a Duck based kibble but the many other ingredients in them are typically grains and have a hot energy. This will counteract the cooling.
Furthermore, all kibble is heat processed in some way, this denatures the food and destroys a lot of nutrients.
At Poochie Moochie we believe that a holistic approach paired with a species appropriate diet can prevent and treat many health ailments.
If you’re local come see us for a free, no obligation raw food diet consultation or contact us with any questions.