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:

• 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

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

General raw feeding guide lines for felines

Today’s comment is not about the usual discussion of raw, like which ingredients to look for or to avoid, nor whether it is advantageous. About the ladder one, to me there is no question anyway. Today is more about the little details, which we all too often don’t pay enough attention to, but, which make a difference to our beloved animals.

Please consider my recommendations as only being my guess. Your starting point when trying to figure out what works the best for your cat with regards to feeding amount and feeding times. It is a discussion about feeding adult felines only, I will address kittens, expecting and lactating queens in a separate comment at a later point.

So let’s get right into it:
Determining your cat’s ideal daily portion size is unfortunately not as easy as a chart telling you if your cat weighs X, feed her Y. Cats are individuals. Some are big and skinny, others small but fat. And yes, you guessed it right, cats can be young and old, male and female, active or sedate, and more. Some have fast metabolism and others don’t.

Any chance of providing you with a simple chart is made more difficult by the fact, that a homemade diet will turn out differently with the meat you use and with how precisely you follow instructions. I know of cat owners who use lean poultry, others use fatty beef. A fatty beef diet will be more filling and calorie dense than the same volume of a lean turkey diet. Some people add more water, giving the food more volume but not more calories, while another group omits water and wonders why their cats gain weight on so little food.

Like this one customer of mine who complained the other day: “My cat is “inhaling” her food like a dog” (now, who told that women that every dog eats like that?), cat owners are often distressed about their cat’s behavior of finishing their plate in less than a minute, asking for more food, pestering them at the fridge, or taking food stuff off counters or out of the trash, prompting them to think that their cat is starving or lacking something! Some cats don’t do this, but most will not miss an opportunity to eat. It is natural for an animal to be opportunistic. This is just part of their instinctive drive to survive. However, and I always stress this, much of this is conditioning. It really has a lot to do with how your cat was raised and how your cat has trained you! Most “monsters” are created by their owners.

Remember, food requirement should be based entirely on body condition, and not on behavior. If your cat suddenly looses weight without changes in the diet, keep a real close eye on her and possibly consult your veterinarian about possible illness or internal parasites.
It is especially difficult to monitor food intake and its effects on a cat allowed outdoors. Outdoors, you cat can regurgitate food without you knowing, and all you notice is that he or she is loosing weight. The eating of mice and other prey will add calories, but also predispose your cat to intestinal parasites. Outdoor, cats will often travel long distances, which takes extra calories. Outdoor, cats may scavenge food from neighbors, which puts them at a great risk not only from weight gain.

Most cats prefer to eat off a flat dish with the food spread out onto it. For regular raw food, my suggestions are to feed a daily portion of 1/2 cup or appr. 5 oz to appr. 6 oz or 2/3 cup divided into two meals every day. If you have a dainty female cat, start by feeding ¼ cup in the morning and the same in the evening. If you have a robust male cat, feed 1/3 cup in the morning and the same in the evening. Unless you have a very large cat, like a young, active, outdoor, male Main Coon cat, or a crazy Siamese, 99% of cats will fall into this portion range. Some older, more sedate cats will actually gain weight on only 5 oz of food a day. Always follow the manufacturer’s feeding instructions and your vet’s recommendations. Remember that manufacturer’s instructions stating how much to feed your cat at which weight is based on the “ideal” body weight, not the actual weight. This means for example, if your cat is overweight and you feed her based on her “actual;” weight you continue to over feed her, which is obviously not helping in getting rid of the obesity problem.

Here are some other facts you may want to keep in mind:
Some cat owners and vets say that cats will digest food better and get more out of it, when given small portions 3 to 4 times a day. Cats will also pester you less for food, if you divide their daily portion into more frequent meals. Contrary to this advice, we feed our cats once a day. I wanted to make sure, they pester me only once a day. Just kidding, but my point is, this is what they are used to and they don’t seem to have a problem with that. Though I have to add that: They are 50/50 indoor/outdoor cats, i.e., I take it during their 50% outdoor time they may scavenge and hunt and possibly get food this way, plus they always are around me with our pet food store and Daddy always has a treat or sample to try and spare.

Most cats will not digest a portions size of ½ cup well, and will likely suffer from a degree of indigestion. Many cats will actually regurgitate food if you feed a portion larger than ¼ cup. A cat’s ability to eat a large meal in one sitting decreases with age. Occurrence of regurgitation is more frequently observed in middle aged to older cats. I noticed this with our oldest cat
Young cats often behave especially frantic to get their paws on food. They may climb up on you while you are preparing or serving their food, climb right into the fridge when it is being opened, and come running at any sound of activity in the kitchen. Young cats, but not exclusively so, may steal food left out on counter tops, sometimes even take off with a loaf of bread. I don’t remember now where exactly I found this part, but have to say, observing our cats, this does not just apply to the young ones. Young and old, in our family they are all the same.

Cats are individuals. Some will maintain a level of excitement about food throughout their live. Others are largely uninterested in eating, and need coaxing to eat even as kittens. Most cats do well eating three meals every day, but some are not interested in eating more often than twice every day; sometimes they only show enthusiasm for one meal per day. Other cats will eat anything, any time, for no reason. Cats’ personality and emotional state is very much expressed by how they eat!

Cats’ appetite and attitude towards food does not only hinge on a certain personality type, but also on early kitten hood conditioning. Competition from other kittens, type of food fed, and frequency of food fed will all affect what kind of relationship cats will have with food later in life.
Cats’ behavior towards food and eating is also influenced by how well they have trained you. Do you respond to their begging by feeding them something when you have a meal yourself, work in the kitchen, or open the fridge? A rewarded behavior will be repeated. Although your intention may not have been to reward your cats for that behavior, you did nonetheless yield to their pressure.

If you find a begging cat intolerable, start conditioning your cat early and consistently by feeding him or her at a quite, designated place, preferably not in your kitchen or dining room, so your cat does not form a strong food association with these areas. If you feed your adult cat three times daily as much as he or she needs to maintain body weight, and refrain from giving food out of the fridge or from the table, your cat should settle into a routine that is comfortable and predictable for both of you. Feed treats away from areas where you prepare and eat your own food, and keep groceries and the trash out of your cat’s reach. If your cat is allowed into the kitchen and on counter tops keep food stored away and inaccessible. If your cat is successful in snatching food off the counters once, it will continue to check out these areas for food. After all, they are not stupid and will not resist instinct simply to be a good kitty just to please you.

Cats of the genus Felis, including the domestic cat, are adapted to prey on rodents, small birds, and the occasional reptile and amphibian as the main staple of their natural diet. A single mouse weighing no more then 30 gram provides approximately 60 kcal. So, in order to meet daily caloric requirement a cat must eat an average of five prey animals daily. This amount of food is not consumed all as one meal, but as separate meals throughout the day as the cats succeed in catching that prey. Researchers during field observations have concluded that most small cat species are adapted to and prefer to be active during dusk and dawn, the time when they will hunt most of their prey, resulting in an intake of several smaller meals during these hours. Naturally, cats will rest, groom, doze or sleep during daytime hours.

Transferring that insight from Mother Nature’s model onto our domesticated animals, feeding five meals of 1 oz each during the morning and evening hours is sort of an impossible solution for most of us. Reporting on feedback from my customers I would say that cats do very well by eating meals of 2.5 to 3 oz each given twice daily. By the way, weighing of the servings is a good idea since we pet owners have a natural tendency to over feed.

