Dog Days of Summer
We recently experienced a week of near-record-breaking high temperatures in Portland-hopefully all our canine and feline friends (and their human companions) made it through with out too much misery. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), different times of the year correspond with five different energetic elements, with late summer related to the element Fire. In practical terms, this means that certain individuals, animal or human, may be more adversely affected by an extremely hot environment if they are constitutionally predisposed to Heat conditions or have an imbalance in their Fire element. So a high-strung Yorkie with a Heart Fire imbalance may become agitated and restless in hot temperatures, or an overweight cat with a history of urinary tract problems might develop a bladder infection due to an underlying Damp Heat pattern. An older dog with a Yin Deficiency Heat pattern (lack of cooling, moistening and calming energy) will display excess Yang symptoms of thirst, restlessness and panting, especially at night. Some dogs will develop “hot spots,” which are rapidly developing painful skin eruptions. And, not surprisingly, some animals are more likely to develop heat stroke in extreme conditions.
So what can you do to help your dog or cat through summer’s warmest weeks? Just as you may instinctively prefer light meals and cool salads in hot weather, our pets can benefit from adjustments in their diet. One simple approach is to avoid foods that tend to be warming. According to TCM food theory, chicken and lamb are the most energetically warming of the meats, with turkey, beef and white fish less so. Oats and corn are the most warming grains, with barley considered the most cooling. Vegetables in general are more cooling than meats or grains, and raw foods are less warming than cooked foods. If you feed kibble to your pets, consider rotating from chicken or lamb and rice formula to beef and barley or whitefish and sweet potato kibble. If you make your own pet food, consider adding more vegetables (especially raw, pureed) to the diet, and proportionally less meat. Certainly, making sure that your pet has access to fresh, cool water is very important too.
Chinese herbal formulas can also be very effective in treating medical and behavioral conditions commonly seen in our pets during the hotter months. These cooling herbal treatments are sometimes just the thing to balance too much heat in the system that might cause stomach or intestinal upset, skin rashes, urinary tract infections or even neurological problems. Please make an appointment to consult with one of our veterinarians if you believe your pet could benefit from our holistic approach to veterinary medicine.
