I just couldn’t make up my mind on what I am going to talk about today and almost decided to take a break for the day and come back tomorrow. And while I was getting ready to log off the Internet I came across a site catching my interest. You know that I am against product and competitor bashing, so I am not going to disclose where I found it. So much only: The site is not selling any other products than animal pictures and some e-cards. I guess the idea behind it is being kind of a portal for pet owners with info on pet related topics. They have a forum, which is made looking like it has hundreds of participants (unlike this blog). And it appears as if their main objective is soliciting advertising. Though it looks like they are not too successful in doing so, I haven’t located any ads on the few pages I was looking at. What really sparked my interest was the one page they have about holistic pet nutrition. Now, just for fun, see what these guys have to say, and I quote:
“Holistic Dog Nutrition
Cancer, foreign antigens, allergies, skin disorders, and other problems result from holistic dog nutrition. Holistic dog nutrition is a topic of consternation for some and wonderful to others. No one can really agree, but there are definite rights and wrongs to a dog’s nutrition schedule. Each dog requires a certain amount of amino acids for their body type, size, and genetic code. Meats have plentiful doses of amino acids that build proteins for skin, eyes, bones, neural development, and muscular maintenance. Plant food is not recommended because dogs naturally eat this to throw up. They use it as an emetic. Therefore, dogs need a lot of meat and no vegetable foodstuffs. Holistic dog nutrition also deals with nutrient supplements like treats laced with vitamins and minerals. However, these aren’t recommended because synthetic, inorganic minerals and vitamins can become instigators to cancer. The best diet is a raw or cooked meat diet. Look at hyenas, wolves, and other wild dogs for an answer to why your dog doesn’t have a lot of energy, motivation, or enterprise. Follow the natural rules of the wild with your dog’s daily diet.
You may be thinking that by adding vitamins and exercising your dog more is enough to keep them healthy. But it isn’t enough. You may have to change your dog food as well. In order to get a full evaluation of your dogs’ health, you will need to ask the vet for a full blood work up. When the results come in and you want to switch to holistic remedies, talk to your vet about holistic dog nutrition.
Your vet may not think that your dog needs the holistic dog food but you may. Do yourself a favor and listen to what your vet has to say. Holistic dog nutrition is a new trend that people are talking about, listen to what the vet says. Some dogs because of certain healthy issues or even their weight should not be on anything but regular or special dog food. Your dog’s health should be the most important thing and not what the greatest thing in the holistic field is.
Your dog may benefit from holistic dog nutrition, but if you make the switch and change the diet, they may not get to the food right away and they may get sick from you changing their diet so fast. Try to incorporate the holistic information that you have learned and see how your dog takes to it. In the meantime, read as much as you can about holistic dog nutrition before you radically change your dog’s diet.” –end of quote
So what exactly are we supposed to do? Listen to our vets only? Granted, I always recommend to consult your vet. But that does not mean that I support the idea of that you listen to the vet exclusively. Especially not since in these days our pets are suffering from diseases and illness in pandemic dimensions. Pandemic is what I call it when over 60% of all companion animals are having health problems. That just can’t be right. And the holistic movement, if you want to call it this way, is trying to change that. While the veterinarian community obviously does not show too much interest in such a change, for obvious reasons: The way it is now is much more lucrative. Therefore, to me, the comment above does not make any sense whatsoever. Contrary, I’d say it is a very good example of what I have been warning of on this blog before: Don’t take everything you read for granted.
For the site itself, there is hope though. On another page, about dog food, they say:
“The quality of dog food varies greatly. A conscientious owner should use common sense and research to find the better products. A good start would be to select a dog food with a meaty protein source and no by-products; it shouldn't contain corn or wheat. Avoid products listing grain as the first ingredient, and avoid products that use meat by-products like bones, feet, and intestines, chemical preservatives like BHA and BHT and difficult-to-digest grains like corn, wheat, gluten and soy. These grains are sometimes listed as a protein source in place of meat. If you have to feed a kibble, choose one of the holistic brands that use human-grade ingredients.
Many health problems, like allergies that cause itchy skin, are simply caused by a poor diet and improper allocations of the wrong kinds of food. It is recommended that you switch brands, and start making note of the ingredients until you notice an improvement. Many holistic dog food brands offer hypoallergenic formulas with recommended ingredients such as duck, venison, and rabbit that are easily digested.
The dog food you choose to feed your pet should meet the nutritional needs, and it will make a difference in both you and your pet's happiness, determining how often you visit a vet. Purchase only high-quality dog food types suitable for your dogs.”
I guess it is not quite as hopeless as I thought, let’s just wait until they make up their mind.
Showing posts with label nutrition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nutrition. Show all posts
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
In Dollars and Cents: Premium pet food making sense?
This phone call received earlier today reflects a customer’s point of view on if it makes sense to pay the (high???) price for a good quality, healthy and natural dog food:
“When looking at what it costs to feed your dog, it's important to understand that not all dog foods are created equal. Quality kibble can make your dog healthier and probably doesn't cost as much as some might think.
In the 1970s when I adopted my first puppy, I knew very little about dogs and dog food. I just purchased an inexpensive brand from the grocery store while shopping for my own food. I thought buying special flavors in appetizing packages equated being good to my dog.
Wrong. My first dog, a finicky eater, was excessively thin in body and coat, not good for an Afghan Hound. She also had digestive problems.
With my second dog I decided to try a different kibble. The one I chose was a bit better and cost a little more, but I was still clueless about what constituted a healthy product. This dog had ear infections, dry itchy skin and allergies her entire life. She was the only Afghan I knew who couldn’t run without tiring easily.
I had heard from some of my friends how expensive the premium dog foods were compared to the grocery store dog foods I was buying and was reluctant to spend what seemed like more money for the same number of pounds of dog food.
So I kept feeding the same kibble to the next four dogs my husband and I adopted. Every few weeks, one of the dogs was at the veterinarian’s for flaky skin, minor skin cysts, dirty ears, heavy shedding, mild respiratory infections or low energy. All the dogs had thin, dull coats and were generally lackluster. Despite my personal inclination to healthy, balanced eating, I just assumed the dogs’ food was nutritionally sound enough, and never really made the connection. Even though these conditions can have many different causes, I eventually decided that trying better foods was the easiest solution.
Before making the switch to better food, we were told repeatedly at dog shows that our Elkhound was “out of coat.” We kept waiting for him to grow the full adult coat as he aged. Extra portions, vitamins, oils, herbs, and unusual supplements added to his inexpensive food did not make that happen.
Finally another handler asked what we fed, and suggested trying a premium food. I started researching ingredients, pet food standards and labeling practices. I realized that if you compared a premium dog food pound for pound to things we all buy in the grocery store, it's really not that expensive. Here's an example. At Walgreens a 14 ounce box of Cheerios costs $4.50, so 30 pounds of Cheerios would be about $150! Cheerios is mostly grains, corn starch and sugar. A 30 pound bag of super-premium pet food costs about starting at $40 where I live so it costs just a little more than a dollar a pound. Even if I go to my vet and buy it from him, he charges a whopping $75 for the same bag, it is still only about half of what the Cheerios cost. Over the Internet I get the same bag starting at about $35, while I don’t have to pay the sales tax I have to add shipping which is easily $15. Buying on the net has the benefit of me not having to run to the store, which translates for me into time and gas savings, quite considerable for me as my pet food retailer is 20 miles away from where I live and I still have one of these gas guzzlers.
Regardless of which route I take, either way only makes sense. A typical dog eats less than a pound a day, so feeding a premium food cost at about maximum $2.50/lbs/day way less than feeding Cheerios. This does not consider the fact that I now can pretty much forget about buying vitamins, oils, herbs, and unusual supplements and save a lot of money in veterinarian bills.
After I figured all this out for myself, I picked a premium dog food to try. It was affordable, and it also finally improved my Elkhound's fur! At the shows, we received compliments on how great our dog’s coat looked, and were asked what food we fed. My husband’s reply: “Premium dog food. It’ll grow hair on a bowling ball.”
Diet is everything; it is the foundation for good health.
In this brutal economy, it’s necessary to save money. But cutting corners on pet food won’t net any savings. That’s because less expensive products use lower quality ingredients. Pennies saved on kibble can turn into big bucks spent at the vet’s.
“Premium” in dog food means (often, but not always) a higher standard in nutrition and quality of ingredients. Pound for pound, the price of premium food is higher. But each serving contains more nutrients that are more nutritionally available than in a cheaper food, making premium kibble the better buy. With more nutrients in every bite, dogs do not need to eat as much premium food as they would a brand containing fillers and by-products.
Although no single dog food is right for every dog, premium foods make a positive difference. Remember, you get what you pay for: high quality food can equal better health.”
After she was done telling me this I was wondering who was the sales person here, her or me?
“When looking at what it costs to feed your dog, it's important to understand that not all dog foods are created equal. Quality kibble can make your dog healthier and probably doesn't cost as much as some might think.
In the 1970s when I adopted my first puppy, I knew very little about dogs and dog food. I just purchased an inexpensive brand from the grocery store while shopping for my own food. I thought buying special flavors in appetizing packages equated being good to my dog.
Wrong. My first dog, a finicky eater, was excessively thin in body and coat, not good for an Afghan Hound. She also had digestive problems.
With my second dog I decided to try a different kibble. The one I chose was a bit better and cost a little more, but I was still clueless about what constituted a healthy product. This dog had ear infections, dry itchy skin and allergies her entire life. She was the only Afghan I knew who couldn’t run without tiring easily.
I had heard from some of my friends how expensive the premium dog foods were compared to the grocery store dog foods I was buying and was reluctant to spend what seemed like more money for the same number of pounds of dog food.
So I kept feeding the same kibble to the next four dogs my husband and I adopted. Every few weeks, one of the dogs was at the veterinarian’s for flaky skin, minor skin cysts, dirty ears, heavy shedding, mild respiratory infections or low energy. All the dogs had thin, dull coats and were generally lackluster. Despite my personal inclination to healthy, balanced eating, I just assumed the dogs’ food was nutritionally sound enough, and never really made the connection. Even though these conditions can have many different causes, I eventually decided that trying better foods was the easiest solution.
Before making the switch to better food, we were told repeatedly at dog shows that our Elkhound was “out of coat.” We kept waiting for him to grow the full adult coat as he aged. Extra portions, vitamins, oils, herbs, and unusual supplements added to his inexpensive food did not make that happen.
Finally another handler asked what we fed, and suggested trying a premium food. I started researching ingredients, pet food standards and labeling practices. I realized that if you compared a premium dog food pound for pound to things we all buy in the grocery store, it's really not that expensive. Here's an example. At Walgreens a 14 ounce box of Cheerios costs $4.50, so 30 pounds of Cheerios would be about $150! Cheerios is mostly grains, corn starch and sugar. A 30 pound bag of super-premium pet food costs about starting at $40 where I live so it costs just a little more than a dollar a pound. Even if I go to my vet and buy it from him, he charges a whopping $75 for the same bag, it is still only about half of what the Cheerios cost. Over the Internet I get the same bag starting at about $35, while I don’t have to pay the sales tax I have to add shipping which is easily $15. Buying on the net has the benefit of me not having to run to the store, which translates for me into time and gas savings, quite considerable for me as my pet food retailer is 20 miles away from where I live and I still have one of these gas guzzlers.
Regardless of which route I take, either way only makes sense. A typical dog eats less than a pound a day, so feeding a premium food cost at about maximum $2.50/lbs/day way less than feeding Cheerios. This does not consider the fact that I now can pretty much forget about buying vitamins, oils, herbs, and unusual supplements and save a lot of money in veterinarian bills.
After I figured all this out for myself, I picked a premium dog food to try. It was affordable, and it also finally improved my Elkhound's fur! At the shows, we received compliments on how great our dog’s coat looked, and were asked what food we fed. My husband’s reply: “Premium dog food. It’ll grow hair on a bowling ball.”
Diet is everything; it is the foundation for good health.
In this brutal economy, it’s necessary to save money. But cutting corners on pet food won’t net any savings. That’s because less expensive products use lower quality ingredients. Pennies saved on kibble can turn into big bucks spent at the vet’s.
“Premium” in dog food means (often, but not always) a higher standard in nutrition and quality of ingredients. Pound for pound, the price of premium food is higher. But each serving contains more nutrients that are more nutritionally available than in a cheaper food, making premium kibble the better buy. With more nutrients in every bite, dogs do not need to eat as much premium food as they would a brand containing fillers and by-products.
Although no single dog food is right for every dog, premium foods make a positive difference. Remember, you get what you pay for: high quality food can equal better health.”
After she was done telling me this I was wondering who was the sales person here, her or me?
Friday, June 26, 2009
Why feeding a Raw Diet?
Jeff Baker, Founder, President and CEO of Canine Caviar Pet Foods is providing his answer to that question:
“In the last few years, there’s been a lot of interest in feeding raw meat diets to our pets. With the introduction of these new diets comes a lot of questions and confusion. Why should I feed my pet a raw meat diet? Is it safe? What makes raw meat better than cooked kibble? Raw meat diets are recommended for the following reasons:
“In the last few years, there’s been a lot of interest in feeding raw meat diets to our pets. With the introduction of these new diets comes a lot of questions and confusion. Why should I feed my pet a raw meat diet? Is it safe? What makes raw meat better than cooked kibble? Raw meat diets are recommended for the following reasons:
- Nutrition – all nutrients remain intact. Cooking breaks down nutrients
- Digestibility – raw meat help eliminate digestive upsets
- Allergies – proper nutrition helps alleviate allergic reactions
- Weight Control – proper digestibility helps control obesity
The most important thing to remember when feeding your pet is that they are almost identical to their wild ancestors. "A wild wolf is genetically little more distant from the domesticated dog than a wild mustang is to a quarter horse. In actuality, a poodle, like any purebred dog, already has innumerable wolf genes since they share a close common ancestry. " Dr. Michael W. Fox, D.V.M., Ph.D., D.Sc., Vice President, Bioethics, Humane Society of the United States. Affidavit. If we want to feed our pets naturally, we need to mimic what would occur in nature.Wild dogs and cats such as wolves, coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions eat raw meat. Their digestive systems are perfectly suited for that purpose. Domestic dogs and cats possess the same digestive system. In fact, cooking meat makes it harder to digest. Raw meat also contains a high level of natural bacteria that helps the digestion process. These bacteria are called probiotics. Chronic digestive upsets can be associated with the pet’s inability to break down cooked meats and the lack of viable probiotic bacteria. When we provide meat in its natural form for our pets, their bodies are able to get all of the nutrients necessary for better health. That’s why allergies disappear, along with obesity, lethargy and a significant amount of waste. Since the meat is easier to digest, your pet’s body will use more. Therefore, there’s less waste to clean up. In addition to raw meat, wild dogs have a carbohydrate requirement. Dogs are classified as carnivores since they hunt for meat in the wild. However, wild dogs do consume vegetables, fruits and beneficial grains. When a dog consumes a wild animal, such as a rabbit, it also eats the rabbit’s stomach and contents. These stomach contents have been predigested by the rabbit and provide the perfect carbohydrate balance for the dog. It is extremely important that we duplicate this need in our domestic pets. Corn, wheat and soy do not provide the proper carbohydrate balance for dogs. These poor grains contribute to hot spots, itching, scratching, shedding, digestive upsets, and many other common problems. Beneficial grains, such as Pearl Millet, should be used to provide the proper nutritional balance for domestic dogs. Pearl Millet helps settle upset stomach issues, lowers the glycemic index, and provides an unparalleled energy supply for your pet. Its very high in protein and amino acids. It is also completely resistant to Aflatoxins which are common cancer causing fungi found in problematic corn.
Why Doesn’t Everyone Feed Raw Meat?
Most raw meat diets are available in frozen form. Frozen diets require thawing, special handling, freezer space for storage, and usually have an additional cost to the consumer. Sometimes these inconveniences prevent people from trying a raw meat diet with their pets. However, the word “Raw” should never be confused with the word “Frozen”. The definition of the word “Raw” simply means “not cooked”. We freeze raw meat in order to preserve it for shipping and storage. However, there are other ways to preserve and store meat in its raw form. Dehydration is a process that removes all of the moisture from meat without cooking it. Dehydrated meats can mimic the nutritional benefits of frozen meats because the nutritional value of the meat is preserved. Dehydration only removes water. It’s the reason foods dried foods are used by NASA. It’s a convenient storage method that doesn’t sacrifice nutritional value.
Is it Safe?
