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Turmeric


SageWay
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Does anyone on here use turmeric in their dog's diet? Can you give me any information such as why you use it, amount, results you see? The research I've done makes me feel good about using it, I'd just like to here from people I feel I know from reading these boards.

 

I've just started my 12 1//2 yr. old on 1/2 teas. of termeric twice daily along with a Chinese herbal supplement recommended by a vet that I used to work for that has moved away from traditional medicine.

I do feed mostly raw diet, giving a meal of TOTW once in awhile, maybe 3-4 times a month.

 

Jessy has been my go to dog for most work here on the farm, I do run a small flock of hair, hair x sheep, and also the dog that took me to the open class in trialing, until this past fall.

The end of October she had her first full blown seizure, then one in Jan, Feb. and March.

Also developed a blueberry size hard mass on a mammary gland. Her blood work's fine except a low white blood cell count. The traditional vet I also use has started her on meds for the seizures but basically that's all that can be done (without spending $$$$ on tests to end up with the same results).

 

What I'm looking for from the boards is any information on diet and/or supplements anyone has found helpful in providing as high a quality of life for as long as possible.

 

FYI, I've lurked here for a very long time, just haven't posted much. Not confident in my written word!

 

Thanks.

 

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Sorry, no info on dosing, but I have 3 friends that use it on their dogs. One has an older dog with arthritis, one has a young dog with food allergies, and the last one has a dog with bladder and lung cancer. All three believe they are seeing fantastic results.

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I used to put turmeric in the pot when I home cooked Kieran's food. I can't really say if it made a huge difference in anything though. I did it for the anti inflammatory purpose, along with digestion. I added about half a teaspoon for each batch, which lasted about 11 days. He has a sensitive stomach, so I was looking for a solution. However, I also supplemented his food with ground eggshells, yogurt (helped a ton with the gas), fish oil, and a multivitamin. I think of those things, yogurt and fish oil have been the most helpful. Oh, and I also gave him Plaqueoff for his teeth, which look beautiful. Now he's on raw.

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One foster boy came in via a rescuer who mostly handled Dalmations. In her note t me, she said that she was giving him 1/2 tsp turmeric daily (among a host of other things). On questioning her about the dog's health, she just said she gave all her dogs those supplements. Dalmations are a train wreck of genetic issues, so I just told her that she had made Rusty a hypochondriac. Anyway, turmeric is good stuff and can't do harm in the amounts used (we use lots of turmeric in our food). It has a number of known benefits, including bacteriostat, anti-inflamatory agent and has been claimed to inhibit cancer.

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Thank you for answering. Everything I've found about it is good. I am giving her 1/2 a teaspoon twice a day, starting last night. Jess will have more blood work done in 4-5 weeks and I will be interested to see if it shows anything.

I am using it more for the brain tumor, hoping it will slow that down. But it will certainly benefit her stiffness.

Gentle Lake I hadn't heard about using it with peperin. Can you give me any more info on that? Should I be adding some black pepper to her diet also?

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There's plenty of information on that on the internet.

 

Many turmeric and curcurmin supplements include peperine for this reason.

 

From Dr. Andrew Weil's website:

 

I frequently recommend turmeric supplements, and I believe whole turmeric is more effective than isolated curcumin for inflammatory disorders, including arthritis, tendonitis, and autoimmune conditions. Take 400 to 600 milligrams of turmeric extracts (available in tablets or capsules) three times per day or as directed on the product label. Look for products standardized for 95% curcuminoids. Neither curcumin nor turmeric taken orally is well absorbed unless taken with black pepper or piperine, a constituent of black pepper responsible for its pungency. When shopping for supplements, make sure that the one you choose contains black pepper extract or piperine. (If you're cooking with turmeric, be sure to add some black pepper to the food.). Be patient when taking turmeric supplements: the full benefits may not be apparent for eight weeks. (http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400915/Curcumin-or-Turmeric.html Emphasis added.)

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Yea, maybe I wasn't giving him enough. I think I might have read it incorrectly online. Although, I think it was responsible for turning his poop orange because since we've switched to raw, he hasn't had orange poop anymore. I ruled out other health problems and that was the only other thing I could think of.

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1) I do believe turmeric has health benefits for humans. I know it's not likely to happen, but it would be lovely if someone could do a scientific study using it on dogs.

