NUTRITION REPORT
ESSEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE
VETERINARY TECHNICIAN PROGRAM
2012
Fresh Food Diets -- The Best Choice for Optimum Health for Dogs and Cats!
All of our animal companions -- reptile, avian, rodent, equine, canine, or feline -benefit from eating diets natural to their species, whether raw or home cooked. Good
health is dependent on a number of factors. Nutrition is one key to longevity and great
health. Most commercial foods are not adequate.
The good news is that better and better ingredients are now available locally and
an increasing number of raw meat diets are being commercially made. The bad news is
that there is no one ideal diet. The good news is that many of the clients in your practice
will love this new approach to feeding fresh food or critically evaluating processed foods.
Which is the better diet for people – fresh with lots of variety or processed with little
variety? The same is true for all animals - the least processed is the best.
This makes sense to our clients and most animals love the change (at least after awhile).
The bad news is that not all veterinarians support people in feeding fresh food.
There is increasing research showing that nutrition can go beyond being the key
to good health and actually treat many diseases. There are several ways to begin thinking
about what we feed our animals and ourselves. What are the natural foods for animals for
which their digestive systems are structured? Is there a problem feeding foods that are far
different than the former? Does disease alter the body’s nutritional needs? Practically,
what can owners feed and animals eat?
Foods animals are designed to eat
Dogs and cats thrive on meat based diets because they are carnivores. Some
animals, just like some people, seem to do fine on junky commercial diets. Balanced
fresh food (meat, bone, and vegetables) diets provide a much more complete and
balanced nutrition than that found in the common and highly processed "dog food" and
"cat food". The natural diet of dogs and cats contains a variety of raw, real foods teeming
with bacteria. These foods are high in protein and low in carbohydrate. They average
55% protein (dry matter) and 14% carbohydrate. An average dry dog food has 25%
protein and up to 70% carbohydrate (Landry). That is a huge difference.
When examination is done of stray animals or wild dogs, wolves, cats and other
carnivores a variety of foods are found. The canines in particular often eat carrion –
rotten meat. Even the big cats will return to a kill and “snack” if the kill was big enough
to not be eaten at the first meal. Skin, hair, bones, rotten greens and fruit often
predigested by the prey, all the organ meats, some herbivore excrement and of course
muscle meat. What they ingest is alive with bacteria, anti-oxidants, vitamins, the right
balance of Calcium and Phosphorus (bone for calcium and muscle meat for phosphorus)
and enzymes. They eat different combinations of nutrients each meal, since every prey is
different and has been eating different foods. They eat dirt which is full of micronutrients
and bacteria as they groom themselves and drag the meat around. One student was
thrilled when she learned it was natural for dogs to eat carrion because her dog would go
into the woods and drag very rotten meat which she tried to remove. Her food is now
close to zero.
In the natural diet, micronutrients include the natural, organic forms of vitamins
and minerals, and thousands of different antioxidants. In processed diets, many of the
micronutrients are human synthesized vitamins and minerals. Formulas contain only the
23 components deemed “essential.” There is a world of difference between synthesized
vitamins and minerals and those found in highly processed, cooked commercial foods.
Hundreds of studies show that people and laboratory animals eating fresh vegetables and
fruits are healthier and have a lower incidence of cancer, stroke and heart disease than
those whose intake of micronutrients is primarily from human-made forms. There is no
reason to think that our animals are different, yet most of them get almost all their
vitamins and minerals in synthetic, human-made, forms. (Beth Taylor, an animal
nutrition consultant and author)
Dr. Billinghurst, an Australian veterinarian, states that healthy pets depended for
health principally on a raw diet, one that was based on raw meaty bones together with
other whole raw foods. Dogs would eat insects, birds and anything that is available, even
rotten meat. They are hunters, opportunists, scavengers and omnivores. Cats are
carnivores and hunters. A cat needs a higher protein and fat diet and a much lower
amount of vegetables. It needs smaller bones (think mouse and bird) and more offal type
food.
Dr Pitcairn says that wild canids consume grasses, berries, predigested food (nuts
and seeds) found in the digestive tracts of their herbivore prey (therefore they are well
chewed and partially digested). Cats, if lucky, eat once a day and work hard to get the
food. They fast every few days to weeks simply for unavailability of food. Some of my
clients report cats who will catch a mouse and nibble on it all day, others catch and do not
eat, still others eat most of it very quickly. Others feel that cats save the food and snack all
day or eat insects during the day.
A must to read on the topic of raw meat is Pottinger's Cats. An M.D. in the 1930's
kept 3 groups of over 1,000 cats in large outdoor enclosures. He found that feeding raw
meat, raw milk and cod liver oil produced great health, including reproductive and offspring
health. When either the milk or the meat was cooked, health deteriorated rapidly. His book
is full of tables, charts and radiographs. It took 3 generations for health to return when a
cooked meat or cooked milk fed breeding pair were put into the raw meat, raw milk group.
