In order to understand why complete supplementation is essential, let's begin with a story about the Maytag Man. The Maytag Man evokes the consummate image of a kindly repairman, eager to help get your washer or dryer up and running again. Our dogs and our cats (in fact all of us) have the equivalent of the Maytag Man in all of our cells. Cells are bustling, busy miniature cities filled with 'homes' having lots of activity going on constantly. While the Maytag appliance company brags that they have no work for their repairmen, our cells' Maytag Men work constantly. It's how we all stay healthy! Cells run a race against time, disease and aging. They need specific tools to run this race and win. Imagine if the Maytag Man came to fix your washing machine and you found him leaning against the wall doing nothing. "What's the problem?", you might ask. And he might answer, "I forgot my tools, so I can't fix your washing machine." Just so, our cells must have their necessary tools to create health and stave off disease. We all think of food in terms of carbohydrates, fats and protein and search labels to find out how much of each is in the package we are buying. The cell wall is made up of protein, and carbohydrates are used for energy. However, they don't repair and maintain the health of the cell.

Let's look at it this way: to maintain your home you need cleaning solutions, a broom, a mop, paint, screwdrivers, a hammer, nails and all manner of tools. This needs to be a complete set of tools too. Imagine our now familiar Maytag Man leaning against your dryer, once again failing to fix it. "I see you have tools today- so what's the problem?" "I don't have the right tools for this job. I didn't bring a complete set of tools with me." Vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals are the tools needed to actually keep our dogs and cats -via all the cells in their bodies- healthy. Too many of us have forgotten this. That's not so hard to do because, for years, vitamin/mineral supplements for pets have been grossly inferior. They contained the cheapest ingredients from the cheapest sources. Brewer's yeast, still a common ingredient, is left over from the beer brewing industry. It's cheap and pets like the taste. These kinds of supplements don't provide anything close to the complete set of tools needed for health, and neither does dry or canned processed pet food. Somehow, we all expect our pets to stay healthy and disease free even though they have very few of the necessary tools to accomplish this task. Pet foods don't provide the minerals and vitamins pets need to maintain health. Quality vitamins and minerals are essential to supply components necessary for metabolism.