One Tip That Could Radically Change Your Pet's Health
According to Dr. Buchoff, if every pet owner did this one thing that costs little or nothing to do, there would be a lot fewer vets, simply because their services wouldn't be needed like they are now. It is so crucial to your pet's health, it's a travesty every pet owner isn't already doing it.
Reviewed by Dr. Becker
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STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- One of my longtime holistic veterinary medicine friends, Dr. Gerald Buchoff, was nominated for a Game Changer Award by Paula W.
- Dr. Buchoff has been an integrative veterinarian since 1995 and is a former president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association
- He's the director of Longevity Veterinary Center in Whippany, New Jersey, a 15,000 square foot hospital that provides both holistic and emergency veterinary care
- Dr. Buchoff created Dr. B's Raw Diet, Longevity, is made from locally sourced ingredients designed to help your pet reach optimal health
- His No. 1 health tip for pet parents is to keep your pet well hydrated
One of my longtime holistic veterinary medicine friends, Dr. Gerald Buchoff, was nominated for a Game Changer Award by Paula W. As an integrative veterinarian since 1995, and a former president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, Dr. Buchoff is a wealth of knowledge on how to prevent chronic diseases and enhance longevity in pets.
In fact, he's the director of Longevity Veterinary Center in Whippany, New Jersey, a 15,000 square foot hospital that provides both holistic and emergency veterinary care. "I'm trying to find a holistic veterinarian who does emergency work," Dr. Buchoff says. "That's a word I'd love to get out."
Spreading the Word — Integrative Modalities Save Pets' Lives
Dr. Buchoff loves what he does — just ask his wife. "I can't wait to get to work. My wife will agree with that. If I go on vacation, I'm thinking about work. I can't wait to get back. But of course, I love the science. I love the challenge of the cases, that kind of thing. I hope every veterinarian does," he says.
While he loves working with individual pets and their owners, he also wants to get the word out that holistic care can improve pets' health and well-being:
"What I really, really love is each individual pet, one at a time with their owner. I love the people. It's a very personal profession as you know, and I just enjoy that so much that, that one-on-one.
But at the same time, I want to spread the word. I want to get other veterinarians. I want more competition. I want to get more veterinarians in the area to take on certain holistic modalities, which anybody can fit into their practice. And that's a whole other discussion. I want to get more pet owners to realize how much other modalities, these integrated modalities that we use, can help their animals.
I got into it because in 1982, clients were saying, 'Don't you have anything else you can do for my allergic pet,' or 'my cancerous pet,' or this or that. 'Just steroids and antibiotics are not cutting it.' And I went out and I listened to them. What can I say? That's how I got into holistic medicine.
But I want to impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of animals. I love the one-on-one, but how can I help others? And one way is to get that word out, having a 15,000 square foot practice. So it is a pulpit. It does attract attention."
Food Formulated to Ward Off Chronic Disease
Another way Dr. Buchoff strives to help animals in his community and beyond is by offering a healthy source of nutrition that's different from most commercial pet food formulas.
Pets fortunate enough to be patients at Longevity Veterinary Center enjoy a range of services, including house calls, nutrition consultations and alternative medicine. But they can also access Dr. B's Raw Diet, Longevity, which is made from locally sourced ingredients and designed to help your pet reach optimal health.
"I developed a food that is designed to help prevent cancer and prevent autoimmune diseases," Dr. Buchoff says. "I can't write that on the packaging, but it does have mushroom products that are known to do that. And lycopene from cooked tomatoes and … ginger and garlic."
With a healthy diet in place designed to stimulate a healing response and prevent disease from occurring, pets have the best chance at living a long, healthy life.
Dr. Buchoff's No. 1 Health Tip for Pets
Dr. Buchoff is a seasoned integrative veterinary practitioner, and I asked him to share the one thing he'd like to share with pet parents around the world. His response might surprise you, but it makes perfect sense — keep your pet well hydrated:
"We all know that the different aspects of disease start out with emotional imbalance. So of course, that's a very important aspect, [along with] oxygenation, exercise, but the one thing that I think veterinarians don't share enough with their pet owners is keep your pet well hydrated. It just sounds trite, but it's really, really important. And I find that it's a common thread in so many patients.
And just about every email that I'm interpreting blood tests about, I'm including that because the blood test is reflecting it, that the animal is not hydrated well. We all know that cats don't drink enough, and it's really, really important to not feed them dry food or, if they must, because it does taste good, to add water to it slowly, slowly, slowly. Keep adding a little bit more each day. But it should be nice and wet.
Just think of what they would catch in the wild — 75% or more water. That's how mushy their food should be. And it's just so important. The animal's not going to drink on its own, at least cats won't, and dogs don't even drink enough.
So you can add flavorings to the food, even a couple drops of lemon juice, couple drops of bone broth, or whatever it takes. For cats, maybe a couple drops of canned tuna fish liquid, whatever it takes … That would be a lot fewer vets in this world if you had all the animals being hydrated."
How to Learn More About Longevity Veterinary Center
If you'd like more details about the holistic pet care, emergency care and Longevity raw pet food provided at Longevity Veterinary Center, you can find them at lvcnj.com, for Longevity Veterinary Care New Jersey. To go directly to their holistic site, visit holisticpetcarenj.com.
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