Dogs and Cats Thrive On Raw Meat
Based Diets
It's simple! Balanced fresh food (meat, bone,
and vegetables) diets are more nutritious than the modern (dry food) diet,
because raw, fresh foods provide much more complete and balanced nutrition than
that found in highly processed foods.
The natural diet of dogs and cats contains a
variety of raw, real foods teeming with bacteria. These foods are high in
protein and low in carbohydrate.
There is a radical difference between the
natural diet of dogs and cats and the dry food we feed most of them!
In the natural diet, micronutrients include
the natural, organic forms of vitamins and minerals, and thousands of different
antioxidants. In dry food diets, many of the micronutrients are
human-synthesized vitamins and minerals. Formulas contain only the 23 components
deemed “essential.”
This is far fewer than are considered
essential in human foods.
There is a world of difference between
synthesized vitamins and minerals and those found in highly processed, cooked
commercial foods. Hundreds of studies show that people and laboratory animals
that eat fresh vegetables and fruits are healthier and have a lower incidence of
cancer, stroke and heart disease than those whose intake of micronutrients is
primarily from human-made forms. There is no reason to think that our animals
are different, yet most of them get almost all their vitamins and minerals in
synthetic, human-made, forms.
Dogs and cats diagnosed with “unsolvable”
problems (arthritis, diabetes, a wide range of gastrointestinal problems,
allergies) often recover completely when eating a properly prepared fresh food
diet. There are conditions for which a cooked diet might be better, and animals
with health problems should be closely supervised by a veterinarian with
extensive fresh food experience.
Whether we can totally solve health problems
or not, by providing stressed bodies with the tools for healing, we can optimize
the outcome.
Dogs and cats are designed to eat
food in its natural state
Canine and feline digestive systems have not
changed from the time when they were feral carnivores. There is little debate
about this. Dr. Buddington of Mississippi State University, a noted expert on
the physiology of mammals, summarizes: “Comparative studies have revealed a
close relationship between intestinal characteristics, the evolutionary diet,
and requirements of energy and nutrients”.
Dogs and cats live in a bacterial world. Your
dog goes out for a short walk in your garden. She absorbs just a few grams of
soil, and then comes in and licks her pads. In those two grams of soil, there
were probably billions of bacteria of hundreds of different species, some
friendly and some not. Consumption of bacteria is natural for dogs and cats.
Safety of Commercial Raw Diets
Commercial raw diets have been on the market
for more than 20 years.
Some people worry about bacteria, and a small
percentage of animals have trouble with some foods. Raw meat based pet food
companies and veterinarians who use fresh food diets in their practices
investigate reports they hear of problems with food. They are often able to sort
out what the difficulty was, and food has rarely been the problem.
Choosing Commercial Fresh Food Diets
To feed your animals the absolute best diet,
grow your own livestock and produce on your organic family farm. If you can do
this, or patronize a family farm coop, you’ll be doing the best you possibly
can.
Commercial products make it easy to feed a
fresh food diet. If you do some research, it is easy to tell the difference
between excellent commercial raw diets and poor ones. We recommend using
products with all human-edible ingredients. We are primarily concerned about the
level of toxins in low quality ingredients. The FDA Center for Veterinary
Medicine issued model guidelines for raw pet diet manufacturers in 2002. The
guidelines recommended the use of human-edible ingredients. However,
manufacturers are not yet required to follow this recommendation.
The best manufacturers combine knowledge of
modern canine nutritional science with an understanding of the ancestral diet of
dogs and cats to produce a “complete and balanced” raw diet. The labels on these
packages have a statement that the food meets the AAFCO (American Association of
Feed Control Officials, the people who regulate pet foods) nutrient profiles.
“Component” raw products supply “meat and
bone” or “meat, bone and vegetable” mixes, with instructions to buyers to add
the missing ingredients. These products can be excellent, as long as you follow
their supplementation recommendations.
Conscientious manufacturers test their foods
periodically. They provide complete nutrient profiles and technical support to
you and your veterinarian.
Making Your Own
If you want to make a fresh food diet for
your animals, go slowly, do it right, and learn first. Improperly prepared diets
can be a health hazard. There are many books about raw and fresh diets, and some
are excellent. You’ll learn that there is no one definitive “right” answer. Some
books are rather casual about nutrition, some are difficult to understand. We
urge you to read several books before deciding what the best choice is for your
animals, always comparing recommendations to the natural diet of the species.
The support of a veterinarian skilled in fresh food diets can be of great
assistance.
Is Fresh Food Best? We Think So!
We have no question about this at all. The
health benefits of a fresh food diet for your four legged friends are similar to
those for humans, and just as important. Even a small amount of fresh food can
have a big impact. In almost all animals the switch to a fresh diet, in the
balance natural to the species, improves health, and can prolong life and
vitality.
There’s no substitute for fresh food! You
animals will thank you.
P.S. Cat people: Your cats
might not thank you immediately!
Courtesy of Steve Brown at
www.seespotlivelonger.com |
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