Dr. Thompson covers raw feeding basics: the 80/10/10 meat-bone-organ ratio, vegetable prep, and protein variety. He answers questions about supplements like CBD for joints, white-willow bark, Antinol, and digestive support for senior dogs, plus quick-feed hacks with powdered herbs and fish oil.
Chapters
Good evening everybody, it is Dr. Thompson here. I hope you are all well. Well, what an adventurous 48 hours we've had, says he trying to fix his headphones. Um, thank you everybody for all your help, really, really appreciate it, and, um, we are going to have some fun tonight. Those other two guys, what are their names? I can't remember the names. Dr. Budgie and Dr. Lark. Anyway, they're not here. I'm standing in, I'm standing in for the Raw Pet Medics this evening. So we're going to have some fun. I've got some, uh, some questions that Karen has organized. Karen, thank you very much, really, really appreciate that. And, um, we are going to do some work here. Um, we've got various things, and, um, great to see everybody here. Rach Mack was the first one in. Great, well done, Rach. I think that's probably 3 on the trot. Brilliant. Carol's here. Michelle, all the way from, from, uh, Chicago. It's amazing. And Lorraine and Joyce. Marvelous, absolutely great. Let me just make sure I've got these things organized. Here we go, here we go. Otherwise Pete is going to kill me. Okay, what we normally do is have a little rundown and then about a minute before we start, we say, make sure your phone is on, make sure your Zoom is on to record it and what have you. So Just as the 3, 2, 1 went before, I thought, I know I haven't got me headphones in. So I'm just trying to get those to work here. They don't seem like they're very happy. Pete will kill me. Let me just go. Bear with me. Talk amongst yourselves. And we'll go like that. Let's see if that works. No, doesn't work. Right, okay, I'm going to do it bareback. That's the way. Pete is going to kill me, but there you go. That's the way it is. Now, welcome to Raw Pet Medics. It feels, it feels a little bit like, you remember when you're a teenager and your parents went out and they said, make sure you look after the house? And as soon as the door was shut, he went, yes, off we go, we're gonna have some fun. That's how it feels this evening. I want to say a big warm welcome to brothers and sisters in the United States who've come via Dr. Judy's site. You're really welcome. Welcome to everybody, uh, from, from those of you who are in South Africa, those of you in Europe, those of you coming to us from Australia. Absolutely great to have you here. Um, it's going to be a great evening. Um, and so we are all here, we're all ready. I've pinched Brendan's Chrome to, to use all the, uh, all the gizmos, all the, uh, the logos and things. Um, I've got to say, um, a big welcome to our Patreon supporters. Couldn't do it without you. A small contribution every week from all of guys goes a long way. We've got to pay Pete, our sound guy, and we've got somebody who's now doing our social media so that we can spread the good word about raw food and great, great, great nutrition. So those guys are helping us with that, and, um, you are helping us to get them to do some really, really nice work. The Patreon, if you want to join, is patreon.com/rawpetmedics. Okay, so You can join us there. If you like podcasts, and I'm interested actually, guys, do you use the podcasts? Are we wise to continue with our podcasts? Please let me know. If you love the podcasts, let me know. If you never listen to them, also let me know. Yes, as you see, I'm dressed up for a party because I think we've got this, we've got room to breathe, we, you know, we're going to have some fun. So I'm going to get a little more intimate by going like that and saying hello there. And I've talked about Patreon, so I'm going to hide that. And I've, you know who we are, so I'm going to get rid of that. So it's just you and me talking. So what are we going to talk about tonight? You're welcome to put some questions in there. Be really great to talk to you, not at you. So I've got a book. You knew I was going to say that. Actually, I put it in the write-up. I'm going to talk about a book that I've just started reading. So I've only just started reading it, but it's very exciting. And I want to say a big thank you to Charlie Lambert, who stood in and let me know about this book. On Monday, I just finished— I've just done 3 Thomas Hardys on the trot because I was just obsessed with it. I read The Woodlanders, and then I read Mayor of Casterbridge, and then I read Jude the Obscure. And Jude the Obscure, if you haven't read it, is a really, really depressing read. And so when I finished it on Monday morning, I was just thinking, oh my goodness, I really, really need some picking up. So Charlie stepped in and he suggested this book, which is— Pete's gonna kill me with this as well because I have to pick up my phone, which is my rescue audio. And here we go. Whoops. Okay, this is clip, clip. Okay, let's— okay, so this is the, this is the book. Can you see that? It's called