If regurgitation of food is a problem, try feeding smaller meal sizes not exceeding 3 oz ea. and feed the daily portion spread out over 3 to 4 meals. Young, large, active cats requiring more than 5 oz of food daily should be given an extra meal rather then increasing the size of their meal. Remember that a cat’s stomach size is about the size of a walnut when empty. I can stretch, but trying to fit a ½ cup of food into it as one meal, is over stretching it a bit. Saliva and digestive juices will add additional volume. If the cat does not bring the food back up, proper digestion will be difficult. Additionally, your cat will not always select instinctively what he or she needs and how much of it. There are many cats that if offered as much food as they want, they will eat until overcome with an urge to purge. Only some, those raised without siblings and competition for food will eat until full and leave the rest behind.

And finally: Always remember that cats are individuals. While I can give you ideas, none of them may work for your cat. Cats are a joy and a challenge at the same time. The ladder especially holds true when it comes to feeding. Since cats are so specialized in what they would eat naturally, cat owners have a very narrow margin of error of what cats thrive on or die from.

Junk Pet Food Part 3: Blowing the whistle, catching attention

If unnatural pet food injures the health of pets, then the cozy relationship between the pet food manufacturers and the veterinary profession injures pets, pet owners and the veterinary profession, too. Breck Muir complained: (*15)

The infiltration of the commercial pet foods into our lives is one of the great success stories of the business world. Gross sales figures for a single product type are probably only bettered by petroleum products worldwide.

We as a profession have been led by the nose by vested interests into a current situation where most younger vets actually recommend commercial pet foods as the best available way of feeding domestic pets, because they have never known of any other way. Before they had their
first pet they were bombarded with constant mass media advertising instilling into them that various commercial foods are the only way to go, and when they graduated and went to postgraduate nutrition courses again they had this idea reinforced by visiting lecturers who actually mentioned brand names in their notes.

Breck and I thought that blowing the whistle on the processed pet-food issue might trigger debate. We also hoped it might lead to reappraisal and resolution of a gathering crisis. However, we were about to be taught the first of several lessons: that the pet food industry/veterinary profession alliance is extensive, strong and hostile to criticism.

Upper echelons of the veterinary profession (veterinary associations, veterinary schools, research institutes) and junk food makers do deals behind the scenes. The Australian Veterinary Association sent Breck's letter to John Wingate, the then president of the Pet Food Manufacturers Association Inc. (now the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia Inc.). Wingate, in his self serving response published alongside Breck's letter, told vets: (*16)

The best way to feed a pet animal is with reputable brands of pet food... Analytically speaking, the...contents of these products are known and designed to satisfy the requirements of the animal as defined by the National Research Council of the US Academy of Sciences, which
is the accumulation of the most up to date world wide knowledge on the subject.

Yes, that's right: the junk pet food culture extends all the way up to the US Academy of Sciences, and along the way, animal welfare organizations, dog and cat breed societies, pet magazines, books, print and electronic media all sing from the junk pet food makers' song sheet.

But as practicing vets ministering to the needs of a steady stream of sick pets, we found that our senses and our daily experience told us that the weight of so-called veterinary evidence
was wrong. We delved deeper, looking in textbooks and research papers. And everywhere we stumbled, tripped and fell, we found new evidence of the harmful effects of junk food. Most pets are fed junk food and never clean their teeth. By simply cleaning diseased teeth and gums and changing pets over to a more natural diet, otherwise intractable diseases disappear, never to recur. Penicillin, hailed as a wonder drug, is used to treat some bacterial diseases but has no long-term disease prevention benefits. Using dentistry and diet, we could cure many and prevent most of the diseases afflicting pets.

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
15. Muir, op. cit.
16. Wingate, J. (1991), "Far Fetched Claims", AVA News, December 1991, p. 28, http://www.ukrmb.co.uk/images/AVANews.pdf

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 2: Hippocrates: “Leave your drugs in the chemist’s pot if you can heal your patients with food”

Stop feeding junk pet food is the first and best bit of advice I can give you, for the benefit of your pet(s), the human economy and the natural environment. By stopping doing harm, we take the first step on the road to doing good. It gains us some breathing space, allowing us to survey the scene, investigate further and harness the benefits of our newfound wisdom.

Actually, it's not so new. Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician of the fifth century BC, said: "Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal your patients with food." (*10) So why did we lose sight of the ancient wisdom? Why did we ignore the teachings of nature? And of utmost importance, why is it so difficult to discuss, let alone reverse, the current orthodoxy? By way of explanation, let me tell you a story that, when taken to a conclusion, should provide medical, scientific, social and environmental benefits worth billions of dollars. Since 1955, when Juliette de Bairacli Levy published her Complete Herbal Book for the Dog , there have been mutterings about the inadequacy of processed-food diets for pet dogs and cats. (*11) By the late 1980s Australian vets were passing comment, and by the early 1990s they were registering open dissent. Dr Breck Muir often remarked about the foul odors given off from both ends of dogs fed canned food. In the December 1991 issue of the Australian Veterinary Association News, he wrote: (*12)

Canned pet food not the healthiest
The pet food situation has concerned me for some years, my feelings brought to this by the current competitive marketing of various dental work stations for veterinary use. The scene as I see it goes like this: "Here is the best food ever made for your dog, Mrs Jones," handing her a can of commercial dog food or dry food, "but he may develop problems with his teeth, so here is a special toothbrush and paste for you to use to clean his teeth regularly, and then if that doesn't keep the periodontal disease at bay we...have the very latest in dental equipment just like your own dentist has, and we can give Fido that perfectly enamelled ivory grin", that he would have had had you not fed him the commercial food in the first place.

Here we have the perfectly engineered commercial circle, a problem doesn't exist, so we create one, and then come up with all the remedial treatments. Also in December 1991, my article "Oral Disease in Cats and Dogs" appeared in the newsletter of the Sydney University Post Graduate Foundation in Veterinary Science: (*13)
The stench of stale blood, dung and pus emanating from the mouths of so many of my patients has finally provoked this eruption of dissent. The sheer numbers passing through the practice, when extrapolated to the world situation, tell me that oral disease is the source of the greatest intractable pain and discomfort experienced by our companion animals. This is a great and mindless cruelty we visit upon our animals from the whelping box to the grave. Just imagine having a mouth ulcer or toothache for a lifetime. Whilst the chemical contents (masquerading as nutrients) of junk pet foods are a major cause of concern, the new emphasis on oral hygiene opened an important chapter focusing on the physical form of the food. Indisputably, lions, tigers, wolves and all other wild predators don't have access to toothbrushes, dental floss or annual check-ups at the dentist. Nature equipped carnivores with the tools of trade to complete a very necessary evolutionary function: eating and thus regulating herbivore populations on planet Earth. Strong, precision tools need to be kept sharp and clean, and it's by the very act of a carnivore's gnawing and ripping its way through tough hide, muscle, sinew and bone that its teeth and gums get scrubbed, scraped and polished.

For dogs, cats and ferrets, the biological principles are exactly the same as for their wild cousins. Nutrients need to be raw and easily digested; physically, the food should be raw, tough and chewy. (*14) In practical terms, that's a diet of whole chickens, rabbits, fish or similar. A raw meaty bones based diet provides a good second best option.

