The Healthy Pet Manual: A Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer.

The Healthy Pet Manual: A Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer

Deborah Straw

Healing Arts Press

One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767

www.InnerTraditions.com

ISBN: 1594770573, $14.95, 273 pp.

George Eliot's words, "Animals are such agreeable friends--they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms," sums up the universally shared feelings of pet care givers who treasure their animals. If you are one of the thousands of people who appreciate the joyful companionship of pet cats, dogs, ferrets, guinea pigs, and rabbits as family members, then Deborah Straw's truly excellent book, The Healthy Pet Manual, is a must read for you. A glance at Straw's table of contents previews the comprehensive coverage that follows in her rich storehouse of beautifully written and well-documented information. She discusses environmental concerns such as indoor pollutants and how to avoid them by looking for "toxin-free" products, "green-label" carpets, "clean air choice" paints, and by not using any woods or other items that contain urea formaldehyde.

Doubtless, you know already that household cleaning products--detergents, bleaches, window and toilet bowl cleaners, as well as other specialty cleaners--can be deadly to animals, but she reminds you and shares a list of especially dangerous chemicals found in commercial cleaning products that Amy Carlton enumerated in her article, "Spring Cleaning: Using Pet-Safe Products to Clean Your Home," and recommends purchasing safer products from companies such as Earth Rite, Harmony, and Seventh Generation, or preparing your own safer cleaning products with baking soda or lemon juice (p. 63).

And, in case you do not know already, Straw warns pet care givers, who share their homes and their lives with their pets and perhaps even a tidbit or two from their own plates occasionally, about the dangers of chocolate, which contains theobromine and caffeine, ingredients that are toxic to animals. She also reminds readers that xylitol, a sugar substitute believed not only to be safe but also quite beneficial for humans in numerous ways, is known to be toxic to our four-footed friends. So, remember if you sprinkle xylitol over your own breakfast quinoa, oatmeal, or rice, and your pet goes for these tasty grains, too, keep your pet's serving absolutely free of xylitol. And if you enjoy eating grapes or raisins, be careful not to drop any that your animal companion might pick up and eat, because these seemingly innocent fruits, so filled with goodness for humans, that even may intrigue your pet because of their smell, small size, and shapes that just may invite a swiping paw for a little game of kitchen or living room hockey, have, in some cases, been toxic to pets. Straw also emphasizes the extreme importance of always supplying ample, filtered drinking water served in non-toxic stoneware, glassware, or stainless steel. And she points out the necessity of frequently washing and rinsing the water bowl either in the high heat of your dishwasher or by hand to keep the water bowl clean for the fresh, healthful water for your pet.

Outdoor dangers abound, too. Among the culprits, Straw enumerates not only ethylene glycol in antifreeze but also herbicides, pesticides, automobile emissions, smoke, and even some flea killing products that, when used improperly, even may be carcinogenic. Safer flea-ridding alternatives are available. In addition, she enlightens readers that, just as too much sun can endanger humans, too much sun can hurt animals.

Straw not only discusses the supreme importance of high quality nutrition, but also she exposes the abominable, deplorable, and unethical practices of some pet food companies and documents the hideously damaging ingredients that some companies knowingly and blatantly include in their pet foods, then spend thousands of dollars on fancy marketing tricks to seduce would-be buyers. They sell their unfit food for high profits, and, at the same time, begin and foster the destruction of the health and the very lives of the pets you treasure. Straw also cautions you about the overuse of vaccinations and the repercussions from such a practice.

After documenting many probable, provable, and preventable causes of dastardly disease in precious pets, Straw discusses conventional treatments, gives insights into pet insurance and PPOs, and introduces alternative therapies including Bach flower remedies such as wild rose, water violet, olive, and clematis, to name a few, and herbs such as artemisinin, Essiac, garlic, Hoxsey treatment, milk thistle, and golden seal. She shares information about the successful use of vitamins such as A, C, E, D, K, and, of course, the energy converters--B vitamins. Other supplements favored for prevention and treatment include beta carotene, calcium, and selenium, and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), arginine, pycnogenol, and even melatonin (p. 171). Straw not only introduces these various health promoting practices and remedies, but also she offers careful warnings and cautions regarding their safest use singly or in combination with other measures showing her excellent efforts to give a panoramic view of the best available preventive methods and alternative health care treatments. Straw also invites those who treasure pets and appreciate how very much they enrich our homes, our health, and our lives, to find homeopathic and naturopathic care and modalities such as acupuncture, the Tellington Touch (TTouch), Reiki, and massage.

Straw goes beyond the physical aspects of health and discusses the importance of giving thoughtful consideration to the emotional health of pets and to guarding them against unnecessary stresses that can lead to anxiety, depression, or other maladies. In addition, she helps pet care givers emotionally to prepare for and to move through the sad time of losing a pet, having experienced such tender losses herself. You will be amazed at some of the probable causes of disease that she exposes, but, thanks to her excellent research and crisp, clean writing, you will be armed with methods of prevention, safer approaches if problems arise, and help that can give hope to restore health. Straw generously includes a recommended reading list of more than 60 sources and makes every effort to help you help your pets have the best health possible and to live happily with you for many, many years. If you care for your pet as much as I believe you do, then you will share this review with as many pet care givers as you can so that they can find this source of enlightenment where pet care is concerned, purchase it without delay, read it, and share it with others who cherish their pets, too. I cannot praise Deborah Straw and her excellent book, The Healthy Pet Manual, enough. It's a keeper.

Linda Davis Kyle, Reviewer

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