A growing number of veterinarians state that processed pet food is the main cause of illness and premature death in the modern dog and cat. In December 1995, the British Journal of Small Animal Practice published a paper contending that processed pet food suppresses the immune system and leads to liver, kidney, heart and other diseases. Dr. Kollath, of the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, headed a study done on animals. When young animals were fed cooked and processed foods they initially appeared to be healthy. However, as the animals reached adulthood, they began to age more quickly than normal and also developed chronic degenerative disease symptoms. A control group of animals raised on raw foods aged less quickly and were free of degenerative disease. For a return to health, pets require a diet which strengthens the immune system and most closely resembles that which they would get in the wild. It’s really easy to do. Using fresh foods is very different and levels of protein will be higher, dogs require protein as a building block of life, its how they are made, so to ensure your pup is receiving a balanced diet we recommend giving supplements that he or she may not be getting in a fresh diet, this could be through a lack of knowledge, a lack of availability and or a lack of money as fresh will be more expensive. If you are transitioning your pet to a raw food diet, or if rawfood is not the way you choose to feed your pet, you may want to consider adding enzymes/probiotics to ease the transition. Calories are still important, but not as imperative when using a dry diet as fresh food increases enzymes to break down foods quicker and contains fewer carbohydrates which dogs do not actually require. Dr. Alicia McWatters, Ph.D. – “Fresh, raw foods contain the highest level of enzymes, and these enzymes assist in digestion. Cooked foods and dry convenient diets have been denatured and are devoid of enzymes: life-promoting elements. While they may maintain life, they do not promote optimum health or longevity!”
You can always tell a dog on a natural feeding diet, they thrive , in comparison to a dog on a dry diet , they simply survive. Coats, Nails, mental health are all far better when using a natural diet. In nature, animals know to seek out those foods that satisfy their nutritional needs. For example; free-roaming wolves hunt grazing animals whenever possible. Before eating muscle or bone, the wolves feast on stomach contents, the liver, pancreas, and intestines — in other words, they are gorging on enzyme-laden tissues. Wolf pups are weaned and maintained on regurgitated food, also heavily laced with digestive enzymes. Unless we provide the same food a wolf enjoys in the wild, adding a digestive enzyme supplement to each meal may be essential for optimum digestion and overall good health. A multiple digestive enzyme should contain pancreatin, lipase, oxbile, pepsin, betain, hydrochloric acid (HCL), bromelain, papain, amylase, and protease. A groundswell of nutrition-conscious veterinarians are beginning to recommend to their clients that they supplement their animals’ diets with a daily dose of flaxseed oil and other important nutrients. When the diets of animals were fortified with flax, within three weeks their coats developed a beautiful sheen, and dandruff was greatly diminished. There are amazing testimonials about animals recovering from cancer, diabetes, and other severe degenerative illnesses with a nutritional product called Transfer Factor.
The use of grains and cheap fillers.
We need to question the use of grains in commercial and home-prepared pet foods. Grains, such as oats, wheat, rice, barley, etc, are composed mostly of complex carbohydrates. They also contain some protein, fibre, B-vitamins and trace minerals. Russell Swift, D.V.M. “Grains are NOT part of the natural feeding of wild dogs and cats. Carnivores cannot maintain long term production of the quantity of amylase enzyme necessary to properly digest and utilize the carbohydrates.” According to Marion Patricia Connolly, Executive Director/Curator, Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, “Providing species-appropriate nutrition for our companion animals through raw carnivore foods helps them flourish as nature intended, even in modern households. T.J. Dunn D.V.M. “Modern man has modified a number of characteristics of the canine. But there’s one thing man has not altered… the basic nutrient requirements of the dog. Dogs need today essentially the same nutrients that their predecessors required eons ago. That is precisely why there has been so much notice given to the practice of feeding dogs (and cats, too!) raw meat and other unprocessed foods. There is ample proof that today’s pet dogs and cats DO NOT thrive on cheap, packaged, corn-based pet foods. “Dogs and cats are primarily meat eaters; to fill them up with grain-based processed dry foods that barely meets minimum daily nutrient requirements has proven to be a mistake. And the fact that some pet foods have artificial colours and flavours added simply reveals the trickery needed to coax dogs and cats into consuming such material.”
How much to feed and the optimum time to feed.
Some breeders simply cannot get amounts of daily requirements in their heads, many are underfeeding their dogs that tends to make then gulpers when they move on. This also has a tendency to make them a little more aggressive as they NEVER get into that state of satisfaction needed for canids to relax their digestive tracts. Some even over-feed causing obesity which in turn causes an early death. William Pollak D.V.M. recommends fasting – “Occasional fasting by cats and dogs is a normal, natural phenomenon, especially when natural raw, fresh foods are fed. As long as your pet appears strong with good energy and clear responsiveness, self imposed fasting oftentimes ends by itself with a renewed gusto for life. The system requires periodic rest and purification and so it is taken naturally. Occasional fasting is natural in the cat and dog; it is the behaviour of rest and purification. Cleaning the bowl of all the commercial food every day, day in and day out is unnatural and is the harbinger of most chronic disease seen in our pet population. When nutritional depletions have been satiated on the natural raw food diet, overeating does not take place. Overeating is a behaviour encouraged by feeding commercial food, overeating does not occur in the natural setting. Overeating deprives the system of rest and purification, for in a nutritionally deficient state the body continues to crave; making the mind confused. The mind then can only satiate itself through the dullness of further overeating. This is not living; it is survival mode. ”
It’s very important to get it right early on and to ensure that the information you receive is accurate from your breeders. It’s no good complementing them on the advice they give when its clearly not in fact it’s pathetic. To many breeders dogs are a source of valuable income, as such they advise the cheapest food which does not eat into their profits, or amounts of foods from a more expensive food that also does not eat into their profits. Both are a dangerous protocol to follow and not one to could recommend. Adult dogs and cats usually need to eat once a day. A small portion in the evening might help an animal settle down for the evening. Generally speaking the best time to feed is late morning, right before the sun is at its highest in the sky. Animals that are nervous or in need of weight can be fed food with some warm water to help digestion. Growing animals can be fed two or three times daily (especially if they are quite small)
To calculate how much to feed your dog using a natural feeding raw diet please use this link: http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm
An example of a well nourished healthy dogs diet using a natural feeding diet.
I mix no more than 50% of one thing.
So my measurements are: 1/8 minced beef, 1/8 minced pork, 1/8 diced heart, 1/16 diced lamb, 1/16 diced liver. And then 1/2 mixed veg. I do alternate the meats in proportions from week to week. I then add 2-3 dessert spoons of olive oil, as mine don’t like any fish oil, to the whole mixture and stir in well. I then make portions of 1/2lb bags to each of these bags I add, 1 tsp bonemeal, 3 drops of cranberry concentrate (Holland & Barrett), 1 fibre diet tab (Holland & Barrett) 1/4 tsp angels delight (bichon hotel) and a garlic Tab (Holland & Barrett).
Struggling with your Feeding? Contact us via the contact page or email us at dogs@havanablast.co.uk for help and advice.