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
10. Engel, C. (2002), "Food, Medicine, and Selfmedication", chapter 3 of Wild Health: How animals keep themselves well and what we can learn from them, Phoenix, London, 2003, p. 26
11. De Bairacli-Levy, J. (1955), The Complete Herbal Book for the Dog, Faber & Faber, London
12. Muir, B. (1991), "Canned pet food not the healthiest", AVA News, December 1991, p. 28, http://www.ukrmb.co.uk/images/AVANews.pdf
13. Lonsdale, T. (1991), "Oral disease in cats and dogs", Control and Therapy, no. 3128, Postgraduate Committee in Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, http://www.rawmeatybones.com/No_3128.html
14. AVA News, November 1994, p.19

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

Thinking outside the conventional bag: Innovative pet food forms like Pre-mixes are here to stay (Comparison of Pet Food Types Part 3)

In part 1 of this series we started looking at and comparing various types of food, mainly dry, canned and raw food and did so by concentrating on the advantages and disadvantages of the various processing methods applied during the manufacture of these types of food. Today we are going to expand upon this topic by taking a look at the pet food industry overall and how developments are influencing innovation for the pet food market. A further discussion in Part 2 addressed the reasons for the positive development in this market sector, which are primarily substantial growth rates and the desire of pet food manufacturers to set themselves apart form their competition. Positive for concerned pet owners is that these unconventional forms of foods typically also fall into the highly desirable category of healthy and natural food. Today and in subsequent comments we will take a closer look of what is already available to us now and also take a look into the future to see what we can expect ahead of us.

Let’s get started with the so called dog food pre-mixes. Pre-mixes actually are not that new and actually belong to some of the older innovations. The player established for the longest time in this market is Sojourner Farms with its pre-mixes. The company launched its initial product back in 1985. The concept of these mixes is a simple one: Take the mix, add meat and water and voila, you have a complete and balanced meal. The mix itself looks kind of like a muesli, their organic version even says it in its name “Muesli”. The Grain Free version Europa looks and smells very much like a soup mix for humans. Another product I highly recommend is Dr. Harvey’s Canine Health pre-mix. And there are a few other names, not too many though and I have to admit not knowing enough about them to comment here.

Both named manufacturers basically say that with the addition of a specified amount of fresh, wholesome meat a “complete and balanced” in compliance with AAFCO guidelines is obtained. Some of the products we looked at in our store are formulated to meet the nutritional levels standards of AAFCO, others don’t. Remember, in order to be able to make that “complete and balanced” statement the manufacturer must demonstrate through lab analysis that the food contains nutrients to meet all the minimum expected levels and does not exceed the maximums levels of others to maintain the overall health of your pet. Another method to obtain the authorization to use such a statement would be feeding trials. During these trials a specified number of animals has to be fed an exclusive diet of the food in question for a specified period of time. Due to its expensive nature, this is actually a method not too popular with the smaller manufacturers like the pre-mix manufacturers typically are.

Serious players will state on their packages whether or not their mix is “intended for intermittent or supplemental feeding only”. Unfortunately, you cannot always rely on the manufacturer and I strongly suggest staying away from those who are not clear up front about this issue, unless you are an experienced pet owner with enough knowledge to make an educated decision. Note that pets with specific dietary needs due to health conditions may require further supplements to be added to the mix. You should discuss this with your vet to find out which supplements your pet may require. Of course, be prepared that he most likely will attempt to talk you out of your idea and steer you towards his suggested or prescription diets. But this should not hold you back from following this new idea.

Then of course there is always the question about the value of AAFCO nutrient requirement guidelines to begin with. You probably recall the many articles contributed by Dr. Wysong, DVM on this subject matter and you know that most of the times I am in agreement with the doctor. But this is a totally different subject and not to be addressed here and now. The entire AAFCO issue being neither here nor there, at a minimum you should be looking for a detailed and complete lab analysis of the mix if no AAFCO statements are included. Serious players don’t have a problem with you asking them for it, the ones who do: Thumbs down.

With reference to the shelve life of pre-mix products, Sojourner Farms for example states: “You should store your bag in its original package without any problems as long as you keep the product in a cool dry place. Avoid extreme heat or humidity. During warm and humid months, you may want to store it in the freezer or in an airtight container. It should keep for about 6-8 months.”
Many pet owners argue that they “don’t even cook for themselves”, so why would they take the time to cook for their pets? Well, it all is not as complicated as it may sound. I personally would preparing a meal with a pre-mix not exactly call “cooking”. Goal of the mix makers is to make it simple and convenient for you to feed your pets natural, real, fresh food. If you don’t have time to prepare the mix prior to each meal, you can make larger batches ahead of time and store them in the freezer. Raw meat, and especially ground beef does well for about 4 days in the fridge. Many pet owners fill freezer containers with 4 days worth of the meat, mix, and water, and store several of these containers in the freezer while keeping one in the fridge, ready to serve. As you dish out the last meal from your container, simply transfer another one from freezer to fridge and it will be ready to serve at the next meal. Not only is this method convenient, but it also allows your mixture to soak, the part of the process which cannot be over emphasized enough. Soaking improves digestibility. Cats and dogs have a strong but short digestive tract designed to quickly break down and absorb foods. Grains and vegetables require more complex digestion than meats, fresh fruits, and other foods so having them soak in water for at least up to an hour is critical to the success of a per-mix diet. Soaking overnight in the fridge or for at least a half day is ideal. You can also add other healthy leftovers (before or after you freeze it) to the presoaked portion. For best results, remove food from fridge and wait 15 minutes or add a little warm water to bring food to room temperature before feeding. Note: It is important not to cook any of this, this would defeat the purpose and the heat would destroy important elements of the food just as it happens with any other processed food.

Finally, another issue not to be discussed here and today is the money. All I want to say at this point is that though at the first glance it may appear that feeding raw diets may be more expensive than feeding regular dry food you are most likely in for a surprise once we analyze those numbers in depth.

Stay tuned for the next time when we look at close counter parts of pre-mixes.

Raw food, a scary thing?

Phoebe Kerr towards the end of last year expressed her opinion about raw feeding on Natural News.com under the following headline: “Feeding raw: Taking Your Pets Health into Your Own Hands” Here’s what she had to say:

“For many, the discussion of feeding your pet a raw food diet can be a scary thing. There is so much work and knowledge that is involved, not to mention all the health factors to take into consideration for both you and your pet. Or at least this is what your vet and mainstream media may lead you to believe. If it doesn't come in a bag with feeding instructions on the back then can it really be trusted? There may be feeding instructions but there is also generally a list a mile long of ingredients and without a PhD in Veterinary Nutrition you would be lucky to know the purpose of half of those ingredients.With the veterinary field booming because of illnesses such as diabetes, thyroid disease, obesity, dental disease and a slew of other issues it is time for people to take their pets health back into their own hands. Veterinarians are just like doctors, they make money by keeping their patients sick. Whether or not they are doing this intentionally is a different story, but they are keeping their patients sick. If you ask a vet what pet food they would recommend after they tell you your pet has three teeth that need to be removed due to dental disease, they would generally recommend a kibble or wet food that they also sell at their clinic. If your pet is obese they tell you to cut calories. Who can sit there and watch their poor animal, their responsibility, pout and beg for food because they are hungry? There are some enlightened veterinarians and technicians out there but for the most part they repeat what the pet food reps told them.Raw food diets are a way to get your pet back to a simpler way of eating. Dogs are omnivores, cats are obligate carnivores and they require species specific food. Dogs benefit from a diet of predominantly raw meats. They do not need grains in their diet. Vegetable nutrients are best absorbed through pulverized vegetables, which can be achieved by using a high-speed blender to make them vegetable juice, consisting mostly of fresh greens, or giving them tripe. Dogs do not have the required teeth for grinding plant material making it difficult for them to get the nutrients and enzymes out of whole vegetables and greens. Cats need meat; their little systems are designed to eat meat. Their teeth are designed for slicing through meat and breaking small bones. Cats do not have any flat teeth for grinding herbaceous material.

