Understanding Your Program

When starting a program with Dr Sheppard’s recommendations, there are some things you need to know.

First, a nutritional program is a lifelong commitment.  Over the years the pet industry has led us to believe that our pets health can be maintained by setting a bowl of dry processed kibble down for them thinking it is highly nutritious. As time goes on, this is being proven wrong.  Kibble and processed foods have little true nutrition.  There are many synthetic nutrients added but they don’t feed the body and the organs properly, therefore illness sets in after a few generations of poor nutrition.

When starting a nutritional program, we are healing from the inside out.  It takes many months to years for disease to show symptoms.  There may be a few subtle symptoms that can be explained as something else in the beginning, but by the time the common “big” symptoms arise, disease has been breaking the body systems down for a while.

Illnesses can be similar to a freight train.  As it starts, it is slow and silently moving forward.  No symptoms may show at this point.  As it grows, or gains speed, subtle symptoms show.  When symptoms become problematic, disease is at full speed growing and taking over the body. When we add better foods and whole food supplements to the diet, the disease can start to slow.  As we continue to add better nutrition and start to detox, the disease like the freight train, can stop.  When the nutritional deficiencies are filled, and toxins are removed, your pet’s problems can start reversing and head back to a balanced healthy body.

In some cases, this can take months and months.

Through this process, positive changes can be seen in most pets in a relatively short period of time.  Some subtle changes may not be noticed at first but after time you may notice that things have improved and be surprised by the results.

As we recheck our patients, we expect to see the weak organ numbers gradually increase to the ideal strong 10/10.  This can take some time.  Sometimes the outwardly symptoms do not change but from our stand point there IS improvement.  This can be a frustrating time for owners.  It can be very normal to have ups and downs throughout this process.  At times your pet may feel a little worse as toxins are released from deeper cells and tissue in the body.  Just know that as we move forward, and you continue your diligent work with your pet’s diet we can get to the symptom free ideal.

To start, you can expect your pet to be re-evaluated by Dr. Sheppard monthly and as positive changes are achieved visits will space out farther until we reach our goal of maintenance program which then you can expect your pet to be seen once every 4-6 months.

We would like Dr. Sheppard to be your primary care Veterinarian but know that sometimes things happen that we cannot help with in our facility.  If something happens to your pet that you believe is urgent or life threatening, please go to your conventional Veterinarian or an Emergency Hospital right away.  If medications are prescribed, if possible, please check with us so we can give you directions that will fit with our program.  Some of the medications given to your pet can be unproductive to your pet’s progress and may add more problems than are helpful.  Records from such visits should by forwarded to Dr. Sheppard so we can adjust your pet’s program if needed.

Supplements (whole food vitamins/minerals, homeopathic products and detoxifying products) are used to meet your pet’s nutritional needs.  Our program is designed specifically for the individual needs.  Supplements are a tool that is used to address nutritional deficiencies that have developed in your pet over the years of feeding kibble and processed foods.  The diet can supply the body with anywhere from 60-80% if its nutritional needs.  The supplements fill in the gaps where the diet does not meet the bodies need.