When we talk about the safety of raw meat diets, the most common concern is salmonella. Dogs and cats are extremely resistant to Salmonella infections, therefore, there is little risk that your pet could be affected by salmonella bacteria in raw meat. However, as with any raw meat product, you must take precautions when handling this product. Always clean preparation and feeding areas and utensils immediately after handling a raw frozen diet. Raw dehydrated diets are safer from the standpoint that the salmonella bacteria cannot propagate itself the same way in the raw dehydrated meat that it would in a raw frozen meat. No special handling or cleaning is required.”
Some manufacturers, including
Canine Caviar, use dehydrated meat to provide all of the benefits of a raw diet without the special handling or storage concerns of a frozen diet. No freezing, no fussing, no preparation. Just dinner.”Contribution by Jeff Baker, Founder, President and CEO of Canine Caviar
Pet nutrition in Layman’s terms: Part 2 Fat
Those readers of you who have read my first comment in this series (Pet nutrition in Layman’s terms: Part 1 Nutrients and Protein) know already about the reasons for and background behind this series of comments, please scroll right down to “Fats” (sorry, blog software does not allow me to add hyperlink, or should I better say, I don’t know how to do it?).
Does the food I’m providing meet my pet’s nutritional needs? As our knowledge of the relationship between diet and health continues to advance and as the range of foods available for our pets continues to expand, it’s more important than ever to base feeding choices on good information. This information can come from various sources. For example from “Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats”, a technical report issued by the National Research Council as part of its Animal Nutrition Series. The Food and Drug Administration relies on information in the report to regulate and ensure the safety of pet foods (Or better: is supposed to ensure, as we all know too well, pet food isn’t always safe). Scientists who study the nutritional needs of animals use the Animal Nutrition Series to guide future research. The series is also used by animal owners, caretakers, and veterinarians to develop specialized diets for individual animals.
To provide good information is one of my goals with this blog. At various I publish comments and articles about pet nutrition in general on this blog. The problem is that many of those articles sometimes get very technical and can be confusing to some of us, others again may be based on opinions or written for a certain purpose, like for example in order to sell a certain type or brand of food. What I have been missing is simple explanations, kind of written in Layman’s terms and understandable for everybody, easy to read and short and quickly getting to the bottom of things. That was until now when recently, while doing my daily research work, I came across a course, which I decided to publish here with slight modifications. The site itself looks to me like it has not been maintained for quite a while, the last time its copyright notice was updated was in 2005 and many parts of the site are no longer accessible or corrupted. We don’t have to worry about the age of the info, nothing has changed about the basics. The Australian pet food manufacturer Advance created the self study course in cooperation with the Waltham Centre for Pet Care and Nutrition. Waltham, since 1965 has contributed to the advancement of global knowledge on nutrition for companion animals and now has over 600 research and development personnel all over the world. They continuously study in detail the nutrition and behavior of companion animals in a non invasive environment. Their studies cover many specialist areas including veterinary medicine, dietetics, biochemistry, animal behavioral science and breeding science. While this initially all sounded too science oriented to me, it turned out they came up with a pretty cool “crash course” and I decided to share what I was able to salvage here on this blog. As a result I hope I will be able to come up with a simple series designed for those of you who want to learn more about pet nutrition. A series suitable for breeders, vet nurses, pet store retailers, animal trainers or any pet owner who simply wants to learn more about feeding their dog or cat. Today I am going to talk about another basic nutrient, which is “Fat”:
Fat is differentiated in two types: Animal fat, sourced from dairy produce, meats and fish and plant based fat, deriving from seed oils and nuts.
Structure
Fats consist largely of mixtures of triglycerides. Each triglyceride is made up of a backbone of glycerol, to which three fatty acids are attached. The differences between one fat and another are mostly the result of the different fatty acids in each. Fatty acids can be saturated i.e. contain no double bonds, or unsaturated with one or more double bonds. Polyunsaturated fatty acids contain two or more double bonds in their hydrocarbon backbone. Essential fatty acidsThere are two main families of polyunsaturated fatty acids: omega-6, and omega-3. Some fatty acids contain double bonds that cannot be made by animals, and therefore must be supplied in the diet. They are termed essential fatty acids. The longer chain polyunsaturated fatty acids can be made in the body through progressive elongation and de-saturation of these fatty acids.
For the scientifically adversed of you:
Structure of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids
Linoleic acid (omega-6)
(18:2n6; 18-carbon backbone, two double bonds, first at sixth carbon)
CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH = CH-CH2-CH = CH-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-COOH
Alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3)
(18:3n3;18-carbon backbone, three double bonds, first at third carbon)
CH3-CH2-CH = CH-CH2-CH = CH-CH2-CH = CH-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-COOH
Essential fatty acid (EFA) requirements in dogs can be met by linoleic acid (omega-6). Cats, on the other hand, lack a key enzyme needed for the production of the longer chain omega-6 fatty acids from linoleic acid, and therefore need arachidonic acid in their diet as well.
Does the food I’m providing meet my pet’s nutritional needs? As our knowledge of the relationship between diet and health continues to advance and as the range of foods available for our pets continues to expand, it’s more important than ever to base feeding choices on good information. This information can come from various sources. For example from “Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats”, a technical report issued by the National Research Council as part of its Animal Nutrition Series. The Food and Drug Administration relies on information in the report to regulate and ensure the safety of pet foods (Or better: is supposed to ensure, as we all know too well, pet food isn’t always safe). Scientists who study the nutritional needs of animals use the Animal Nutrition Series to guide future research. The series is also used by animal owners, caretakers, and veterinarians to develop specialized diets for individual animals.
To provide good information is one of my goals with this blog. At various I publish comments and articles about pet nutrition in general on this blog. The problem is that many of those articles sometimes get very technical and can be confusing to some of us, others again may be based on opinions or written for a certain purpose, like for example in order to sell a certain type or brand of food. What I have been missing is simple explanations, kind of written in Layman’s terms and understandable for everybody, easy to read and short and quickly getting to the bottom of things. That was until now when recently, while doing my daily research work, I came across a course, which I decided to publish here with slight modifications. The site itself looks to me like it has not been maintained for quite a while, the last time its copyright notice was updated was in 2005 and many parts of the site are no longer accessible or corrupted. We don’t have to worry about the age of the info, nothing has changed about the basics. The Australian pet food manufacturer Advance created the self study course in cooperation with the Waltham Centre for Pet Care and Nutrition. Waltham, since 1965 has contributed to the advancement of global knowledge on nutrition for companion animals and now has over 600 research and development personnel all over the world. They continuously study in detail the nutrition and behavior of companion animals in a non invasive environment. Their studies cover many specialist areas including veterinary medicine, dietetics, biochemistry, animal behavioral science and breeding science. While this initially all sounded too science oriented to me, it turned out they came up with a pretty cool “crash course” and I decided to share what I was able to salvage here on this blog. As a result I hope I will be able to come up with a simple series designed for those of you who want to learn more about pet nutrition. A series suitable for breeders, vet nurses, pet store retailers, animal trainers or any pet owner who simply wants to learn more about feeding their dog or cat. Today I am going to talk about another basic nutrient, which is “Fat”:
Fat is differentiated in two types: Animal fat, sourced from dairy produce, meats and fish and plant based fat, deriving from seed oils and nuts.
Structure
Fats consist largely of mixtures of triglycerides. Each triglyceride is made up of a backbone of glycerol, to which three fatty acids are attached. The differences between one fat and another are mostly the result of the different fatty acids in each. Fatty acids can be saturated i.e. contain no double bonds, or unsaturated with one or more double bonds. Polyunsaturated fatty acids contain two or more double bonds in their hydrocarbon backbone. Essential fatty acidsThere are two main families of polyunsaturated fatty acids: omega-6, and omega-3. Some fatty acids contain double bonds that cannot be made by animals, and therefore must be supplied in the diet. They are termed essential fatty acids. The longer chain polyunsaturated fatty acids can be made in the body through progressive elongation and de-saturation of these fatty acids.
For the scientifically adversed of you:
Structure of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids
Linoleic acid (omega-6)
(18:2n6; 18-carbon backbone, two double bonds, first at sixth carbon)
CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH = CH-CH2-CH = CH-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-COOH
Alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3)
(18:3n3;18-carbon backbone, three double bonds, first at third carbon)
CH3-CH2-CH = CH-CH2-CH = CH-CH2-CH = CH-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-COOH
Essential fatty acid (EFA) requirements in dogs can be met by linoleic acid (omega-6). Cats, on the other hand, lack a key enzyme needed for the production of the longer chain omega-6 fatty acids from linoleic acid, and therefore need arachidonic acid in their diet as well.
The functions of fat can be defined as
- Playing a key role in the absorption, transport and storage of the fat soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K)
- Being an energy source (containing 2½ times more energy per gram than either proteins or carbohydrates)
- Providing essential fatty acids, necessary for cell membranes, kidney function and reproduction
- Increasing palatability of foods, particularly dry complete products
What happens if fat is not supplied in sufficient volume? Essential fatty acid deficiency may occur in animals eating diets low in fat or poor quality commercial dry food for long periods. On rare occasions, animals develop fatty acid deficiency in association with liver disease, biliary disease, chronic pancreatitis or mal-absorption problems. Signs of EFA deficiency in dogs and cats include dull, scurfy coat, fatty liver, anaemia and impaired fertility. Changes in the lipid film of the skin can alter the normal bacterial flora of the skin, and predispose the animal to secondary bacterial infection, a condition also known as fat deficiency seborrhea.
On the other hand, excessive fat in the diet can result in an excess calorie intake. In the long term this can lead to obesity and/or growth abnormalities in young growing animals. As animals usually eat to satisfy their energy requirements, a high fat diet may not be balanced with respect to other essential nutrients. Diets high in polyunsaturated fatty acids can become rancid through oxidation. Inadequate amounts of antioxidant in dry foods or prolonged storage of food, especially at high temperatures, may cause the fat in the food to become rancid. As fats are oxidized, the essential fatty acids are destroyed, as are vitamin D, vitamin E and biotin. In general, dry foods should be kept at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, in non-lipid-permeable or non-absorbing containers and not stored open for longer than a month.
Summarizing all this, these are the key points to remember about fat:
- They provide a concentrated energy source
- Dogs need the essential fatty acid, linoleic acid
- Cats also require arachidonic acid in their diet
- A long term EFA deficiency can cause skin lesions, poor coat condition and reproductive failure
The concentrations of saturated fatty acids, and monounsaturated fatty acids present in the diet affect the minimum dietary requirement for EFA. Based on data obtained from studies of rodents, it has been suggested that high intakes of saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids or oleic acid, compete with the metabolism of EFA and thereby increase the body's EFA requirements. (*1, *2) Because of this dependence on the fat content of the diet, any minimum nutrient requirement for linoleic acid, or other members of the omega-6 family of fatty acids for dogs has not been precisely determined.
*1: Mead, J. F. (1980). Nutrients with special functions: Essential fatty acids. Chap.8, In Human Nutrition: A Comprehensive Treatise. Eds. R.B. Alfin-Slater and D. Kritchevsky, Vol. 3A, Plenum Press: New York.
*2: Holman, R. T. (1981). Effect of dietary trans fatty acids upon prostaglandin precursors, In Nutritional Factors: Modulating Effects on Metabolic Processes. Eds R.F. Beers and E.G. Bassett, Raven Press, New York.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Are By-Products Bad?
I asked Dr. R.L. Wysong, DVM. Founder and owner of Wysong* “We read all the time that by-products as a pet food ingredient should be avoided. Yet, while looking at nature, how and what wild carnivores are eating, I somehow cannot help it to think that such advise is not appropriate.” Here is how the Doctor replied:
“From a nutritional as well as ethical standpoint, the benefits of incorporating by-products into pet foods cannot be denied. The Whole Dog Journal advises pet owners to reject any by-products and instead seek “whole meats.” This demonstrates their lack of understanding of the nutritional merits of the various parts of food animals. Whole Dog and others in the pet food marketplace pushing the "no by-products" claim seem unaware of the fact that “by-product” is a mere word invention. It creates a negative connotation, but has nothing to do with health or nutrition. Pet health and nutrition are not about superficial impressions created by word labels. Feeding just muscle meats to pets is a serious error since no carnivore in the wild eats such a diet. If they did, they would become diseased from doing so. (Wysong Call of the Wild is a supplement designed to balance a fresh meat diet, and provide those vital food elements lacking in a strictly fresh meat diet.) In fact, carnivores often prefer the non-muscle meat parts of their prey that are labeled “by-products.” Critics of by-products evidently feel food animals have no inherent merit and that they should be raised, slaughtered, and then everything but their “prime meat” should go to a landfill.In a similar vein, there are claims about “USDA approved” ingredients, “human grade” ingredients, and ingredients purchased "right out of the meat counter at the grocery store." Again, at first glance - and superficiality is what marketers often like to deal with - it may seem that such foods would have merit over others. But such labels only create a perception of quality. People would not consider the food pets are designed for in the wild - whole, raw prey and carrion - “human grade” or “USDA approved.” Just because something is not “human grade” does not mean it is not healthy or nutritious. For example, chicken viscera is not “human grade,” but carries more nutritional value than a clean white chicken breast. Americans think that chicken feet would not be fit for human consumption, but many far eastern countries relish them. On the other hand, “human grade” beef steaks fed to pets could cause serious nutritional imbalances and disease if fed exclusively. Pet foods that create the superficial perception of quality (no by-products, USDA, human grade, etc.) with the intent of getting pet owners to feed a particular food exclusively is not what pet health is about. There are also the larger concerns of the Earth’s dwindling food resources and swelling population. Should “human grade” food products be, so to speak, taken out of the mouths of people and fed to pets with all of the excellent nutritional non-“human grade” ingredients put in the garbage? Think about the humane aspect of converting all pet food to “human grade.” Millions of tons of pet foods are produced each year. Should cows, pigs, sheep, fish, chickens and other sentient creatures be raised and slaughtered for these foods? Or should the perfectly good and nutritious by-products from human meat processing be used rather than wasted? Why would caring and sensitive pet owners want other creatures, that are themselves capable of being pets, needlessly raised in factory farm confinement and slaughtered when alternative sources of excellent nutrition from animals that have already been slaughtered are available?“By-products” are not used in Wysong products as a cheap protein source, a "filler," to minimize production costs, or to maximize profit. Rather, Wysong looks to nature to dictate what should be fed to pet companions to achieve their optimal health. This is why the very nutritionally beneficial trimmings, organs, and viscera are incorporated into Wysong cat foods and dog foods in addition to human grade fresh meats. “
Thank you Doctor. What you said makes a lot of sense to me. Especially the by-product utilization in order to achieve an animal’s optimal health. I think the problem stems from the fact that too many pet owners have heard about and experienced too many bad incidents where pet food manufacturer’s greed took priority over anything else. There are quite a few manufacturers already who just like you realize that our companion’s health should have priority over a pet food manufacturer’s profit concerns and needs. And just like your company, these companies realize that doing the right thing doesn’t mean a company cannot survive. As a matter of fact, interesting enough, many of them are doing pretty good. Though probably not good enough to be a Wallstreet traded, greed driven player in the market. To you and all of them, thank you from all of us concerned pet owners and our pets, keep up the great work.
