Update after one year on the RMF Healing Diet

RMF Healing Diet

It’s now been one year since I put Abby, my senior dog who had some health issues, on the RMF Healing Diet.  This is an update on how it’s gone and why I still highly recommend this diet.

If you are new to my blog and/or didn’t read the post I wrote in March 2021 detailing the diet and Abby’s experience after three months on it, you can read it here, http://savingcatsdogsandcash.com/the-healing-diet-i-highly-recommend/.

Recap

My journey down the RMF (Rotational MonoFeeding) Healing Diet road began when I came home from the vet with my then 12-year-old Lab, Abby, in early December 2020. I had just learned that the surgery I had planned on her getting to remove the large intramuscular lipoma in her armpit area was not an option due to elevated liver numbers and an enlarged adrenal gland.

Instead of preparing for surgery, Abby was suddenly on the path to Cushing’s from her enlarged adrenal gland with the vet recommending more testing and medication.  Being extremely against using dangerous pharmaceuticals unless only absolutely necessary, I began researching what I could do to help Abby naturally.  In my research, I ran across the RMF (Rotational MonoFeeding) Healing Diet.

For those unfamiliar, RMF (Rotational MonoFeeding) is basically feeding meat and fruits/vegetables on separate days.  Meat takes a lot of energy to digest, which ties up the body digesting, instead of healing itself.  By feeding meat on separate days than fruits/vegetables, the body is getting a break to heal itself with the more easily digestible fruits/vegetables.  It made sense that if Abby was eating meat seven days a week, her body wasn’t being given a chance to do any healing.

Even though it went against every “expert” opinion about diet and supplementation I’d ever heard or read about, it made sense.  Everything I read about it gave me hope that it was possibly finally the thing that I’d been searching so hard for that could change Abby’s declining health trajectory.  Figuring we had nothing to lose, I jumped in with both feet.

Although it seemed drastic, after reading up on how the diet worked, I reduced Abby’s meat days from seven to two and put away all of her supplements.  Her health situation was pretty serious and I really didn’t want her to develop Cushing’s.  The vet suspected possibly a tumor in her adrenal gland causing it to be twice its normal size and was surprised Abby wasn’t showing any symptoms.

Early Observations

One of the first things I noticed after a couple of weeks of Abby starting the RMF diet was her energy.  She had more of it.  She also became more agile and her hearing improved.  I was thrilled to see her doing so much better so quickly.  And it was all without ANY supplements!

We had no negatives with the diet in those first three months, so in March, I wrote my early assessment of the diet.  It was earlier than I normally write about things I’m treating, but Abby’s results were so good, I wanted to share the diet with other dog owners who had dogs in similar health situations.

At that time, Abby had not shown any signs of the environmental allergies she’d had for 11 years.  My other indoor dog, Ruby, an approximately five-year-old terrier mix who had no health issues, was more than happy to eat fruit I was offering Abby, so after seeing how well Abby was doing on the diet, I also put her on the diet.

The Feeding Protocol

In the beginning, I was feeding Abby and Ruby the recommended daily starting percentage of 5% of their body weight in fruit or sweet potato and quinoa over the course of two meals.  While Ruby will still eagerly eat anything and everything I offer her, Abby has become more hesitant.  Instead of just two meals a day, I’ve found that feeding her three or four smaller portions a day now works better for her.

I have also found an easy way to jumpstart Abby’s appetite is to give her two or three dates before offering her her bowl of fruit.  She always takes the dates with no hesitation, and will then start eating her fruit.  Some days she doesn’t eat the allotted amount of fruit or sweet potatoes and quinoa, but I don’t stress over it.  I just save it for her next fruits/vegetables meal.

Along the way, I felt both Abby and Ruby were getting a bit too thin so I increased their meat day amounts by a few ounces from my original 3% of her body weight for Ruby and 2.5% of her body weight for Abby.  That has been working well for both dogs, but I will continue to monitor them and if necessary, adjust their meat and/or fruits/vegetables percentage amounts based on detox symptoms, health issues that may arise, or how they look.

Much like being a raw feeder, no two RMF feeders feed identical because no two dogs are identical.  Tweaking the process along the way has kept both of my dogs doing well and at weights that are healthy and that I am happy with.

Overall Experience of the Diet

So now that Abby has been on the diet for a year and Ruby has been on it for 10 months, here are their results so far:

Abby:

– Getting up and around well despite being over 13-1/2 years old with two large intramuscular lipomas in her r. armpit and l. thigh

– While none of her existing lipomas have dissolved, she hasn’t gotten any new ones

– Greying of eyes has reversed and her eyes are bright and clear

– No sign at all of the environmental allergies that have plagued her for the last 11 years

– Hearing has recently returned to how it was prior to the diet, of not being able to hear well, but may be temporary due to detoxing via her ears

– No Cushing’s symptoms or other health issues that required a vet visit during the last year

– All of this was accomplished with diet alone.  Abby didn’t have a single supplement or even a bath (because it wasn’t needed) in the last year.

