Tigrada Holistic Family & Animal Care

01/01/2026

I like the idea of this. Visual learning in a way that people can really u destined

01/01/2026

Get • Rotating proteins is one of the easiest ways to support your pet’s long-term health.

Feeding the same protein every day, especially over long periods of time, can contribute to sensitivities, nutrient gaps, and even picky eating. Variety helps nourish the body more completely and keeps meals exciting.

When feeding raw or lightly cooked foods, different proteins offer different amino acids, minerals, and fatty acid profiles, all of which support a diverse gut microbiome and overall balance. Nature didn’t design animals to eat the exact same meal forever.

Rotation doesn’t have to be complicated. You can switch proteins with each new bag or case of food, alternate weekly or monthly, or slowly introduce novel proteins as needed. Transitions should always be gentle and guided by your pet’s individual needs.

Most brands offer protein options like chicken, beef, turkey, pork, and lamb. And some other brands carry more novel proteins like rabbit, venison, duck, goat, and bison.

If you’re not sure where to start, we’re always happy to help you build a thoughtful protein rotation that works for your pet’s body, lifestyle, and preferences.

What’s your dog’s current favorite protein?

🐾

rawfooddog

30/12/2025

And talk about the raw meat varieties that you have. You guys are legends

- Bel's Blog - Pet Grade Meat

When it comes to feeding your dog a high-quality, natural, and balanced diet, many people automatically think "human grade" means better quality. It sounds fancy - and yes, we get why it feels like you’re giving your dog a “cut above the rest” (pun definitely intended 😆).

But here’s the truth: pet grade meat from a high-quality source like The Pet Food Shop is actually more nutritious for dogs. That’s because dogs benefit from the extra goodness found in pet grade cuts, including connective tissues like fascia, sinew, ligaments, and healthy layers of fat. These natural components are some of the best sources of collagen - the key protein that supports joint strength and flexibility, a glossy coat, healthy skin, strong nails, and resilient connective tissues. Collagen also helps protect against arthritis and stiffness — especially important for active, large breed, or senior dogs.

When digested, collagen breaks down into gelatin and glycine, two powerful compounds that support gut health, aid liver detoxification, and assist muscle recovery. Plus, sinew and ligaments naturally contain glucosamine and chondroitin (the same joint-loving nutrients found in supplements), helping to keep your dog’s joints lubricated and cartilage strong, the natural way.

All of the meat used by The Pet Food Shop is processed in their human-grade facility right here in Victoria. It could easily be sold as human-grade meat - but it’s not, because that’s not what dogs need. Pet grade meat is perfectly suited to a dog’s digestive system, energy needs, and natural instincts. After all, dogs evolved to eat more than just lean meat - and that’s exactly why it’s proudly produced and supplied as pet grade meat, consciously crafted for optimal canine health.

26/12/2025

Modern life brings tension - to your neck, shoulders, back, and beyond.

The EMMETT Technique offers a gentle way to address everyday aches and the physical toll of busy lifestyles. Through light finger pressure applied to specific points on the body, EMMETT may help release muscle tension and support improved movement - without the need for pain or invasive procedures.

Whether you're dealing with:
🔵 Desk-related discomfort
🟡 Physical strain from daily activities
🔵 Accumulated tension in problem areas
🟡 General stress affecting your body

EMMETT provides targeted relief through a non-invasive approach that prioritises your comfort.
Many clients report feeling relaxed and renewed after a session, as the technique addresses not only physical discomfort but also promotes emotional balance.
Experience gentle relief that fits into your regular wellness routine.

Find a practitioner: https://www.emmett-technique-hq.com/

24/12/2025

Did you know? Whales actually have bones in their front fins that look a lot like human arms, wrists, and even fingers.

These bones are leftovers from their land-walking ancestors, a wild reminder that whales didn’t always rule the oceans. Over millions of years, those limbs slowly evolved into powerful flippers built for swimming instead of walking.

Nature really said plot twist. Evolution is undefeated.

23/12/2025

I love the look of wonder and amazement on first time patients.

Even more so when I have the pleasure of working on a young dog that has won a voucher for a treatment

19/12/2025

Fascia Helps Tune and Modulate Your Horse’s Spinal Cord

In horses, the deep postural muscles of the poll, upper neck, and atlanto-occipital junction constantly calibrate the fascial “bridges” that influence cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow. These muscles adjust the shape and tension of the dura mater—the sheath surrounding the spinal cord—directly affecting neural clarity, balance, coordination, and emotional regulation.