*Wysong is a scientific company located in Midland, Michigan and focused on making a difference. For over twenty-five years lead by principles Wysong has helped people achieve better health for their pets with competent and honest information and products. Wysong's premium, natural and organic health products and information provided related hereto are the result of tens of thousands of hours in research and development spanning more than thirty years. Wysong sees business as a place of trust, fiduciary responsibility, and conscience. Many of the “natural” changes you see in the market were begun right at Wysong.Wysong was originated by and is presently led by health professionals who have come to see that nature is the ultimate origin of health. They believe their purpose is to help people take control of their pet's health destiny. Wysong products and especially the information provided and related hereto, make it easy to provide for a healthy pet. They fit because true health comes from an informed mind. Whether you want your pet to lose weight, explore an alternative therapy, or simply find a healthy diet, you are on the right track with Wysong
“From a nutritional as well as ethical standpoint, the benefits of incorporating by-products into pet foods cannot be denied. The Whole Dog Journal advises pet owners to reject any by-products and instead seek “whole meats.” This demonstrates their lack of understanding of the nutritional merits of the various parts of food animals. Whole Dog and others in the pet food marketplace pushing the "no by-products" claim seem unaware of the fact that “by-product” is a mere word invention. It creates a negative connotation, but has nothing to do with health or nutrition. Pet health and nutrition are not about superficial impressions created by word labels. Feeding just muscle meats to pets is a serious error since no carnivore in the wild eats such a diet. If they did, they would become diseased from doing so. (Wysong Call of the Wild is a supplement designed to balance a fresh meat diet, and provide those vital food elements lacking in a strictly fresh meat diet.) In fact, carnivores often prefer the non-muscle meat parts of their prey that are labeled “by-products.” Critics of by-products evidently feel food animals have no inherent merit and that they should be raised, slaughtered, and then everything but their “prime meat” should go to a landfill.In a similar vein, there are claims about “USDA approved” ingredients, “human grade” ingredients, and ingredients purchased "right out of the meat counter at the grocery store." Again, at first glance - and superficiality is what marketers often like to deal with - it may seem that such foods would have merit over others. But such labels only create a perception of quality. People would not consider the food pets are designed for in the wild - whole, raw prey and carrion - “human grade” or “USDA approved.” Just because something is not “human grade” does not mean it is not healthy or nutritious. For example, chicken viscera is not “human grade,” but carries more nutritional value than a clean white chicken breast. Americans think that chicken feet would not be fit for human consumption, but many far eastern countries relish them. On the other hand, “human grade” beef steaks fed to pets could cause serious nutritional imbalances and disease if fed exclusively. Pet foods that create the superficial perception of quality (no by-products, USDA, human grade, etc.) with the intent of getting pet owners to feed a particular food exclusively is not what pet health is about. There are also the larger concerns of the Earth’s dwindling food resources and swelling population. Should “human grade” food products be, so to speak, taken out of the mouths of people and fed to pets with all of the excellent nutritional non-“human grade” ingredients put in the garbage? Think about the humane aspect of converting all pet food to “human grade.” Millions of tons of pet foods are produced each year. Should cows, pigs, sheep, fish, chickens and other sentient creatures be raised and slaughtered for these foods? Or should the perfectly good and nutritious by-products from human meat processing be used rather than wasted? Why would caring and sensitive pet owners want other creatures, that are themselves capable of being pets, needlessly raised in factory farm confinement and slaughtered when alternative sources of excellent nutrition from animals that have already been slaughtered are available?“By-products” are not used in Wysong products as a cheap protein source, a "filler," to minimize production costs, or to maximize profit. Rather, Wysong looks to nature to dictate what should be fed to pet companions to achieve their optimal health. This is why the very nutritionally beneficial trimmings, organs, and viscera are incorporated into Wysong cat foods and dog foods in addition to human grade fresh meats. “
Thank you Doctor. What you said makes a lot of sense to me. Especially the by-product utilization in order to achieve an animal’s optimal health. I think the problem stems from the fact that too many pet owners have heard about and experienced too many bad incidents where pet food manufacturer’s greed took priority over anything else. There are quite a few manufacturers already who just like you realize that our companion’s health should have priority over a pet food manufacturer’s profit concerns and needs. And just like your company, these companies realize that doing the right thing doesn’t mean a company cannot survive. As a matter of fact, interesting enough, many of them are doing pretty good. Though probably not good enough to be a Wallstreet traded, greed driven player in the market. To you and all of them, thank you from all of us concerned pet owners and our pets, keep up the great work.
*Wysong is a scientific company located in Midland, Michigan and focused on making a difference. For over twenty-five years lead by principles Wysong has helped people achieve better health for their pets with competent and honest information and products. Wysong's premium, natural and organic health products and information provided related hereto are the result of tens of thousands of hours in research and development spanning more than thirty years. Wysong sees business as a place of trust, fiduciary responsibility, and conscience. Many of the “natural” changes you see in the market were begun right at Wysong.Wysong was originated by and is presently led by health professionals who have come to see that nature is the ultimate origin of health. They believe their purpose is to help people take control of their pet's health destiny. Wysong products and especially the information provided and related hereto, make it easy to provide for a healthy pet. They fit because true health comes from an informed mind. Whether you want your pet to lose weight, explore an alternative therapy, or simply find a healthy diet, you are on the right track with Wysong
Friday, June 19, 2009
Veterinarian on What a vet should recommend: Small Animals Benefit on Whole Foods Diet
Reading the Veterinarian Practice News I recently came across the following interesting article written by Doug Knueven, DVM and thought I need to share it with you:
“I returned to my alma mater, Ohio State University, in May 2007 to attend an American College of Veterinary Nutrition symposium. Three veterinary nutritionists spoke on such topics as “Optimal Nutrition for the Healthy Pet,” “Nutrition Myths and Mistakes,” “Raw Food Diets” and “Home-Cooked Meals: Avoiding a Dining Disaster.”
Advice from Dr. Tony Buffington, the nutritionist at Ohio State, made the biggest impression on me. He said that when making a judgment on what food to recommend, the practitioner should not rely on pet food brochures, websites or even the food labels themselves because all these resources can be misleading.
He recommended that we take a careful diet history of each patient we see and make note of its general health. Only by correlating health with diet can a veterinarian truly judge the nutritional value of a food. I have made a startling discovery based on this sound expert advice: The healthiest pets in my practice eat a variety of “real” foods, including raw diets.
By real foods, I mean the kind of food Mother Nature intended carnivores to eat–the diet our patients evolved eating for 5 million years.
Imagine if after your exam, your doctor plopped a bag of kibble on the table and told you that you were to only eat a bowl of it for every meal, every day, for the rest of your life. No fruits, no vegetables, no meats. Surely you would be skeptical of the nutritional completeness of such a recommendation.
Yet many of us make this same recommendation for our patients every day. Are the basic tenets of nutrition for our patients and us really that different? According to research and my clinical experience, they are not.
A recent study highlights the importance of whole food nutrition for people: “There are 8,000 phytochemicals present in whole foods. These compounds differ in molecular size, polarity and solubility, and these differences may affect the bioavailability and distribution of each phytochemical in different macromolecules, subcellular organelles, cells, organs and tissues. … The vitamin C in apples with skin accounts for only 0.4 percent of the total antioxidant activity, suggesting that most of the antioxidant activity of fruit and vegetables may come from phenolics and flavonoids. … We propose that the additive and synergistic effects of phytochemicals in fruit and vegetables are responsible for their potent antioxidant and anticancer activities, and that the benefit of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables is attributed to the complex mixture of phytochemicals present in whole foods.”(1) Likewise, current veterinary research shows the health benefits of whole foods for dogs: “The data indicate that the consumption of any type of vegetable > three times a week was associated with a 70 percent to 90 percent reduction in risk of developing TCC in Scottish Terriers.”(2)
Of course, a totally vegetarian diet is far from appropriate for dogs and cats, but the concept that they benefit from whole foods is obvious. In fact, the modern understanding of small-animal nutrition concedes that supplementing commercial foods with fresh foods, including meats and vegetables, provides vital nutrients.(3) The emphasis here is on “whole foods” because, according to multiple studies, the processing of food destroys many nutrients and important phytochemicals.(4-10)
Variety is not only the spice of life, it is essential for vibrant health for humans and pets alike. Animals may become sensitive to the foods they are fed most often, so periodically changing the diet can help pets avoid food allergies. Plus, rotating foods presents to the body a smorgasbord of nutrients in various forms.
Any one diet may be lacking or excessive in specific factors when fed long term. According to Dr. Buffington, “The recommendation to feed one food for the life of an animal gives nutritionists more credit than we deserve.”(11) The notion of finding a food that a pet likes and feeding it for life is obsolete.
I have found that when an animal’s system becomes accustomed to variety in the diet, it does not develop diarrhea with every change as might be expected. At first the changes need to be made gradually, but over time a smooth transition can be made swiftly.
Over a decade of recommending raw food for many of my patients and feeding it to my own pets, I have found that the concern over pathogenic bacteria and parasites is overblown.
I see many fewer cases of diarrhea in my raw-fed patients than in those fed strictly processed pet food. In my experience, dogs and cats fed a rotating diet that includes raw food are the healthiest. Careful and non-judgmental questioning of your clients might just yield the same results.”
To further strengthen his argument for a raw food diet, Dr. Knueven also provides a brief history of a live example, a patient he treated at his office:
“Louie was a neutered, male Newfoundland mix who came to me at the age of about 3 years with a terrible case of generalized demodicosis. He also had severe pruritus.
Before coming to me, Louie had been treated with several rounds of antibiotics as well as Ivermectin and at one point prednisone, all to no avail.
Louie had generalized alopecia and scabs and scales all over his body. His skin reeked of the typical rancid-fat smell of chronic dermatitis. He could barely open his eyes from the blepharitis. A skin scraping confirmed demodicosis.
Let’s face it, when it come to demodex, the problem is not the mites; it’s the pet’s immune system. The course of action was simple; I switched him from a standard processed dog food to a raw food rotational diet plus a whole food multivitamin. At no time under my care was he on any antiparasitic medications.
Louie did not recover overnight. It took about a year for his transformation to fully manifest. “
Contribution by Dr. Doug Knueven, D.V.M. has been practicing alternative veterinary medicine since 1993 in Beaver County, Pa. He just released his second book, “The Holistic Health Guide: Natural Care for the Whole Dog.” He is a consultant for Nature’s Variety.
Foot notes/references:
1. Liu H.R., “Health benefits of fruit and vegetables are from additive and synergistic combinations of phytochemicals.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003; Vol. 78, No. 3, 517S-520S2. Raghavan M., et al, “Evaluation of the effect of dietary vegetable consumption on reducing risk of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder in Scottish Terriers.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2005; Vol. 227, 94-1003. Remillard R.L., Paragon B.M., Crane S.W., et al: “Making pet foods at home,” in Hand M.S., Thatcher C.D., Remillard R.L., Roudebush P.(eds): Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, ed 4. Topeka, Kan., Mark Morris Institute, Walsworth Publishing Co., 2000; 163–182.4. Angelino P.D., et al, “Residual alkaline phosphatase activity in pasteurized milk heated at various temperatures-measurement with the fluorophos and Scharer rapid phosphatase tests.” Journal of Food Protection, 1999; 62(1):81-855. Severi S., et al, “Effects of home-based food preparation practices on micronutrient content of foods,” European Journal of Cancer Prevention, 1998; 7(4): 331-335 6. Yadav S.K. and Sehgal S., “Effect of home processing on ascorbic acid and beta-carotine content of spinach (Spinacia oleracia) and amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor) leaves,” Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 1995; 47(2): 125-1317. Dawson D. and Waters H.M., “Malnutrition: folate and cobalamin deficiency,” British Journal of Biomedical Science, 1994; 51(3): 221-1308. Schroeder H.A., “Losses of vitamins and trace minerals resulting from processing and preservation of foods,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1971; 24(5), 562-5739. Garrison and Somer, “The Nutrition Desk Reference,” Keats Publishing, 1995; 66-14510. Ghebremeskel K. and Crawford M.A., “Nutrition and health in relation to food production and processing,” Nutritional Health 1994; 9(4) 237-25311. Smith C.A., “Changes and Challenges in Feline Nutrition,” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 1993; Vol. 203, 1395-1400
“I returned to my alma mater, Ohio State University, in May 2007 to attend an American College of Veterinary Nutrition symposium. Three veterinary nutritionists spoke on such topics as “Optimal Nutrition for the Healthy Pet,” “Nutrition Myths and Mistakes,” “Raw Food Diets” and “Home-Cooked Meals: Avoiding a Dining Disaster.”
Advice from Dr. Tony Buffington, the nutritionist at Ohio State, made the biggest impression on me. He said that when making a judgment on what food to recommend, the practitioner should not rely on pet food brochures, websites or even the food labels themselves because all these resources can be misleading.
He recommended that we take a careful diet history of each patient we see and make note of its general health. Only by correlating health with diet can a veterinarian truly judge the nutritional value of a food. I have made a startling discovery based on this sound expert advice: The healthiest pets in my practice eat a variety of “real” foods, including raw diets.
By real foods, I mean the kind of food Mother Nature intended carnivores to eat–the diet our patients evolved eating for 5 million years.
Imagine if after your exam, your doctor plopped a bag of kibble on the table and told you that you were to only eat a bowl of it for every meal, every day, for the rest of your life. No fruits, no vegetables, no meats. Surely you would be skeptical of the nutritional completeness of such a recommendation.
Yet many of us make this same recommendation for our patients every day. Are the basic tenets of nutrition for our patients and us really that different? According to research and my clinical experience, they are not.
A recent study highlights the importance of whole food nutrition for people: “There are 8,000 phytochemicals present in whole foods. These compounds differ in molecular size, polarity and solubility, and these differences may affect the bioavailability and distribution of each phytochemical in different macromolecules, subcellular organelles, cells, organs and tissues. … The vitamin C in apples with skin accounts for only 0.4 percent of the total antioxidant activity, suggesting that most of the antioxidant activity of fruit and vegetables may come from phenolics and flavonoids. … We propose that the additive and synergistic effects of phytochemicals in fruit and vegetables are responsible for their potent antioxidant and anticancer activities, and that the benefit of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables is attributed to the complex mixture of phytochemicals present in whole foods.”(1) Likewise, current veterinary research shows the health benefits of whole foods for dogs: “The data indicate that the consumption of any type of vegetable > three times a week was associated with a 70 percent to 90 percent reduction in risk of developing TCC in Scottish Terriers.”(2)
Of course, a totally vegetarian diet is far from appropriate for dogs and cats, but the concept that they benefit from whole foods is obvious. In fact, the modern understanding of small-animal nutrition concedes that supplementing commercial foods with fresh foods, including meats and vegetables, provides vital nutrients.(3) The emphasis here is on “whole foods” because, according to multiple studies, the processing of food destroys many nutrients and important phytochemicals.(4-10)
Variety is not only the spice of life, it is essential for vibrant health for humans and pets alike. Animals may become sensitive to the foods they are fed most often, so periodically changing the diet can help pets avoid food allergies. Plus, rotating foods presents to the body a smorgasbord of nutrients in various forms.
Any one diet may be lacking or excessive in specific factors when fed long term. According to Dr. Buffington, “The recommendation to feed one food for the life of an animal gives nutritionists more credit than we deserve.”(11) The notion of finding a food that a pet likes and feeding it for life is obsolete.
I have found that when an animal’s system becomes accustomed to variety in the diet, it does not develop diarrhea with every change as might be expected. At first the changes need to be made gradually, but over time a smooth transition can be made swiftly.
Over a decade of recommending raw food for many of my patients and feeding it to my own pets, I have found that the concern over pathogenic bacteria and parasites is overblown.
I see many fewer cases of diarrhea in my raw-fed patients than in those fed strictly processed pet food. In my experience, dogs and cats fed a rotating diet that includes raw food are the healthiest. Careful and non-judgmental questioning of your clients might just yield the same results.”
To further strengthen his argument for a raw food diet, Dr. Knueven also provides a brief history of a live example, a patient he treated at his office:
“Louie was a neutered, male Newfoundland mix who came to me at the age of about 3 years with a terrible case of generalized demodicosis. He also had severe pruritus.
Before coming to me, Louie had been treated with several rounds of antibiotics as well as Ivermectin and at one point prednisone, all to no avail.
Louie had generalized alopecia and scabs and scales all over his body. His skin reeked of the typical rancid-fat smell of chronic dermatitis. He could barely open his eyes from the blepharitis. A skin scraping confirmed demodicosis.
Let’s face it, when it come to demodex, the problem is not the mites; it’s the pet’s immune system. The course of action was simple; I switched him from a standard processed dog food to a raw food rotational diet plus a whole food multivitamin. At no time under my care was he on any antiparasitic medications.
Louie did not recover overnight. It took about a year for his transformation to fully manifest. “
Contribution by Dr. Doug Knueven, D.V.M. has been practicing alternative veterinary medicine since 1993 in Beaver County, Pa. He just released his second book, “The Holistic Health Guide: Natural Care for the Whole Dog.” He is a consultant for Nature’s Variety.
Foot notes/references:
1. Liu H.R., “Health benefits of fruit and vegetables are from additive and synergistic combinations of phytochemicals.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003; Vol. 78, No. 3, 517S-520S2. Raghavan M., et al, “Evaluation of the effect of dietary vegetable consumption on reducing risk of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder in Scottish Terriers.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2005; Vol. 227, 94-1003. Remillard R.L., Paragon B.M., Crane S.W., et al: “Making pet foods at home,” in Hand M.S., Thatcher C.D., Remillard R.L., Roudebush P.(eds): Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, ed 4. Topeka, Kan., Mark Morris Institute, Walsworth Publishing Co., 2000; 163–182.4. Angelino P.D., et al, “Residual alkaline phosphatase activity in pasteurized milk heated at various temperatures-measurement with the fluorophos and Scharer rapid phosphatase tests.” Journal of Food Protection, 1999; 62(1):81-855. Severi S., et al, “Effects of home-based food preparation practices on micronutrient content of foods,” European Journal of Cancer Prevention, 1998; 7(4): 331-335 6. Yadav S.K. and Sehgal S., “Effect of home processing on ascorbic acid and beta-carotine content of spinach (Spinacia oleracia) and amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor) leaves,” Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 1995; 47(2): 125-1317. Dawson D. and Waters H.M., “Malnutrition: folate and cobalamin deficiency,” British Journal of Biomedical Science, 1994; 51(3): 221-1308. Schroeder H.A., “Losses of vitamins and trace minerals resulting from processing and preservation of foods,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1971; 24(5), 562-5739. Garrison and Somer, “The Nutrition Desk Reference,” Keats Publishing, 1995; 66-14510. Ghebremeskel K. and Crawford M.A., “Nutrition and health in relation to food production and processing,” Nutritional Health 1994; 9(4) 237-25311. Smith C.A., “Changes and Challenges in Feline Nutrition,” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 1993; Vol. 203, 1395-1400
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Travelling and nutritional needs
With the summer having arrived, the number of activities involving our pets, one of them being travelling, has increased as well. Dogs typically enjoy travelling to the highest degree.
