The News At Home
Cassie has always been a bit of a character. As a puppy she was very busy doing some rather odd things but this simmered down as she grew up. Now that she’s almost nine years old (relatively “aged” for her breed) she seems to be reliving some of her puppy days.

A few days ago we went for an evening walk when I heard “snap, crackle, slurp, crackle...”. I looked down at Cassie, the noise stopped and we carried on. A few steps more and there it was again, “snap, crackle...”. And then it hit me. This was the same noise I haven’t heard for about eight years.

I bent down and Cassie turned her head away from me. A sure-fire sign! I opened her mouth and found what I suspected — gum. Cassie used to excel at finding the tiniest piece of gum and chewing it throughout the walk. Like a teenager with poor manners, she would smack and crackle that darn gum until I yanked it away from her. I know she shouldn’t be doing this and it’s dangerous and yes, I remove it as quickly as possible but I have to admit, she makes me smile even on the worst day.

New Booklet at monicasegal.com
Enhancing Commercial Diets
You have an adult dog, feed a dry or canned diet and would like to supplement with fresh foods. Are some commercial diets better than others for this purpose? Which fresh foods and how much of them can you add without unbalancing the diet? Should you add supplements? This booklet helps you to arrive at the best approach.

New Products at monicasegal.com
Ester-C and Vitamin C Crystals
Ester C is gentle on the stomach and has been proven to remain in the body longer. Since it is excreted more slowly, it doesn’t tend to acidify urine and is a good choice for boosting the immune system. Our Ester-C also provides bioflavanoids. This increases the strength of blood vessels, helps to keep collagen healthy and prevents vitamin C from being destroyed through oxidization.

The capsule itself has been proven to disintegrate in 3 minutes — that’s 27 minutes sooner than what would be considered acceptable. The obvious bonus to this lessened disintegration time is that the Ester-C is delivered to the body quickly rather than being excreted before it has a chance to do some good.

Our vitamin C crystals are buffered and easier on the stomach than some other forms of vitamin C although, not as gentle as the Ester version. If you have several dogs and want to save some money, our C crystals are a great choice.

Fact of The Month

Liver Function and Helpful Supplements
The liver is one of the largest organs in the body and given its critical functions, it should win an award for multi tasking. The liver stores vitamins and minerals, excretes waste product into bile, metabolizes drugs and hormones, converts ammonia to urea, converts sugars to fats that are stored, and more!

Obviously, with this many important functions, compromised liver function can be serious. Due to the position of the liver in the digestive tract, it is, unfortunately, vulnerable to many insults i.e. toxic, circulatory, microbial and metabolic.

Sometimes, liver function is compromised because the liver itself is in trouble but often, the liver is harmed as a secondary reaction and responds by inflammation, death of liver cells, lowered function and sometimes, regeneration. In years gone by, it was thought that the diet of a dog with liver disease should include reduced protein. Today, we know differently. While it’s important to reduce the workload on the liver, this organ requires protein for regeneration. They key is to use protein with high biological value (for example, eggs and cheese), while avoiding red meats because of their high content of heme and other non-protein nitrogenous compounds.

Normal levels of vitamins K and C can be deficient in dogs with liver disease. Vitamin K can be found in leafy green vegetables, Vitamin C, playing a key role in collagen formation and the synthesis of certain hormones, can be supplemented. B vitamins may also be in short supply and again, these can be supplemented. Multi vitamin and mineral complexes should be used only under supervision of a veterinarian. Excess copper is a problem at any time but especially so when liver disease is present.

For more information about supporting the liver visit our Website under Health Guide.

What's Coming Up

We have several projects underway. Here’s a peek at just a few:

New Book
The upcoming book is a work in process. Current focus is on the newest studies being presented in order to be able to include the summaries in the book. In the meantime, a variety of raw meaty bones are being sent to the lab for analysis. This is a very exciting project focusing on optimal nutrition from pregnancy through to old age, including the nutritional management of various diseases and lifestyles.

Milk Thistle
Since finding the best Milk Thistle we’ve ever come across, samples have been distributed for a critical review of the efficacy of this product. We hope to be able to announce the addition of this product to our existing line-up very soon.

Donations
Our frozen foods sales have helped us to donate $232 to the Red Cross thus far. Our goal is to continue helping human and animal victims of the hurricane disaster.

Vitamin B Complex
We currently have a vitamin B complex at the lab for analysis. This product has tested extremely well thus far and we have every reason to believe it will continue to do so. Look for it under our private label soon.

Until next time...

Monica

“Revenge is often like biting a dog because the dog bit you.”
-- Austin O’Malley 1858-1932 American Oculist