Dogs and Resveratrol Tonic

by Annie
(New Mexico)

12/7/2008---i addressed this in a letter sept. 10, 2008, but i'll copy/paste again. Chile Pepper, our 60 lb pitbull, is now getting 1/3 teaspoon every day. at our local Vivix meeting i asked les wong about his recommendation for a 60 lb dog and an 800 lb horse. dog, 1/3 t, horse 2-3 teaspoons. Chile has been on vivix for many weeks and is doing GREAT! his afternoon flatulence is nearly gone, a great added benefit!!! only a SMALL part of the grape is used; the main source of resveratrol is the Japanese knotweed. annie
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DISCLAIMER---The following statements are my PERSONAL experiences only. They are anecdotal in nature and might not work for everyone.
**anecdotal --- (adjective) Based on personal observation, case study reports, or random investigations rather than systematic scientific evaluation: anecdotal evidence. Based on casual observations or indications rather than rigorous or scientific analysis. from Dictionary.com
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Re: Dogs & Vivix..

my apologies for writing such a long letter, but i felt i needed to cover a few things. i am by NO MEANS any type of expert, but i have been using Shaklee and good nutrition for decades, and do keep up with all the latest warnings about this and that. i can only offer my personal observations and experiences.

thanks for your concern about dogs eating grapes! if you are concerned, please do not give vivix or recommend it to dog friends until there is research or anecdotal evidence to say it is positive and not negative in dogs. looking back, i ''should'' have waited a couple of months to post anything about how well Chile was doing on Vivix. asking a vet is useless; the thorough research being done now has not shown what the exact correlation is between dogs eating large quantities of grapes and renal failure. vets don't know. researchers don't know. Shaklee has never recommended their supplements for any one other than humans. those of us who have been using them on our dogs, horses, etc have been doing it on our own with no ''legal'' protection. at one time there was a doctor at Shaklee working on pet related issues, and i am SURE that as the years go by, Shaklee will be very much into pet health as well as human health since it is a VERY important aspect of OUR health--happy healthy companion animals! the following is on all my webpages where i talk about my experiences---

To date, we don't know if resveratrol is the culprit, and grape seed extract has been found to have no negative effects. if i eat lots of grapes i get a belly ache and diarrhea. i would NEVER put myself, my family, or my pets at risk. i don't know what percentage of Vivix's resveratrol comes from japanese knotweed (it's #2 on the ingredient list). Vivix is 98% resveratrol; brand-x products are not, and i have read they cause some negative side effects.

here is an interesting article. i have always known that ingesting very large quantities of grapes or raisins is what causes the problem, and all dogs who did this vomited within 6 hours. we have always given our dogs grapes, raisins, blueberries, etc. but not pounds of such. same with chocolate; our dogs get chocolate chips as a special treat; they do not get pounds of chocolate (tho chile pepper DID eat 8 oz. of baking cocoa squares in 1999; got a rash, nothing else. i gave him bentonite and alfalfa tabs--i don't remember if we had Shaklee Liver DTX back then, but if we did i know he got that too). i don't know if there has been any research on humans eating very large quantities of grapes and the subsequent consequences.

http://www.dogpack.com/health/GrapesRaisinsAndDogs.html

Here is a quote from the article -- ''Other commonly reported signs included diarrhea, anorexia, lethargy and abdominal pain, and all of the dogs developed evidence of kidney dysfunction.''

for a list of symptoms of renal failure, read here http://vetprof.com/clientinfo/KidneyDiseaseInDogs/symptoms.htm

Chile has been getting 1 t. vivix each morning for three weeks tomorrow, he has never shown any of the above symptoms--and i have watched very closely to see any changes, positive or negative! so far, only positive. my goal is at the end of Sept. to give each of our 4 dogs 1/4 t. vivix daily (by then my vivix supply should be stable); the others are younger and maybe they will live to that reported 27 years ''they'' say should happen with good nutrition.

here's to continued great health for all!!! xoxoxooxa

ps.. did you know that if your dog eats rat poison or other toxins, IMMEDIATELY give them one pint of FRESH peroxide; they will vomit within minutes and expel most if not all the toxin. i keep several unopened pint bottles of peroxide on hand at all times, even tho we don't keep any poisons or toxins around our place; when traveling with the dogs i take one bottle with me in case the place we are visiting has poisons---sadly, most people use rodent poisons, even around pets--no matter how well they are hidden away, dogs can either find them, or the rodents carry them out into the open.