Humankind, and it's by Rutger Bregman, who's a Dutch academic who writes really beautifully. His turn of phrase, and he's discussing scientific theories and the history of philosophy and what have you in such a way that it makes it totally, totally, totally accessible. It's a great read. I listen to audiobooks everywhere, literally everywhere, and what I do when I'm walking the dogs is I have a little pouch that goes across here and I put my phone into that so that I can hear the audiobook and at the same time I can hear the dogs so that they know where I am. No, they know where I am because they can hear the audiobook everywhere, so I hardly have to talk to my dogs for the entire walk, which is really, really great, you know, because I don't have to bother them and I can hear it and I can hear the birds singing and I can I can interact with nature as it should be. So it's a book which dispels with a lot of really, really, really good examples throughout history, quoting the Bible, quoting Hobbes the philosopher, and Hume, and all these great, great minds. Because what his major idea is, is that we're all taught that humans are fundamentally bad. Yeah, there's original sin in the Bible, and you read the news and there's terrible things happening and what have you. And so we are We are definitely in Western society, we are led to believe that we are untrustworthy and we are slightly dodgy and we are, you know, not the shining examples of light beings that we might want to be. But what he's actually saying is that when you look at the modern science, actually, the majority of people, the majority of time, are really good and are trustworthy and are— they do want to help, you know, and they do want to work as community and what have you. And that's all very interesting. I think that's great, the history of philosophy and the history of the psychology of man is very interesting. However, there is, there is, um, they're talking quite a lot about animal behavior, yeah, because evolution says we came from chimps. And so he's looking at Jane Goodall and how chimps behave. But one of the things that struck me, he was talking about the domestication of dogs, and he was talking about in the '70s they started they, they, they had silver fox farms in, in Siberia, which is not great, but they had them, you know, for pelts and what have you. And so, so what they did is they, they saved many of these silver foxes from slaughter for pelts, and they selected— when they first started, they— and silver foxes are really aggressive, okay? And so they were using those as a primeval example of, um, a species that had been completely, completely, completely undomesticated. And so the researchers first of all went in there, and this is really, really hush-hush because talking about evolution in Soviet Russia was a big no-no. Don't ask me why, but it was a big no-no. And this is kind of what they were looking— they were looking at the evolution of domestication. So they, they went in and all of these silver foxes were, you know, jumping up at the cages and they had to wear fantastically thick gloves to get anywhere near the silver foxes. And with that first generation, they selected those silver foxes who hesitated slightly. Before they started to have a go at the, the people, at the scientists who were observing them. That's where they started. And incredibly, within 5 generations, and the only trait that they were searching for, that they were breeding for, was docility. Friendliness, the ability to be less aggressive. Okay, that's it. They weren't looking for size or shape or anything else. And what they found was that within 5 generations, they had produced a silver fox which actually wagged its tail, which is absolutely unknown within silver foxes. Wagging the tail obviously is a sign that, yeah, I want to communicate in a non-aggressive way with you. They carried on this work for 25 generations and they produced a domesticated dog. And what they found is that by just selecting for friendliness, they also select for increased intelligence. And that's where it gets really interesting. And so what the author is saying is that domestication, which has happened to us humans over 3 million years or so, we have selected amongst ourselves for friendliness because friendliness means you get on with your neighbors, you cooperate, you cooperate in hunting and what have you. And so, unbeknownst to us, we're selecting for friendliness, but actually we increased our intelligence by selecting for friendliness. As I say, I've only just started the book, but this is some of the delights that are even in the first hour of the book. So a lot of really useful information, I think, there. Whatever your— that's my lovely daughter— whatever your interest, I think there's going to be something for you here. This is the book, and thanks again to Charlie Lambert for suggesting it. Now I'm going to spend a few minutes talking about how I and Ellie, my wife, feed our dogs? She feeds the most of all. Okay, hands up. All right, I'm usually running around like a headless chicken, especially on Tuesday