One of the major areas of concern when giving your pet raw meat is parasites, bacteria and salmonella. If you are conscious of the type of meat you are buying, parasites should not be a problem. Make sure that you are purchasing meats from a reputable source and if you can afford organic grass fed that is an even better choice. Not everyone that wants to feed raw can afford the cost of organic however, so when you are milling through the meat aisle trying to find meat for your dog, make sure to look at the nutrition labels. The reason is because it is very important to take notice of the salt content. Salt water is pumped into some meat as a preservative. High sodium levels are indicative of meat that has been packaged with preservation being the main concern. Another thing to remember if you are unable to feed organic is a lot of meat companies use radiation to preserve their meat. If you can find a local farmer or raw food co-op that would be your best bet. Even if they aren't getting organic product you are going to be getting a higher quality of meat, especially if you know the farmer. There are also a lot of internet sites that meat can be ordered from, although this option can become very expensive unless you are doing bulk orders. Salmonella and bacteria are more of a concern for yourself then for your pet. A dog's digestive system is much shorter than that of humans and also becomes very acidic when food is introduced to it. The stomach acid kills off any bacteria that may be present on the meat. Dogs should not be fed pork or fish products to prevent parasite exposure. When preparing your pets food make sure you clean up your area and clean any other service the raw meat touches. This may sound like a lot of work but it really isn't.

Another concern for many people is stomach or intestine perforation. This is a valid concern but the chances aren't any higher than your pet choking on food (whether it be junk kibble, super premium kibble, home prepared food or a raw food). Everyone that has a dog or cat has heard at one point or another "chicken bones are dangerous." Well this is true when you are referring to cooked chicken bones. Cooked chicken bones are brittle and rigid making the chance of breakage higher if consumed by your pet. When cooked chicken bones break they can form sharp ends that have the potential to puncture a pet's intestinal wall. This is not to say that just cooked chicken bones are dangerous, any cooked bone is dangerous for your pet, even the smoked bones they sell at the pet store for chewing purposes. Raw bones are a completely different story. There is that chance of perforation, but it is a much smaller chance. Dogs systems are designed to process these bones. Softer bones are best for consumption but a lot of people also feed recreational bones, such as marrow (soup) bones, to keep their pet busy or to promote dental hygiene.

This is a very broad topic with many different points to cover. Raw food has many benefits for your pet. The same holds true for pets as it does for people, "you are what you eat." Pets just have different requirements. By giving your pet a chicken wing or leg a day you will help promote a healthy lifestyle, more energy, healthy coat, pristine teeth and smaller bowel movements just to name a few. There is also the potential to turn your pet's health issues around by putting them on a more natural diet. They are not little people and do not benefit from grains, legumes, beet pulp (watch out this is probably GM now), sugars, or any of the chemical preservatives that can be found in a generic bag of chow. If you wouldn't eat it yourself, why would you feed it to your pets?”

As you all know, in a lot of areas I share the author's opinion. And after all, feeding raw doesn't sound scary to me but makes a lot of sense. And that's really all I have and want to say today.

Contributed by Phoebe Kerr for Natural News.com, a site, which describes itself as follows: “The NaturalNews Network is a non-profit collection of public education websites covering topics that empower individuals to make positive changes in their health, environmental sensitivity, consumer choices and informed skepticism. The NaturalNews Network is owned and operated by Truth Publishing International, Ltd., a Taiwan corporation. It is not recognized as a 501(c)3 non-profit in the United States, but it operates without a profit incentive, and its key writer, Mike Adams, receives absolutely no payment for his time, articles or books other than reimbursement for items purchased in order to conduct product reviews. The vast majority of our content is freely given away at no charge. We offer thousands of articles and dozens of downloadable reports and guides (like the Honest Food Guide) that are designed to educate and empower individuals, families and communities so that they may experience improved health, awareness and life fulfillment. To respect our readers, the NaturalNews Network refuses to engage in pop-up ads, pop-under ads, interstitial ads, spamming practices or other annoying content. We focus on providing empowering content for intelligent readers. The NaturalNews Network is not for sale, and does not accept money to cover any story (or to spike it). We are what the news industry used to be, before it sold out to big business. We have no particular religious affiliation and are considered religion-neutral. We also have no particular political affiliation and do not endorse political candidates."

Raw feeding: Forever surrounded by mystery?

MSNBC on their Pet Health page recently reported “Raw deal? Some feed their pets uncooked diet, but most vets fear food borne illnesses and say trend can harm the furry foodies.”

Here are some of the points they made:

“BARF. It’s what’s for dinner. Your dog’s dinner, that is. The acronym stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, which is not so much a diet as it is a movement among pet owners who believe their pets will benefit from eating the same kinds of food their furry ancestors gobbled: bones, raw meats and veggies. Just as a raw food trend has turned more mainstream among people, a small but vocal community of pet owners is using the same quality ingredients they buy for themselves to create homemade raw meals for their critters.

But most veterinarians are wary about the trend toward raw food, or even meals that are cooked, but homemade. The idea of feeding pets raw meat, which has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella or E. coli bacteria, or a home-cooked meal that may not be properly balanced, gives them the shudders. “So many of these people are just trying to make their pets happy and have no concept of nutrition,” says Dr. Patty Khuly, who practices in Miami.
Although no studies have been conducted to assess the benefits of a raw food diet for cats and dogs, believers in the raw pet food movement say the evidence speaks for itself: Their pets have shinier coats, stronger teeth, fewer ear infections and improved weight control.

Bob Kurtz, who was already feeding his retrievers a high-quality dry food, recently turned to a commercial raw diet to solve a young Labrador’s skin allergies.
“Since switching to raw, we have found several major benefits,” he says. “Our dogs’ weights have stabilized perfectly. They now rarely change weight by more than a pound between checkups. They are lean and muscular, with coats that are even more beautiful and glossy than before. The ground bone in the diet does a great job of scouring their teeth, and all signs of plaque and tartar buildup have disappeared.”

Pat Puckett, a founder of SoCal BARF, a buying association based in Orange County, Calif., began feeding a raw diet to her American pit bull terriers in 1998.
“My breed has a tendency toward skin problems, and I had spent quite a bit of time at the vet for various problems,” she says. “One of my friends who also has the breed had talked about switching over to raw for her dogs. I moved in that direction and never went back.”
Kurtz says the diet gets a mixed reaction from the veterinarians who see his dogs.
“Our practice has two vets. The senior vet is very wary about bacterial growth, E. coli, salmonella, etc. She has recommended to us many times that we cook the food instead," Kurtz says. "The younger vet is very excited about the growth of raw and homemade diets, is not particularly concerned about bacteria in the dog's shorter digestive system, and is very pleased with our results. As she says about our Labrador, ‘Ooh, look at her coat — she's sleek, like a seal!’”

A raw diet isn't as easy as dropping a chicken bone into Baxter's bowl. It’s essential to use a trustworthy recipe that provides all the nutrients a dog or cat needs or to feed a great enough variety of fresh foods that the diet is balanced over time, in the same way that a person who eats a variety of foods achieves a balanced diet. People who are concerned about providing a correct balance of nutrients or who don’t have time to prepare a pets’ meals can purchase commercial frozen raw diets at pet supply stores.