With new sights and smells, travel can be both exciting and overwhelming for us pets. Going into “foreign territories” is stressful at times even for well adjusted pets and can lead to drastic appetite changes. Animals are instinctively cautious about eating in unfamiliar surroundings and this lack of appetite cannot only affect bowel movements and energy levels, but even a pet’s overall health. For your peace of mind and your pet’s comfort, preparation is the key in traveling.
In times of high stress, hormones produced by the body can give animals poor appetites. So eating for calories is often the main nutritional focus. Make every bite count and travel armed with a tasty diet of foods that are just too good for a pet to pass up. Ideally this would be the pet’s normal diet to minimize any other stressful changes. But if that doesn’t work, the following suggestions might come in handy:
Foods that are higher in protein and fat are generally more palatable than foods higher in carbohydrates. Therefore, selecting a high protein and low carbohydrate food is a simple solution. For many brands, carbohydrate levels are not typically listed on packaging, but they can be easily calculated by adding all the percentages for protein, fat, moisture, crude fiber and (if available) ash and subtracting the total from 100%. The remainder is an approximation of the percent of carbohydrate in the food. Dry foods with less than 18% carbohydrates for dogs and 12% for cats would be considered low in carbohydrates. Canned dog and cat food with less than 2% carbohydrates would be considered lower in carbohydrates. Increasing fat and protein also allows us pets to get more calories per bite of food and helps boost our immune systems.
Hydration is also imperative for travelling pets to avoid overheating. One way to keep a pet hydrated is to provide frequent access to fresh, cool water. Another convenient way to help with hydration is to feed canned food. The greater water content in canned food, up to seven times as much as in dry food, can help to meet our water needs. In addition, canned wet food to some of us is just more tempting than dry foods.
Providing treats at different points on a trip is another great way to reassure pets and letting them know that travelling is fun. Selecting treats that are easily stored and that come in a variety of shapes and flavors can make giving treats both easy for you and enjoyable for your pets.
In the end, the more comfortable and satisfied we pets are during a trip, the more enjoyable the entire experience will be for everybody.
With new sights and smells, travel can be both exciting and overwhelming for us pets. Going into “foreign territories” is stressful at times even for well adjusted pets and can lead to drastic appetite changes. Animals are instinctively cautious about eating in unfamiliar surroundings and this lack of appetite cannot only affect bowel movements and energy levels, but even a pet’s overall health. For your peace of mind and your pet’s comfort, preparation is the key in traveling.
In times of high stress, hormones produced by the body can give animals poor appetites. So eating for calories is often the main nutritional focus. Make every bite count and travel armed with a tasty diet of foods that are just too good for a pet to pass up. Ideally this would be the pet’s normal diet to minimize any other stressful changes. But if that doesn’t work, the following suggestions might come in handy:
Foods that are higher in protein and fat are generally more palatable than foods higher in carbohydrates. Therefore, selecting a high protein and low carbohydrate food is a simple solution. For many brands, carbohydrate levels are not typically listed on packaging, but they can be easily calculated by adding all the percentages for protein, fat, moisture, crude fiber and (if available) ash and subtracting the total from 100%. The remainder is an approximation of the percent of carbohydrate in the food. Dry foods with less than 18% carbohydrates for dogs and 12% for cats would be considered low in carbohydrates. Canned dog and cat food with less than 2% carbohydrates would be considered lower in carbohydrates. Increasing fat and protein also allows us pets to get more calories per bite of food and helps boost our immune systems.
Hydration is also imperative for travelling pets to avoid overheating. One way to keep a pet hydrated is to provide frequent access to fresh, cool water. Another convenient way to help with hydration is to feed canned food. The greater water content in canned food, up to seven times as much as in dry food, can help to meet our water needs. In addition, canned wet food to some of us is just more tempting than dry foods.
Providing treats at different points on a trip is another great way to reassure pets and letting them know that travelling is fun. Selecting treats that are easily stored and that come in a variety of shapes and flavors can make giving treats both easy for you and enjoyable for your pets.
In the end, the more comfortable and satisfied we pets are during a trip, the more enjoyable the entire experience will be for everybody.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Pet nutrition in Layman’s terms: Part 1 Nutrients and Protein
Does the food I’m providing meet my pet’s nutritional needs? As our knowledge of the relationship between diet and health continues to advance and as the range of foods available for our pets continues to expand, it’s more important than ever to base feeding choices on good information. This information can come from various sources. For example from “Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats”, a technical report issued by the National Research Council as part of its Animal Nutrition Series. The Food and Drug Administration relies on information in the report to regulate and ensure the safety of pet foods (Or better: is supposed to ensure, as we all know too well, pet food isn’t always safe). Scientists who study the nutritional needs of animals use the Animal Nutrition Series to guide future research. The series is also used by animal owners, caretakers, and veterinarians to develop specialized diets for individual animals.
To provide good information is one of my goals with this blog. At numerous times I have published on this blog comments and articles about pet nutrition in general. The problem is that many of those articles sometimes get very technical and can be confusing to some of us, others again maybe based on opinions or written for a certain purpose, like for example in order to sell a certain type or brand of food. What I have been missing is simple explanations, kind of written in Layman’s terms and understandable for everybody, easy to read and short and quickly getting to the bottom of things. That was until now when recently, while doing my daily research work, I came across a course, which I decided to publish here with slight modifications. The site itself looks to me like it has not been maintained for quite a while, the last time its copyright notice was updated was in 2005 and many parts of the site are no longer accessible or corrupted. We don’t have to worry about the age of the info, nothing has changed about the basics. The Australian pet food manufacturer Advance created the self study course in cooperation with the Waltham Centre for Pet Care and Nutrition. Waltham, since 1965 has contributed to the advancement of global knowledge on nutrition for companion animals and now has over 600 research and development personnel all over the world. They continuously study in detail the nutrition and behavior of companion animals in a non invasive environment. Their studies cover many specialist areas including veterinary medicine, dietetics, biochemistry, animal behavioral science and breeding science. While this initially all sounded too science oriented to me, it turned out they came up with a pretty cool “crash course” and I decided to share what I was able to salvage here on this blog. As a result I hope I will be able to come up with a simple series designed for those of you who want to learn more about pet nutrition. A series suitable for breeders, vet nurses, pet store retailers, animal trainers or any pet owner who simply wants to learn more about feeding their dog or cat. Today let’s get started with Nutrients and Protein.
Nutrients
Our companion animals, just like we pet owners or as a matter of fact any living creature require food in order to grow, stay alive and live healthy. Food can be defined as either solid or liquid. When ingested, food supplies any or all of the following: Energy providing materials used by the body to produce movement, heat or other forms of energy, material for growth, repair or reproduction and substances necessary to initiate or regulate the processes involved in the aforementioned categories.
The components of food, which have these functions are called nutrients. The food ingested is commonly referred to as diet. Nutrients, which are required by an animal and cannot be synthesized in the animal’s body are called essential nutrients and must be provided for the body via dietary sources, i.e. food.
Diets containing no essential nutrients at all or only in insufficient quantity are considered inadequate. Feeding inadequate diets long term can and will most likely result in suboptimal performance or even in disease.
This series will take a closer look at the basic nutrients, their structure and their functions within the animal’s body. Today we are getting started with Protein.
What is protein? Proteins are very large molecules made up of hundreds of simple, single units called amino acids, bound together by peptide bonds. A wide variety of different proteins are found in nature, with each made up of strings of hundreds or thousands of amino acids, like the beads in a necklace. There are only about 20 amino acids typically found in proteins, but these may be arranged in any combination to give an almost infinite variety of proteins, each with its own characteristic properties. Functions of proteinAll animals need protein in their diet. Proteins are essential components of all living cells where they have several important functions including regulation of metabolism as enzymes and some hormones and a structural role in cell walls and muscle fiber. Protein is continually being lost in feces, hair, skin and sweat, so there is a constant turnover of protein in the body, even in adults. Of course a growing body needs large amounts of protein for building new tissues. Additional protein is required during periods of growth, pregnancy, lactation and for repair of damaged tissue, such as wound healing. Protein is essential for the body's defenses against disease, including the formation of antibodies. Proteins are also a source of energy in the diet. A Cat's and dog's coat is made primarily of protein. Protein is required for the normal growth of hair and epidermal cells, for skin pigmentation and for sebum production. In a dog, this may account for an amazing over one quarter of the daily protein requirement. Essential and non essential amino acidsAmino acids are classified as either essential or non essential. Essential amino acids cannot be synthesized by the body in sufficient amounts and must, therefore, be provided in the diet. Non essential amino acids are equally important as components of body proteins, but they can be synthesized from excesses of certain other dietary amino acids or other sources of dietary nitrogen. The amino acid profile of a protein determines the proportion of essential and non essential amino acids. Animal proteins generally have a more balanced amino acid profile, with a greater proportion of essential amino acids, and better digestibility than plant proteins. As a general rule, the more egg, fish, poultry and meat protein a food contains, the better it meets the animal's needs for amino acids. This does not mean that pets should be fed entirely on meat, milk and eggs, but the diet should be carefully balanced with amino acids if cereals form a large part of the diet.Protein quality
It all comes down to this simple formula: Amino Acid Profile + Digestibility = Protein Quality Not all the nutrients in food can be digested and absorbed, so the amount of protein an animal needs in its diet also depends on how easily it is digested by the animal. Digestibility is a measure of the how efficiently the nutrients in a food are digested and absorbed into the body. The digestibility of proteins varies from 50 to 95%. This means that between 5 and 50% of protein in food remains undigested and is not available to the animal. Plant proteins generally have lower digestibility than animal proteins. The protein in high quality pet foods usually has a digestibility of over 75%. However over processing of prepared pet foods can reduce their digestibility. The protein cycleWhen foods containing protein are eaten and digested, the amino acid necklace is progressively cut into smaller pieces by specific digestive enzymes in the gut, until eventually the whole structure has been dismantled either into single beads or pairs of beads called peptides. Protein can only be absorbed from the gut into the bloodstream in this simple form. Once absorbed into the bloodstream, most of the beads are taken in by the body's cells and reassembled in a different order to build the protein structures which the body needs e.g. hair protein or muscle tissue. Therefore after a dog digests a meal containing beef protein, the components of the protein are pulled completely apart and rebuilt into new dog proteins, leaving no trace of the original beef protein in the dog's body. The urea cycleExcess protein is not stored in the body. Instead the left over protein is used to produce energy in a system known as the urea cycle. This process creates a waste product called urea, which must be eliminated from the body via the kidneys. Unlike fats and carbohydrates, proteins contain nitrogen molecules, and urea is one of the few safe forms in which nitrogen can be eliminated from the body. Protein deficiencyProtein deficiency can result from either insufficient protein in the diet or from a shortage of particular amino acids. Signs of protein deficiency include poor growth or weight loss, rough and dull hair coat, anorexia, increased susceptibility to disease, muscle wasting and emaciation, oedema and finally death. Deficiency of a single essential amino acid results in anorexia and subsequent negative nitrogen balance. Protein excessDietary protein in excess of the body's requirements is not laid down as muscle but is, instead, converted to fat and stored as adipose tissue or fat. Feeding excess protein is a relatively inefficient and expensive source of energy in the diet. Concluding key points: Protein is an essential component of the body: Tissues and body fluids, hormones, enzymes and anti bodies. The arrangement, sequence and proportion of amino acids in each protein give it unique properties. There are about 20 different types of amino acids, of which 10 are essential, since they cannot be made in sufficient quantity in the body. Protein quality is a function of the protein source and its digestibility. Excess protein is not stored, but broken down to produce energy in the urea cycle. Protein deficiency causes poor growth, lack of appetite, loss of coat condition and impaired immune function.
How does it all relate to our pets?
Dogs cannot survive without protein in their diets. Dietary protein contains 10 specific amino acids that dogs cannot make on their own. Known as essential amino acids, they provide the building blocks for many important biologically active compounds and proteins. In addition, they donate the carbon chains needed to make glucose for energy. High quality proteins have a good balance of all of the essential amino acids. Studies show that dogs can tell when their food lacks a single amino acid and will avoid such a meal. Dogs are known to selectively choose foods that are high in protein. Whether this is simply a matter of taste or a complex response to their biological needs for all 10 essential amino acids is not known. However, dogs can survive on
a vegetarian diet as long as it contains sufficient protein and is supplemented with vitamin D.
As carnivorous animals, cats derive most of their protein from meat, fish, and other animal products. Some animal-based protein is easier to digest than plant based protein and is better suited to the cat’s digestive system. Dietary protein contains 10 specific amino acids that neither cats nor dogs can make on their own. Known as essential amino acids, they provide the building blocks for many important biologically active compounds and proteins. In addition, they provide the carbon chains needed to make glucose for energy. High quality proteins have a good balance of all of the essential amino acids. Deficiencies of single essential amino acids can lead to serious health problems. Arginine, for example, is critical to the removal of ammonia from the body through urine. Without sufficient arginine in the diet, cats may suffer from a toxic buildup of ammonia in the bloodstream. Although not the case for dogs, the amino acid taurine is a dietary essential for cats. Taurine deficiency in cats causes a host of metabolic and clinical problems, including feline central retinal degeneration and blindness, deafness, cardiomyopathy and heart failure, inadequate immune response, poor neonatal growth, reproductive failure, and congenital defects. Found abundantly in many fish, birds, and small rodents, taurine is either absent or present only in trace amounts in plants. Strict vegetarian diets are not appropriate for cats
unless supplemented with nutrients essential for cats that are not found in plants.
Protein requirements for pets:
Are usually expressed in grams. For example, a kitten weighing 1.8 lbs requires 10 grams, an adult cat weighing 9 lbs 12.5 grams and a nursing cat mom weighing 9 lbs having 4 kittens needs 41 grams of protein daily. A 12 lbs puppy, expected to weigh 33 lbs at maturity needs 56 grams, a mature dog weighing 33 lbs needs 25 grams, a pregnant bitch regularly weighing 33 lbs and expecting 6 puppies 69 grams and a 33 lbs nursing mother with 6 puppies needs, yes, 158 grams of protein daily.
Figuring Grams of Essential Nutrients from Pet food labels
Pet food labels generally do not list amounts of essential nutrients in grams. However, all pet food labels must state guarantees for the minimum percentages of crude (referring to the specific method of testing the product, not to the quality of the nutrient itself) protein and crude fat, and the maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture. To convert these percentages to grams, simply multiply the crude percentages times the weight of your pet’s daily portion. For example, if you feed your cat one 6-oz (170-gram) can of food per day, and the food contains 8% crude protein, the grams of protein would be 0.08 x 170 =13.6 grams.
Note: For weight conversions use these conversion tools
Sources:
Advance Pet Foods
Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats, National Academies Press
To provide good information is one of my goals with this blog. At numerous times I have published on this blog comments and articles about pet nutrition in general. The problem is that many of those articles sometimes get very technical and can be confusing to some of us, others again maybe based on opinions or written for a certain purpose, like for example in order to sell a certain type or brand of food. What I have been missing is simple explanations, kind of written in Layman’s terms and understandable for everybody, easy to read and short and quickly getting to the bottom of things. That was until now when recently, while doing my daily research work, I came across a course, which I decided to publish here with slight modifications. The site itself looks to me like it has not been maintained for quite a while, the last time its copyright notice was updated was in 2005 and many parts of the site are no longer accessible or corrupted. We don’t have to worry about the age of the info, nothing has changed about the basics. The Australian pet food manufacturer Advance created the self study course in cooperation with the Waltham Centre for Pet Care and Nutrition. Waltham, since 1965 has contributed to the advancement of global knowledge on nutrition for companion animals and now has over 600 research and development personnel all over the world. They continuously study in detail the nutrition and behavior of companion animals in a non invasive environment. Their studies cover many specialist areas including veterinary medicine, dietetics, biochemistry, animal behavioral science and breeding science. While this initially all sounded too science oriented to me, it turned out they came up with a pretty cool “crash course” and I decided to share what I was able to salvage here on this blog. As a result I hope I will be able to come up with a simple series designed for those of you who want to learn more about pet nutrition. A series suitable for breeders, vet nurses, pet store retailers, animal trainers or any pet owner who simply wants to learn more about feeding their dog or cat. Today let’s get started with Nutrients and Protein.
