Boosting your dogs immune system

[Dobified]

With Rudy being hypo-thyriod and have a slightly weakened immune system I was looking for ways of boosting it without drug use. My friend uses this for her arthritic dog and it has help her dog immensely so I started Rudy on it.

I have seen a marked improvement in Rudy's skin conditions and eye problems. It has made a large difference in his overall health.

It is available at country vets and agricutural feed stores.

This article is based for human comsumption but the benefits are the same for dogs.

What is Colostrum?

Colostrum (kulos'-trum), sometimes called "mothers' milk," is a thick yellow fluid produced from the mammary glands during the first hours after birth. This fluid is so important that without it, many newborn mammals would simply die. It is not only a source of nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals, but it also contains several biologically-active molecules which are essential to the body's immune and growth functions.

For obvious reasons, human colostrum is not an option. So researchers had to look elsewhere for supplies. After nearly 10 years of research, scientists now believe that bovine (cow) colostrum is the only safe alternative for human consumption. Not only are the immune and growth factors found in bovine colostrum virtually identical to those in human colostrum, the immune factors are reportedly four times richer.

Moreover, bovine colostrum contains special glyco-proteins and protease inhibitors, which are found extremely effective in protecting colostrum's active components from the destructive forces of the human body's digestive system.

Since colostrum is only available during the first hours after calving, and the needs of the newborn calf must be met first, supplies are obviously still very limited. And when you consider colostrum should be taken from only cows that are free of antibiotics, pesticides and synthetic hormones, supplies of the highest-quality colostrum are even more limited.

The two most important components found in colostrum are immune and growth factors. Immune factors provide immunity and protection against infections during the first weeks of life, while growth factors stimulate the growth and eventual development of a newborn.

[pung-yo]

Thanks for the post Dobified. I'm in Canada but have never seen it anywhere in feed or tack stores. I'm going to look into it though, never know when it might come in handy. My son's dog isn't doing too well, maybe this could help.

[Dobified]

Yes Pung yo it will help

I am in Canada too, I get it from my Vet ( he is a country vet ) but you can get it at a Agricultral store such as UFA if you are in Alberta or anywhere that sells Cattle supplies.

[pung-yo]

Have a lot of agritultural stores as we're in cattle and horse country, never saw anything like that, gotta phone all of them and the smaller town vets also.

[BabyElephant]

I've just looked them up on the Internet - they are pretty expensive Dobified - what strength do you get? How much/often do you give them to Rudy? and How long have you been giving him them for?

[liz08]

You can easily find bovine colostrum on the internet. I can actually get it where I get my regular supplements. It has great antibodies, and should really help strengthen a compromised immune system.

[Cearbhaill]

I fed Owen bovine colostrum for his first 7-8 months to make sure he got off to a good start.
Mine is from First Choice Naturals . They have an entire section of immune support supplements , many of which I still give him.