Dr. Deborah S. Greco, an internal medicine specialist, advises dog breeders who fed a raw diet to rotate protein sources rather than relying exclusively on a single protein, such as chicken.
“What I usually recommend for people who are feeding homemade diets is to call a nutritionist and say ‘This is what I’m feeding; is it balanced?’”

Dr. Khuly, the Miami veterinarian, proffers the same advice to her clients. She will consult a nutritionist for them, for a fee, or refer them to a veterinary nutritionist for a personal consultation. She says there is another reason veterinarians are conservative when it comes to recommending raw or homemade diets.

“Veterinarians want to be legally safe, and there are things that can go wrong with feeding anything,” she says. “If there’s a commercial entity to back you up, it makes it so much easier. If there’s just your diet, your recipes and your recommendation, you’re the one out on the line."
When done right, the greatest benefit of a homemade diet is the ability to select the ingredients. Puckett and the approximately 400 members of SoCal BARF want to know how the food animal was fed. They prefer to avoid soy-fed poultry and rabbits, for instance, because soy is a common pet allergen. That’s difficult, though. Soy is in almost every poultry and rabbit feed, she says.

“The dogs are healthier than any I’ve ever had who were primarily kibble-fed,” says Shirley Thistlethwaite, who lives in a rural area near Columbia, S.C., and feeds her six dogs cooked homemade meals using a rough ratio of one-third meat, one-third grains and one-third vegetables, fruits or herbs.

Thistlethwaite buys the highest-quality foods she can work into her budget each week.
“I try to get wild-caught fish, free-range meats, and organic and local foods if I can,” she says. Often, she and her dogs eat similar meals.

But not everyone has such a positive experience. After a massive pet food recall in 2007, Margaret Alexander of Newton, Mass., began cooking for her three Cavalier King Charles spaniels. She read a lot and consulted her own veterinarian as well as veterinarians at Angell Memorial Hospital in Boston. A year later, however, all three of her dogs developed various problems that may or may not have been related to their diet.

“The oldest one developed very serious liver and gall bladder problems and was hospitalized for several days,” she says. “The youngest dog developed slow digestive processes and lots of vomiting in the summer. The third one, in the fall, developed some type of problem which was initially thought to be a blockage. He has had what are euphemistically called 'dietary indiscretions' since we got him.”

Alexander suspects that the food she was preparing was too high in fat. Now her oldest dog is eating a diet prescribed by the veterinarian and the other two are back on a high-quality dry food. She’s happy with the foods they’re eating now, citing cost and convenience.
“The dry food is measurably cheaper than home cooking," Alexander says. "Expecting a pet sitter to prepare the dogs’ food is a little more than we think we can ask, and it is hard to prepare enough in advance.”

Khuly has a handful of clients who feed their pets a raw diet, and she herself has moved from ambivalence to cautious acceptance. Her two French bulldogs now enjoy regular raw meaty bones. Clients who want to start feeding their pets a raw or homemade diet are referred to a veterinary nutritionist for expert advice on what and how to feed.

“I believe in raw feeding, I believe it can be done well, I believe it can be helpful, but I have a lot of conditions because I’m still new to it,” she says. “I tell people to have a good relationship with a high-quality butcher and make sure they understand that the meat needs to be human-grade, every bit as high-quality as they would expect you to want to eat. You have to work hard at it.””

The article contains a number of issues I would like to address here:
First the statement “…senior vet is very wary about bacterial growth, E. coli, salmonella, etc. She has recommended to us many times that we cook the food instead," Kurtz says. "The younger vet is very excited about the growth of raw and homemade diets, is not particularly concerned about bacteria in the dog's shorter digestive system, and is very pleased with our results. As she says about our Labrador, ‘Ooh, look at her coat — she's sleek, like a seal!’”
This is in full agreement with what I see and hear every day. A majority of the older vet generation normally advises against raw feeding. Yet when I talk to younger ones or hear what they recommend to my customers I see definitely a more open minded attitude towards raw feeding. A lot of it in my opinion has to do with the fact that “Veterinarians want to be legally safe, and there are things that can go wrong with feeding anything,” she says. “If there’s a commercial entity to back you up, it makes it so much easier. If there’s just your diet, your recipes and your recommendation, you’re the one out on the line." And that seems to be what vets have been and still to this day are being taught. Every site related to vet or veterinarian practice preaches mainly against raw, usually pushing the main scare “E-coli and salmonella”.

By the way, when I hear “cooking the food” I basically only can laugh. That defeats the entire idea of raw feeding in the first place. Remember, dear vet, heat destroys the most important elements of food? This is kind of the same advice like the other day I read about in my newspaper’s pet column. A woman reported to the column’s vet that her dog had some serious dental problems. So bad it resulted in the vet pulling all her teeth. Now while that was sad, what made me wonder about her vet’s intelligence was that after the surgical procedure he prescribed some of the scientific dry food for the poor toothless dog. I’d say, it is about time to make a change. Are you people sure it was your vet and not the absent minded professor?

Coming back to raw feeding. The article talks about the negative experience this one pet owner had with her three dogs. Too bad, rather than figuring out how to do it right the convenient way of going to a scientific prescription diet was chosen. The problem I see with home cooking is first of all that home cooking does not translate into raw feeding as many pet owners make the wrong assumption. This are two totally different things. The second problem is that pet owners very often don’t know enough about raw feeding nor do they have or are they willing to take the time and learn. Just running to the butcher, buying some raw meat and put that in front of the pet doesn’t do the trick. Raw feeding is way more than that and requires carefully composed and assembled meals to ensure all important nutrients required by an animal are provided as well to ensure a balanced meal in compliance to nutrient requirements. Sure, at the first glance it seems to be a lot more economical to just get and feed simple, plain raw meat, but over the long run doing this route can be even more dangerous than feeding highly processed commercial dry or wet food for a life time. Raw feeding is great and in my opinion the best a pet owner can do to maintain a pet’s optimal health. It comes the closest to the ancestral diet and nature. But it needs to be done right. Therefore, even if it looks like it is more expensive, if you don’t have the time to learn about how to or to prepare it right, you definitely are way better off with buying some of the commercially prepared raw food diets readily available. Remember, find the answer to the question “Is it balanced?”

Finally, MSNBC tied a survey into the article. The question is “Would you feed your pet raw food?” I really liked the numbers at the time of this writing: 61.4% (342 votes) say “Absolutely, wild animals eat raw food all the time”. 13.8% or 77 votes came back “It depends. If I knew exactly where it was from, I might” and 24.8% or 134 votes came back “No way. I'd be too worried about them getting sick” (probably the group with the “older” vets?) This clearly indicates that there is a trend in the right direction. However, talk is cheap. Now we still have to see those numbers transfer into real life and there so far is certainly not such a great percentage following the right track. The survey also allowed for voters to leave comments. Here are some of my favorite ones:
“I like how the article states there has been no research in raw food diets, yet vets are already attacking it. Scared of lost sponsorships?”
“If it was from a reputable dealer I'd consider it. Dogs and cats are carnivors, so a diet of mostly meat makes sense.”
“I feed my Samoyed a raw frozen balanced diet and at 12 yrs he acts and looks half his age. Dry food is much too processed for good health! “
And this one is my absolute top runner: “Vet are not taught nutrition in school. Related info school is supplied by the pet food companies” It says it all in a very simple statement.
To read the full article and more voter’s comments with up-to-date survey results visit MSNBC.com. .

