You may have heard about the importance of detoxifying (or cleansing) your pet, not only to reduce unhealthy chemicals, but for the important role it may play in disease prevention. 

See Part 1 Video Link Here

We will explore where toxins are stored in your pet's body, what happens if toxins are not cleared and why they can't be cleared, how dangerous toxins are for your pet's body, and natural products which help remove toxins and may improve your pet's health.  

This is part 2 of a 3 part series on detoxifying your animal. The final (4th) article will explore why supporting balanced immunity is vital for your pet's overall wellness and longevity.

The topics covered in Part 2 include:

1. Where toxins are stored and what happens when they are not cleared?
2. Why your pet can't clear all toxins
3. The dangers toxicity present for your pet's body and how they affect cells and organs
4. Practical suggestions and products to help reduce your pet's toxic load 

See our YouTube Pet World Insider Pet X Talk:

DETOXIFYING YOUR PET – PART 2

Where toxins are stored and what happens when they are not cleared

Most forms of toxins that collect in your pet's body are scattered throughout the brain, heart, kidneys, spleen, and the liver. When toxins are scattered, pets tend to experience more generalized forms of illness, such as a weakened immune system, allergies, digestive problems, stones, urinary tract infections, skin problems and more. 

These types of conditions are maddening for pet parents, their pets and for the vets that treat them because generalized health problems are difficult to diagnose. When your pet's health problem isn't diagnosed, the problem continues unchecked and can become chronic. Meanwhile, toxins continue to accumulate in your pet's body, and eventually cells can contain so much waste that they cannot function properly. Over time, healthy cells can die one at a time. The death of individual cells can progress to the death of an entire organ. 

Other forms of toxin accumulation are more targeted, and focus on a particular organ, such as the liver. The liver is the workhouse of the animal body, charged with filtering toxins out and it can function under GREAT duress for a long period of time. The problem is that once the liver is overwhelmed with toxic load, liver dysfunction occurs, often followed by liver failure and then kidney failure.   

When the liver cannot detoxify materials, the kidneys and intestines may also fail to excrete them.  Liver failure (or failure of another organ) can seem to happen overnight; but toxicity steadily accumulates and your animal may struggle for years with a compromised liver before it is diagnosed. Our pets metabolize everything approximately 50% faster than we do. And like humans, our pet's body systems are linked, so once one system is compromised, it can stress and compromise all other body systems. 

Why can’t my pet clear all types of toxins? 

If your dog or cat is vaccinated annually, receives heart worm and flea and tick medications, antibiotics or steroids, in addition to exposure to environmental toxins, your animal is probably quite toxic. As humans, we stop being vaccinated at a young age but our animals continue to be vaccinated over their lifetime and have much smaller bodies, so you can begin to understand how preventatives might have a role in creating toxicity in your pet. 

Toxicity prevents a true and balanced state of health. Your pet’s immune system is most likely compromised, making your animal more susceptible to disease. Once immunity is compromised, it naturally triggers inflammation throughout the animal body, opening another "door" for disease to present.

Common synthetic products that can create toxic load in your pets: 

• Vaccines contain toxic adjuvants and inorganic compounds which line cell walls
• Steroids such as prednisone
• Antibiotics such as tetracycline
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Rimadyl or Benadryl
• Barbiturates such as Valium for anxiety 
• Anti-seizure medications such as phenobarbital
• Anti-parasitic medications such as amitraz or pyrethrin 
• X-rays

Toxic load is defined as the sum total quantity of chemicals and biologically foreign substances that accumulate in our animal's bodies throughout their lifetime.  

Our animals are usually much smaller than we are, with smaller organs of elimination. Their bodies have to work much harder than ours to eliminate toxic intruders. In the case of puppies, kittens, senior, immuno-compromised or convalescing animals, their already taxed bodies can be overtaken. 

Our pets also can't communicate that their food, water or the products we use in our homes is making them sick. These types of products are commonly used, including toxic cleaners, scented body lotions, perfumes and dryer sheets that can irritate their lungs, sinuses, skin, coat and paws. They rely on us 100% to reduce the toxins and our actions may be the reason our pets are sick.    

The dangers toxicity present for your pet's body and how they affect cells and organs

When exposed to toxicity, your pet’s body prompts the immune system to react to evict the intruder, producing inflammation, mucus production and/or diarrhea. Supporting balanced immune health in your dog and cat is the single most important thing you can do in addition to providing proper nutrition, clean drinking water and a healthy home environment.

When an animal’s body is overwhelmed by toxins, it stores them until it can eliminate them in the future. For many pets, this never happens. Eventually, toxic overload can impede your pet's immune system to prevent cellular abnormalities like tumors and cysts to form. When immunity is impaired by toxicity, other serious health conditions may develop as more and more healthy cells degrade and organ function is impaired.

The idea that a pet's death (or human death) can be caused by a collection of individual cells dying can be difficult to accept. An organ can only function properly if it contains healthy cells. If an organ does not contain healthy cells, it will die. Like cell death, organ death can follow a domino pattern, with one failing organ compromising another.   

For example, Lyme disease can kill enough kidney cells so that the kidneys fail. As the kidneys fail, the heart, brain, liver, and other organs also begin to die. The rate of death can be gradual or rapid, dependent on factors such as your pet's general health, genetics, age and breed. 

Practical suggestions and products to help reduce your pet's toxic load

1. Upgrade diet & treats: Improving the quality of your pet's diet is most important thing you can do to improve wellness. If you are feeding grocery store or big box chain foods & treats, you are undoubtedly giving your pet chemical additives, artificial colors & flavors, indigestible fillers, inferior proteins, and probably other questionable ingredients you would refuse to feed if you fully understood its content. 
2. 2. Filtered water only!Most tap water contains fluoride, chlorine, toxic minerals and metals and a multitude of chemicals such as trace amounts of hormone compounds that can all damage your pet's health and dismantle their immune system. Provide fresh, filtered water daily.
3. Cleansing herbs and nutraceuticals: Cleansing supplements include super foods, Omega 3’s and greens such as sea vegetables contain unique properties which can help remove toxins from cells walls and organs, help support lymphatic cleansing and proper elimination and help provide system wide balance in your pet.

Natura Petz offers Shake Ur Groove Thing as a safe yet effective detoxifying herb for your dog and cat, capable of removing inorganic compounds from cell walls and throughout your pet’s body.

You may also consider a liver support such as Love Your Liver, which is a gentle but effective liver cleanser and antioxidant; or Hepa Protect, which supports liver and kidney cleansing and function. 

Supplements can also deliver nutritional benefits commonly missing in even premium, holistic pet foods, including antioxidants, full spectrum amino acids, chlorophyll, truly bio-available vitamins, trace minerals, probiotics and essential fatty acids.  

It is recommended that you detoxify your pet annually and bi-annually if your pet is routinely exposed to synthetic vaccinations, medications or topical flea and tick products.

4. Avoid unnecessary vaccinations: Preventatives such as vaccines have their place in supporting your animal's health, but they contain synthetic derivatives and inorganic compounds that can be toxic and even lethal for your pet. Talk to your holistic veterinarian about potentially regulating the amount and frequency in which vaccinations are administered. 
5. Support immunity: The animal body has to have a functional immune system to fully support detoxifying, cleansing and balancing actions. Bionic Body provides whole body immune support. Balanced immunity is absolutely essential in helping maintain the health of your pet. 

We hope you enjoyed the newsletter. Thank you from the Natura Petz team!

Read Part 3