Holistic veterinarians tease out the mechanisms behind chronic problems and then prescribe herbal formulas to address them. Famed holistic veterinarian Dr. Steve Marsden was donating his time doing just that for San Diego senior dog rescues a few years ago to try to reduce their vet bills. Senior dog rescuers have hearts of gold, taking in as many elderly homeless dogs as possible and getting them the care they need, but the costs of that care can be enormous. Dr. Steve reasoned that if he could use holistic medicine to save them money, rescuers would have more money to help homeless pets.

The top concerns of the rescues were allergies, GI upset, pancreatitis, lameness and stress. To treat them, Dr. Steve found he was always reaching for the same prescriptions. He decided to create versions tailored to the needs of the rescues, so they could use them without Dr. Steve’s help. The result was the vet bills were cut in half!

Since many pet owners struggle with the same issues in their own pets, but don’t have access to a holistic veterinarian, it made sense to Dr. Steve to offer these same formulas directly to the general public. And just like that, Gold Standard was born. These formulas will never replace the need for holistic veterinarians, but if we can help even a fraction of the animals out there, we've done a lot of good in the world.

From beginning to end, we leave nothing to chance in creating a pure and natural supplement for your pet. All our products begin as tiny seeds planted in fertile soil, where they grow under optimal conditions to be harvested at the peak of quality.

Next, they make their way to FDA-inspected and -registered facilities where they are decocted, dried and blended to our specifications using GMP practices.

Many companies standardize their extracts for one or two plant compounds, throwing away everything else. We make whole herb extracts, however, because studies have shown a synergy between all their ingredients that actually makes them stronger.

The result is a collection of concentrated whole herb human-grade extracts which have been used for centuries in people, but which animals happen to thrive on as well.

Many people try to restore their pet's health by changing the diet first. Adding Gold Standard Herbs in to the new food can prevent upset stomachs during a transition to a new diet and back up many of a healthy diet's benefits, including:

• Supporting a healthy microbiome
• Modulating the immune system
• Protecting digestion
• Optimizing circulation to resolve inflammation and halt degeneration

These improvements are maximized on 'real food' diets such as:

• Diets made in commercial kitchens
• Commercially made raw diets
• Freeze-dried diets
• Home-cooked meals

Maybe, though, you're not ready to change the diet. No worries. Gold Standard Herbs can get the ball rolling in terms of what a healthy diet would accomplish. If you see results, you'll know a diet change is a good next step.