AMAZON.COM HAS GREAT PRICES! A portion of the purchase price of any books purchased through linking from this site to Amazon.com will be donated to small, independent animal rescue organizations around the country. (You must click on the title of the book, not the book icon, for this to happen.) If there is a rescue group you would like considered for this donation program, please contact me at kat@katberard.com. Please bookmark this page for future book purchases.  Thank you for helping animals this way!  Kat

Animal Wellness Magazine is the #1 Magazine to read for the latest information on holistic care options and treatments, alternative healing modalities, animal health issues, disease prevention, natural diets and nutrition, addressing behavioral issues, gentle training techniques, new products and services on the market, unique topics and stories, book reviews, and so much more. Please take a moment to check it out! I recommend every dog and cat lover subscribe to this magazine, even if they don't practice holistic care. This is money well spent! [Click on the icon to be taken to the AWM site.]

Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats (Richard H. Pitcairn, DVM and Susan Hubble Pitcairn, 2005)  "The most comprehensive guide to natural health care for pets -- required reading for all animal lovers!" Allen M. Schoen, DVM, author of Love, Miracles and Animal Healing).

A classic natural pet-care book from two celebrated veterinary specialists in chemical-free nutrition, treatment, and natural healing for pets, Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats offers valuable natural and holistic advice on a host of pet topics, including, but not limited to, diet, exercise, environment, coping with a pet's death, and how to care for a sick animal. In addition to their thorough discussion of the above, Richard Pitcairn, D.V.M., and his wife, Susan Hubble Pitcairn, M.S., offer a comprehensive "quick reference" section on animal illnesses, organized alphabetically and including a brief description of each illness, preventative measures that may be taken, and holistic and natural treatment options for both dogs and cats--treatments that should always be discussed with one's vet before being used. Occasional line drawings, informative graphs, and the Pitcairn's intelligent prose make this guide a must-have for pet owners interested in a natural lifestyle for their pets.

NEW EDITION (8/05) The book that is the definitive guide to a natural lifestyle for dogs and cats is now completely updated and revised--for the first time in 9 years. Writing with the warmth and compassion that have won them a national following, veterinarian Richard H. Pitcairn and his wife Susan Hubble Pitcairn, noted specialists in chemical-free nutrition and natural healing for pets, show dog and cat owners how to provide the very best in companionship and lifelong care.

They now cover environmental matters, including pollutants both inside the home and out, as well as recent hot-button topics, such as Mad Cow disease, Lyme disease, and the West Nile virus. They've updated dozens of recipes for delicious and healthful pet food and treats. With a guide to handling emergencies and an in-depth "Quick Reference" section, they give specific instructions for preventing, diagnosing, and treating a wide range of animal diseases and disorders-with special attention to homeopathic, herbal, and nutritional remedies.

***This is my favorite book for those new to holistic care for dogs and cats. It includes a reference section on animal illnesses and health issues, diet recipes, information regarding flower essences, homeopathy, nutrition, vaccines, and much more. I highly recommend it! Kat

Grow Your Pup With Bones (Ian Billinghurst, DVM)  The Billinghurst series of books is excellent! For detailed information, see Dr. Billinghurst's website at
http://www.barfworld.com/html/dr_billinghurst/books_videos.shtml.
 

You may order directly from his company, or from your local bookseller.

Give Your Dog A Bone (Ian Billinghurst, DVM)  For detailed information, see Dr. Billinghurst's website at
http://www.barfworld.com/html/dr_billinghurst/books_videos.shtml.
 

You may order directly from his company, or from your local bookseller.

The BARF Diet (Ian Billinghurst, DVM)  For detailed information, see Dr. Billinghurst's website at
http://www.barfworld.com/html/dr_billinghurst/books_videos.shtml.
 

You may order directly from his company, or from your local bookseller.

Wild Health: How Animals Keep Themselves Well and What We Can Learn From Them (Cindy Engel, 2002) This is the first book on a fascinating new field in biology -- zoopharmacognosy, or animal self-medication -- and its lessons for humans. When Rachel Carson published SILENT SPRING, few people knew the meaning of the word "ecology." Even fewer people today probably know the meaning of "zoopharmacognosy." But that is about to change. In WILD HEALTH, Cindy Engel explores the extraordinary range of ways animals keep themselves healthy, carefully separating scientifically verifiable fact from folklore, hard data from daydreams. As with holistic medicine for humans, there turns out to be more fact in folklore than was previously thought.

How do animals keep themselves healthy? They eat plants that have medicinal properties. They select the right foods for a nutritionally balanced diet, often doing a better job of it than humans do. Animals even seek out psychoactive substances -- they get drunk on fermented fruit, hallucinate on mushrooms, become euphoric with opium poppies. They also manipulate their own reproduction with plant chemistry, using some plants as aphrodisiacs and others to enhance fertility. WILD HEALTH includes scores of remarkable examples of the ways animals medicate themselves.

