My take on 'eating the rainbow'! These all-natural homemade dog treats are not only made with human grade all natural ingredients but they're dyed using only beets, spirulina, turmeric and raw goat milk as food coloring. Made with gelatin which is good for a whole host of things, and is an amazing and important supplement to give to epileptic dogs. The primary amino acid in gelatin is glycine which is known to protect against seizures and brain damage. Others reasons to feed your pups gelatin are; joint protection and pain, improving gut and digestion, skin health, improving cognitive abilities and many more. Here's how to make Bone-Os:

• Mix 1/2 cup gelatin powder with 1/2 cup cold water (you can substitute water with goat milk)
• Mix well and add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water (or hot bone broth or low sodium beef or chicken stock)
• For added color add any of the mentione above. Mix well again.
• Pour liquid in either molds or a glass container. Store in fridge.

Your dogs will love them!  

It’s not easy watching our beloved ones get old, but here are three helpful tips to keep in mind to help make their world a better place.

Tip #1: Use it or loose it
As someone who has started their health journey in the fitness field, I know more than anyone how true this statement is. Same goes for our pets! Exercise is the best thing for them, especially as they get older, of course after modifying the intensity to match their needs, they will thrive with appropriate exercise. Regular exercise will help keep muscle, mobility and flexibility and let’s not forget the most important muscle of all-  the heart! Yes, exercise will even benefit their cardiac muscle, not just skeletal. When taking your older fur kid for a walk, I would advise not to walk on really hard surfaces such as pavements as that will be really tough on their feet (paws) and joints. When trying to exercise your cat get toys (or a piece of string) that will get their attention so they can chase it around and get their heart rate up.

Tip #2: Moist Food
If your pet has been on dry food their whole life now is a better time than ever to start moistening their food. It will help them break it down better thus assimilating more nutrients while making it easy on their digestive tract.
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Tip#3: Supplements
Supplementing is key for each individual needs but here are some suggestions that every senior pet can benefit from across the board.

1. Digestive enzymes- Just as we age, our enzyme activity in our guts slow down, well, same goes for them. By giving d.e, you are ensuring that your pet is properly breaking down his/her food so that he/she can assimilate nutrients more effectively from their diet. As they get older their appetite naturally declines, this way you can be sure that when they do eat they are reaping the full benefits from their food. ‘You are not what you eat but what you absorb!’.
2. Probiotics- You want to replenish as much good bacteria in their guts as you naturally can by either feeding fermented foods like kefir or supplementing with a good probiotic supplement. You want to get their defenses up because 70% of their immune system is in the gut, giving them a much better chance at fighting infection, allergies, etc. Helps with digestion, and any gas or bloating that they may have.
3. Joint care- No doubt that as our beloveds age so do their skeletal and muscular systems. Maybe their gate isn’t as smooth or they take longer getting up, all a tell-tale sign that things are slowing down. There are a lot of options to choose from on the market and it can get confusing, for example, do you want to focus on rebuilding collagen, replenishing synovial fluid or are you more after an anti-inflammatory, etc.  If your unsure on which one is the best option for your pet it is best to speak with an experienced person to pin point exactly what your pet needs. Saving you both money and time.

 Note: If your pet is on any medications always speak with your veterinarian prior to starting any supplement regimen. 

​ Well, depends. For those who don’t know, curcumin constitutes about 2% of the turmeric root, it is what gives curry that bright yellow colour. Turmeric is a Rhizome and belongs to the ginger family.
Turmeric is one of the most vastly studied herbs on the market, with over 3000 research articles and counting!

With all the wonderful proven benefits it is claimed to have, such as; supports joints, digestion, liver health and more, it is generally taken and used for as a natural anti-inflammatory and pain relief however, not all the curcumins on the market are created equal.
Turmeric as a spice is great to cook with, but it is rapidly broken down in the body, so getting any pain relief with only using Turmeric is not effective, plus you would need to consume a lot of it, and the same goes for your pet. Now Curcumin, which is found 2% in Turmeric is the active anti-inflammatory component. However, curcumin is also broken down fairly quickly in the body and is also poorly absorbed.

What you want to look for when shopping for a good supplement both for you and your pet is free-form curcumin.

Because of the particle reduction and the bound unique tri-lipid blend, this form of curcumin does not get rapidly broken down, in fact, as the name suggests, it is free to stay in the body and do its job once it is absorbed into the small intestine. The difference is that once it goes into the small intestine, most supplements after that get excreted by the liver and out it goes. Free-form does not get excreted, rather gets taken up through the lipid metabolism via the lymphatic system and from there reaches  inflamed tissues where it can do its work, end THEN goes to the liver because all good things must come to an end. This form is also free to cross the blood brain barrier, once it does that it is free to do its miraculous job by preventing and reducing plaque on the brain which leads to cognitive decline and disease.

​I myself take this form and because knowledge is power, so do my four-legged kids. No one likes to live with pain, and I am personally thrilled that there are more natural options for pain relief to choose from.
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I hope you and your pets will find this article useful!