Simple Dental Care for your Dog: Simply give a bone

Forget about celebrating Dental Month for Dogs catering to vets for teeth cleaning services worth (?) hundreds of dollars, try this instead: Simply Give Your Dog a Bone

The other day one of my local customers, she owns 2 dogs, was picking up her food and asked me if we would have any tooth paste for the dogs. She almost got upset when she told me that she just had spent a couple hundred dollars for cleaning her dogs’ teeth at the vet’s office. Of course that came on top of the bill for annual checkups, heartworm treatments, and shots for this and for that, so she ended writing a check for about $800 before she even had gotten any of her doctor’s prescribed food. Needless to say, at that point she was sort of fed up and decided going forward to take care of her dogs’ teeth not just better than before, but mostly on her own. It just so happened that around the same time I came across this interview. Ward Johnson, founder and President of Sojourner Farms, the makers of Sojos Raw Food Mixes had a chance to sit down with and talk to the Canine Coach Maureen Haggerty of The K9 Coach about dental hygiene for dogs and keeping your dog’s teeth clean:

Q. What do you recommend people do when it comes to doggie dental hygiene?
A. Brushing your dog’s teeth is a noble act, but through my personal experience I discovered that I got the same if not better results from letting them chew on raw bones. Raw knuckle bones (the joints) in particular are great because they are soft and still have some tendons and muscle meat attached. They look kind of round like the shape of your fist. These bones clean your dog’s teeth in addition to providing them with a nice oral workout – not to mention a healthy dose of natural calcium.

Q. Does it matter if the bones are raw or cooked?
A. It does matter. Raw knuckle bones are what I recommend versus cooked or sterilized bones. Cooked bones are more likely to splinter from the effect that high cooking temperatures have on them. And cooked bones, especially the white sterilized bones from the pet stores, will also be deprived of beneficial nutrients which raw knuckle bones are chock full of. A further benefit of raw bones versus the white sterilized bones from the store, are that they are much more yummy to your dog. This translates into more chewing time from your dog, which will both keep him occupied and better clean his teeth.

Q. Why the knuckle bone as opposed to other types of bones?
A. Raw knuckle bones are soft and allow dogs of all sizes to scrape their teeth into the bone, nicely cleaning food and tartar from their teeth. The meat tissue typically still left on the bones allow for a separate type of chewing, which is natural and necessary for your dog. This is the nibbling and pulling you see your dog do with his front teeth. They will use their front teeth to pull the tissue off the bones which is a great way to clean these teeth – natural flossing, if you will.Being that this is a conversation about teeth cleaning, I am going to focus on the raw knuckle bone in particular as the best type for the topic at hand. This is not to say dogs should never chew on anything else or any other type of bone. Satisfying the need to chew is very important whether or not it contributes to keeping the teeth clean. So let me just say that while other bones may make fine chew toys, I don’t feel they serve the teeth cleaning purpose. One in particular that I don’t recommend for teeth cleaning (besides cooked or sterilized bones) is the femur bone, which ironically is the stereotypical “dog bone” shaped bone. While your dogs will enjoy raw femur bones, I find that they don’t do as good of a job at cleaning the teeth because generally dogs cannot scrape into the femur as easily as they can with the knuckle bone. I also find that the enjoyment doesn’t last as long as it does with a knuckle bone. Many dogs spend most of their time licking out all of the marrow from the femur bones, which may be tasty but has nothing to do with teeth cleaning. Once the marrow is gone, most dogs seem to lose interest. Unlike raw knuckle bones, femur bones are usually very clean, with no meat tissue on them, and they are not very edible because you have to be careful for narrow walled femur bones, which might split upon chewing creating sharp edges. In addition, the marrow in femur bones is very rich and high in fat. Not that this is bad for your dog, but some dogs may react with diarrhea caused by the marrow, though most dogs do just fine with it.

Q. Where do you find raw knuckle bones?
A. The best place to find raw knuckle or femur bones is from your local butcher of the meat counter at your local supermarket. Ask them if they will cut them to the appropriate size for your dog.

Q. What about small dogs. Is there a more appropriate size bone for small breeds?
A. Ask your butcher if she will cut the bones down if they seem too large for your dog. Not that your small dog can't handle the big bones, but you wouldn't want them to consume too much at once (although most dogs are likely to self-regulate). Also, you will have more bone left to put back in your frig or freezer. Femur bones are often cut into small pieces at your grocery store's meat section. But I do prefer the knuckle bones, and you can get those cut down if you want. Also, make sure the bone size is large enough. Femur bones need to be longer than your dog's mouth is wide. Too short of a femur bone has been known to get lodged in the dogs mouth between their teeth.

Q. Is this alternative to teeth brushing a philosophy followed by Holistic Vets, Conventional Vets or both, generally speaking?
A. I actually have not discussed this with any vets. I do get comments with each visit how clean and healthy my dogs' teeth and gums look. They say I do I good job brushing, and I just tell them it is the bones they chew on.

Q. How often do you recommend my dog chew on raw bones...and for how long should each “chew session” last?
A. I let my dogs and any guest dogs chew on them as long as they want. The first chewing session on a fresh bone typically lasts 30 to 60 minutes. But I have had some guest dogs chew on them for hours straight, being very delighted in this new treat. Chewing is also nice exercise for your dog. I find them very content and relaxed while chewing and a little sleepy afterwards.

Q. How should the bones be stored when not in use?
A. When I bring home new bones, they are stored in my freezer until they are given to the dog. I usually thaw them out or run warm water over them before giving to my dogs. After your dog is done chewing on the bone, if he leaves any meat on the bone, I would put it back in the freezer or refrigerator. If after the first chewing, the bone is pretty well cleaned up, I let them stay out. Although do not let the bones stay outside in the warm months if you do not want flies all over them.

Q. Is this bone chewing thing a stinky and messy past time?
A. Well, not so stinky when they are fresh, but definitely messy. You will want to keep your dog on a doggy blanket or towel that can be easily washed, keep them outside, or contained to their crate, which can be easily washed out. Once the bone has been chewed down well, they are actually quite clean and I let my own dogs chew on them throughout the house.Keep in mind that many holistic veterinarians still advocate regular brushing and annual dental care (teeth cleaning, polishing and full dental exam) even for dogs that eat raw bones. This is especially important for dogs with very poor dental health and for breeds with unique oral structure such as greyhounds, poodles, or collies. Also, dogs with poor health or tooth quality can have tooth fractures when chewing on raw bones.Proper tooth and gum health can prevent bad breath, periodontal disease, discomfort and pain associated with inflamed or infected gums, as well as more serious conditions such as kidney disease, liver disease, heart conditions and joint problems. Plaque and tartar can build on the teeth, offsetting the balance of good bacteria in the mouth, which leaves way for infection and disease to spread. Whether you brush her teeth daily, or let your dog chew on raw knuckle bones daily, what’s important is removing that plaque and tartar regularly. This and a healthy dog food diet full of naturally, occurring nutrients will keep the immune system up and the good bacteria plentiful, which in turn will make your canine’s canines shine. – End of interview