Nutrients
Our companion animals, just like we pet owners or as a matter of fact any living creature require food in order to grow, stay alive and live healthy. Food can be defined as either solid or liquid. When ingested, food supplies any or all of the following: Energy providing materials used by the body to produce movement, heat or other forms of energy, material for growth, repair or reproduction and substances necessary to initiate or regulate the processes involved in the aforementioned categories.
The components of food, which have these functions are called nutrients. The food ingested is commonly referred to as diet. Nutrients, which are required by an animal and cannot be synthesized in the animal’s body are called essential nutrients and must be provided for the body via dietary sources, i.e. food.
Diets containing no essential nutrients at all or only in insufficient quantity are considered inadequate. Feeding inadequate diets long term can and will most likely result in suboptimal performance or even in disease.
This series will take a closer look at the basic nutrients, their structure and their functions within the animal’s body. Today we are getting started with Protein.
What is protein? Proteins are very large molecules made up of hundreds of simple, single units called amino acids, bound together by peptide bonds. A wide variety of different proteins are found in nature, with each made up of strings of hundreds or thousands of amino acids, like the beads in a necklace. There are only about 20 amino acids typically found in proteins, but these may be arranged in any combination to give an almost infinite variety of proteins, each with its own characteristic properties. Functions of proteinAll animals need protein in their diet. Proteins are essential components of all living cells where they have several important functions including regulation of metabolism as enzymes and some hormones and a structural role in cell walls and muscle fiber. Protein is continually being lost in feces, hair, skin and sweat, so there is a constant turnover of protein in the body, even in adults. Of course a growing body needs large amounts of protein for building new tissues. Additional protein is required during periods of growth, pregnancy, lactation and for repair of damaged tissue, such as wound healing. Protein is essential for the body's defenses against disease, including the formation of antibodies. Proteins are also a source of energy in the diet. A Cat's and dog's coat is made primarily of protein. Protein is required for the normal growth of hair and epidermal cells, for skin pigmentation and for sebum production. In a dog, this may account for an amazing over one quarter of the daily protein requirement. Essential and non essential amino acidsAmino acids are classified as either essential or non essential. Essential amino acids cannot be synthesized by the body in sufficient amounts and must, therefore, be provided in the diet. Non essential amino acids are equally important as components of body proteins, but they can be synthesized from excesses of certain other dietary amino acids or other sources of dietary nitrogen. The amino acid profile of a protein determines the proportion of essential and non essential amino acids. Animal proteins generally have a more balanced amino acid profile, with a greater proportion of essential amino acids, and better digestibility than plant proteins. As a general rule, the more egg, fish, poultry and meat protein a food contains, the better it meets the animal's needs for amino acids. This does not mean that pets should be fed entirely on meat, milk and eggs, but the diet should be carefully balanced with amino acids if cereals form a large part of the diet.Protein quality
It all comes down to this simple formula: Amino Acid Profile + Digestibility = Protein Quality Not all the nutrients in food can be digested and absorbed, so the amount of protein an animal needs in its diet also depends on how easily it is digested by the animal. Digestibility is a measure of the how efficiently the nutrients in a food are digested and absorbed into the body. The digestibility of proteins varies from 50 to 95%. This means that between 5 and 50% of protein in food remains undigested and is not available to the animal. Plant proteins generally have lower digestibility than animal proteins. The protein in high quality pet foods usually has a digestibility of over 75%. However over processing of prepared pet foods can reduce their digestibility. The protein cycleWhen foods containing protein are eaten and digested, the amino acid necklace is progressively cut into smaller pieces by specific digestive enzymes in the gut, until eventually the whole structure has been dismantled either into single beads or pairs of beads called peptides. Protein can only be absorbed from the gut into the bloodstream in this simple form. Once absorbed into the bloodstream, most of the beads are taken in by the body's cells and reassembled in a different order to build the protein structures which the body needs e.g. hair protein or muscle tissue. Therefore after a dog digests a meal containing beef protein, the components of the protein are pulled completely apart and rebuilt into new dog proteins, leaving no trace of the original beef protein in the dog's body. The urea cycleExcess protein is not stored in the body. Instead the left over protein is used to produce energy in a system known as the urea cycle. This process creates a waste product called urea, which must be eliminated from the body via the kidneys. Unlike fats and carbohydrates, proteins contain nitrogen molecules, and urea is one of the few safe forms in which nitrogen can be eliminated from the body. Protein deficiencyProtein deficiency can result from either insufficient protein in the diet or from a shortage of particular amino acids. Signs of protein deficiency include poor growth or weight loss, rough and dull hair coat, anorexia, increased susceptibility to disease, muscle wasting and emaciation, oedema and finally death. Deficiency of a single essential amino acid results in anorexia and subsequent negative nitrogen balance. Protein excessDietary protein in excess of the body's requirements is not laid down as muscle but is, instead, converted to fat and stored as adipose tissue or fat. Feeding excess protein is a relatively inefficient and expensive source of energy in the diet. Concluding key points: Protein is an essential component of the body: Tissues and body fluids, hormones, enzymes and anti bodies. The arrangement, sequence and proportion of amino acids in each protein give it unique properties. There are about 20 different types of amino acids, of which 10 are essential, since they cannot be made in sufficient quantity in the body. Protein quality is a function of the protein source and its digestibility. Excess protein is not stored, but broken down to produce energy in the urea cycle. Protein deficiency causes poor growth, lack of appetite, loss of coat condition and impaired immune function.
How does it all relate to our pets?
Dogs cannot survive without protein in their diets. Dietary protein contains 10 specific amino acids that dogs cannot make on their own. Known as essential amino acids, they provide the building blocks for many important biologically active compounds and proteins. In addition, they donate the carbon chains needed to make glucose for energy. High quality proteins have a good balance of all of the essential amino acids. Studies show that dogs can tell when their food lacks a single amino acid and will avoid such a meal. Dogs are known to selectively choose foods that are high in protein. Whether this is simply a matter of taste or a complex response to their biological needs for all 10 essential amino acids is not known. However, dogs can survive on
a vegetarian diet as long as it contains sufficient protein and is supplemented with vitamin D.
As carnivorous animals, cats derive most of their protein from meat, fish, and other animal products. Some animal-based protein is easier to digest than plant based protein and is better suited to the cat’s digestive system. Dietary protein contains 10 specific amino acids that neither cats nor dogs can make on their own. Known as essential amino acids, they provide the building blocks for many important biologically active compounds and proteins. In addition, they provide the carbon chains needed to make glucose for energy. High quality proteins have a good balance of all of the essential amino acids. Deficiencies of single essential amino acids can lead to serious health problems. Arginine, for example, is critical to the removal of ammonia from the body through urine. Without sufficient arginine in the diet, cats may suffer from a toxic buildup of ammonia in the bloodstream. Although not the case for dogs, the amino acid taurine is a dietary essential for cats. Taurine deficiency in cats causes a host of metabolic and clinical problems, including feline central retinal degeneration and blindness, deafness, cardiomyopathy and heart failure, inadequate immune response, poor neonatal growth, reproductive failure, and congenital defects. Found abundantly in many fish, birds, and small rodents, taurine is either absent or present only in trace amounts in plants. Strict vegetarian diets are not appropriate for cats
unless supplemented with nutrients essential for cats that are not found in plants.
Protein requirements for pets:
Are usually expressed in grams. For example, a kitten weighing 1.8 lbs requires 10 grams, an adult cat weighing 9 lbs 12.5 grams and a nursing cat mom weighing 9 lbs having 4 kittens needs 41 grams of protein daily. A 12 lbs puppy, expected to weigh 33 lbs at maturity needs 56 grams, a mature dog weighing 33 lbs needs 25 grams, a pregnant bitch regularly weighing 33 lbs and expecting 6 puppies 69 grams and a 33 lbs nursing mother with 6 puppies needs, yes, 158 grams of protein daily.
Figuring Grams of Essential Nutrients from Pet food labels
Pet food labels generally do not list amounts of essential nutrients in grams. However, all pet food labels must state guarantees for the minimum percentages of crude (referring to the specific method of testing the product, not to the quality of the nutrient itself) protein and crude fat, and the maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture. To convert these percentages to grams, simply multiply the crude percentages times the weight of your pet’s daily portion. For example, if you feed your cat one 6-oz (170-gram) can of food per day, and the food contains 8% crude protein, the grams of protein would be 0.08 x 170 =13.6 grams.
Note: For weight conversions use these conversion tools
Sources:
Advance Pet Foods
Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats, National Academies Press
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Pet Food Ingredients de-mystified: Garlic, trust history or hysteria?
When it comes to your animal’s health you want to follow facts and not fears. It is easy for rumors and misinformation to arise. On the Internet such rumors can grow and spread fast. One of the topics, which has been under attack more recently is garlic as in feeding to animals. You too have probably heard on the one hand that garlic is safe and a healthy herb for your pets. At the same time you may also got confused when you found out the next day that it may be dangerously toxic and should be avoided. So what are the facts here?
Quite possibly the confusion surrounding garlic may come from its close ties to the onion family. Onions have a high concentration of thiosulfate, a substance that can trigger hemolytic or Heinz body anemia in dogs, a condition where circulating blood cells burst. Just one generous single serving of onions can cause this reaction. By the way, such reactions can also be caused by serving acetaminophen, as it is contained in Tylenol or benzocaine, which is present in many creams recommended for allergy suffering animals. Benzocaine is absorbed through the skin and builds up in the blood stream. In many cases it has been proven to be involved when originally garlic was suspected to cause hemolytic problems.
But garlic itself simply does not contain the same concentration of thiosulfate as onions do. It is barely traceable in garlic and is readily excreted from the body. Despite this fact, garlic still is falling victim to the net’s mass hysteria. Google for “garlic toxicity dogs” and you get a list of 206,000 sites presenting to you warnings. Yet there is little scientific data to back those claims, except those small amounts of thiosulfate. The good thing though is that if you change your Google search from “toxicity” to “benefits” the result of 5.8 Million sites probably outweighs the negatives. Included in that number are those favorable sites by reputable holistic vets having widely used garlic in their practice for many years.
Garlic has been a primary remedy for as longs as humans have been using herbs. And as long as people have been using garlic they also have fed it to their animals. Its healing properties have proven far reaching and safe to use. During the rebirth of holistic medicine in the past fifty years garlic has been on the forefront of remedies. Pretty much every article and comment on herbal health recommends garlic for animals. This is especially true for its incredible anti parasitic and antiseptic properties. Garlic also has benefited animals suffering from cancer, diabetes, liver, heart and kidney disease, uncontrollable staph infections and a wide host of other conditions.
Feeding garlic raw on a daily absis may be hard on the GI tract and cause digestive upset or diarrhea. If that happens, it means your animal cannot really eat enough to get true therapeutic doses. Forget about dehydrated powder or cooked garlic because it has gone through heat processing, which destroys many of its benefits. Therefore the best form to use it is a purified extract, often found in form of gel caps. This way it can get easily into the intestines in concentrated amounts benefiting the animal without causing digestive upset.
Garlic is a staple in recommended preventative protocols and has been used in hundreds of thousands of animals with no reported negative side effects except on breath. I would say it is fine to use garlic in reasonable doses. When giving it to your pet, use common sense and trust history over hysteria.
Quite possibly the confusion surrounding garlic may come from its close ties to the onion family. Onions have a high concentration of thiosulfate, a substance that can trigger hemolytic or Heinz body anemia in dogs, a condition where circulating blood cells burst. Just one generous single serving of onions can cause this reaction. By the way, such reactions can also be caused by serving acetaminophen, as it is contained in Tylenol or benzocaine, which is present in many creams recommended for allergy suffering animals. Benzocaine is absorbed through the skin and builds up in the blood stream. In many cases it has been proven to be involved when originally garlic was suspected to cause hemolytic problems.
But garlic itself simply does not contain the same concentration of thiosulfate as onions do. It is barely traceable in garlic and is readily excreted from the body. Despite this fact, garlic still is falling victim to the net’s mass hysteria. Google for “garlic toxicity dogs” and you get a list of 206,000 sites presenting to you warnings. Yet there is little scientific data to back those claims, except those small amounts of thiosulfate. The good thing though is that if you change your Google search from “toxicity” to “benefits” the result of 5.8 Million sites probably outweighs the negatives. Included in that number are those favorable sites by reputable holistic vets having widely used garlic in their practice for many years.
Garlic has been a primary remedy for as longs as humans have been using herbs. And as long as people have been using garlic they also have fed it to their animals. Its healing properties have proven far reaching and safe to use. During the rebirth of holistic medicine in the past fifty years garlic has been on the forefront of remedies. Pretty much every article and comment on herbal health recommends garlic for animals. This is especially true for its incredible anti parasitic and antiseptic properties. Garlic also has benefited animals suffering from cancer, diabetes, liver, heart and kidney disease, uncontrollable staph infections and a wide host of other conditions.
Feeding garlic raw on a daily absis may be hard on the GI tract and cause digestive upset or diarrhea. If that happens, it means your animal cannot really eat enough to get true therapeutic doses. Forget about dehydrated powder or cooked garlic because it has gone through heat processing, which destroys many of its benefits. Therefore the best form to use it is a purified extract, often found in form of gel caps. This way it can get easily into the intestines in concentrated amounts benefiting the animal without causing digestive upset.
Garlic is a staple in recommended preventative protocols and has been used in hundreds of thousands of animals with no reported negative side effects except on breath. I would say it is fine to use garlic in reasonable doses. When giving it to your pet, use common sense and trust history over hysteria.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Puppy Diets: Growth oriented food formulas offering advantages?
It wasn’t too long ago that feeding recommendations for the various life stages of a canine were simple: Feed a puppy more and a senior less. That was all what back then it supposedly took to fill the nutritional needs at various ages. But the world of dog food has changed. Looking at the shelves at the food stores today we are overwhelmed by a sheer endless number of different puppy specific variations of flavors and formulas.
As one owner of a pet food store puts it: “Over the past couple years we have been seeing the use of unique ingredients in more and more products. They include alternative meat protein sources and different sources of nutraceuticals, not just in puppy, but in food for all life stages.”
Whether formulated for small or large breeds, many of these puppy blends contain a rich variety of ingredients mirroring the trends in the adult food market. They contain unconventional protein sources, such as for example fish, rabbit, venison and others. They are grain free or made with low allergenic fibers, such as quinoa, barley or millet.
“There is definitely a movement toward higher quality, natural diets for puppies” reports a co-owner of a pet food manufacturing business. “More food makers are including DHA, prebiotics and probiotics and all puppy formulas now have vitamins and minerals added to make them a complete and balanced diet for puppies.”
A puppy’s growing body requires more and different nutrients than the one of an adult. Manufacturers are catering their formulas to meet those dietary needs. AAFCO requires that manufacturers put a so called nutritional adequacy statement on their labels clearly stating whether the food is for growth and lactation (same requirements)), for adult maintenance or all life stages.
Today’s blends available to puppy owners however go already beyond that. They contain specific ingredients, such as for example fatty acids for proper brain and eye formation and for healthy puppy development. Dr. Joseph Wakshlag, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVN, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nutrition at Cornwell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, NY says: “Omega-3’s and -6’s are considered essential for puppies by the National Research Council. Essential Omega-6’s are linoleic acid and Omega-3’s are eicosapentaeonic acid or EPA and docosahexaeonic acid or DHA.”
Puppy diets also contain optimal balances of calcium and phosphorous for healthy bone development. They both help to build strong bones. They have not only to be in the right amounts, they also need to be at the correct ratio. This is particularly important for large breed puppies as they tend to go through a very fast growth phase and during that growth phase their bones need to be developing correctly.
Puppy formulas also come enriched with nutraceuticals such as glucosamine and chondroitin. As one vet at a pet food manufacturer says: “We began adding sources of glucosamine and chondroitin to our large breed puppy food. We use it in the senior formula because we know that many seniors have arthritis problems and glucosamine and chondroitin are known to be beneficial to those dogs. We thought it would be beneficial to start the large breed puppies out on them too to prevent some of these skeletal issues.”
The question arises: Do all of these ingredients support puppy health? According to Dr. Richard C.Hill, VetMB, PhD, MRCVS, Waltham Associate Professor of small animal internal medicine and clinical nutrition at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesvill, FL, “… they do. The most important thing to prolong a puppy’s life span and to reduce the incidence of disease is to restrict access to food so they remain in a lean body condition. Not skinny, but lean.” He refers to a life span study published in the journal Nutrition back in 2003. This study confirmed a link between body fat and the development of chronic health conditions. It also confirmed a link between the length of time a dog was overweight and that dog’s longevity and how early in the life the subject’s health conditions developed.