- Desert tortoises will travel miles to mine and eat the calcium needed to keep their shells strong.
- Monkeys, bears, coatis, and other animals rub citrus oils and pungent resins into their coats as insecticides and antiseptics against insect bites.
- Chimpanzees swallow hairy leaves folded in a certain way to purge their digestive tracts of parasites.
- Birds line their nests with plants that protect their chicks from blood-draining mites and lice.

In other words, animals try to keep themselves healthy in many of the same ways humans do; in fact, much of early human medicine, including many practices being revived today as "alternative medicine," arose through observations of animals. And, as WILD HEALTH, animals still have a lot to teach us. We could use a little more wild health ourselves.
 

Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats: The Ultimate Pet Diet (Kymythy R. Schultze, CCN, AHI. 1999) This book will help pet-lovers enable their dogs and cats to enjoy an ideal quality of life though a species appropriate diet of raw, natural foods.

Natural Food Recipes for a Healthy Dog (Carol Boyle, 1997) Should you and your dog be eating the same food? For years pet owners have been told the answer is "No." But what if you ate better food? You and your dog are both mammals, both omnivores—what's good for you should be good for the dog, right? Absolutely! Carol Boyle explains how you can change the diet of everyone in your household, including your dog, so that you are all eating healthy, tasty, nutritious food. You'll find a basic maintenance diet for your dog, plus specific diets for the growing puppy, the active dog, the sick dog and the older dog. Every dog and every owner will benefit from the years of research behind the recipes you'll find here. From potato pancakes to macaroni and cheese to beef stew to fried tortillas, these recipes are simple to follow and use easy-to-find ingredients. They take the mystery out of home-cooked diets for your dog, and give you both a natural and healthy way to eat.

K9 Kitchen: Your Dogs' Diet, the Truth Behind the Hype (Monica Segal)  "All dogs have unique dietary requirements based on food tolerances, genetic background and allergy response. Vets see more allergy related problems today than ever before. From chronic ear infections to the chewing of paws and all the body parts in-between, our dogs give us signals of poor health. Can any generic diet possibly address the needs of the individual? Does your dog have a dry coat or flaky skin? Bad breath? Inconsistent stools? Overweight? Allergies?

Monica Segal knows that a home prepared diet formulated for your dog's individual needs can help alleviate these and other symptoms. Your dog's nutrition is the focus of this site.  We invite you to explore your options and let us help you meet the individual requirements of your own dog. Please come in and visit for awhile. If you're looking for guidance and a fresh approach to your dog's diet, you've come to the right place."

Order this book through Monica http://www.doggiedietician.com/

Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: The Healthful Alternative (Donald R. Strombeck, 1999) Univ. of California, Davis. Nutrition and dietetics book for owners, breeders, and veterinarians. Includes over 200 computer-based recipes, complete nutritional content data, special diets for various health issues including allergies, gastrointestinal, kidney, pancreas, heart and liver, and food quality and safety information.

Customer Review: "For those of us who believe in and enjoy feeding our dogs whole foods, enjoy cooking for our dogs, and want to ensure the nutritional content of your home-cooked meals, this book is an answer to a prayer. It's filled with nutritional information and easy to follow recipes. The author has provided a chart for finding out the optimum number of calories to feed your dog or cat, based on their weight, and the recipes have the number of calories listed. Very, very few of the commercially pet food labels provide the number of calories in their food. The book will provide you the basics, your own initiative can fill in for a little creativity with the recipes. Most important, you can assure no additives, no preservatives, no sugar, etc. for your pet. And for those of us with pets that tend to be chow hounds, you can monitor the number of calories easily. The author provides recipes for overweight dogs and cats, and for those with various medical problems. The author, Donald R. Strombeck, has been a vet for 40 years, and tells it like it is about most commercially prepared dog food. This book is not for those who advocate a raw meat diet for your dog or cat. The book is a must for those that are serious about home cooking for your pets and want balanced, sane, nutritional information, and to have a guideline to measure against to ensure you are providing what your pet needs."

Here are just a few of the things you will discover:

• Why liver disease is usually well advanced before any symptoms are noticed.

• The food and supplements that protect, reverse and heal liver damage.

• How to create your own homemade dog food recipes that are just right for your dog.

• The miracle diet that inspired this book.

• How to care for your sick dog.

• How to treat liver related illnesses that might come up.

• What symptoms to watch out for.

• Information you need to know about Liver Disease and Cirrhosis.

• How your dog communicates symptoms.

• 4 Healthy Homemade Dog Food Recipes that you can use to help your dog live longer.

• And more... 

As Ms. Smasal states, this book is by no means the answer to all of your dog’s needs, but it's a great resource for you and a qualified veterinarian.

 Switching to Raw (Susan K. Johnson, 2002) is a simple guide to change the way you optimize your dog's health. Providing a fresh food diet is economical and promotes a lifetime free from allergies, digestive and skin problems, ear troubles, and tartar-encrusted teeth. This book walks you through changing your dog's diet to raw foods so that it becomes as simple as the way you are currently feeding.  Switching to Raw is an ideal, easy-to-read manual for breeders to include in their puppy packets. The backsides of every page are lined to provide a simple way for you to include notes for your puppies' new owners. This book is also perfect to loan to friends who have expressed interest in starting a fresh food diet for their dogs.

