Two Southern California veterinarians are making use of Eastern medicine to produce a new brand of fresh dog food whose five recipes are based on the principles of tai chi.
The line, called Chi Dog, arose from the collaboration between husband-and-wife veterinarians Chris Berg, DVM, and Susan Bohrer, DVM, CVA, CVFT, and consultant Laurie Hatfield. Drs. Berg and Bohrer own Rancho Regional Veterinary Hospital in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Dr. Bohrer is an advocate of Chinese Medicine Food Therapy.
“Patients whose owners agreed to transition them to a fresh-cooked diet improved their dogs’ lives tremendously,” she said. “And we could see it. In the exam room, they literally looked better.”
Chi Dog is sold online at www.chidog.com. Customers can answer a brief questionnaire for guidance on choosing from among five diets —Earth, Fire, Metal, Water and Wood — that are packed in dry ice for home delivery. The Wood recipe, for example, is made with chicken, chicken eggs, brown rice, Chinese eggplant, carrots and broccoli.
“Feeding real foods, which are balanced to your dog, is the single greatest thing you can do to improve your dog’s health,” Dr. Berg said. “On a daily basis, we see tons of pets, all presenting for different issues, and it’s outstanding to us how many of those problems could simply have been prevented by a better diet.”