 

Fortunately, Ruby had no health issues prior to starting the diet, so I can’t give any update there, but I can say that being a terrier-type dog, she has coarse wiry hair.  Being on the RMF diet has made her hair much softer.

RMF Healing Diet
Ruby and her wild and wiry, yet soft, hair.

 

As far as detox or any negative side effects that have appeared, there have been few or in Ruby’s case, none.  Abby has had ear discharge, which usually also results in eye discharge.  It started as just mostly being one ear, but has progressed into both of her ears needing a weekly cleaning.  When her ears are clean, her eyes are normally clear of any discharge as well.  I’m hoping once we are through this detox, her hearing improves again.

Another development from being on the diet is now, usually after meat days, Abby will sometimes leak a little bit of urine.  She feels it and usually cleans herself up, but if I know it’s happening and she’s close enough to me that I can see the dribbling, I’ll get a paper towel and clean her up, which usually happens while she’s sleeping.  If it’s been a while since she’s been out, I’ll encourage her to go out, which helps cut down on the leaking.

For the most part, Abby’s leaking has been pretty minimal.  Since I keep pee pads on hand for things that may arise, I just put one or two under the sheets on her bed and on the floor in the area where she always lays.  Doing that prevents any leaking onto her bed or the carpet.  Both the ear discharge and incontinence are pretty common detox symptoms, according to the group.

Conclusion

Overall, I am still thrilled with how well Abby is doing given her age and how large and intrusive her lipomas are.  Is age still taking its toll?  Yes, and it’s very hard to watch, but at this point, I can honestly say that I feel like this diet is her best option.

While I still feel Abby’s lipomas are most likely caused by genetics, I haven’t ruled out fasting her to see if that helps in any way.  Given how out of balance they make her body, walking is difficult and exhaustive for her. I fear it will only get worse for her as she continues to age and before the sun sets on our time together, I don’t want to have left any stone unturned when it comes to trying to help her.  That’s also why I’m going to take someone’s advice from the group and look into finding an Osteopath that works on dogs.

Even if nothing else came out of this diet, the complete disappearance of Abby’s environmental allergies after so many years was worth taking the chance on this diet.  As I said in my original post about this diet, and like others who have been on the diet longer have said, I wish I’d found it sooner.  I can only wonder how different Abby’s life might have been.  It truly is a game-changer if you have an animal that is suffering.

Final Thoughts

Since writing my original post, the Facebook group has changed its name from ‘Healing Diet for Dogs and Cats’ to ‘Rotational MonoFeeding‘.  It’s still the same group and feeding protocol, the name was just changed.  Here is the link, https://www.facebook.com/groups/healingdietfordogsandcats.

In addition to the Facebook group and an e-book, the group also now has a members-only paid forum on their website, rotationalmonofeeding.com for more one-on-one help for those who need it.  A private consultation can also be purchased.

The group has a lot of rules about what is recommended on this feeding protocol and what is not, which can be offputting to some.  My advice is to join the Facebook group, look through the posts and files, including the testimonials, and decide for yourself if you are willing to put in the time and effort to follow this protocol.  While I may not completely agree with everything the group does, I do feel like Abby would not be doing as well as she is today if I had not found this diet.

 

 


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6 thoughts on “Update after one year on the RMF Healing Diet

  1. Is Abby an English lab? My dog just had a tumor removed from the muscle wall on his chest and they said it was a fatty tumor. It developed from pea size to half his side in a months time. He seems to be in a lot of pain a day after surgery. As far as allergies did Abby seem to swell up on her body at all from the allergies?

    1. Hi Courtney,

      Yes, I believe Abby is an English lab given her build. She was an unexpected gift from my parents almost 14 years ago and I had no idea there were different types of labs or any genetic health issues to be concerned about, including lipoma’s, unfortunately.

      Abby had two intramuscular lipoma’s located on each side of her ribs behind her front legs removed when she was nine. They appeared nearly overnight and were huge, quickly growing and causing her some difficulty in squatting to potty and also be susceptible to being hit too hard and ruptured. Coincidentally, those were both the places that she would sit outside and scratch herself vigorously with her back feet during allergy season.

      When she was around two, she developed a very large hot spot on her chest and now also has an intramuscular lipoma there. I have done a lot of research trying to get rid of them over the years and one theory is that trauma can cause them. I truly believe that might be what has happened with her, at least in some of these instances.

      Fortunately, I don’t think she’s gotten any more since she went on the RMF diet in December 2020 and her environmental allergies also are now completely gone. As far as swelling from her allergies, she never had that, only itching and only when she was outside.

