Whether you realize it or not, if your are a pet owner you need to be concerned as much about the health of your pet as you are about your own health.

Experts on animal health say that most cat and dog pain and suffering are caused by the food they eat. Isn't that interesting? That's the same reason we know exist for human beings as well.

It's believed by these experts that when you provide the right food, as well as raw bone, glandular and food concentrate supplements miracles happen.

Animals crippled from the pain of arthritis get up and walk and even start running again. Mangy smelly fur and skin heal up – the bad smell disappears and the coat shines again. Weeping ears and eyes clear up. Joints get strong and healthy.

If the damage is not permanent, the heart, liver, kidneys, and thyroid normalize. In other words, with the right supplements your sick dogs or cat can regain the health and vitality they once had as a puppy or kitten.

Now sometimes these conditions are not quite as critical as just stated. But even scratching or licking their coat can be a concern that something isn't exactly right with their health condition. If something is happening to your pet that doesn't seem normal about their health it should be addressed real soon.

If your veterinarian suggest giving your pet some kind of vaccine or pill to solve your pets persistent health condition you should probably ignore this advice. That's what we did when we got this advice. This is not the proper way to treat this condition.

This is the same way many doctors treating humans sometimes want do to alleviate a health problem, prescribe a drug. Here again is a situation where a doctor is treating the symptoms instead of getting to the real core of the problem.

Those sources that really know about pet health say most pet diseases are caused by the food that they eat. No one can argue that most pet food is alike – no matter what the brand or label.

The cost of raw ingredients is often the primary factor in pet food. Most mass produced pet foods are made from cooked, low quality ingredients. These foods are usually hard to digest, and processing them in the body can produce dermatosis (skin irritation).

Dr. Ian Billinghurst, DVM, and author of "The BARF Diet" recommends a raw food diet. While most pets take to this diet quickly and easily, some will resist. And that is where the beauty of raw food supplements comes in. If your pet refuses to eat a raw food diet, you can supplement a regular diet with raw food supplements to accomplish the same thing.

Dr. Billinghurst believes pets on the raw food diet derive the most benefit from raw meaty bones. They contain all the nutrients needed to rebuild a skeleton. While pharmaceuticals are often a necessity, especially in acute conditions, a raw food diet helps animals recover faster, while reducing their need for medications.

Several years ago my wife and me had a Lhasa Apso dog, named Sophie. She eventually started having many health problems. The worst condition she had was occasional seizures. It was heart breaking to watch her during one of those seizures.

As time went on the seizures become more frequent and severe. One time while we were in Florida for the winter we took her to a veterinarian to see what he could do for her. After examining her for what seemed like hours and plucking down $750.00 we never learned what the real core of the problem was.

The veterinarian wanted to do even more test but we refused. We left that clinic that day thoroughly displeased that we hadn't solved Sophie's perplexing problem.

After returning home from our winter home that year her condition seemed to get even worse each week. One day after the worst seizure she had ever experienced, I convinced my wife it was time to make a decision to have her euphemized.

On the way to the veterinarian, that bleak and rainy day, both of us were just devastated about having to make this grim decision. Once we left her at the vet and started home we both cried incisively.

I vowed then that I didn't want another dog ever again, and for the longest time we never thought about owning one either. However after 3 ½ years, at Christmas time, I bought my wife a Shih Tsu puppy and we named her Mattie.

We just couldn't seem to live without a dog in our household any longer. We simply love this happy and beautiful little dog everyday. It' just a real joy to have her around.

When I think back about Sophia, our troubled dog, I wish I had learned more about raw food diet for pets back then. We may have saved her from all her misery and ours as well.

Our newest dog, Mattie, now has few problems with scratching and licking her coat and I have decided, since I just learned about raw food diet for dogs, I will be ordering some raw food to see if that solves her problem.

So now I want to encourage all pet lovers if you have a pet with some kind of poor health condition that is persistent and not getting solved to do something about it. Maybe you need to switch your pet over to a raw diet, and use the correct raw nutritional concentrate products designed especially for you dog or cat.

I believe it's worth a try to see if this is a solution to your pet's poor health condition, don't you? I'm looking forward to trying out the raw food diet on our dog. It sure is awful to watch her scratch and lick her coat and not know what to do to make her more comfortable. Hopefully this is the answer to her problem that we have been looking for.

To your health and your pet's health also,

Sonny Julius

Sonnyj@theSunnySenior.com