By: Judy King
Raw-Natural diet for dogs, isn’t and shouldn’t be considered a “fad”, the latest thing. It is not new at all but the rediscovered natural approach to providing the optimum canine appropriate diet.
Optimum diet cannot change genetic imperfections but it can and will provide the path for your dog to be at It’s best.
Vibrancy, vigor and optimum health for our canines is to be expected when feeding a natural, nutritional, raw diet. The true value of a natural raw diet is its ability to provide nutrition that goes the full distance from consumption to energy.
Commercial foods tout the phrase “complete and balanced diet“. Complete with what? Processed, cooked food is dead food, containing NO live enzymes.
Kibble prepared through heating/cooking, kills live enzymes otherwise naturally contained in all raw foods. Enzymes that are necessary to break food down and prepare it for absorption. Raw food contains 75% of the enzymes needed for digestion, leaving only 25% needed to be produced by the body itself. Consider how overtaxed our canines organs are from producing ALL needed enzymes just to digest food.
Supplements should not be a substitution for natural vitamins and minerals contained naturally in quality raw foods.
Besides, commercial foods are relatively new to the canine world. Slick marketing has the public thinking the only way to provide “complete and balanced diet” for your canine…is to buy it in a sack. This is NOT true.
If you take nothing else away from having read this, please remember; nutrition is only as good as what is absorbed by the body. Without sufficient enzymes, what goes in may not be absorbed properly and much is passed as waste. These often leads to a ravenous dog, one that is constantly hungry. They are driven by cravings due largely to a failure of their food to satisfy. Another side affect from poorly digested foods are toxins, toxins which leach through the intestinal walls. Toxins present a myriad of adverse symptoms too numerous to list.
Further, grains should not make up a large portion of a canines diet….rather it be first, second or third ingredient listed on the bag. Canines do not naturally graze in wheat, corn or rice fields. They hunt…prey!
Raw meat with bones should comprise the major portion of a canines diet as nature intended. Cooking makes bones brittle, when chewed they splinter thus becoming potentially lethal.
Cooked bones are dangerous! But, dogs can easily manage to crush the pliable exterior of raw bones.
Sticky, starchy grain based foods adhere to teeth, promoting tooth decay and gingivitis much like chips and bread products stick to our teeth. America is spending a fortune having their dogs’ teeth cleaned. This is so unnecessary, considering a raw meaty bone can clean all tartar build up from your dogs teeth, save the dog unnecessary anesthesia and keep those greenbacks in your pocket.
Plus, crunching on bones serves the same benefit of securely anchoring teeth in the jaw bone as munching on crisp, crunchy apples does for kids.
Years ago, our grandparents’ and great grandparents’ dogs lived long happy lives on scraps; some nice marrow bones from the butcher, trimmings of meat handed down from the chopping block during food preparation and those leftover veggies from the table. Farm dogs occasionally caught a rabbit or prairie grouse and savored a juicy ripe peach that fell from the tree. (Dogs love fruit from bananas and apples to apricots (raisins can be toxic…and aren’t recommended).) A good mousing barn cat is considered fat, healthy and a benefit. So, what happened to our thinking?
Advertising : The continued bombardment of advertising…if you hear it long and often enough it seems like fact.
The numbers of dogs with increasing health problems is staggering. Itchy skin, hot spots, flea infestation, dandruff, ear infections, anal gland infections, rotting teeth, diarrhea, vomiting and sneezing/wheezing are commonly seen. Obese doughy looking dogs are everywhere. Our dogs cannot thrive on junk food anymore than our teenagers can. Sure, they can run and jump for a while….but poor nutrition will eventually take its toll in signs of poor health and/or lack of longevity.
America is experiencing a revelation of nutritional awareness. Herbs, vitamins, food content are becoming part of everyday conversation. Lets make this quest for health through good nutrition to include our beloved companions and find the real answers out for ourselves.
The health improvement seen in my own dogs on raw diet is unmistakable. I haven’t had a vet bill in ages. My twelve year old Akita’s teeth are as white and strong as the youngster. Their coats shine as do their eyes and spirits. They romp till they drop…sack out like dead dogs…. paws paddling as they chase phantom rabbits in their sleep…. then they’re up and it starts all over again. Life is grand.
Before you adopt this major change, do your research, educate yourself and do it right, its truly not that hard. The benefits awaiting your dog or cat will be infinitum.
You’ll be glad you did, my dogs sure are!
Opinions expressed in this article are based on the author’s experiences, those of friends sharing this philosophy and from the knowledge gained in researching for self education.