The Power of Food as Medicine with Tigger Montague
For this week’s episode of “It’s A Dog’s Life,” I sat down with Tigger Montague, Owner, and Founder of BioStar.
Tigger has been in the industry since 2007 creating natural supplements for horses and dogs that I use for my animals as well.
The Beginning Of BioStar
“BioStar began with a horse.” – Tigger
The name of the horse was Lionheart and he was 4-years-old when Tigger got him. When Lionheart turned 16, he ended up getting a harsh inflammation in his foot which was called inflammation of the bursa.
When this happened, Tigger and her vet tried absolutely everything, and I mean everything, to help poor Lionheart and his pain.
“Nothing worked.” – Tigger
It came to the point where the vet recommended cutting the actual nerves in Lionheart’s foot, which Tigger wasn’t completely for at this point.
Around the same time, Tigger was traveling a lot to California for work and was part of a Raw Group. During one seminar with the Raw Group, Tigger learned you can’t heal your body when it’s under stress. Learning this, and knowing Lionheart was about to have surgery – Tigger started adding some natural supplements to his food. Some included sprouted seeds, papayas, ginger, basically everything she was learning from the Raw Group that was good for humans.
Tigger would make food items into little cookies, bars, dehydrate some food, anything she could do to make sure Lionheart was getting the healing food daily.
The reason I say “healing food,” is because, within 2 weeks of doing this, Tigger noticed Lionheart walking normally again.
“I thought I was imagining it.” – Tigger
This is when Tigger realized she was onto something.
The Whole Food Movement
“The pushback I got at the beginning was enormous.” – Tigger
The Raw Food Movement in dogs is similar to horses as well. Like Tigger, we believe food is medicine and has the power to heal. Just like it did for Lionheart. But since we’re not vets, and most (almost all) western medicine vets do not believe in raw feeding, it’s sometimes hard to convince others about the benefits.
Tigger would start looking at the guaranteed analysis when looking for food, supplements, etc. and some wouldn’t even have a food item on them! It’s just fillers and chemicals.
It starts with the diet! And that is the message Tigger always wants to give within BioStar. Natural supplements are always good, sometimes necessary, but you always have to start with your animal’s diet and gut.
“You can’t fix a problem with just medicating.” – Angela
Unfortunately, as pet parents, we trust our vet to give us the correct information for our pets. Which we should! But not all vets support raw which makes it very hard to talk to them about it.
Vets aren’t even taught about nutrition and whole foods when in school. So if they’re not being taught about it, they’re not going to apply it. Which is the same with horses.
There are times for western medicine, but there are alternatives that can do just the same without harming our animal’s immune system.
Horses & Dogs
BioStar began with horses, but Tigger than introduced natural supplements for dogs.
“The horse owners had dogs, including myself.” – Tigger
Tigger has 8 Australian Shepards back at home. When she would feed her horses the natural supplements, sometimes the dogs would come in and take them from the horses and loved them! So, Tigger started experimenting with the whole foods and natural ingredients for her dogs.
“I started making it for my dogs, so why not everyone else?” – Tigger
That’s when the K9 line began. Tigger first started taking her horse products and adjusting them to her dog’s needs. But after learning more about dogs health – she created more.
Dog Supplements
Some of Tigger’s most popular dog supplements include:
Colostrum
Asta-Zan
and one she is very proud of … Terra Biota K9.
Terra Biota is a specific dog probiotic! The probiotic blend has a variety of strains of live microorganisms. Also, with a synergistic mushroom blend for prebiotic support, specific earth clays for mineral and alkalizing pH support, and Soil Based Organisms, which are cultured probiotics found in healthy soils.
The most unique and powerful thing about Terra Biota K9 is some of the strains are dog-specific and actually come from K9’s. This is very rare since most probiotics aren’t specific to dogs and don’t have enough strains.
Colostrum is another supplement Tigger has found great success in not only customers’ stories, but her own. Colostrum comes from mothers’ first milk and contains over 90 immune factors and provides over 70 different growth factors.
BioStar is very ethical about taking the first mother’s milk and make sure there is always enough for the calves!
Colostrum is amazing for all dogs with any autoimmune disease, skin issues, cancer, wounds, and more!
Check out more dog supplements by BioStar >>
About Angela Ardolino
Angela Ardolino is passionate about animals and has dedicated her life to providing all-natural relief to pets of all ages and breeds. Ardolino has worked with animals for over 20 years and operates Fire Flake Farm, a rescue farm in Lutz, FL. A medical cannabis expert, Ardolino holds a degree in the therapeutic uses of cannabis from the University of Vermont School of Medicine and is the founder of CBD Dog Health. Combining her background in broadcast journalism and her passion for pets, Ardolino is the host of a pet-centric podcast, “It’s a Dog’s Life” on Cannabis Radio. Additionally, she is the owner of Beautify the Beast, a natural pet salon and spa. Ardolino cares for anywhere from 5 to 20 dogs, 9 geese, 12 chickens, 12 ducks, 2 rabbits, and 1 pig at any given time on her farm. Visit www.AngelaArdolino.com and www.CBDDogHealth.com to learn more.
About Tigger Montague
Tigger Montague is the Founder and Owner of BioStar. BioStar was born in 2007 in Charlottesville, Virginia. When Tigger started treating her own horse with a foot inflammation, using only natural foods and supplements – she had to share with the world.
Tigger’s horse, named Lionheart, was supposed to have surgery on her foot. But within 2 weeks of feeding him only natural supplements and whole foods, he was walking again.
BioStar was born after that which later turned into supplements for dogs as well. BioStar now carries a wide variety of natural formulas and supplements for both horses and dogs.
Learn more at BioStarus.com >>