      For pain after her surgeries, I gave Abby the Crystal Star ‘Inflama Relief’ supplements in my Amazon ‘Shop’ tab at the top of the page. They worked very well for her and I keep them on hand for when I notice any of my animals appearing to be in pain, usually indicated by panting. Arnica is a good homeopathic remedy also.

      I’ve had several dogs over the years and Abby is my first one to ever have a lipoma of any kind. I’m currently experimenting with yet another treatment to see if it helps, but it’s too soon to report any progress. You might sign up for my newsletter if you haven’t already, as I will be sharing some of the things I’ve read about and/or tried to help her over the years for others out there that are also trying to get rid of their dogs’ lipoma’s. Each dog is different, so what works or doesn’t work for Abby may or may not work for others, but as costly and nerve-wracking it is to put them through surgery, I feel like it might be worth it to exhaust any other options.

  2. Hi there!

    What proteins do you feed Abby? And why did you decide to feed her 2:1 not 1:1? I’m new to RMF, with a sick 3 year old English lab. I’ve tried everything to heal her, so I’m praying this works.

    Thanks,

    Sarah

    1. Hi Sarah,

      Sorry for the delayed response. Unfortunately, after 14 years together, we said goodbye in June. But the time she was on the RMF diet, Abby mostly ate lean pork (loin) and some chicken. The reason I fed her the rotation I did, was because her health was pretty serious when we started. Prior to RMF, she’d been raw fed seven days a week for three years and was on numerous supplements.

      With an enlarged adrenal gland, slowing down, and just not thriving like a twelve year old should, I went pretty strong on the plant days to give her body a chance to do a lot of work that it needed to do to heal. It worked so well, including getting rid of the seasonal allergies she’d had for 10 years (and never returned in the 1.5 years she was on RMF). After two weeks, I could already tell a big difference.

      The thing about RMF feeding and all dogs in general, is that every one responds differently. If your dog is pretty sick and has a history of yearly vaccines, flea/tick meds, apoquel, bravecto, etc., she may need to go much slower than I did with Abby, who had had none of that. Detoxing can be brutal for those dogs. This isn’t an all or nothing way to feed and tweaking it to accommodate your dog and her health issues is fine. What worked for Abby may not work for your dog and that’s ok. If your dog is lucky enough not to have been vaccinated yearly and given a lot of pretty nasty medications that will take some time to work their way out of her, I’m sure the more plant days will really get things rolling. If you are in the other camp, slow and steady is probably your best way to get your girl healthy.

      Abby did extremely well on the RMF diet and I definitely don’t regret putting her on it. However, as I learned, it’s not a guarantee that they will be disease-free. Whether bad genetics, something I unknowingly was doing that tipped the scale, or just the nature of the beast, Abby ended up with what the vet thought was cancer on or near her spleen. I will write more about it in a future blog post, but I will suffice it to say that while I am still feeding Ruby, my other dog I’d put on the RMF diet shortly after I started Abby, except now with increased meat days, I will no longer trust the diet alone to ward off diseases like cancer, especially in dogs closer to 10 years old.

      Give the RMF diet a honest try and I think you’ll be happy with your results. I wish you both the best on your journey to achieve better health for your girl.

  3. From your new friend in California… I just read several of your blogs, Including the passing of Abby. I want to encourage you and say you are amazing, and Abby was so very blessed to have you and, of course you were blessed to have her. What an honor for you both. Animals KNOW, if you know what I mean. Well… Most of them do lol
    Of course you did the best you can for Abby! Your heart knows this. She had the best person any animal could ever have. You are a gift to your animals, you’re a gift to me, and I’m sure Will knows what a gift you are to him. What you are doing with your life is beautiful. It’s beautiful because of the sacrifices you make, because those sacrifices come from deep love. To spend a life of service in love is all the Father requires of us. A life of service in love is the best ife all! Too bad most of the U.S. population doesn’t get it. I hope you never feel the need to question yourself again. Thank you for being the kind of person I want to be. Holly

    1. Holly,

      Thank you so much for your very kind words. Your comment brought tears to my eyes as I thought about Abby and how much I miss her and how hard I tried to keep her with me for as long as I could. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to lose a pet and not question if you did everything possible and right and what you could have or should have done differently to change the outcome. In my case, I just hate losing any of my animals so badly, that I take it as a personal failure when I lose one.

      My personal motto in life is to treat others how I want to be treated. That includes animals. Most of mine were dumped or abandoned and I can’t imagine the fear, loneliness, and confusion from suddenly being put in that situation. I want every single animal that makes its way into my life to have the best life possible.

      I would like to see a world where everyone who sees an animal or person struggling, steps up to offer help or support. They say to be the change you want to see in the world, so I do my best to help others however I can to make the world a little bit better. Imagine a world where we all wanted and practiced that philosophy!

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