Raising Cats Naturally: How to Care For Your Cat the Way Nature Intended (Michelle Bernard)

It's about time we had a book like this. Michelle Bernard has a rare gift for putting in plain words extraordinarily effective and levelheaded ways to properly care for cats. Steering clear of faddish, dangerous trends-and dissecting the oodles of misinformation that has regrettably become the norm in mainstream advice on animal nutrition-she shines most conspicuously on the issue of a proper feline diet. By giving the reader a common-sense, straightforward strategy for preparing a diet that is based solely on the nutritional requirements of true carnivores, her book is a must-have for anyone committed to building and maintaining glowing good health for cats.

Bernard's work on all aspects of caring naturally for cats is based on years of meticulous research and hands-on experience, yet she translates her knowledge into simple, common sense guidelines that anyone can understand and put to use. Her eloquent explanation of homeopathy demystifies this splendid, ancient healing art that is so marvelously suited to cats, giving the reader a valuable awareness about how to build and nurture a cat's health from the inside out. This alone is a refreshing and most welcome approach given the routine over-medication and over-vaccination of cats. If you love your cat, read this book. All of it.

Purchase through http://www.raisingcatsnaturally.com

The Healthy Bird Cookbook: A Lifesaving Nutritional Guide and Recipe Collection (Robin Deutsch, 2005) The Healthy Bird Cookbook: A Lifesaving Nutritional Guide and Recipe Collection is the perfect solution to all of your bird's nutritional needs. It provides 150 creative, healthy, and easy-to-make recipes that are appropriate for almost all species of pet birds. The book also offers a thorough, extensive section on avian nutrition that clearly explains the roles of pellets and seeds, the food groups, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids in your bird's diet. You can take comfort in the quality and nutritional value of these original recipes---the author is an avian expert who spent ten years consulting with veterinarians and doing hands-on research to compose them.

The Healthy Bird Cookbook features: ---150 recipes that are easy to make and healthy ---Illustrations of many of the delicious dishes included ---A thorough nutritional guide, including sections on special diets, specific nutritional needs, and foods to avoid ---Helpful hints, cooking tips, and safety suggestions throughout ---Many recipes that are great for people, too!  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR BIRD LOVERS

You can also order an autographed copy from www.crittersonthings.com

Kibble and Its Problems

 Foods Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food (Ann N. Martin, Michael W. Fox, 1997, 2003)

Customer Review: "I put off reading this book for a long time, fearing that it would be sensational. It IS sensational, but in the positive sense! Ms. Martin has carefully researched her subject and has presented it with diligent documentation to back up her shocking disclosures. Cats and dogs in pet food? How can this be? Ms. Martin explains how domestic pets, zoo animals, and road kill end up in pet food, along with many other ingredients unfit for human consumption. No wonder our pets die so young! I started feeding fresh foods nearly 8 years ago, and my dogs are living longer, healthier lives because of it. After reading Ms. Martin's book, I now know exactly why I have been feeding fresh food.

We all believe that the "government" regulates everything and ensures safety and efficacy. Not so with pet foods, where the only regulation is voluntary industry-based regulation. The definitions and permissable ingredients are clearly laid out and explained in this book. Knowing the definition of "brewers rice" or "byproducts" is important. I find myself referring back to this book over and over to look up definitions of label ingredients, as I help other pet owners sort out their companions' diets.

There are some good brands of pet food, that use healthy ingredients. This book will help you recognize those brands by reading the labels, so that even if you choose not to cook for your pet(s), you can provide a health diet. I do wish that Ms. Martin had eschewed the recipes and instead referred readers to other books for guidance on feeding a fresh raw diet to their companion animals. But that section will not stop me from recommending this book to everyone I know.

My own veterinarian, who has been advocating fresh raw diets for more than a decade, thought he knew a lot about pet food. After he read this book, he told me he was shocked at what he learned. I wish that EVERY veterinarian in the US would read this book. Then they might have greater success in curing the ills of their patients.

This book will help pet owners provide a better diet and improved health for their animal companions. Three cheers for the courage and dedication of Ms. Martin to researching and writing this book!"

Protect Your Pet: More Shocking Facts (Ann N. Martin, 2001) In Food Pets Die For, which has sold more than 20,000 copies, Ann N. Martin censured the pet-food industry with meticulous evidence of contaminants in commercial food that can cause degenerative diseases and even death. Now she's back with Protect Your Pet: More Shocking Facts, an expos of inadequate regulation and unsavory industry practices. With perseverance, she eventually ferreted out the truth confirmed by the head of one meat-processing company that the U.S. permits the sale of condemned meat as pet food. Though it may provoke disgust and outrage, pet owners who want the best for their cats and dogs should read this book. [Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.]