The ancestor of our domestic cat ate small mammals, reptiles, bugs, and birds that were very moist, crunchy, high-protein, high-fat packages. So why do we care what our cat’s ancestors ate? Because there is an important link.

This fact is true whether we’re talking about ourselves, our dogs or our cats. What all animals eat has a big effect on their health. Half of Americans are sporting some extra weight due to our high-carb, fast-food culture. More and more of us are suffering from obesity, diabetes, arthritis and other chronic maladies…just like our cats. The more we know about what has worked for eons, centuries and decades is what we should be adding to our modern diets. That is the reason we care. The problem is that we don’t always follow the lessons.

Today’s domesticated felines are a case in point. They are fed a very dry, highly processed, high-carbohydrate “cookie” that we call dry cat food. The way some cats gobble their dry food, you would think it was laced with something addictive. Did you know that this dry food is probably a factor in diabetes, obesity, chronic vomiting and diarrhea, and even urinary problems in cats. That alone ought to be enough to make you change your cat’s diet.

The Blood Sugar Problem

Recently I have been researching the way foods affect our blood sugar. Grains such as those in bread and chips make our blood sugar rise for a bit then fall, which causes us to experience hunger even though we just ate. Vegetables and fruit are complex carbohydrates that do not jack the blood sugar around like grains, so they are less likely to cause the same problem. Watching the way some cats and dogs act ravenous all the time after eating dry food makes me suspect the same thing happens to them.

Our ancestors evolved eating plants, fruit, and some meat. Cats and dogs evolved from predators that ate high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets. Both of our diets and those of our domesticated pet have changed markedly, and  our bodies show it!!

Change Eating Habits

You can help your dog and cat by feeding them differently. Many of the suggestions I make in my new book Dog Dish Diet: Sensible Nutrition for Your Dog’s Health can be used for cats too. For better health: Instead of dry cat food, feed canned. And instead of dry treats, feed chicken, shrimp, fish, egg yolk, tuna, or even sardines 3-4 times a week. Because the same health problems are seen in all three species, when they eat too many carbs, it might be time to follow mom’s advice and “eat your vegetables.” Bone Appétit!

**Saber Tooth Tiger photo is made available through Filckr and Creative Commons

Geri Rodrigues with Nacho and Eleanor Villareal with Precious. The evening did literally go to the dogs!

…And that’s a good thing!

Fresh on the heels of my presentation about Dog Dish Diet: Sensible Nutrition for Your Dog’s Health to our Gilroy Rotary, my friends Jaime and Evelia Rosso hosted a little book launch party in their home for some of our local friends. In all, about 60 people attended, including our Mayor Al Pinheiro and Santa Clara Supervisor Don Gage, whose dog Baxter has been helped by my diet recommendations.

I spoke briefly about my passion to spread the word about the power of nutrition to impact a dog's health.

I spoke briefly about Dog Dish Diet and my reasons for writing the book. Almost 30 years in practice observing many chronic conditions and ailments that can only be called allergic reactions to dog food led me to write the book. I’ve helped 1000s of pets (probably 10s of 1000s of pets) that have visited Gilroy Veterinary Hospital; now by writing the book I have the chance to help dogs across the country. That’s my passion; I’m lucky to be able to fulfill it.

In addition to my human guests, several four-legged friends made an appearance. Local trainer Deleta Jones brought her Dachshund Milo, and search and rescue K-9 handler Gerri Schmutz brought her Golden Retriever Flash. These two brought star

We had not only lots of books on hand but crockpot gift baskets for people who want to make their own dog food.

power to the evening as both were featured in the cover shot for Dog Dish Diet. Our cover photographer Rosemary Rideout also joined us Saturday evening. All you have to do is look at a few of the out-takes of the photo shoot to realize that Rosemary has great patience. Milo, for one, was happier standing in the middle of the picnic table than remaining in his seat.

To make the evening even more festive, we invited Gene Sakahara and Sam Bozzo to showcase their cookbook, Any Bozzo Can Cook. Also Andy and Lynn Viale introduced Andy’s new spice rub for meats, which he calls a “Rub With an Attitude.”

Lonna's been a great help throughout the process of writing the book. The crockpot gift baskets, in fact, are her idea.

My wife Lonna and I had a great evening talking with friends. I must have signed 60 books, many of which our guests were planning to send to friends and family across the country. Dog Dish Diet is getting out there, folks. And I truly believe that’s a good thing for dogs everywhere. It’s amazing how the right choices in ingredients, type of dog food and the addition of healthful people food (you read that right…I advocate the addition of certain human foods) and good oils can made all the difference. Good health really does start with good nutrition…that’s true for us as well as our pets.

I got some good feedback too. Kathy Sakahara told me she’d just finished reading Dog Dish Diet. “I couldn’t put it down,” she said. I

All I know is that I signed a lot of books.

thought maybe her hand had cramped and she literally couldn’t set the book down. Nope, turns out she was riveted by my story.

If you haven’t yet gotten your copy of Dog Dish Diet, you can order online from this website. Bone Appétit!

Greg cracks open the first box of Dog Dish Diet books.

Yes, I have books. Boxes and boxes of Dog Dish Diet: Sensible Nutrition for Your Dog’s Health in my “warehouse.” You’ll see why I put that in quotes when you look at the photos.

There’s nothing quite like holding your own book in your hands. And this one has been a long time coming…even elephant gestation has nothing on this process.

29 years as a veterinarian observing and treating a range of common ailments and chronic illnesses among my small animal patients…and wondering if there was something other than meds that could help since so many of the conditions return over and over again. Many meds just control symptoms and mask the underlying condition.

10 years developing my theories on the link between good nutrition and pet health.