nights, and she does most of the feeding. Okay, now I'm, I'm Mr. Raw Food. Okay, I've been telling people to, and coaching people to feed raw food for 25 years. Okay, and so what does my wife do? She cooks the veggies that she adds to the, to the, to the meat. So we get a kind of a lovely 80/10/10 mix of meat, 80% meat approximately, 10% bone approximately, and 10% organ meat. Organ meat is dramatically important. Okay, that's where you get your vitamin D from. That's where you get your zinc from. Um, apart from anything else. Okay, so it's where you get your B vitamins from. Very, very, very important. Okay, so 80/10/10. Um, how do we select those meats? The answer is that it's the first thing that comes out of the freezer. Now, when I talk to people, I will say I think, and I, and I do, and in theory I think this is the best way to feed, and if it was up to me this is how I would feed, but she does the feeding. So when I say to people, I say ideally you would feed the same thing every day for about a week or so, 5 days, 7 days, 9 days, okay, approximately, and then you'd swap to another because then you'd allow that original protein a few weeks off until you come back to it. And I think that will reduce the amount— the, the, the, the, uh, the chance of developing sensitivity to that protein. Logical. Yeah, logical. Okay, um, so that's what I preach to people to do. Okay, um, but she takes the raw food, so she does feed raw meat. Okay, so that's brilliant. That's really, really good. And But what she will do, and I think she's— her mum's Indonesian, okay? Her dad's from East End of London, and her mum's from Java in Indonesia. And so there's a thing in Indonesia where they love to cook food every single day, you know, twice a day, 3 times a day. It's always produce fresh food. Okay, and I think that's where it comes from, and, and, and there's nothing wrong with that. That's absolutely fine. So what she loves to do is she will get the greens. So she'll get, um, cavolo nero, or she'll get a bit of broccoli, really whatever's in the fridge, whatever the, whatever the children haven't eaten. She will Uh, she will, she will go for from the fridge fresh and chop it up really finely and put it in the frying pan at a low temperature, either, uh, usually with olive oil, and will fry it at a very low heat for probably 10 or 15 minutes. Okay, she just does it while she's doing other things, making food for the children and things like that. And, um, so what else will she add to that? She will add nuts and herbs and seeds to that. So she does listen to something that I said that I talk about— NHS, nuts, herbs, and seeds. And, um, she'll also put in herbs, um, spices. Okay, so there'll be turmeric in there and there will be, um, other spices, maybe tiny bit of ginger or something like that. Okay, and the dogs We've got Mouse, who's 2 years old. She's a Whippet Italian Greyhound Cross, and she's a brindle. And we've got, we've got Bluebell, who is a 4-year-old Whippet Italian Greyhound Cross, who is her half-sister, who is a bluey sort of color, hence the name. And so they've developed a palette whereby they are completely happy with probably 20% veg in their bowl. Okay, so it's 80%, 80/10/10, and 20% veg, and, um, they will tolerate that really well. It's all mixed up, um, and it works really well. They have 99% of the time fantastic poos. All dogs will get a little bit squitty every now and again, and mine are no different. The fact that they eat horse poo and chicken poo and goodness knows what on a fairly regular basis, and yet they don't, they don't get runny tummies on a regular basis, which suggests to me that their microbiome is in great shape. They've never had an antibiotic, so they've got 6 dog years in between the two of them, and yet they haven't had an antibiotic. So I'm really proud of that. And, and they have, uh, great poos. We use wormcount.com for, uh, for, for, uh, for, for testing for worms. Okay, I don't use, um, um, uh, any other, any other laboratory. What we will also use periodically is we will use Vermex. I work with these guys, okay? So, you know, always be aware of where people— if people have affiliations, just, it's worth being aware of that. But I've been working with these guys, Vermex, for 12 years now. I think they're great. It's a family-run business and I really, really like them. For fleas and ticks, Karen was mentioning that she wanted to, um, talk about fleas and ticks. And so, uh, I wanted to just say this is what we use for fleas and ticks. Uh, there we go. I don't want to come too close to the camera because otherwise I'll go out of focus again. So it's called Fleet and Tick. It's kind of easy to remember. Uh, Which way do I rotate it? That way, okay. It's got a nice collie on there, okay. And it's called Flea and Tick. That's what we use. It's just a herbal preparation. Smells amazing. Smells really pokey, actually. Yeah. And it's a formulation that we've put together and love it. It's really, really good. And the idea is that the herbs within the preparation enter the bloodstream reach up into the skin and make