The diet that you feed your dog is of paramount importance in maintaining
its health. Improper nutrition can and often does increase the cost of
veterinary care in the long term.
We have all been told for many years now that the only way to provide
a well balanced diet for our dogs is to only feed them commercially prepared
canned food and kibble. In the last few years, however, more light is being
shed on the health of our canine companions, especially how it affects
the long-term health of our dogs. It has been said that we should never
feed table scraps, or “human” food in order to ensure their
health and well being. Commercial pet food, as we know it, has only been
available for about the last 60 years. Prior to this, pets were fed pretty
much what humans ate, in the form of table scraps.
As a result of the concerns as to what is added to some commercially prepared
diets, many dog owners and breeders are now choosing to feed their dogs
what is called a raw diet, better known as the “BARF” Diet.
This stands for either Bones And Raw Foods, or Biologically Appropriate
Raw Foods. In the wild, wolves ate a variety of foods…raw meat from
the pack’s kill (including raw meaty bones), and they also ate the
contents of the digestive systems of the animals they killed. (It might
surprise you, but your pampered pet Chihuahua is genetically quite similar
to a wolf in the wild). These wolves didn’t regularly consume corn
or grains (which are contained in many commercial pet food as fillers),
unless it was the small amounts that were contained in the digestive tracts
of their kill. A raw diet attempts to mimic this “wild” diet,
and many researchers (such as the ones mentioned in the next paragraph)
feel it has minimized many of the age related illnesses we have taken for
granted as a part of aging in our pets. As it is widely believed that cooking
destroys some nutrients in food, a raw diet will impart the maximum food
benefit to your dog, plus it’s the way of eating that his digestive
tract has evolved to handle.
There are several pioneers in the field of feeding a raw diet to our pets.
Dr. Ian Billinghurst, an Australian veterinary surgeon, has been an advocate
of raw feeding for over 25 years. He not only put his own pets on a raw
diet, but also many of his client’s pets, and claims to have noticed
a dramatic improvement in health overall, and several diseases in particular
(cancer, diabetes, kidney and heart disease and pancreatitis). He has written
three excellent books on the subject of raw feeding. They are: Give
Your Dog A Bone, The
BARF Diet, and Grow
Your Pups With Bones. He stresses the importance of giving dogs
raw meaty bones along with a mixture of raw meat, and a wide variety of
vegetables and fruits. Raw bones provide nutrition, but also provide the
chewing action that keeps teeth clean and healthy. As dental health affects
many areas of your dog’s general health, a clean mouth can contribute
greatly to the overall health of your dog. (It should be noted that if
you choose to provide raw meaty bones to your dog, these bones must be
raw, as cooked bones splinter and are very dangerous to your dog.)
As for dangers from bacteria on raw food, the digestive systems of dogs
have evolved to be very efficient in this regard. After all, wolves eat
food that was not only freshly killed, but being the scavengers they are,
also consumed “found” food from older kills. Then there’s
the rather indelicate fact that they also manage to keep themselves quite
clean in the rear!
Another pioneer in the field of raw feeding is Dr. Tom Lonsdale, a British
veterinarian. He wrote Raw
Meaty Bones when he realized that many of his patients’ illnesses
(such as food allergies) were probably food related. Dr. Lonsdale, and
other veterinarians who agreed with his findings, took quite a bit of heat
from the veterinary establishment in Great Britain, but as with Dr. Billinghurst,
many veterinarians are now beginning to see the results in improved health
of the animals that are fed in this manner.
Yet a third advocate of raw feeding is Kymythy Schultze, author of Natural
Nutrition for Dogs and Cats (The Ultimate Diet). Kymythy presents
a very concise, clear picture of a raw diet, and the benefits this
diet provides for your dog.
These books are available at www.dogwise.com and www.amazon.com .
Many people are also becoming increasingly aware and concerned about the
contents of some commercially prepared pet foods. An excellent book on
this subject is “Food
Pets Die For” by Ann N. Martin. Ms. Martin has done some
quite in depth investigations into the commercial pet food industry, and
has made some pretty amazing discoveries with regards to what is legally
allowed to be put into commercial pet food, and the fact that the USDA
has put pet food pretty far down on the priority list of what they regulate.
For example, pet food manufacturers are legally allowed to use “split” labeling
for the contents of their food. In other words, by splitting “corn” into “corn
bran, corn flour, corn gluten meal”, these items will appear as though
that food contains less of those items than, say, whole meat. In fact,
corn would be the largest ingredient by volume in that food if the labeling
were not split. Unless your dog does agility daily, then he probably has
no need of consuming that amount of carbohydrates. Corn and grains are
also believed by many to cause food related allergies in many dogs.
Split labeling isn’t the only cause for concern about what is included
in some commercially prepared pet foods. Ms. Martin has also found that
many other items are legally allowed to be added to pet food, such as farm
animals that have died from illnesses, and very sadly, some euthanized
pets that are disposed of at rendering plants that prepare part of the
basis (bone meal) for what is in some pet foods. She has also found that
traces of sodium pentobarbital have been detected in several pet foods.
This is the chemical that is often used to euthanize shelter and farm animals.
This chemical has been shown not to break down in the heat cycle that is
used in the rendering process for some ingredients that are commonly used
in some commercially prepared food.
That being said, Ms. Martin has also found several commercially prepared
foods that, as of 2002, were producing high quality pet foods that contained
human grade food. Please see page 94 of her book for a list of these manufacturers.
This book is a ‘must read’ if you plan to feed your pet commercially
prepared pet food.
Having said that, there are also more and more companies that are producing
high quality raw food that is rated by AAFCO (Association of American Feed
Control Officials) as complete and balanced. These products either come
in freeze-dried form or in frozen form. Many of these companies only use
organic, antibiotic and hormone free meats, vegetables and fruits. There
are formulas that only contain meats, and formulas that contain both meats,
vegetables and fruits. You can also prepare your own raw diet, and it will
cost about the same as a “premium” kibble. But be forewarned…become
very familiar with these diets before you try your hand at preparing your
own raw diet for your dogs. You can do a lot of damage by not “doing
your homework” before you embark on your own raw feeding program.
You will want to be sure you are feeding your pet all that he needs for
optimum health.
Another very interesting food to feed your dog is called green tripe.
You can either find this at many natural food co-ops in the form of frozen
green tripe, or you can also find it canned from Tripett. (www.tripett.com).
Green tripe is a highly palatable, easily digested stomach lining and stomach
contents of cattle containing partially digested grasses and grains, digestive
enzymes, gastric juices, amino acids, and essential fatty acids (omega
3 and 6). Be forewarned—green tripe has quite a strong odor to it,
but you will be amazed at the reaction from your dogs—they love it.
Canned green tripe has a less noticeable odor. Green tripe is not a complete
and balanced dog food, but is designed to be used in conjunction with your
dog’s regular diet.
Some interesting web sites on this subject are:
www.americangrassfedbeef.com
www.k-9kraving.com
www.auntjeni.com
www.primalpetfoods.com
www.knowbetterdogfood.com
Arm yourself with as much information as you can about all feeding options,
and then make an informed decision as to what method of feeding you feel
will provide your canine companion with the best overall health possible!
Contributed by Jo Ann, Plumridge