Can someone say "warehouse"? The car stays outside.

Believe me, nutrition is key to good health–for pets as well as for ourselves.

3 years writing the book. Hey I’m a vet, not a writer, but I felt I had something to say to pet owners and my veterinarian colleagues alike. My goal with Dog Dish Diet is to explain my approach in such a way that anyone can easily take steps to feed his or her dog better, provide a little of the science behind my advice and share some of my experiences as a vet and a lifelong animal lover.

1 year spent having the book professionally edited, designed, illustrated, photographed, and printed. And then there was the proofing. I read, reread and proofed the book after each phase of editing, design and layout and discussed all changes/refinements/tweaks with my editor. I even enlisted my wife Lonna,

After almost 30 years in the making, I couldn't even wait to get the boxes inside.

Certified Nutrition Consultant Robin Nielsen (owner of Juvenescence in Morgan Hill), and “Dogtor J” veterinarian John B. Symes in Mobile, Alabama as readers.

And now I begin the promotion in ernest. I’ve been on Facebook for some time, I started blogging here on DogDishDiet.com back in May and my list of Twitter followers is growing steadily. I’ve even begun guest blogging. I’m among the featured bloggers on Yeepet and my Dog Dish Diet blogs are aggregated on the DogTime Blog Network. I’m beginning to get out and speak, and as that schedule develops I’ll keep you posted of events and times. It’s always fun to see old friends and meet my more recent fans and followers from the cyberspace.

So, yes, we have books. And our online store is open for business. I’ll autograph books bought directly from me. And if you drop me an email and tell me your order number and how you’d like your book personalized, I’ll gladly include the name and inscription. Bone Appétit!

With a title like that, I have to be selling something…right?  Do I want to draw people to my website to buy my book? You betcha! Can the info in the book prevent tumors? I believe so. Let’s talk about it.

Dogs have several classes or different types of “masses” or growths that grow on the skin or under it. The most

sucking cells out of tumor or mass

common type is a papilloma or warty growth that slowly grows on the skin in middle-aged to older dogs. Next is the lipoma, or fatty growth underneath the skin or between the muscle layers. The nastiest and most dangerous skin tumor spreads locally and internally (metastasis= Meta (change) + stasis (stays in one place)). Its name is the mast cell tumor. This is the skin tumor vets want to rule out by aspirating a suspicious lump or mass. Looking at the cells we suck out of the mass often lets us know what we need to do. I say often because sometimes the aspirate does not contain tumor cells representative of the mass due to placement or layers.

So if a mass appears suddenly and increases in size in a short time (weeks to months), it should be checked. Most dogs will let us aspirate some cells into the needle hub without even “flinching.” If the mass is in a painful area, or

squirting them on slide to dry and stain

close to the pearly whites, we may need a muzzle, tranquilization, or an anesthetic.

After we suck the cells up, we squirt them on a slide, spread them out, dry and stain them. Here is an example of adipose cells we would see if the mass is a benign fatty tumor. The big clear areas are where the fats are stored. This gives the tumor cells a “cork” like appearance.

If a fatty tumor grows rapidly or if a mass turns out to be a mast cell, it is removed taking enough tissue around it to try and remove “seeds.” If you don’t get the roots of a weed, it will grow back. The same goes for a mast cell tumor. Visualize this just as a tumor being the castle and the “margin” of clean tissue checked for spreading cells being the moat. Fatty tumors can be squeezed out without a whole bunch of cutting because most are easily removed and not dangerous. They usually do not recur after removal. Mast cells on the other hand, can recur, and sometimes need chemotherapy  or

Here are some nasty mast cells sucked out of a tumor on the skin

radiation depending on how aggressive the cells are.

Now back to the original question. Can a diet prevent tumors?  It is a fact that we are overdosing our dogs with more carbs than they need. The carbs in the daily 60%-70% grain ration in the dry food that are not burned off are converted to fat and stored. I am convinced that the abundance of fat in our dog’s diet is leading to these fatty tumors. What can you do? Reduce the carbs in the diet by diluting the dry food, switching to canned food, and  adding healthful people food protein like chicken, eggs, ham, and fish. The solution, I believe, is Dog Dish Diet. Bone Appetit

I was in the supermarket buying provisions for my hike to the top of Mount Whitney, located east of Bakersfield, California. This year we are taking a more leisurely trip to the top, so that my two buddies that had altitude–and attitude–problems won’t be affected. I love strolling through nature’s beauty and am glad we do not have to push through the remnants of a late August snowstorm or traverse icy, slippery rocks near the top at 14,000 feet.

"Fresh," smoked kippered herring

So I’m in the store, and when I walked past the tunafish aisle, I spotted kipper snacks and remembered eating those as a kid. This produced an instant craving, and I bought a few for the trip up. Then I realized that these little oily sardines may make a pretty good and economical treat for my dogs…and cats. So I bought a few more and took them home to try them out.

That’s when I realized that “kippered” was a word I have used a number of times without knowing the meaning. Sounds a bit like “neutered,” but it means preparing a small oily fish by splitting, gutting, brining and smoking. Brining is soaking in salt water for half an hour; hot smoking is drying out at 150 degrees, then a bit longer at a lower temperature, while cold smoking is drying out slower at  a constant lower temperature. To protect against spoiling, cold-smoked kippers are salted (brined) a bit more.

I opened the can and eyed the saber-sharp edge as I reached in to pull a few briny, kippered, sardines for my “herd.” They gobbled down the snacks like candy. What a great way to give them extra protein, Omega 3 fatty acids (which I discuss in detail in my new book Dog Dish Diet: Sensible Nutrition for the Health of Your Dog), and a bit of brine….all for a buck! Bone Appétit!