the dog less attractive to fleas and ticks. I contend that raw-fed dogs are less attractive to fleas and ticks, but that doesn't mean that if you feed your dogs raw, you're never going to get fleas and ticks, okay? Obviously, the other side of this is there are flea and tick magnets. Some dogs will just get a tick as, as soon as they think of a tick, and some dogs are really resistant to fleas and ticks, okay. That is to say, you can send two dogs, they can be brother and sister, brother and brother, into the forest together, and they come out 10 minutes later, one dog has 12 ticks on them and the other one has none whatsoever, and yet they've been running through the same environment, okay. If you've got a real tick magnet, you will have to perhaps use topical products as well. So be aware of those topical products. So there you go. That's how Ellie feeds. There you go. That's the skeletons in the closet. Yeah, we feed whatever comes first out of the, out of the freezer. The other thing I was going to say, how do I feed the dogs? Now I'm usually in a rush. So my, my version of that is cattails. Okay. So what I'll do is when I'm feeding is I'll go to the freezer, go to the fridge because we defrost in the fridge unless we've forgotten to take anything out, in which case the meat will be on one of those plates actually. Have you come across these defrosting plates? Yeah, you can get them. Ours is made by Joseph. I have no affiliation with them, but it seems to work quite well. It's basically just a plate which which, which, which— what's the word— which will wick the— it doesn't wick the coldness away, it dissipates the coldness into the plate. It's a black plate, so it absorbs the temperature, and then that is able to be heated more quickly by the environment. Okay, so I didn't think they would make any difference, but I think they make defrosting a little bit quicker. Okay, so it's called a defrosting plate. We got ours from Amazon or somewhere, and that's where we defrost. It also keeps it off the kitchen counter, and they're wipeable, and, you know, so really, really great. So, um, I will get the 80/10/10, I'll put it into the bowl, and basically what I do, because I'm a bit lazy and I'm a bit quick, and I know that Ellie does a really great job with loads of great veggies on a regular basis, I will just get Powdered herb supplements from, for example, from— oh, for example, I'm going to be talking about these on Thursday, so I happen to have them with me. These are herb products from Vermex. It sounds like a Vermex commercial. It's not, okay? It's just I happen to be here, and this is genuinely what we actually do. So We use— when I'm— Mr. Lazy is feeding the dogs, I will just use that rather than cooking the veg, chopping them and frying them in olive oil and all that kind of stuff. I'll just make it a really, really quick and simple thing and I'll just use a handful of herbs, handful of some, maybe some spices, some turmeric, something like that. A little bit of the old flea and tick. I'll put that in. And that is how I do the raw food quickly. I'll also put a squirt of fish oil on there, or capsules of fish oils. Luckily, I get sent loads of samples of supplements and things like that, and so we've got a big cupboard full of these things. And so to a certain extent, I'll kind of just take my pick, and that for me emphasizes one of the most important elements of feeding raw. What is the most— okay, so question, here's question everybody. What's the most important thing when you're feeding raw food? Is it choosing really great meat? Is it choosing really great, really great NHS, nuts, herbs, and seeds? No, it's not what you put in the bowl. It's the variety that you give— now most people, like I say, give this to give a different thing every single day. And the ideal for me is you give the same thing for a week, but then you change it and you give it something else, some another protein for a week, and then you change it and you give another protein for a week and then change it. And that for me is the way to do variety. But you also do variety of your nuts and the herbs and the seeds and you do variety of any spices that you put on. If you put a bit of garlic in, you can do that, you know, 3 weeks out of 4 in the month. Absolutely great. This is really, really good. So that's— I've been wanting to discuss that and the fact that Ellie— there you go. I'm guilty of feeding my dogs— get very lightly sautéed. I think that's the word. Very lightly sautéed green veg, uh, every day that Ellie's feeding, and they get the meat, and, um, they're looking good. I'm really proud. They look great. Uh, Bluebell's got— is, is a— she's got a really shiny coat. Uh, Mouse has got a, a slightly more, uh, is really healthy, but it's slightly different. It's, it's, it's not— it's innately not quite as shiny, but it's really beautiful, and they smell great and what have you. Okay, so there we are. That's it. That's enough about me and my dogs. Let's have a look at a few of the questions. Thanks again to Karen. If I disappear when I go and look at my list, then