Pet Food Nutrition Myths
I thought you all might like to read this recent blog entry about dog food.
http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2009/07/pet-food-nutrition-myths/
http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2009/07/pet-food-nutrition-myths/
Comments
Veterinarians, general practitioners, have very little nutrition training. All of the vet's I've used have confessed to that after giving me the "raw will kill Fido" speech. Many site studies done and funded by Hills, Iams, Pedigree or Purina as their counter arguments. I site the evidence in the dogs that I have lived with and have seen come back from shelter life with vigor and zest for their new life thanks for raw feeding principles.
Actually, this is pretty much the argument most of the vet's I had to pay for services give me, nearly word for word:
http://skeptvet.com/index.php?p=1_12_Raw-Veterinary-Diets
My rebuttals?
I know for certain that I will always steer clear of ethoxyquin or anything remotely tested as a carcinogen in my own food and that of all my family members. Especially when natural preservatives exist and are fully functional if feeding guidelines and timelines are followed. Hills, Iams (and others) can try to combat the skeptic mass hysteria, but anything that has a toxicology rating as a pesticide and rubber preservative... doesn't belong in any food. Just as even trace amounts of pentobarbital was found in food though feline and canine DNA were not... doesn't that (pento presence) speak louder about the quality control and ingredients of that pet food company than actually finding dog DNA would? What the hell place in pet food does an anesthetic have? The author sites it as a "toxin", no, wrong it is a true blue toxin presence in the food you feed your dog. It is used to kill other dogs. That really bothers me.
I believe vegetable proteins are of less value to DOGS than meat proteins, vegan is a dirty word to a dog or cat. All one has to do is cook up a meal of carrots, sweet potatoes, corn and oatmeal, feed then look at the outcome (stool). It will be large, colorful and textures just like 'orangecornoatmeal'. On the contrary, feed the same dog raw beef and a raw chicken leg and its stool will me very small and solid showing the incredible difference in digestibility between the two proteins.
Allergies in canines do exist, food allergies do exist. Corn allergies, soy allergies, wheat allergies, rice allergies, barley allergies, chicken allergies, beef allergies... they all exist and are omnipresent especially in the nihon ken. I still would never feed wheat, soy, or corn to any dog when better fillers exist, despite again what major commercial dog food companies will tell you on their fancy websites.
I feed my dogs chicken feet, stomach contents, whole prey, and other items that are considered by products. I do not eat them, but my dogs do because I keep close track of their nutrient needs, and how they balance by the foods they consume in raw and cooked form. I believe you can formulate (or find kibble that has) a balanced diet naturally without synthetic supplementation. Big brand name commercial foods that vet's push have a long ways to go to do it naturally. There are several online and book sources to help figure out these things without a general vet's blessing, though I believe a veterinarian who specializes in nutrition can help with balancing a homecooked or raw diet immensely.
I'll never be a true food crusader because every single person you talk to has a different approach, theory, understanding, reason... but honestly whichever road you follow to feed your dog, if the end goal is both years in your dogs life and the life quality in those years, use common sense! I am an omnivore, I believe my dogs are opportunistic carnivores. When I feed either of us, I use common sense and choose ingredients that naturally fulfill our nutrient requirements and try very hard to avoid those which are synthetic or potentially harmful in any trace amount of overdose and no skept-vet could ever convince me otherwise!
I understand dogs are no longer fully wild animals and have been domesticated, but mass produced pre processed dog food can't have exsisted for that long. What did people feed their dogs before?
I do give my kids some RAW meat, chicken, but usually it's one little bite. We stick with our kibble rotation and our vitamins and supplements and we are doing okay! Maybe one day I will make the RAW leap as it seems so smart!
I'm growing tired of so-called specialists that make us feel like we are incompetent without their avail ...
That's pretty much the reason I do what I do actually. Like Chrys said, if you can feed yourself, your spouse, your children... why do conventional vets and commercial food companies make it seem like you couldn't ever figure out how to feed your dog/cat/ferret/parrot outside of the bag/box/can? All it takes is research and referencing or merely going to a certified canine nutritionist and tailoring a diverse homecooked or raw diet for your dog. Its really that simple.