The Equine Myodural Bridge

At the base of the skull, small but critically important muscles such as the Re**us Capitis Posterior Minor, Re**us Capitis Posterior Major, and Obliquus Capitis muscles anchor into the dura via the myodural bridge.

This connection helps:
• regulate cerebrospinal fluid movement
• prevent dural folding or mechanical irritation
• stabilize the poll–upper cervical junction
• maintain clear neural signaling between brain and body

Because a horse’s head is large, heavy, and constantly in motion, this system is even more influential than in humans.

Why CSF Flow Matters for Horses

Your horse’s CSF flow influences:
• mental clarity (calm, focus, ability to learn)
• coordination and proprioception
• balance through the poll and neck
• recovery from physical and emotional stress
• neural waste clearance
• overall nervous system regulation

When the poll fascia and deep suboccipital muscles are tight or inhibited, CSF movement decreases — and your horse may feel “stuck,” reactive, sluggish, or disconnected in the body.

What Happens When Equine Fascia Gets Restricted

Densified, dehydrated, or restricted fascia around the poll, nuchal ligament, or upper cervical region can:
• distort tension on the dura
• affect CSF rhythm
• create head-tossing or bracing patterns
• reduce flexion/softness at the poll
• trigger sympathetic overdrive (“ready to bolt” energy)
• disrupt balance and self-carriage
• compromise hind-end engagement
• alter the entire spinal kinetic chain

The poll is the control center of the horse’s movement and nervous system—and fascia dictates how freely it operates.

Why Fascial Work Matters for Horses

Not all techniques reach the structures that actually regulate the dura.
Targeted fascial work—such as myofascial release, craniosacral-inspired techniques, poll decompression, and nuchal fascia hydration work—can:
• normalize tension through the suboccipital region
• rehydrate the fascial layers
• improve dural glide
• restore CSF rhythm
• enhance proprioception and balance
• quiet the nervous system
• improve softness, flexion, and self-carriage

This is why so many horses change instantly when someone releases the poll correctly—they can finally “hear” their nervous system again.

https://koperequine.com/fascia-the-skeleton-of-the-nerves/

17/12/2025

🌿 The Silent Weight: How Emotional Trauma Impacts the Lymphatic System

By Bianca Botha, CLT, RLD, MLDT & CDS

Trauma is often spoken about as something held in the mind or heart — a memory, a scar, a wound that shapes how we see the world. But modern science is revealing something truly profound: emotional trauma is not just psychological. It is physiological. It settles into the body, into the fascia, into the nervous system, and more quietly than we realise… into the lymphatic system.

Your body remembers.
Even when your mind tries to forget.

And one of the most sensitive systems to emotional distress, prolonged stress, and trauma is your lymphatic system — the very system designed to keep you healthy, detoxified, and resilient.

💧 The Lymphatic System: Your Silent Protector

The lymphatic system is your body’s waste-removal and immune defense network. It moves lymph — a clear fluid filled with immune cells — through vessels and nodes, clearing:
• toxins
• pathogens
• excess fluid
• inflammatory molecules
• metabolic waste

It has no pump like the heart.
It relies on:
• breathing
• muscle movement
• hydration
• sleep
• parasympathetic tone

Anything that disrupts these — especially emotional trauma — can disrupt lymph flow.

💔 How Emotional Trauma Affects Lymphatic Flow

1. Fight-or-Flight Physiology Slows Lymph Drainage

Trauma activates the sympathetic nervous system. This “fight or flight” state causes:
• shallow breathing
• tight chest and diaphragm
• muscle tension
• reduced gut motility
• vasoconstriction

The lymphatic system depends heavily on relaxed, deep breathing, abdominal movement, and muscular rhythm. When trauma locks the body into a stress state, lymph flow becomes sluggish.

This can lead to:
• facial puffiness
• neck swelling
• abdominal bloating
• chronic fatigue
• tightness around the ribcage
• headaches
• weakened immunity

Studies now show that chronic stress suppresses lymphatic function and alters immune responses.

2. Trauma Stores Itself in Fascia — and Fascia Houses Lymph

The lymphatic system is embedded within fascia — the connective tissue web that wraps every organ, muscle, and nerve.

Fascia is highly innervated and responds intensely to emotional states. Under traumatic stress, fascia can:
• tighten
• thicken
• lose elasticity
• become dehydrated
• restrict lymph flow

This is why people with unresolved trauma often feel:
• tight necks
• rigid shoulders
• abdominal pressure
• heaviness in the chest
• a “blocked” throat
• unexplained swelling

Your fascia holds what the mind cannot process.