bear with me. Hopefully you can still hear me. So the first one is from Debbie, and she says, query about CBD. She has a dog who's on and loads of supplements for the joints. And, and she has a 2-year-old who can be reactive, who is improving with behaviorist training. And so she's saying, what about CBD for both dogs? And it's a good, good question there, Debbie. What— could you see me while I was gone? Anybody? No? Okay. So CBD, CBD for arthritic and sore joints. Yes, absolutely great. Yeah, really, really would recommend that. Make sure that your diet is fundamentally in absolutely great shape. And simply because I have them here because of Thursday, I've got— there are— this is, this is the Vermex Joint Support. Okay, hopefully I won't get out of focus. Then back. Okay, herbs. That's— yeah, that's a nice blend. I helped them make it. I really like it. I'm really proud of it. And we are going to talk to— talk about it on Thursday at 7 o'clock. Okay, if you go to the Facebook, W Vermex Facebook group, then you can get that there. But what I'm saying is herbs are really, really important. And CBD, yes, I would use CBD for arthritic, osteoarthritic issues. But I'd also have a look, there's a product called antenol. I would go and get it, but I'll go out of focus and you won't be able to see me again. Antinol, A-N-T-I-N-O-L. Whether you can get it stateside, I'm not sure, but in, in the UK you can definitely get it. Antinol, it's basically very concentrated fish extract. I didn't think it was going to work. I came across it 4 or 5 years ago and it can be really, really useful. It's very, very small, so even if a dog is not very fat tolerant and you want to get some fish oil into them, Antenol is a really great thing to think about. Another thing is, literally, I did not place this here. I have it here. This is called Salagesic, which you might— where can I put it where you can see it? Salagesic. Can you see that? Salagesic, which sounds like it's going to be a pharmaceutical. But actually it's not. It is white willow bark, which sounds like something from a witch's brew. Okay, it's white willow bark, and you think, why are you giving white willow bark? Because it contains salicylates. Hence, uh, the white willow is Salix alba. Okay, so this is just an easy-to-give preparation of white willow bark. There's salicylates. You're going to say to me, won't we give our dogs, um, stomach ulcers by giving them salicylates, which is another name for aspirin? And the answer is that using those— these, these types of preparations carefully, you don't, because there are other elements within the white willow which protect from gastric ulceration. So it's really, really clever stuff. So have a think of that. CBD, yes, go for it. Really, really good. Um, uh, and The other one, behavioral. Yes, CBD can be very useful for behavioral issues. It just, it's just a calmer. It allows the dog to focus before engaging in kind of reactive behavior. So that's a real cracker to look into. Let's have a look at another question here, and then I'm going to start, I'm going to talk to you guys, and what I will do is the other ones I'm going to go over to Patreon. I'll do those on Patreon, but I'd rather talk to you. So last question from the list, uh, looking how I can help, uh, two girls, particularly the younger 8-year-old cocker who does a lot of small poos, often seems a little constipated. She only gets duck or chicken feet, uh, or necks and boneless with it. Completes as well, and various companies in the UK and supplements. And she is very moody and reactive too. Hmm. Okay, let's just go with the constipated small poos anal gland thing to start with. So if your dog is producing relatively small poos, a little bit like sheep poos, and they're absolutely fine and the anal glands are fine and everything's great, then carry on. You're doing fine. That's absolutely fine. A lot of wolf poos can be quite small and quite kind of bony and pellety, and they get on fine like that. If your dog isn't, isn't good with that and they have a tendency to constipation, there are two major ways to address that. Number one is to introduce some veggies. Now, if you like, Ellie, you can spend 15 minutes, you can sauté them gently so that they're still crisp, but they have been softened a little bit. Or if you're like me, if I had to get some green veg into the bowl, I would get some greens, put them into the blender, add some water or some bone broth, yeah, and make a smoothie and add that to the tune of 10, 20, even even 25% in order to get some plant fiber going through, and that can turn sheepy-type poos into much more solid poos. That's especially a great thing to do if you've got a dog who's got anal gland issues. The other product— and, and, and Conor doesn't normally talk about his products, uh, they are up here on the shelf up here. You can't see them because they're out of focus, but the other one is, is Conor's product called Stoolrite, which is a seaweed which has a, a, the ability to really firm stools. And I would look into that. It's called Stoolrite, R-I-T-E, one word, S-T-O-O-L-R-I-T-E. So