 

2) Just FYI, for anyone giving it to their dogs: As you know, it is highly "colorific" on any fabric (dish towels, etc.). Beware! I was giving to an older dog at one point, and one evening (rare for her), she threw up her dinner on the old carpet. No biggie, I thought....except I could never get that yellow stain out! If vomiting is imminent - MOVE IT to at least a tile or linoleum, or grab a towel to throw under the urps. Whew.

 

diane

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There's a turmeric users Facebook page created by an Australian vet. I have been using their recipe for bout 3 months. Marked improvement in my thumbs and strength of hands in general, partner is experiencing less severe headaches and he has had them bad for most of his life, my dogs with arthritis/joint issues have improved in stiffness and mobility.

 

I will save you wading thru the tons of posts asking the same questions over n over again :).

 

1/2 cup organic turmeric powder, I get Indus at amazon.

1-2 cups water

1 n 1/2 teas of fresh ground pepper

1/3 cup organic coconut oil.

 

In pan add turmeric n 1 cup water, cook low n add more water as necessary. I have found 1 n 3/4 cups to be the max I've had to use, it seems to depend on the batch of powder. Cook for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring often. Cool slightly n add the pepper n oil. Mix til oil is blended in, put in clean glass jar n refrigerate. Keeps up to a month but best used in 2 wks.

 

Start dogs at about 1/4 teas twice a day n build up. I find 1/2 teas twice a day good for my 45 n 56# dogs. I give a little less for my dogs weighing less. Supposively it does not stay in system longer than 8 hrs so for chronic cases smaller amounts more often r better. I give it to all of my dogs now.

 

For me I started off with 1/2 teas twice a day n am now up to. Heaping teas twice a day. I feel it is very beneficial n it is said it is good for building the immune system. Im on my phone so sorry for splint errors, can't see some of what I wrote :).

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The trouble with turmeric is that it's very poorly absorbed orally- most of it won't get anywhere near where it's supposed to go. You can eat quite a lot of it without any real amount of it getting into the blood, it just comes out the other end. There's also not enough evidence for it to show it's useful for any health condition.

 

Not much evidence to believe it will help, not much that it will do harm, excellent evidence that everyone should use it in cooking because it is awesome and tasty. I haven't turned yellow yet, but I am confident that with my turmeric consumption it will happen someday. Put a teaspoonfull into a cup of red lentils with a bit of grated fresh ginger and boil, and it's god's own food. Will stain any clothes you wear, though, so eat carefully.

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I do not know about clinical studies. I only know what I am seeing and feeling. My partner is generally skeptic of everything! Really, ridiculously skeptical and yet he is continuing to take it ( I don't say a word :)) as it's the only thing he has added/changed in his diet and his headaches have lessened considerably, in both frequency and intensity. I have seen them bring him to tears in the past. And yes, it stains everything and I have not turned yellow yet :).

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Thanks everyone. And thanks Mickif for the recipe. I am certainly going to use it for myself and some of my other dogs that are aging! Jess was really struggling with balance this morning (falling to the side and tripping) so the vet (the one that practices Chinese medicine) suggested that I take her off the termeric for the next 4 days and use only the chinese supplement and see what happens. I do know that she seems happier and has more energy than I've seen in months just since starting the supplement. Before she didn't have any energy and always looked confused and unhappy. We'll see. Maybe I need add the termeric gradually. Trial and error. All I want is for the time she has left to be the best quality I can provide and traditional medicine doesn't offer that imo.

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Just reading Ben Goldacre's book Bad Science, and he happens to talk about turmeric. Apparently you need to ingest 100g of turmeric to get a few grams of curcumin, the active ingredient, and that's the minimum you need to eat to get any detectable levels in your blood serum (where it would have to be to do you any good, otherwise you'd just excrete it/it isn't being taken up and distributed by the body.)

 

So I pulled out my turmeric and my largest teaspoon, and for me it takes 5 heaped teaspoons to reach 10 grams. So it'd be 50 teaspoons of turmeric to get curcumin into you rather than just excreted, or 2/3 of a cup (source).

 

But if it helps you, take it! I take warm flat fizzy drinks for a cold- might not do anything objectively, but makes me feel a lot better despite how awful they taste. Sometimes that's all you need.

 

Edit: looks like I'm going to need a lot more lentils! :lol:

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