Each puppy based on activity level, metabolism and environmental factors may need more or less food to maintain the ideal body weight. Dr. Hill explains how to assess a puppy’s body condition: “The puppy should have a waist visible form the sides and above and an owner should be able to feel the ribs without having a layer of fat over them. A good way to describe this is: If you rub your hand over the top of your knuckles, that’s too thin, and then, when you rub your hand over the top of your closed fingers, that’s about what it should be. If you rub your hand over the ball of your hand on the other side, over the meat of your hand, that’s too fat. If your puppy is getting a little pudgy, cut back on the kibble.”
So here you have it in a nutshell. But, you may ask, with so many puppy formulas on the market my seemingly eternal question remains unanswered: Which one is the best for my pup? I agree, at times the sheer number of products can be overwhelming and confusing. As GM of our retail store I am confronted with that problem every day. How many choices do we offer? Wouldn’t we be better off only offering one choice, let’s say the one, which we determine as to be the best choice? That would not be the solution. First, who are we to come up with such a judgment? Second, even if we could make that judgment, who is to say that it would be the best choice for your very individual pup? That is why we offer so many. Sorry, at the end, the choice is yours. Only you can and will have to make that decision. We do however try to support your efforts by educating our customers, by providing as much information as we possibly can find and generate. With that information our customers can become educated consumers having the tools they need to make the right choice. Puppies are full of energy and playful enthusiasm. Let’s make sure they grow up under the right conditions, which include a diet which makes the most sense.
As one owner of a pet food store puts it: “Over the past couple years we have been seeing the use of unique ingredients in more and more products. They include alternative meat protein sources and different sources of nutraceuticals, not just in puppy, but in food for all life stages.”
Whether formulated for small or large breeds, many of these puppy blends contain a rich variety of ingredients mirroring the trends in the adult food market. They contain unconventional protein sources, such as for example fish, rabbit, venison and others. They are grain free or made with low allergenic fibers, such as quinoa, barley or millet.
“There is definitely a movement toward higher quality, natural diets for puppies” reports a co-owner of a pet food manufacturing business. “More food makers are including DHA, prebiotics and probiotics and all puppy formulas now have vitamins and minerals added to make them a complete and balanced diet for puppies.”
A puppy’s growing body requires more and different nutrients than the one of an adult. Manufacturers are catering their formulas to meet those dietary needs. AAFCO requires that manufacturers put a so called nutritional adequacy statement on their labels clearly stating whether the food is for growth and lactation (same requirements)), for adult maintenance or all life stages.
Today’s blends available to puppy owners however go already beyond that. They contain specific ingredients, such as for example fatty acids for proper brain and eye formation and for healthy puppy development. Dr. Joseph Wakshlag, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVN, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nutrition at Cornwell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, NY says: “Omega-3’s and -6’s are considered essential for puppies by the National Research Council. Essential Omega-6’s are linoleic acid and Omega-3’s are eicosapentaeonic acid or EPA and docosahexaeonic acid or DHA.”
Puppy diets also contain optimal balances of calcium and phosphorous for healthy bone development. They both help to build strong bones. They have not only to be in the right amounts, they also need to be at the correct ratio. This is particularly important for large breed puppies as they tend to go through a very fast growth phase and during that growth phase their bones need to be developing correctly.
Puppy formulas also come enriched with nutraceuticals such as glucosamine and chondroitin. As one vet at a pet food manufacturer says: “We began adding sources of glucosamine and chondroitin to our large breed puppy food. We use it in the senior formula because we know that many seniors have arthritis problems and glucosamine and chondroitin are known to be beneficial to those dogs. We thought it would be beneficial to start the large breed puppies out on them too to prevent some of these skeletal issues.”
The question arises: Do all of these ingredients support puppy health? According to Dr. Richard C.Hill, VetMB, PhD, MRCVS, Waltham Associate Professor of small animal internal medicine and clinical nutrition at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesvill, FL, “… they do. The most important thing to prolong a puppy’s life span and to reduce the incidence of disease is to restrict access to food so they remain in a lean body condition. Not skinny, but lean.” He refers to a life span study published in the journal Nutrition back in 2003. This study confirmed a link between body fat and the development of chronic health conditions. It also confirmed a link between the length of time a dog was overweight and that dog’s longevity and how early in the life the subject’s health conditions developed.
Each puppy based on activity level, metabolism and environmental factors may need more or less food to maintain the ideal body weight. Dr. Hill explains how to assess a puppy’s body condition: “The puppy should have a waist visible form the sides and above and an owner should be able to feel the ribs without having a layer of fat over them. A good way to describe this is: If you rub your hand over the top of your knuckles, that’s too thin, and then, when you rub your hand over the top of your closed fingers, that’s about what it should be. If you rub your hand over the ball of your hand on the other side, over the meat of your hand, that’s too fat. If your puppy is getting a little pudgy, cut back on the kibble.”
So here you have it in a nutshell. But, you may ask, with so many puppy formulas on the market my seemingly eternal question remains unanswered: Which one is the best for my pup? I agree, at times the sheer number of products can be overwhelming and confusing. As GM of our retail store I am confronted with that problem every day. How many choices do we offer? Wouldn’t we be better off only offering one choice, let’s say the one, which we determine as to be the best choice? That would not be the solution. First, who are we to come up with such a judgment? Second, even if we could make that judgment, who is to say that it would be the best choice for your very individual pup? That is why we offer so many. Sorry, at the end, the choice is yours. Only you can and will have to make that decision. We do however try to support your efforts by educating our customers, by providing as much information as we possibly can find and generate. With that information our customers can become educated consumers having the tools they need to make the right choice. Puppies are full of energy and playful enthusiasm. Let’s make sure they grow up under the right conditions, which include a diet which makes the most sense.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Canine nutrition: Energy for Dogs
Energy for Dogs is required for practically all life processes, for the action of the heart, maintenance of blood pressure, muscle repair, growth, normal body maintenance, transmission of nerve impulses, ion transport across membranes, protein and fat synthesis and the production of power. A deficiency in energy is normally seen as stunted growth, body fat reserve losses and a lower production of power and speed. Sometimes energy deficiencies go undetected and not corrected for extended periods of time and not until loss of condition, making visual identification easier, does correction take place. It is common knowledge that dog diets must contain protein, fat & carbohydrates. Although each of them have specific functions in maintaining a normal body, all of them can be used as energy.
Fat for dogs
Fats are concentrated forms of energy. Compared to protein and carbohydrates, fats contain approximately two and a half times the amount of energy per pound, so adding a little bit of fat adds a lot of calories. It is also the delivery vehicle for omega fatty acids important to healthy skin and coat.
Fat also supplies the essential fatty acids required by dogs for maintaining healthy skin and hair coat and serves as a carrier for fat soluble vitamins. Linoleic acid is one of the fatty acids dogs can get from vegetable oils or animal fat , is considered essential because it cannot be made in the body and is required to be supplied by the diet.
Although fatty acid deficiencies are rare, animals fed diets too low in fat may eventually develop deficiency symptoms including dry, coarse hair and flaky, dry and thickened skin.
In animals fed diets containing more fat than is needed, extra fat is generally stored in the body. If enough fat is accumulated over time, animals will become obese. Animals carrying excessive amounts of weight may be at greater risk for other complications. While fat is not a bad thing for your dog to eat, you should watch your dog’s fat intake.
Carbohydrates for dogs
Carbohydrates are sugars, starches and dietary fiber. The primary function of most carbohydrates is to provide energy, while fiber has a number of other functions.
Simple sugars are the smallest sugar molecules and are easily digested and absorbed. By contrast, starches or complex carbohydrates are combinations of simple sugars formed into long chains that have to be broken down by additional digestion before they can be used.
Basically, the carbohydrates in dog food are supplied by cereal grains which are broken down into simple sugars. While there aren’t specific minimum requirements for carbohydrates for dogs, they are useful as a ready source of energy.
When animals consume diets containing more carbohydrates than are needed, the excess energy is stored in the form of glycogen in the liver and muscles and is converted to fat. During periods of fasting, stress, or exercise, glycogen is broken down to glucose and delivered to the bloodstream to provide needed energy.
Carbohydrates that are not completely digested cause or are associated with persistent gastrointestinal upset, including gas and/or diarrhea. The most common carbohydrate malabsorption problem is an inability to break down lactose, the sugar found in milk
Notes:
Contributed by Canine Caviar
Fat for dogs
Fats are concentrated forms of energy. Compared to protein and carbohydrates, fats contain approximately two and a half times the amount of energy per pound, so adding a little bit of fat adds a lot of calories. It is also the delivery vehicle for omega fatty acids important to healthy skin and coat.
Fat also supplies the essential fatty acids required by dogs for maintaining healthy skin and hair coat and serves as a carrier for fat soluble vitamins. Linoleic acid is one of the fatty acids dogs can get from vegetable oils or animal fat , is considered essential because it cannot be made in the body and is required to be supplied by the diet.
Although fatty acid deficiencies are rare, animals fed diets too low in fat may eventually develop deficiency symptoms including dry, coarse hair and flaky, dry and thickened skin.
In animals fed diets containing more fat than is needed, extra fat is generally stored in the body. If enough fat is accumulated over time, animals will become obese. Animals carrying excessive amounts of weight may be at greater risk for other complications. While fat is not a bad thing for your dog to eat, you should watch your dog’s fat intake.
Carbohydrates for dogs
Carbohydrates are sugars, starches and dietary fiber. The primary function of most carbohydrates is to provide energy, while fiber has a number of other functions.
Simple sugars are the smallest sugar molecules and are easily digested and absorbed. By contrast, starches or complex carbohydrates are combinations of simple sugars formed into long chains that have to be broken down by additional digestion before they can be used.
Basically, the carbohydrates in dog food are supplied by cereal grains which are broken down into simple sugars. While there aren’t specific minimum requirements for carbohydrates for dogs, they are useful as a ready source of energy.
When animals consume diets containing more carbohydrates than are needed, the excess energy is stored in the form of glycogen in the liver and muscles and is converted to fat. During periods of fasting, stress, or exercise, glycogen is broken down to glucose and delivered to the bloodstream to provide needed energy.
Carbohydrates that are not completely digested cause or are associated with persistent gastrointestinal upset, including gas and/or diarrhea. The most common carbohydrate malabsorption problem is an inability to break down lactose, the sugar found in milk
Notes:
Contributed by Canine Caviar
Pet food ingredient Grain: Controversy vs. chemistry Part 5: Can Oats Lower Your Dog’s Cholesterol?
As yet another installment of the “Pet food ingredient Grain” series today let’s see what the founder and owner of dehydrated raw food mix manufacturer Sojourner Farms, Ward Johnson has to say on this topic.
"Grains sure have it rough in the pet food industry. Lately they've been gaining a reputation for being cheap fillers that cause allergies and have no nutritional benefit. And the rumor is absolutely true. Wait!! Allow me to explain. Conventional pet foods have been using cheap grains as fillers that have been cooked and processed to death. These grain by-products are worthless and can even cause health problems due to their low quality and over processed state. … don’t use bottom-of-the-barrel grains or by-products. … only use high-quality, human grade, whole grains that are chock full of bioavailable nutrients and DON'T cause allergies or other health problems. And yet, some people still think that dogs should not eat grains, even those in our recipes! We’re always surprised to hear that. We’ve always seen amazing results with our Pre-mIxes for Dogs, which contain wholesome oats in addition to rye and barley. Based on information derived from a recent trial study on oats, it seems science, not to mention our time-tested results, are on our side as well.This study, published by Pet Food Industry, compared the cholesterol levels of dogs whose diets were comprised of 0%, 5%, 10% and 20% grains over a period of eight weeks. The results revealed that the group who received oats as 20% of their diet had a 14.7% drop in cholesterol levels as compared to the control group who received no oats. The study concluded that a diet of 20% dietary oats could be beneficial to dogs with hypercholesterolemia, or high cholesterol, which can occur in several diseases such as kidney disease, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, cholestasis, and hyperadrenocorticoidism.How do oats reduce cholesterol in the body? Oats are loaded with a soluble fiber called beta-glucan. Beta-glucans are incredibly viscous and help to thicken the membranes of the intestines when broken down. This thickening prevents the absorption of bile acids, which are made up of cholesterol. If the body has no bile acids to use in digestion, it must take up the cholesterol in the blood to replenish the bile acid, therefore reducing the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream. Over time, enough of the cholesterol in the blood is removed to show a significant reduction or maintain healthy levels.But the benefits of oats do not end there. Low cholesterol in the bloodstream means reduced risk of heart disease. The high fiber in oats may also contribute to colon health and act as an aid to combat constipation. In addition to the benefits of a whole lot of fiber, these tasty grains also boast high protein levels and good sources of magnesium, iron, zinc as well as several B vitamins. In humans, oats have also been linked to controlling blood sugar levels, which could also benefit dogs with diabetes. Not to mention that oats are packed with selenium, a powerful antioxidant that has been linked to heart health, DNA repair and colon cancer prevention.We use the same locally grown, non GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms), top of the barrel grains that just might end up in a loaf of bread from your favorite bakery. We are incredibly proud of the ingredients we use in our products and the benefits they provide. For over twenty years, we’ve seen consistently awesome results from our healthy multi grain recipe. Whether or not your dog has high cholesterol or any of the ailments listed above, incorporating whole grains into his diet is a smart choice to make for overall health. …
Quinoa and barley and rye, oh my!
Whole grains are a crucial part to any diet, including that of your beloved pet. We’ve already told you all the wonderful things that oats have to offer, but what about the other grains we use in our mixes? Keep reading…Rye is a cereal grain that has been cultivated since the Middle Ages in Central and Eastern Europe. Rye is high in fiber and vitamin E, an antioxidant that supports the immune system. It's also a great source of certain B Vitamins: Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid (B9), and Pantothentic Acid (B5), which help maintain muscles, skin, and brain function
respectively.
Barley dates back to prehistoric times and has been a very valuable grain for many different cultures and societies. It is known to fight against various diseases including heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. This grain contains more fiber than most other grains, and is a good source of Thiamin (B1), Riboflavin (B2), and Lysine (an essential amino acid needed for growth).
Quinoa (pronounced “Keen-Wa”) is a valuable grain that has been a staple of the Incas and other natives of the Andes for over 5,000 years. It is a complete protein that boasts more Lysine, Iron, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Calcium, and Fat than other grains. In fact, it is such a beneficial grain that it is being considered as a possible crop in NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long term spaceflights!”
Sure some of you may say now, That’s all fine but Ward is opinionated and promoting his own products here”. Well, I saw that coming and took it a little further: Ward is not all by himself with his opionion. Here is what others had to say on the subject matter:
Dr. Randy Wysong, DVM in his “Truth about Pet Foods” states on “Grains”: “Sprouted grains are raw and whole, make excellent additions to your pet’s diet and are eagerly accepted when combined with other foods. … Cooked grains should be a much smaller portion of your pet’s diet. Raw, organically grown rolled oats or raw barley flakes, soaked in raw milk over night result in a treat many pets will relish. Popcorn can be fed popped and soaked as above, as well. Cooked porridges of oats, brown rice, millet, amaranth or quinoa can also be used occasionally. Small amounts of leftover table scraps such as cereals, sandwiches and home made breads and rolls are beneficial additions to your dog’s or cat’s diet, provided they are prepared carefully and with whole grain natural ingredients.”
“Whole grains are a very cost effective and environmentally sensitive way to provide the mainstay of your pet’s diet.” – Richard Pitcairn, DVM in “Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Cats and Dogs
As you know from reading previous articles in this series the general take is that dogs and even more so cats should not be fed grains. Reason being is that they are carnivores or meat eaters.
I think when discussing the topic we need to differentiate between highly processed grains, as they typically are used in most, definitely mass marketed and produced dry foods. The problem comes with the nature of the beast: Commercial manufactured and highly processed food = Dry food. Without serious altering of ingredients there would be no dry food. Another problem is that many manufacturers, especially the ones making foods for mass marketing purposes quite often use grains as a primary ingredient and protein source, which has definitely to be considered as being unacceptable for our domesticated animals.