the cheap option is you raid the fridge make a smoothie and pour that onto the 80/10/10. And the other option is the sprinkling on the Stoolrite from, from Conor at dogsfirst.ie. He's going to love me for plugging his product, which he doesn't normally do, God bless him. So Maudie says psyllium husk. Psyllium husk is also, yeah, really, really useful. And Maudie knows all about We, she and I, have gone 10 rounds with, with a dog, but he is having psyllium husk on a regular basis, and that has fixed him. That's, that's, that's stopped him getting blocked up every 6 months or so in a really pretty bad way. He's now right as rain. So best wishes to Midgey. Okay, let's have a little look. What's everybody saying? Um, uh, Debbie says Simply CBD. Yeah, there are lots of CBD companies out there. Uh, we use Global Greens. Um, uh, Sally Tobin is a big fan of Blessed CBD. Uh, I haven't used them yet. Sorry, Sally. And I'm looking— there's another one called Elevance who I am looking at now as well. I promise, Sally, I will look at the Blessed CBD broad spectrum. I think broad spectrum is important, number one. Number two, that they don't use any organic solvents. Yeah, like, like dry cleaning fluid and things in order to get the, the CBD out of the hemp seed. That's really important. And also you need a certificate of authenticity and the certificate of, um, that the company has a certificate to say that it is the real deal and it, it does contain what it purports to contain. Those are the, the elements that you would look at in a quality CBD. And if they, if they can't produce those, then move on and, and think of, uh, other, other products. Okay, um, Susie Greaves rightly says slippery elm is under great pressure. Uh, did I mention slippery elm? I may have done. I think it's great. You need to source it very carefully. It has to be ethically sourced sustainably sourced slippery elm. Other options will be psyllium husk, which is ubiquitous, you can get it everywhere. And the other one is marshmallow, which is very easy. Marshmallow, not the things that you toast on the fire, but the, the root of the marshmallow plant, which is also very good for helping to bulk up stool. Okay, so that's really good. Let me look, let me look. I'm going to go up a wee bit. Caroline says antenol, that's how you spell it. Thank you, Caroline. Yeah, antenol. I was surprised how useful it is. Uh, ah, Philippa, she's getting into the turmeric and the oregano. Oregano, that's American. I'm listening to too many American audiobooks. Oregano. She's getting into that, which is fabulous. Sorry, Americans. Um, uh, and, uh, let's have a look where else have we got some Uh, this— oh, this is salagesic white willow bark. Thank you, Fiona, supporting us, uh, RPM, uh, as ever. Amazing. Um, uh, no, this is nice. Halzen says, Antonella, the one thing that has really helped my dogs— I was very skeptical. I was amazed at the result. We just tried about everything else. Including Librella. Wow, better than Librella. Uh, wow. I, I'm not against Librella, it's just it's a very new product and I'm a little bit suspicious about new products. Is it a little bit like new software? I, you know, when, whenever Mac does an update, I always give it some time. Whenever they come out with a new phone, I always give it some time for them to find glitches and get rid of the glitches before I, I I upgrade to whatever it might be. So, um, again with Librella, yeah, it's very new. I'm just going to let it bed in and just make sure that, that there are no unforeseen issues with it. Um, here we go. Let me go, let me look, let me know. I'm just looking through some questions. Thing is, when you're doing this with 3 of us, while somebody's talking, uh, The other two guys can be looking at notes and looking at our questions. Uh, there we go. Looking back, looking back. You guys have been having a great old chat in the background. It's fantastic. Well done. It's really good. That's part of the whole deal. Yeah, is, you know, we haven't got all the answers. There's some we can all learn from each other. BioFunction A is another one of Conor's ones. Modded says, yep, it's a nice, really nice product. It's prebiotic. It could help with, um, the stool function, stool, stool quality. Uh, Where are we? Okay, so let's look, just looking at the last. Okay, I think, and there's somebody saying about podcasts, Tracy. Says she loves listening. Uh, uh, I think she's talking about podcasts. So there we go. Um, not many questions there, guys. That's good. As long as you're all content and happy and lovely, this is excellent. So let's go back to our questions. Let's have a little questions. Uh, we've looked at, um, we've looked at CBD, we've looked at small poos. Here's another one from Susan who says, raw seniors, does their microbiome change in reference to bone absorption and breakdown of foods? That's the first question. I'll come back to you in case I've disappeared. Does the microbiome change? Yes. I'm not sure how much work has been done in dogs as they age. But if you look at Steven Gundry, he's the longevity