I would like to add that most of the raw food brands we are selling at our store offer raw bone options, another alternative source for pet owners.
Just for fun I went to visit Wikipedia to see what they are saying on this topic. Here we, go, I am sure you agree with me that this still has to be in the beginnings and requires a lot more work: “Some proponents of raw diet claim noticeable benefit to the dental hygiene of pets who eat raw bones, while others believe that ground bone should be used instead, to prevent the possibility for intestinal puncturing and dental fractures. The abrasion between bone and teeth when chewing is believed to scrape off dental plaque. Cartilage, ligaments, and tendons are thought to act as a natural dental floss. The chewing and tearing action is also believed to strengthen the jaw, neck and shoulder muscles, keep the digestive juice flowing and boost the neurological and immune system. Proponents of ground bones believe that the chewing of muscle meat may also assist in keeping teeth clean.
The use of whole bone creates a risk of dental fractures, intestinal obstruction, gastroenteritis, and intestinal perforations. Wolf care managers questioned on the topic of feeding bones identified the presence of animal hide with hair as offering some protection from intestinal perforation in the wild. An analysis of the skulls of African wild dogs showed that the natural diet of wild carnivores does not prevent them from suffering the same oral disease as their domestic counterpart, although other studies have had results that claim otherwise. Raw diet proponents note that the same risks of obstruction, puncturing, and dental fractures are present in dog chews, with little evidence indicating that this is a serious problem particular to raw diets with bones. Some veterinarians state that chewing raw bone is an inadequate substitute for regular dental cleaning and tooth brushing.” My reason for bringing this up here was that I think I have the answer to the veterinarian statement in the last sentence: Read my first sentence on today’s comment.

Interview courtesy of Ward Johnson, founder and President of Sojourner Farms, the makers of Sojos Raw Food Mixes
Note: Most of the raw food product lines represented at our store include numerous options for raw bones.

Diet affecting our pet's behavior?

The other day, a prospective raw feeder asked me a great number of questions. One of those was: “Doesn’t feeding raw wake the wild instincts in my dog and make him wanting to kill and become dangerous?” It wasn’t the first time I was asked this and my answers is always simply “No”. But that is just the way I feel about it, I really so far was not able to find anything related to this and providing more substantial backup. It was just coincidence that the other day I glanced trough a copy of PetFoodIndustry.com’s newsletter. There Tim Phillips, DVM, had written the following related to this subject matter:
“Dietary nutrients can affect neurotransmitter and hormone levels and thus can influence behavior. By increasing serotonin levels, dietary tryptophan can help decrease canine fearfulness. Behavior is regulated by neurotransmitters and hormones, and changes in the availability of their precursors may influence behavior. But unfortunately, the effects of nutrients on behavior are largely unknown. Following are examples of dietary nutrients most likely to have an effect on canine behavior:
Phytoestrogens, found primarily in soy, may decrease anxiety but increase aggression;
Antioxidants may lessen age-dependent cognitive decline in dogs; Tryptophan may decrease canine aggression and fearfulness.
Preventing euthanasia
At present, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the role of nutrition in canine problem behavior. But studies that explore this relationship may help improve the welfare of dogs and their owners.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have an important role as structural constituents in brain development. Dietary supply of omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs could modify aspects of the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems and, consequently, cognitive performance and behavior.
Finally, persistent feeding motivation between meals can increase stereotyped behavior and aggression and decrease resting time. This feeding motivation may be decreased by the dietary fiber content of the diet.
Diet and mood changes
"Infants do not have an inborn ability to select a balanced, nutritious diet."
Nutrition and behavior are not usually considered to be closely related, but there are key areas of overlap between these fields. Behavioral factors determine the choice of foods in the diet, and any attempt to change dietary patterns must necessarily involve the central nervous system and may be associated with mood changes.
That diet influences behavior is an ancient human belief. Primitive people attributed friendly and unfriendly feelings to plants and animals and expected these feelings to be transferred to anyone who ate such foods. The reduction of dietary risk factors for chronic disease and the development of effective means to do so are key to good health.

Persistent feeding motivation between meals can increase aggression.
Eating disorders in humans
Although infants do not begin life with a choice of foods, some of the most obvious reflexes at birth are those associated with eating. Infants learn to associate eating with security and relief from anxiety, tension and distress. Later, children eat in conformance to cultural and familial standards. Ingrained meanings attached to the roles of food in society suggest reasons that food habits can be changed only with difficulty.
Food selection includes multiple environmental, cultural, genetic, social and sensory variables that interact in complex ways. One exception appears to be an innate preference for foods that are sweet. This preference is acquired in early childhood and continues throughout life.
Selection of foods for nutritional or health reasons is a learned behavior. Infants do not have an inborn ability to select a balanced, nutritious diet. The variety of foods available has an important effect on food consumption; the more the available foods are varied, the more of them people will eat.
Reducing risk for pets
Behavior change is a key element in reducing the risk for chronic disease. Eating behaviors are acquired over a lifetime; to change them requires alterations in habits that must be continued permanently beyond any short term period of intervention.
For humans, dietary advice is often restrictive and viewed as depriving. It may also be incompatible with cultural or familial standards. Environmental factors such as peer pressure, advertising of high calorie foods and alcoholic beverages may strongly counteract recommended changes.
Despite these difficulties, considerable evidence supports the effectiveness of nutrition education in changing dietary intake. These changes can reduce risk factors for many conditions, and the same can be true for pets.

Increasing satiety: This study ("Comparative in vitro fermentation activity in the canine distal gastrointestinal tract and fermentation kinetics of fiber sources," G. Bosch, et al. J. Anim Sci, 2008, 86:2979-2989) evaluated the variation in fermentation activity along the distal canine gastrointestinal tract. It also assessed fermentation kinetics and end product profiles of 16 dietary fibers for dog foods using canine fecal inoculum. Results of this study can be used to formulate canine diets that stimulate dietary fiber fermentation along the distal gastrointestinal tract and stimulate the level of satiety in dogs.”
This article is based on "Impact of nutrition on canine behavior: current status and possible mechanisms," G. Bosch, et al. Nutrition Research Reviews (2007), 20, 1-16.

Raw, the optimal nutrition for felines?