3. Trauma Increases Inflammation — and That Overloads the Lymph

Trauma increases systemic inflammation through cortisol dysregulation and immune activation.

Higher inflammation means:
• more waste for the lymph to clear
• more burden on lymph nodes
• increased risk of stagnation
• higher fluid retention

For many people, this shows up as chronic swelling, unexplained weight gain, or persistent puffiness — even when diet is perfect.

4. Trauma Alters Breathing — and Breath Moves Lymph

Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the single strongest lymphatic pump in the body. But trauma often creates:
• shallow breaths
• upper-chest breathing
• restricted ribs
• tight diaphragm

Without the “pump,” lymph slows, stagnates, and accumulates.

This is why so many clients describe:
“I feel stuck,”
“My body feels heavy,”
“No matter what I do, I feel swollen.”

Their lymph is simply reflecting their trauma-impacted breath.

5. Emotional Suppression Creates Physiological Congestion

The lymphatic system is highly reactive to emotions. Tears, grief, fear, adrenaline — all shift hormonal signalling that impacts lymph flow.

When emotions are suppressed instead of released, the body often shows:
• throat tightness
• chest pressure
• digestive bloating
• water retention
• immune fluctuations
• sluggish circulation

Your lymph mirrors what you carry emotionally.

🌸 Signs Your Lymphatic System Is Responding to Emotional Trauma

You may see:
✓ Puffiness in the face, under eyes, or neck
✓ Bloated abdomen
✓ Fluid retention in legs
✓ Chronic fatigue
✓ Brain fog
✓ Muscle tightness
✓ Constant infections
✓ Slow healing
✓ Hormonal imbalance symptoms
✓ Difficulty losing weight

These symptoms are not “in your head.”
Your lymphatic system is telling a story.

🌿 What Helps? Gentle Support for a Trauma-Sensitive Lymphatic System

These gentle approaches can help restore flow:
• diaphragmatic breathing
• lymphatic drainage therapy
• walking
• hydration in small, frequent sips
• fascia stretching
• vagus nerve stimulation
• grounding
• emotional release work
• trauma-informed therapy
• warm compresses
• anti-inflammatory foods

Healing the lymph requires healing the nervous system.
Healing the nervous system requires acknowledging the emotional body.

Your lymphatic system is not weak — it is responding to your life.

🤍 You Are Not Broken

Trauma may have shaped your physiology, but it does not define your future. The lymphatic system is incredibly resilient and responds beautifully to gentle, compassionate care.

Your body remembers, yes —
but your body can also release,
reset,
rewire,
and heal.

You are not behind.
You are not stuck.
You are not alone.
Your lymph simply needs permission to flow again.

📚 Scientific References

These reputable sources support the physiological links between trauma, stress, fascia, immunity, and lymphatic health:
1. Peters, E. et al. (2021). “Stress and the Lymphatic System.” International Review of Neurobiology.
2. Bremner, J.D. (2006). “Traumatic stress: Effects on brain and body.” Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience.
3. Schleip, R. et al. (2012). “Fascia as a sensory organ.” Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies.
4. McEwen, B.S. (1998). “Stress, adaptation, and disease: Allostasis and allostatic load.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
5. Porges, S. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory.
6. Zhang, Y. et al. (2015). “Stress-induced lymphatic dysfunction.” Nature Immunology.
7. Walker, J. (2020). “Breathing and lymphatic circulation.” Journal of Applied Physiology.

📝 Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise, or health regimen.

17/12/2025

Guinness World Records has quietly retired one of its most infamous categories, and it’s a win for animal welfare 🐾. For years, the record book featured the “fattest” pets in the world, turning overweight cats and dogs into viral sensations. One notable example was Himmy, an Australian cat weighing over 21 kilograms, so heavy that he reportedly had to be transported in a wheelbarrow. While amusing to some, these records highlighted serious health risks, including heart disease, diabetes, joint pain, and dramatically shortened lifespans.

Veterinarians now classify obesity in pets as a disease, recommending that average house cats weigh between 8 to 12 pounds for optimal health. In 1998, Guinness officially retired the “heaviest pets” category after discovering that some owners deliberately overfed their animals to secure a place in the record book. The organization emphasized that animal welfare should come first and that rewarding dangerous practices was unacceptable.

Today, Guinness still tracks size-related records, but only by breed or type, celebrating remarkable animals without compromising their health. This change reflects a broader effort to eliminate risky or harmful records, from extreme stunts to unsafe eating contests, proving that the well-being of living creatures now takes priority over internet fame 🐕.

16/12/2025

Found on Google from cranbournevet.com.au