guru. There are bugs like Akkermansia, which are prevalent in young humans, which are reduced as you get older. And there is a correlation between the better your Akkermansia, the kind of the better you age. Um, that's akkermansia. You'll have to Google it. A-K-E-R-M-A-N-S-I-A. Off the top of my head, akkermansia, it's a bug. And there is a, a really good way of getting, boosting your akkermansia, because we're all thinking, oh, I want to age really well. And it's a type of tea. You're gonna have to look at Stephen Gundry, MD. To find out what the tea is. It's— I think it's, uh, oolong tea, perhaps. It's one of the smoky ones. So if you don't like tea, you're out of luck. But if you do like tea, then that's it. I don't really like smoky tea, so it's not, not my cup of tea. So I'm going to have to look at something else to try and maintain my akimansia. That is a long way of saying your biome will change as you age, but I think perhaps what changes more is your digestive capability. For example, I think when you're young, all your organs tend to work really well— your liver and your heart and your kidneys and everything else, including your pancreas. Okay, most people, most young people, most young dogs will be producing lots of fantastic digestive enzymes. But as you get older, I think that capacity will reduce with age. Yeah, your heart capacity reduces, your lung capacity reduces, so why wouldn't your capacity to produce enzymes— why would they not produce? Why would they not reduce as well? And if you're digesting food less effectively, I think that's going to impact the biome. And so what I do in that situation is if I'm suspecting in the older dog that, that, that the pancreas is just a little bit tired, I think digestive enzymes are a really, really great idea. If there's any worry about certain proteins, pig protein in particular, because many of the canine digestive enzymes are made from porcine pig pancreas. Okay, pig pancreas, pancreatic juice. And therefore what I tend to use, I use SuperGest by Higher Nature, SuperGest by Higher Nature, because it's a vegetarian digestive enzyme and therefore you haven't got any pork getting in the way of food trials or something like that. Digestive enzymes, really, really safe to give even if you give them to a normal dog, I don't think you're going to do any harm. Very good for skinny dogs who you're trying to build up if you're post-surgery, or in bitches who you're trying to make ensure that they are absorbing as much of the nutrients going through their gut as possible. So lots of, lots of things that one can do in that situation. For, for that. And the second part, if you can hear that, that is we've got peacocks. We've got two peacocks. They came to us. We didn't— well, we— the first one came to us, and then we got the second one to keep the first one company. Okay, just to let you know, we are not so pretentious as to say— to think, oh, let's go and get some peacocks because they'll look lovely in the garden. During this season, they're an absolute pain. Because they just non-stop from 4 in the morning until 10 at night and beyond. They will start, they will be, the boys will be screaming like that. If you can't hear it, then you'll think I'm just talking to myself, but I promise you there are crazy peacocks screaming out there. So Susan, second part of her question is ongoing support to aid digestion organs mobility ongoing support a digestive organ's mobility and recommended going forward. Okay, so I think, uh, the digestive enzymes is a really good one to think about with the older patient. Um, for organs, I think that, um, milk thistle and dandelion, uh, are wonderful herbs, really, really safe herbs to give. Um, what Yeah, wonderful herbs to give. You can get these things online, and if you do buy them online, they usually have dose ranges. Now that we're talking about it, and literally I did not prep this, I promise you. Literally, I didn't look at Karen's list until I came on. Okay, so that is called the Senior Blend, up there in the kind of yellowy color. Okay, and this is a mix of herbs which are for circulation, for anti-inflammatory effects, and for kind of general pep up and go. If you'd like more information about these, I'm going to do a, a, a, a, an introduction to them on Thursday at 7 on the Vermex website. This is not an advert for Vermex, but it just happens that I have these here, as I said earlier. Now, okay, so we're over time. I'm gonna go now, guys. I'm gonna do some more questions on Patreon because we like to look after our Patreon people. Thank you very much, uh, it's been great. And thanks for everybody for the last 48 hours, really appreciate your Dr. Budgie and Dr. Lark are back next week, and I don't know what on earth we're doing, but we will let you know. So that's me saying be happy, be healthy, and, uh, I will see you on Patreon in just a few minutes. This will be posted later Bren is going to post it. It may not even be posted onto Patreon till tomorrow. Apologies, but we're just making things up because the guy's skiving just a little bit. Okay, here we go.