Previously published comments of this series:
Pet food ingredient Grain: Controversy vs. chemistry Part 1
Pet food ingredient Grain: Controversy vs. chemistry Part 2
Pet food ingredient Grain: Controversy vs. chemistry Part 3 Whole Grains: The Healing Truth
Pet food ingredient Grain: Controversy vs. chemistry Part 4 The Gluten Free Debate
Not everybody jumping onto the Grain Free train
"Grains sure have it rough in the pet food industry. Lately they've been gaining a reputation for being cheap fillers that cause allergies and have no nutritional benefit. And the rumor is absolutely true. Wait!! Allow me to explain. Conventional pet foods have been using cheap grains as fillers that have been cooked and processed to death. These grain by-products are worthless and can even cause health problems due to their low quality and over processed state. … don’t use bottom-of-the-barrel grains or by-products. … only use high-quality, human grade, whole grains that are chock full of bioavailable nutrients and DON'T cause allergies or other health problems. And yet, some people still think that dogs should not eat grains, even those in our recipes! We’re always surprised to hear that. We’ve always seen amazing results with our Pre-mIxes for Dogs, which contain wholesome oats in addition to rye and barley. Based on information derived from a recent trial study on oats, it seems science, not to mention our time-tested results, are on our side as well.This study, published by Pet Food Industry, compared the cholesterol levels of dogs whose diets were comprised of 0%, 5%, 10% and 20% grains over a period of eight weeks. The results revealed that the group who received oats as 20% of their diet had a 14.7% drop in cholesterol levels as compared to the control group who received no oats. The study concluded that a diet of 20% dietary oats could be beneficial to dogs with hypercholesterolemia, or high cholesterol, which can occur in several diseases such as kidney disease, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, cholestasis, and hyperadrenocorticoidism.How do oats reduce cholesterol in the body? Oats are loaded with a soluble fiber called beta-glucan. Beta-glucans are incredibly viscous and help to thicken the membranes of the intestines when broken down. This thickening prevents the absorption of bile acids, which are made up of cholesterol. If the body has no bile acids to use in digestion, it must take up the cholesterol in the blood to replenish the bile acid, therefore reducing the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream. Over time, enough of the cholesterol in the blood is removed to show a significant reduction or maintain healthy levels.But the benefits of oats do not end there. Low cholesterol in the bloodstream means reduced risk of heart disease. The high fiber in oats may also contribute to colon health and act as an aid to combat constipation. In addition to the benefits of a whole lot of fiber, these tasty grains also boast high protein levels and good sources of magnesium, iron, zinc as well as several B vitamins. In humans, oats have also been linked to controlling blood sugar levels, which could also benefit dogs with diabetes. Not to mention that oats are packed with selenium, a powerful antioxidant that has been linked to heart health, DNA repair and colon cancer prevention.We use the same locally grown, non GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms), top of the barrel grains that just might end up in a loaf of bread from your favorite bakery. We are incredibly proud of the ingredients we use in our products and the benefits they provide. For over twenty years, we’ve seen consistently awesome results from our healthy multi grain recipe. Whether or not your dog has high cholesterol or any of the ailments listed above, incorporating whole grains into his diet is a smart choice to make for overall health. …
Quinoa and barley and rye, oh my!
Whole grains are a crucial part to any diet, including that of your beloved pet. We’ve already told you all the wonderful things that oats have to offer, but what about the other grains we use in our mixes? Keep reading…Rye is a cereal grain that has been cultivated since the Middle Ages in Central and Eastern Europe. Rye is high in fiber and vitamin E, an antioxidant that supports the immune system. It's also a great source of certain B Vitamins: Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid (B9), and Pantothentic Acid (B5), which help maintain muscles, skin, and brain function
respectively.
Barley dates back to prehistoric times and has been a very valuable grain for many different cultures and societies. It is known to fight against various diseases including heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. This grain contains more fiber than most other grains, and is a good source of Thiamin (B1), Riboflavin (B2), and Lysine (an essential amino acid needed for growth).
Quinoa (pronounced “Keen-Wa”) is a valuable grain that has been a staple of the Incas and other natives of the Andes for over 5,000 years. It is a complete protein that boasts more Lysine, Iron, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Calcium, and Fat than other grains. In fact, it is such a beneficial grain that it is being considered as a possible crop in NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long term spaceflights!”
Sure some of you may say now, That’s all fine but Ward is opinionated and promoting his own products here”. Well, I saw that coming and took it a little further: Ward is not all by himself with his opionion. Here is what others had to say on the subject matter:
Dr. Randy Wysong, DVM in his “Truth about Pet Foods” states on “Grains”: “Sprouted grains are raw and whole, make excellent additions to your pet’s diet and are eagerly accepted when combined with other foods. … Cooked grains should be a much smaller portion of your pet’s diet. Raw, organically grown rolled oats or raw barley flakes, soaked in raw milk over night result in a treat many pets will relish. Popcorn can be fed popped and soaked as above, as well. Cooked porridges of oats, brown rice, millet, amaranth or quinoa can also be used occasionally. Small amounts of leftover table scraps such as cereals, sandwiches and home made breads and rolls are beneficial additions to your dog’s or cat’s diet, provided they are prepared carefully and with whole grain natural ingredients.”
“Whole grains are a very cost effective and environmentally sensitive way to provide the mainstay of your pet’s diet.” – Richard Pitcairn, DVM in “Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Cats and Dogs
As you know from reading previous articles in this series the general take is that dogs and even more so cats should not be fed grains. Reason being is that they are carnivores or meat eaters.
I think when discussing the topic we need to differentiate between highly processed grains, as they typically are used in most, definitely mass marketed and produced dry foods. The problem comes with the nature of the beast: Commercial manufactured and highly processed food = Dry food. Without serious altering of ingredients there would be no dry food. Another problem is that many manufacturers, especially the ones making foods for mass marketing purposes quite often use grains as a primary ingredient and protein source, which has definitely to be considered as being unacceptable for our domesticated animals.
Previously published comments of this series:
Pet food ingredient Grain: Controversy vs. chemistry Part 1
Pet food ingredient Grain: Controversy vs. chemistry Part 2
Pet food ingredient Grain: Controversy vs. chemistry Part 3 Whole Grains: The Healing Truth
Pet food ingredient Grain: Controversy vs. chemistry Part 4 The Gluten Free Debate
Not everybody jumping onto the Grain Free train
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Junk Pet Food Part 5: The price we pay
The following points provide a summary of the price we pay:
1 . Junk food induced cruelty, ill health and suffering affects the majority of the world's pets. Plentiful scientific evidence, experience and common sense confirm this fact.
2 . Misuse of existing scientific paradigms and bogus administrative techniques produces a body of counterfeit science in the service of the junk pet food industry. The current mass poisoning of pets starts with the first lie: that processed pet food is as good as or better than the natural alternative. So called researchers swallow the lie and then misuse existing scientific methods and compliant professional journals to perpetuate and bolster the lie.
3. Broadly, three methodologies combine to form the scientific paradigm that underpins the junk pet food enterprise:
i) an emphasis on treatment, not prevention, of ill health and disease;
ii) dependence on the germ theory of disease as a fundamental axiom when in fact Pasteur, one of the originators of the germ theory, acknowledged that germs are secondary to other predisposing factors; and
iii) dependence on reductionist research methods when in fact an holistic approach, taking account of all interactive forces, provides much more satisfactory evidence.
Consider that a natural, raw meaty bones–based diet acts as food and medicine for carnivores. If we apply the lessons to be learned from a study of the health and disease of carnivores resident at the extreme end of the nutritional spectrum, we can derive information of immense medical, scientific, economic and environmental value to us all. New attitudes and new paradigms are needed, but are blocked by the combined might of vested interests.
4. Economic consequences measure in the billions of dollars. Back in the 1860s, Jack Spratt, assisted by Charles Cruft, opened the first processed dog-food business in London and started dog shows as a marketing tool. (*25) Now, in 2007, Business Week estimates that "Americans spend an astonishing $41 billion a year on their furry friends".(*26) Fuelled by massive profits, the pet food marketing machine encourages us to acquire "furry friends", junk pet food and vet services. (*27) From dog droppings on the sole of your shoe through to the ecological footprint of giant pet food factories, there are immense environmental costs that don't appear in the figures. Neither do the figures reveal the cost of the municipal pounds and welfare shelters needed for the millions of discarded pets. Dogs fed junk food are harder to train and more likely to bite their owners, leading to increased training and medical costs. (*28) What price the scars on a child's face?
5 . Failure of democratic, administrative and legal systems, whether due to oversight, incompetence or corruption, facilitates the junk pet food scam. Despite the moral and ethical problems associated with duping people into slowly poisoning their animals and the clear illegality of such cruel treatment, our politicians and lawyers have done little or nothing. Some animal welfare groups, purporting to care for the plight of pets, consort with the junk pet food companies and are more a part of the problem than the
solution. (*29)
The media, our watchdogs, mostly remain in their kennel, too scared to comment. Journalists working for the A u s t r a l i a n newspaper, the Sydney S u n - H e r a l d and the UK S u n d a y I n d e p e n d e n t researched and wrote extensive articles that were never published.(*30) Other media outlets engage in self-censorship and publish tepid accounts or no accounts at all.
Pet food recall
Whilst we discuss the pet food scam, we should keep in mind that two giant chocolate manufacturers, Mars and Nestlé, jostle for supremacy of the pet food industry. They span the globe and have plans for vast expansions into India and China. (*31, *32) In the second tier, other large conglomerates, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, Heinz and Del Monte, compete for consumer loyalty. The companies may seek to differentiate themselves and their products but, in fact, we know there's a sameness about them all, as was amply demonstrated in the March 2007 Menu Foods recall. Dogs and cats in North America were ill and dying of acute renal failure, traced to the output of one contract pet food manufacturer, Menu Foods. (*33) At first it was thought that rat poison had contaminated batches of "food", but as the story unfolded it turned out that melamine, a chemical used for manufacturing plastic counter tops, glue and fertiliser, had been added into Chinese shipments of wheat gluten affecting almost 100 different brands.(*34) Acute renal failure may be uncommon, but chronic renal failure is not. Research carried out by Nestlé revealed that the mean lifespan of cats fed exclusively commercial cat food and receiving regular veterinary attention was less than 12 years of age, with death largely attributable to renal failure or cancer. (*35) The Mars corporation, advertising its Pedigree bone-shaped chews, told vets that "80% of dogs over the age of three have gum disease" and that "dental problems are known to increase with age and are increasingly being linked to vital organ disease, most notably kidneys and liver".(*36) "Chronic renal disease is a leading cause of death in dogs and cats", says manufacturer Royal Canin.(*37)
Future prospects
What does the future hold? Who can tell? Peering through my crystal ball, I see a future of constant change. In a complex world of competing interests, some change will be for the good and some for the bad. Let's be under no illusions: Big, bad forces seek to stifle dissent, and we are merely individuals of good will. Echoing Edmund Burke: "All that is needed for evil to prosper is for people of good will to do nothing." (*38) Let's do something, anything, that helps the animals. Let's start today.
by Dr Tom Lonsdale,
Veterinarian and author Dr Tom Lonsdale, BVetMed, MRCVS, graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, in 1972. In the 1980s he became aware of the dietary disease epidemics affecting the animals under his care. Since 1991, Dr Lonsdale has campaigned to bring the information to public attention. In 2001, his landmark book Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health was published (reviewed in NEXUS 12/03), followed in 2005 by Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones (reviewed in 13/04). Dr Lonsdale can be contacted by email at tom@rawmeatybones.com. For more information, visit his website, http://www.rawmeatybones.com.
(*)References
25. The Kennel Club (2006), "The History of Crufts", www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/256
26. Brady, D. and Palmeri, C. (2007), "The Pet Economy", Business Week, August 6, 2007,
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_32/b4045001.htm
27. American Pet Products Manufacturers Assoc. (2007), "Industry Statistics & Trends",
http://www.appma.org/pressindustrytrends.asp
28. Mugford, R.A. (1987), "The influence of nutrition on canine behaviour", Journal of Small
Animal Practice 1987; 28:1046-55
29. Lonsdale, T. (2001), "There's a cuckoo in the nest: a deceptive bird", in Raw Meaty Bones:
Promote Health, Rivetco Pty Ltd, NSW, Australia, pp. 263-67
30. Lonsdale, T. (2001), "Poison your pets with multinational offerings", Crikey Media, http://www.rawmeatybones.com Crikey_Media.htm
31. "Pet Food And Pet Care Products in China",
Euromonitor International, August 2007,
http://www.euromonitor.com/PetfoodandpetcareproductsinChina?DCMP=AFC-petfoodemail
32. Mukherjee, A. (2001), "Royal Canin relish for Indian pets", Business Line, Internet Edition,
August 25, 2001, http://hindu.com/businessline/2001/08/25/stories/14251803.htm
3 3 . Menu Foods Income Fund (2007), "MenuFoods Income Fund Announces Precautionary
Dog and Cat Food Recall", March 16, 2007,
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/PressRecall03162007.htm
34. Lonsdale, T. (2007), "Open Secret: Giant USA corporations poison pets", Raw Meaty
Bones Newsletter 2007; 7(1), http://secureshop.rawmeatybones.com/newsletter/view.epl?id=45
35. Malik, R. (2007), "Feeding cats for health and longevity" (Clinical Review), T h e V e t e r i n a r i a n, August 2007, pp. 61-67, http://www.theveterinarian.com.au
36. "Introducing The Pedigree Denta Range", Veterinary Times 2002 Jul 15; 32:27
3 7 . Elliott, D.A. (2006), "Nutritional Management of Chronic Renal Disease in Dogs and Cats, Small Animal Practice2006 Nov; 36(6):1377-84, viii
3 8 . Quoted on covers of The Whistle newsletter http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/contacts/auwba
Junk Pet Food Part 1: The Damage Done
Junk Pet Food Part 2: Hippocrates: “Leave your drugs in the chemist’s pot if you can heal your patients with food”
Junk Pet Food Part 3: Blowing the whistle, catching attention
Junk Pet Food Part 4: Tentacles of the monster
Junk Pet Food Part 5: The price we pay
1 . Junk food induced cruelty, ill health and suffering affects the majority of the world's pets. Plentiful scientific evidence, experience and common sense confirm this fact.
2 . Misuse of existing scientific paradigms and bogus administrative techniques produces a body of counterfeit science in the service of the junk pet food industry. The current mass poisoning of pets starts with the first lie: that processed pet food is as good as or better than the natural alternative. So called researchers swallow the lie and then misuse existing scientific methods and compliant professional journals to perpetuate and bolster the lie.
3. Broadly, three methodologies combine to form the scientific paradigm that underpins the junk pet food enterprise:
i) an emphasis on treatment, not prevention, of ill health and disease;
ii) dependence on the germ theory of disease as a fundamental axiom when in fact Pasteur, one of the originators of the germ theory, acknowledged that germs are secondary to other predisposing factors; and
iii) dependence on reductionist research methods when in fact an holistic approach, taking account of all interactive forces, provides much more satisfactory evidence.
Consider that a natural, raw meaty bones–based diet acts as food and medicine for carnivores. If we apply the lessons to be learned from a study of the health and disease of carnivores resident at the extreme end of the nutritional spectrum, we can derive information of immense medical, scientific, economic and environmental value to us all. New attitudes and new paradigms are needed, but are blocked by the combined might of vested interests.
4. Economic consequences measure in the billions of dollars. Back in the 1860s, Jack Spratt, assisted by Charles Cruft, opened the first processed dog-food business in London and started dog shows as a marketing tool. (*25) Now, in 2007, Business Week estimates that "Americans spend an astonishing $41 billion a year on their furry friends".(*26) Fuelled by massive profits, the pet food marketing machine encourages us to acquire "furry friends", junk pet food and vet services. (*27) From dog droppings on the sole of your shoe through to the ecological footprint of giant pet food factories, there are immense environmental costs that don't appear in the figures. Neither do the figures reveal the cost of the municipal pounds and welfare shelters needed for the millions of discarded pets. Dogs fed junk food are harder to train and more likely to bite their owners, leading to increased training and medical costs. (*28) What price the scars on a child's face?
5 . Failure of democratic, administrative and legal systems, whether due to oversight, incompetence or corruption, facilitates the junk pet food scam. Despite the moral and ethical problems associated with duping people into slowly poisoning their animals and the clear illegality of such cruel treatment, our politicians and lawyers have done little or nothing. Some animal welfare groups, purporting to care for the plight of pets, consort with the junk pet food companies and are more a part of the problem than the
solution. (*29)
The media, our watchdogs, mostly remain in their kennel, too scared to comment. Journalists working for the A u s t r a l i a n newspaper, the Sydney S u n - H e r a l d and the UK S u n d a y I n d e p e n d e n t researched and wrote extensive articles that were never published.(*30) Other media outlets engage in self-censorship and publish tepid accounts or no accounts at all.