And in a way, I feel my dogs' diet is a form of preventative medicine, "the art or science of restoring or preserving health" by providing pure proteins and amino acids, natural fat (raw fat is energy) enzymes, live cultures, omegas and moisture rich vitamins. I have RESEARCHED the nutrient requirements, the whole natural unprocessed foods that carry specific nutrients and in what quantities, and how to tell the signs (and when to get blood work) of a deficiency or excess. I do rely on my dogs' vet for general health, I really respect and trust her, but even then I have my own regimen that less is more in terms of chemicals and vaccinations that we both work with. And I am blessed with an open minded vet who is more than willing to ask questions right along with me! And I'm blessed to have a nutritionist I can call with questions when they come up. I have done the research, and have the resources. Feeding my dogs' is no longer a daunting, scary, risky venture, its everyday life.
In the end, like I said above, it should always be the working towards the goal of ensuring both years in your dogs life and the life quality in those years. It should be the same when you feed and care for yourself as well. All I know to be true is that RAW feeding opened up a whole new frontier in how to strive for health from the inside out. It was frightening to take that leap though! But I did because I have seen aging dogs fed the same old kibble their whole lives now suffering from diabetes, heart conditions, cancers, organ failure, glaucoma... heart breaking ends to a life lived for you, with you, according to you. I am trying to do better than my parents or my grandparents did because my dogs mean the world to me and I feel this is a way to give back to them - to help them live as full a life as possible.
Joe - check out this:
http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/ORIJEN_White_paper.pdf
It contains a brief history of dry dog food, you can take what they have and research from there for more info.
In it they pose this question, which initially really got me thinking 2 years ago:
"If conventional pet foods are focused on price and convenience, what foods focus more on the biological requirements of dogs and cats?"
If I can feed RAW anyone can. For gods sake I am vegan and I do it. We do the Natures Variety pre-made raw and then add sweet potatoes and eggs. As well as fish oil, probiotics, and sea meal. We give Miko glucosamine and chondroitin also. When Ruby is a year we will start adding it to her diet. My vet doesn't make any comments against raw, since I out debated her about feeding and supplements.
It does smell though I will say it.
How do you guys make sure you're getting wholesome meats that will be safe to feed (without irradiation...) to your pets without breaking your budget? 'Cause, I mean, you can't get it at the grocery store unless you're willing to pay an arm and a leg for it.
To feed my dogs: I buy some meats when on sale or in bulk from our grocery store (the butcher there is all kinds of awesome). I buy organs from grass fed livestock at our local farmer's market along with local brown eggs when I can (available), otherwise they too come from the grocer or butcher. I buy items like raw green tripe and whole ground rabbit from hare-today.com. I buy meat from a slaughterhouse actually - sometimes bags of 'scraps' that we count as meaty meat for our ratios in the dogs' diet. We have found tongue, brain, feet, ears, kidneys, spleen from all kinds of animals from the slaughterhouse. Its like a raw feeders' candy store. It isn't very convincing on the sanitary end I guess, but I repackage into their portions, freeze to 0 or closer therein in the deep freeze and feed freshly defrosted. We have never had an issue with food borne illness yet, over a year of raw feeding...
I'd love to give a raw supplement to my guys eventually, when we have a place we can properly store meat without it going bad or getting "stolen" (My mother is a carnivore and has a food use for any body part left in the freezer). I wouldn't go full on raw because I haven't the knowledge for nutrition (heck my own diet needs to be improved before I risk screwing up the boys diet). But I feel that it can serve as a nice treat (aside for the nutritional-stuff) to my boys. I wouldn't want to eat the same thing everyday, so why should they.
Here's an OT question...By giving your pups Raw or home cooked meals, do you feel that the food items are less 'prized' than if you were to keep them on just kibble? Do you see a difference in begging habits for these dogs due to the fact that some foods are common instead of restricted?
Your questions:
1. It depends on the dog. If the dog is food motivated, nothing is less prized! Most of the dogs I've taken care of will take anything food related as a treat regardless. Tsuki is one of those "special dogs" who are SO NOT food motivated and is super picky and it drives me crazy most of the time.. so nothing but tripe and ziwi peak treats are prized to her.
2. Again, depends on the dog - mine are both beggers, I'm horrible at *not* giving them a green bean from table here and there. I wouldn't think the begging factor is dependent on what their diet is comprised of.
Philip, excellent question. If people are willing and able, I believe growing your own meat/eggs (and veggies too) would be a great option and it doesn't have to be expensive if managed correctly. Then you always know where it comes from, what it's been fed, how it lived and how it died.
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