Today’s article I found on the Cornell Feline Health Center, a veterinary medical specialty center devoted to improving the health and well-being of cats everywhere. The concept of a feline medical specialty center began in 1973 as part of a long-range planning effort at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. In reviewing the present and anticipated future of veterinary medicine as it related to the cat, it was obvious that a concerted effort would be required to investigate the many serious diseases of cats.
Feline health studies are the cornerstone to providing better health care for cats. One of these studies is today’s comment on feline raw feeding, here we go:
"If you are a cat owner, more than likely you understand the importance of providing your feline friend with optimal nutrition. Your cat's nutrition can be a very confusing topic if you are like a lot of pet owners out there. Nutrition is not a simple topic to cover; the amount of contradictory information available is enough to make a professional animal caregiver cringe. When you take your cat to the vet for a routine checkup you are told she's overweight and given a wet food to try. The wet food is important because cats don't drink enough water to stay fully hydrated on a dry commercial food diet. The first three ingredients on the can read: water, liver and beef. Those ingredients don't look so bad. Since canned food is predominantly water, why wouldn't the first ingredient be water? Notice how general the ingredients are though. Liver, well there aren't many mammals that don't have one of those. Beef is a little more specific but then you are left wondering about the quality; Was it a downer cow? The list of ingredients on this particular food is well over 20, many just as vague as the first few. As you move through the ingredients list you come across quite a few ingredients that you can't pronounce and don't know what are. Would you eat something with an ingredients list like this? Would you eat it every day of your life? Do you feel like this would promote a happy and healthy life? If these questions resonate with you, raw food may be a good option.Feline Physiology: Cats are obligate carnivores. Their teeth are designed to rip flesh and crack bone. In the wild they feed on small mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Cats may eat grass but their teeth do not allow them to masticate it so it travels through their system in its whole form. If you open your cat's mouth you will see 30 sharp teeth, all with specific purposes. The feline digestive track is designed to digest meat. A cat eating a diet high in carbohydrates could cause a multitude of problems, most of which don't show up until much later in life. Diseases including dental disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, obesity and kidney failure are becoming more common and even acceptable. One nutrient that cats must get from their diet is taurine. They are unable to produce this particular amino acid on their own so they must consume meat or get it through supplementation (in commercial foods). Cats that consume a high carbohydrate diet are consuming a lot of filler material that their body doesn't know what to do with. The consumption of food that their bodies can't process results in larger, more odoriferous bowel movements. Left to their own devices, cats would hunt and "consume prey high in protein with moderate amounts of fat and minimal amounts of carbohydrates." (Cornell) Their entire body is designed to hunt; from their needle like claws and sharp teeth to their long legs and slender body.Benefits of Raw Food: Feeding your feline companion a raw food diet isn't a mainstream practice yet but neither is being vegan. The choice to feed your cat a raw food diet is just as important as choosing to feed yourself a vegetarian or vegan diet. The benefits are substantial. Since cats are obligate carnivores they are able to meet their nutrition requirements by consuming fresh raw meat. It is advised to feed a species specific diet; providing your cat with meats that they could catch in the wild. Poultry is a great option. These meats are high in protein and not as fatty as beef or pork. To provide your feline friend with a diverse diet, you could rotate in rabbit and small amounts of larger mammals or wild game. It is important that the cat is allowed to consume the intestines (including the heart, lungs, liver & kidney) as well as muscle meat and bone so they are getting a well balance diet.If you were to ask your vet about making your own cat food you may find that it is frowned upon. Cats require a balance of multiple different nutrients including fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Cats are very susceptible to deficiencies. If you ask about feeding your cat raw food, unless your vet is very well versed in nutrition and the benefits of raw food, they may try to talk you out of it. Make sure you are prepared to have this conversation with your vet by educating yourself and having documentation with you during your cat's routine visit.Cat's mouths benefit greatly from the chewing action required for them to consume whole pieces of raw meat and bone. This chewing action breaks tartar and gingivitis off the teeth and stimulates the gums, acting like a natural tooth brush. Cats that eat dry or wet food do not get this benefit, the only way to remove the tartar and gingivitis is to put your cat under anesthesia and scale and polish their teeth. In most cases, if the cat has to be put under anesthesia it is because they are already exhibiting signs of dental disease like bad breath or pain when eating. Depending on the severity of the dental disease it may take a couple procedures to finish cleaning your cat's teeth. Another thing to consider is the number of times during your pet's life that she will have to undergo this procedure. The exploitation of dental disease through exams and minimal education is one way veterinarians make money. Since a majority of pet owners feed their cats dry or wet food there is a prevalence of dental disease in the companion animal community and a consistent revenue stream for animal dental hygienists.Cats are able to digest meat and bones. Their systems were built to do it. People have only been feeding their pets processed foods for about 100 years. Commercial pet foods became popular in the 1930's during the Great Depression. Commercial food wasn't developed to promote health and well being; it was made of cheap ingredients and designed to sustain life not nourish it. When given the opportunity cats still hunt and consume their kill. Due to cats short intestinal tract and a reduced time required for digestion there is little concern for bacterial proliferation. The highly acidic environment that their bodies create when a meal has been consumed quickly breaks down meat and bones to extract its nutrients. Some feel it is important to supplement their pet's diet with a cat specific multi-vitamin or supplement powder so they get a full spectrum of nutrients as well as greens. Depending on personal knowledge and research this is an area where people who feed raw differ greatly.A cat's outward appearance benefits greatly from a high protein natural diet. You will see a healthier fur coat, brighter eyes and healthier skin just to name a few. By supporting your cat's heath with raw food you create a happy healthy cat that will not need to go to the vet as often. Their immune system will be stronger and they will be less susceptible to parasites. You may find that you no longer need to use chemicals to prevent fleas. With a decrease in vet visits it is possible to put more money towards promoting the health of your feline friend. When you take your cat to the vet don't be surprised if your vet or the technicians make comments on how healthy your cat looks. This may also provide you the opportunity to educate your vet on the benefits of a raw food diet.How to make the Switch: These lanky little carnivores will thank you with many years of health if you decide to support their systems by providing them with natural fresh meats. The cost of feeding a raw food diet to your cat may prove to be less expensive than the super premium foods you currently feed. There are multiple options for feeding your cat raw food. You can order your food online through a company like Primal Pet Foods, Inc. or Hare-Today, buy it at a local natural pet food store, join a local raw pet food co-op, visit a local farmer or butcher shop, or pick it up at the grocery store. Purchasing pre-packaged foods has the advantage of simplicity, but you don't know exactly what went into your pet's food. Buying whole meat and cutting it up is less convent but you do know exactly what your cat is consuming. It is advised to feed 4% of your cat's body weight (a little less if you are looking to get them to lose weight, a little more if you are looking to get them to gain weight) or 4% of their ideal weight.Once you have a preferred source of meat (whole or pre-packaged and preferably organic) you have to get your cat to convert over to raw from kibble or wet food. This can be a long, drawn out task. Cats like their commercial food; getting them to switch over to raw is similar to getting a kid raised on fast food to switch over to a vegetarian diet. If your cat is young it may be easier than if your cat is older. Cats become addicted to the flavoring and sugars in the commercial foods. Raw meat does not have the odor that commercial foods do. It is designed as nature made it, not in a lab. A little coaxing may be necessary. Make sure your serve the raw food at room temperature, cats are more inclined to eat food that is near body temperature. Starting by getting your cat on a 100% wet food diet is advised. Ground up pieces of raw food can then be mixed into the canned food, slowly replacing the wet food. Once your cat is on 100% raw food you can start making the pieces larger and giving them small bones to consume. They will catch on quickly once they are on a 100% raw diet. This whole process can take anywhere from a couple weeks to months. Don't get discouraged, it is worth the time and energy.In Conclusion, remember that you aren't alone when you decide to make this switch. There are enlightened veterinarians out there who are very helpful; there are also many different internet communities whose main focus is pet health and nutrition. The opportunity for you to learn and grow your pet nutrition knowledge is limitless and you may be surprised to see how the knowledge gained from feeding your pet well affects other aspects of your life. The greatest reward is having your happy health cat that is 10, 15 even 20 years old not be plagued with the health issues that most are. This is not to say that a raw food diet will prevent them from ever getting sick, but it will support their body and immune system making it less likely.Feeding your cat a natural diet is not intended to substitute for veterinary care. If your cat already has a compromised immune system you should work with a veterinarian, animal nutritionist and/or nutrition consultant to make sure you do not tax your cat's already overworked system. To best serve your cat it may be advisable to use nutrition as a complimentary therapy to Western practices. Once you have made the switch to raw it will take a little time to see the full benefits. Fur coat, skin and eyes may take a little while whereas you may notice the litter box and energy level (depending on age) right away.”
Contributed by and copyright http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochure.... If you like this article and wish to support the efforts of the Feline Health Center visit their website for more information on how to help.