Pet food recall
Whilst we discuss the pet food scam, we should keep in mind that two giant chocolate manufacturers, Mars and Nestlé, jostle for supremacy of the pet food industry. They span the globe and have plans for vast expansions into India and China. (*31, *32) In the second tier, other large conglomerates, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, Heinz and Del Monte, compete for consumer loyalty. The companies may seek to differentiate themselves and their products but, in fact, we know there's a sameness about them all, as was amply demonstrated in the March 2007 Menu Foods recall. Dogs and cats in North America were ill and dying of acute renal failure, traced to the output of one contract pet food manufacturer, Menu Foods. (*33) At first it was thought that rat poison had contaminated batches of "food", but as the story unfolded it turned out that melamine, a chemical used for manufacturing plastic counter tops, glue and fertiliser, had been added into Chinese shipments of wheat gluten affecting almost 100 different brands.(*34) Acute renal failure may be uncommon, but chronic renal failure is not. Research carried out by Nestlé revealed that the mean lifespan of cats fed exclusively commercial cat food and receiving regular veterinary attention was less than 12 years of age, with death largely attributable to renal failure or cancer. (*35) The Mars corporation, advertising its Pedigree bone-shaped chews, told vets that "80% of dogs over the age of three have gum disease" and that "dental problems are known to increase with age and are increasingly being linked to vital organ disease, most notably kidneys and liver".(*36) "Chronic renal disease is a leading cause of death in dogs and cats", says manufacturer Royal Canin.(*37)
Future prospects
What does the future hold? Who can tell? Peering through my crystal ball, I see a future of constant change. In a complex world of competing interests, some change will be for the good and some for the bad. Let's be under no illusions: Big, bad forces seek to stifle dissent, and we are merely individuals of good will. Echoing Edmund Burke: "All that is needed for evil to prosper is for people of good will to do nothing." (*38) Let's do something, anything, that helps the animals. Let's start today.
by Dr Tom Lonsdale,
Veterinarian and author Dr Tom Lonsdale, BVetMed, MRCVS, graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, in 1972. In the 1980s he became aware of the dietary disease epidemics affecting the animals under his care. Since 1991, Dr Lonsdale has campaigned to bring the information to public attention. In 2001, his landmark book Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health was published (reviewed in NEXUS 12/03), followed in 2005 by Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones (reviewed in 13/04). Dr Lonsdale can be contacted by email at tom@rawmeatybones.com. For more information, visit his website, http://www.rawmeatybones.com.
(*)References
25. The Kennel Club (2006), "The History of Crufts", www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/256
26. Brady, D. and Palmeri, C. (2007), "The Pet Economy", Business Week, August 6, 2007,
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_32/b4045001.htm
27. American Pet Products Manufacturers Assoc. (2007), "Industry Statistics & Trends",
http://www.appma.org/pressindustrytrends.asp
28. Mugford, R.A. (1987), "The influence of nutrition on canine behaviour", Journal of Small
Animal Practice 1987; 28:1046-55
29. Lonsdale, T. (2001), "There's a cuckoo in the nest: a deceptive bird", in Raw Meaty Bones:
Promote Health, Rivetco Pty Ltd, NSW, Australia, pp. 263-67
30. Lonsdale, T. (2001), "Poison your pets with multinational offerings", Crikey Media, http://www.rawmeatybones.com Crikey_Media.htm
31. "Pet Food And Pet Care Products in China",
Euromonitor International, August 2007,
http://www.euromonitor.com/PetfoodandpetcareproductsinChina?DCMP=AFC-petfoodemail
32. Mukherjee, A. (2001), "Royal Canin relish for Indian pets", Business Line, Internet Edition,
August 25, 2001, http://hindu.com/businessline/2001/08/25/stories/14251803.htm
3 3 . Menu Foods Income Fund (2007), "MenuFoods Income Fund Announces Precautionary
Dog and Cat Food Recall", March 16, 2007,
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/PressRecall03162007.htm
34. Lonsdale, T. (2007), "Open Secret: Giant USA corporations poison pets", Raw Meaty
Bones Newsletter 2007; 7(1), http://secureshop.rawmeatybones.com/newsletter/view.epl?id=45
35. Malik, R. (2007), "Feeding cats for health and longevity" (Clinical Review), T h e V e t e r i n a r i a n, August 2007, pp. 61-67, http://www.theveterinarian.com.au
36. "Introducing The Pedigree Denta Range", Veterinary Times 2002 Jul 15; 32:27
3 7 . Elliott, D.A. (2006), "Nutritional Management of Chronic Renal Disease in Dogs and Cats, Small Animal Practice2006 Nov; 36(6):1377-84, viii
3 8 . Quoted on covers of The Whistle newsletter http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/contacts/auwba
Junk Pet Food Part 1: The Damage Done
Junk Pet Food Part 2: Hippocrates: “Leave your drugs in the chemist’s pot if you can heal your patients with food”
Junk Pet Food Part 3: Blowing the whistle, catching attention
Junk Pet Food Part 4: Tentacles of the monster
Junk Pet Food Part 5: The price we pay
Junk Pet Food Part 4: Tentacles of the monster
Communicating the good health, good news message to other vets became paramount, and so began a cat and mouse game with the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA). As fully paid up members of the association, we could submit letters to the letters page of the AVA News. The AVA and pet food company sponsors were not so keen. Nevertheless, between December 1991 and March 1993, a small band of raw meaty bones enthusiasts managed to get 10 letters published, until A V A N e w s announced it would run no further correspondence.(*17)
At a stroke, AVA members were forbidden to discuss fundamental health issues. In response, and with the annual general meeting fast approaching, we drafted a motion calling on the AVA to lift the correspondence ban and to conduct a full investigation of the diet and disease issue. After "lively" debate, both parts of the motion were approved.(*18)
The AVA report on the diet and disease link was released in February 1994, nine months after the 1993 AGM. Although "assisted" by pet food company vet Dr Barbara Fougere and other pet food company sympathizers, the committee nevertheless reported that, instead of investigating the full impact of diet and disease, it had limited its inquiries.(*19)
• The committee believed the concerns raised required urgent attention and comment. It was considered that within the time frame set by the AVA it was not possible to explore every aspect of dietary interaction with disease.
• Information which could be gathered on the broader issues would be unlikely to add more than is already well known.
• Concentration should be placed on periodontal disease and diet because this was the principal area of current concern to the Australian veterinary profession.
• It was felt that if periodontal disease could be prevented then any secondary complications from this problem would be reduced.
There is prima facie evidence to justify concern by veterinarians. Pet owners should consider the need to provide some "chewy" material as well as the basic nutrient intake of their dog or cat.
Periodontal disease may be associated with the occurrence of other diseases but the available evidence is inconclusive. Periodontal disease is arguably the most common disease condition seen in small animal practice and its effects on the gums and teeth can significantly affect the health and well-being of affected animals. This is sufficient in itself to give reason for concern. Proof of additional systemic effects is not necessary to justify further action.
Further research is required to better define the relationship between particular diet types and oral health
in dogs and cats. Those investigating small animal health problems should also take diet and diet consistency into account when researching systemic diseases, possible confounding effects of diet and poor oral health must be considered in such studies.
Prophetic last words indeed. Hands on research in my practice has confirmed that diet and diet consistency are the prime determining factors in most diseases treated at suburban veterinary clinics. A range of previously hard to treat conditions disappeared as if by magic when dental care coupled with diet change became our top priority. Investigation of pets suffering an acquired immune deficiency revealed a startling restoration of immune function and return to health when the animals' foul mouths were treated and their diet changed to raw meaty bones. The implications are immense, and not just for AIDS sufferers.(*20)
It is relevant for all of us with an immune system and, as I postulated in a paper published in the Journal of Veterinary Dentistry, is likely significant to our understanding of the ecology of health and disease on planet Earth. (*21) The pet food industry/veterinary profession alliance, with a multibillion dollar fighting fund, was in no mood to listen, except insofar as its members wished to consolidate their position. With so many problems associated with the feeding of junk food, they are adept at turning adversity to advantage. Their tentacles wrap around a problem; they pour money into research and present themselves as public benefactors. So it was with periodontal disease, which became the new hot topic in pet food company research labs and universities the world over. Their solution: A plethora of artificial dental products carrying inflated health claims, often endorsed by the Veterinary Oral Health Council. (*22)
Getting the products to the end user depends on a willing sales force free from independent thought. Veterinarians enjoy status and respect; once indoctrinated, they are the ideal sales and marketing force. Accordingly, veterinarians are tutored in the mail, in advertisements and in visits from pet food company representatives. With minds filled with pet food company "facts", vets are then encouraged to support Dental Health Month, Pet Smile Month or similar. It's the month when pet owners are bombarded with advertisements and publicity stunts, urging them to visit their vet for a "free" dental check for their pets and receive a good bag full of samples and copies of those same company selected "facts".(*23) Augmenting the propaganda push, there's a campaign to denigrate home prepared and raw food through articles strategically placed in so called professional journals. (*24)
I, myself, have been targeted in a series of bogus disciplinary actions before the Veterinary Surgeons Board of NSW, a government regulatory body made up of AVA members. Threatened with deregistration, a year in prison or a fine of $2,000, legal defense strategies became top priority. Documents on file weigh a combined 12 kilograms (26 pounds) and represent years of hard work and countless hours spent in lawyers' offices. Fortunately, the lawyers and I managed to withstand the harassment and I'm still registered as a vet.
by Dr Tom Lonsdale,
Veterinarian and author Dr Tom Lonsdale, BVetMed, MRCVS, graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, in 1972. In the 1980s he became aware of the dietary disease epidemics affecting the animals under his care. Since 1991, Dr Lonsdale has campaigned to bring the information to public attention. In 2001, his landmark book Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health was published (reviewed in NEXUS 12/03), followed in 2005 by Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones (reviewed in 13/04). Dr Lonsdale can be contacted by email at tom@rawmeatybones.com. For more information, visit his website, http://www.rawmeatybones.com.
(*)References
17. AVA News, March 1993, p. 23
18. "Pet food produces lively AGM", AVA News, June 1993, pp. 1, 9
19. "Diet and disease link – final report", AVA News, February 1994, pp. 1 and 6
20. Lonsdale (1995), op. cit.
21. Lonsdale, T. (1994), "Cybernetic Hypothesis of Periodontal Disease in Mammalian Carnivores", Journal of Veterinary Dentistry
11(1):5-8, http://www.rawmeatybones.com/pdf/periodontal cyber. p d f
22. Veterinary Oral Health Council, http://www.vohc.org
23. U K Raw Meaty Bones (2006), "Intro to (UK) Pet Smile Month", http://www.ukrmb.
co.uk/showcontent.toy?contentnid=111303
24. "Reassurance for European pet owners following pet food recall in the USA", T h e
Veterinary Record 2007 May 5; 160(18):602-03
Junk Pet Food Part 1: The Damage Done
Junk Pet Food Part 2: Hippocrates: “Leave your drugs in the chemist’s pot if you can heal your patients with food”
Junk Pet Food Part 3: Blowing the whistle, catching attention
Junk Pet Food Part 4: Tentacles of the monster
Junk Pet Food Part 5: The price we pay
At a stroke, AVA members were forbidden to discuss fundamental health issues. In response, and with the annual general meeting fast approaching, we drafted a motion calling on the AVA to lift the correspondence ban and to conduct a full investigation of the diet and disease issue. After "lively" debate, both parts of the motion were approved.(*18)
The AVA report on the diet and disease link was released in February 1994, nine months after the 1993 AGM. Although "assisted" by pet food company vet Dr Barbara Fougere and other pet food company sympathizers, the committee nevertheless reported that, instead of investigating the full impact of diet and disease, it had limited its inquiries.(*19)
• The committee believed the concerns raised required urgent attention and comment. It was considered that within the time frame set by the AVA it was not possible to explore every aspect of dietary interaction with disease.
• Information which could be gathered on the broader issues would be unlikely to add more than is already well known.
• Concentration should be placed on periodontal disease and diet because this was the principal area of current concern to the Australian veterinary profession.
• It was felt that if periodontal disease could be prevented then any secondary complications from this problem would be reduced.
There is prima facie evidence to justify concern by veterinarians. Pet owners should consider the need to provide some "chewy" material as well as the basic nutrient intake of their dog or cat.
Periodontal disease may be associated with the occurrence of other diseases but the available evidence is inconclusive. Periodontal disease is arguably the most common disease condition seen in small animal practice and its effects on the gums and teeth can significantly affect the health and well-being of affected animals. This is sufficient in itself to give reason for concern. Proof of additional systemic effects is not necessary to justify further action.
Further research is required to better define the relationship between particular diet types and oral health
in dogs and cats. Those investigating small animal health problems should also take diet and diet consistency into account when researching systemic diseases, possible confounding effects of diet and poor oral health must be considered in such studies.
Prophetic last words indeed. Hands on research in my practice has confirmed that diet and diet consistency are the prime determining factors in most diseases treated at suburban veterinary clinics. A range of previously hard to treat conditions disappeared as if by magic when dental care coupled with diet change became our top priority. Investigation of pets suffering an acquired immune deficiency revealed a startling restoration of immune function and return to health when the animals' foul mouths were treated and their diet changed to raw meaty bones. The implications are immense, and not just for AIDS sufferers.(*20)
It is relevant for all of us with an immune system and, as I postulated in a paper published in the Journal of Veterinary Dentistry, is likely significant to our understanding of the ecology of health and disease on planet Earth. (*21) The pet food industry/veterinary profession alliance, with a multibillion dollar fighting fund, was in no mood to listen, except insofar as its members wished to consolidate their position. With so many problems associated with the feeding of junk food, they are adept at turning adversity to advantage. Their tentacles wrap around a problem; they pour money into research and present themselves as public benefactors. So it was with periodontal disease, which became the new hot topic in pet food company research labs and universities the world over. Their solution: A plethora of artificial dental products carrying inflated health claims, often endorsed by the Veterinary Oral Health Council. (*22)
Getting the products to the end user depends on a willing sales force free from independent thought. Veterinarians enjoy status and respect; once indoctrinated, they are the ideal sales and marketing force. Accordingly, veterinarians are tutored in the mail, in advertisements and in visits from pet food company representatives. With minds filled with pet food company "facts", vets are then encouraged to support Dental Health Month, Pet Smile Month or similar. It's the month when pet owners are bombarded with advertisements and publicity stunts, urging them to visit their vet for a "free" dental check for their pets and receive a good bag full of samples and copies of those same company selected "facts".(*23) Augmenting the propaganda push, there's a campaign to denigrate home prepared and raw food through articles strategically placed in so called professional journals. (*24)
I, myself, have been targeted in a series of bogus disciplinary actions before the Veterinary Surgeons Board of NSW, a government regulatory body made up of AVA members. Threatened with deregistration, a year in prison or a fine of $2,000, legal defense strategies became top priority. Documents on file weigh a combined 12 kilograms (26 pounds) and represent years of hard work and countless hours spent in lawyers' offices. Fortunately, the lawyers and I managed to withstand the harassment and I'm still registered as a vet.
by Dr Tom Lonsdale,
Veterinarian and author Dr Tom Lonsdale, BVetMed, MRCVS, graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, in 1972. In the 1980s he became aware of the dietary disease epidemics affecting the animals under his care. Since 1991, Dr Lonsdale has campaigned to bring the information to public attention. In 2001, his landmark book Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health was published (reviewed in NEXUS 12/03), followed in 2005 by Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones (reviewed in 13/04). Dr Lonsdale can be contacted by email at tom@rawmeatybones.com. For more information, visit his website, http://www.rawmeatybones.com.
(*)References
17. AVA News, March 1993, p. 23
18. "Pet food produces lively AGM", AVA News, June 1993, pp. 1, 9
19. "Diet and disease link – final report", AVA News, February 1994, pp. 1 and 6
20. Lonsdale (1995), op. cit.
21. Lonsdale, T. (1994), "Cybernetic Hypothesis of Periodontal Disease in Mammalian Carnivores", Journal of Veterinary Dentistry
11(1):5-8, http://www.rawmeatybones.com/pdf/periodontal cyber. p d f
22. Veterinary Oral Health Council, http://www.vohc.org
23. U K Raw Meaty Bones (2006), "Intro to (UK) Pet Smile Month", http://www.ukrmb.
co.uk/showcontent.toy?contentnid=111303
24. "Reassurance for European pet owners following pet food recall in the USA", T h e
Veterinary Record 2007 May 5; 160(18):602-03
Junk Pet Food Part 1: The Damage Done
Junk Pet Food Part 2: Hippocrates: “Leave your drugs in the chemist’s pot if you can heal your patients with food”
Junk Pet Food Part 3: Blowing the whistle, catching attention
Junk Pet Food Part 4: Tentacles of the monster
Junk Pet Food Part 5: The price we pay
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