We know that carnivorous animals in the wild (even those who survive being
dumped by human guardians) do not debone their prey, nor regurgitate the bones
undigested, nor cook the meat. Most reports from naturalists indicate few incidents of death
due to problems with bones or contaminants. We know that grazing animals eat grass and
grains and fruit. They rarely eat the grass in areas in which they have defecated. Memories
differ, but most people I speak with can remember animals fed fresh scraps in the early
1900s being very healthy. They may die of infectious diseases or trauma, but rarely of
neoplasia or endocrine or autoimmune diseases. (They were much less vaccinated as well.)
Canine and feline digestive systems have not changed from the time when they were feral
carnivores. There is little debate about this. Dr. Buddington of Mississippi State University,
a noted expert on the physiology of mammals, summarizes: “Comparative studies have
revealed a close relationship between intestinal characteristics, the evolutionary diet, and
requirements of energy and nutrients”.
Dogs and cats have digestive systems designed to thrive on bacteria laden food.
Beth Taylor agrees, "Dogs and cats live in a bacterial world. Your dog goes out for a short
walk in your garden. She absorbs just a few grams of soil, and then comes in and licks
her pads. In those two grams of soil, there were probably billions of bacteria of hundreds
of different species, some friendly and some not. Consumption of bacteria is natural for
dogs and cats." Dogs are scavengers of the most rotten food as well as hunting. They eat the
gut contents, which also includes the feces. They have ripping and tearing teeth, bone
crunching teeth and a small muscular stomach. The food passes through the digestive
system quickly without time to break down the cellulose in whole plant foods. They are not
designed to eat mush, or cooked foods or chemicals. Some animals, of course, thrive on any
food. Even our herbivore companion animals need diets more in keeping with their natural
environment. Nature does not pellet or extrude foods.
Potential harm from commercial foods
Dr. Pitcairn says that “many chronic and degenerative diseases we see today are
caused or complicated by inadequate diets.” Dr. Billinghurst states that, “Most of the
disease problems encountered by veterinarians in small animals practice had their roots in
poor nutrition and that most could be eliminated with correct nutrition. It appeared that
grain based cooked and processed pet foods produced pets with health problems.”
Remember that every person and animal is different and some do fine on processed
foods. Their health is not harmed.
We can all recall the major pet food recall and deaths to kidney disease where
thousands of animals died. Since then there have been many more pet food recalls. Even
foods labeled "natural" are not safe as in 2003, 48 dogs were reported to have died soon
after consuming a so-called “natural” dry dog food. These deaths are just the tip of the
iceberg. Read See Spot Live Longer to learn about mycotoxins, toxic waste products from
molds which are unavoidable in dry dog foods that use low cost grains. Poor home
storage contributes to these problems. Only a few of the animals that consume
mycotoxin-contaminated foods will die of a "poisoning" in a sudden manner. Chronic,
low level ingestion of these toxins causes cancer 3 to 5 years later. Consumption of
mycotoxin contaminated dry pet foods may be a major contributing factor to the cancer
epidemic in pets. (Beth Taylor)
I can remember when cats came into the clinic in the early 80s with retinal and
cardiac problems because there was insufficient taurine in the processed foods. That was
because they had basically put dog food into cat cans. Though a lot of research is done as to
what animals should eat, decade after decade sees problems from processed foods. Cats had
acidic using so got triple phosphate crystals and now, with the new food changes they have
alkaline urine and get different crystals. As much as you respect a brand, you cannot really
know the source of their ingredients. Think of all the reports of processed foods for people
made from rotten ingredients. Over the years I have seen many animals become limited in
taste to merely one type of food, then lose their taste for that food and stop eating.
The University of California reported in 2002 that 50% of dogs over the age of 10
die of cancer. While this is not solely because of diet, more and more reports are implicating
diet as the cause of cancer in people. You know that to have a good immune system you
need to have good nutrients.
Oncologists now agree that no carnivores with cancer should be eating grains in
their diets (nor be vaccinated). If grains “feed” cancer, maybe we should be avoiding them
in processed foods, too.
Cats and dry food
Because cats evolved in the desert, their kidneys are very efficient and not tolerant
of processing large quantities of water. Dry foods need carbohydrates for cohesion, yet
cats are carnivores and need no carbohydrates. Since the introduction of dry foods, the
number one fatal ailment for cats was kidney failure although cancer is now higher. (Not
so for most dogs, though it is now on the rise.). Not every cat on dry food gets kidney
failure and some cats on a canned or raw food diet do start having kidney problems.
Overall, though, cats are much healthier not eating dry food. It just does not make any
sense.
Dr. Pitcairn says in Natural Health for Dogs and Cats that “if you want to increase
the chance of a bladder problem, feed dry food and leave it out all the time.”
The following are a few excerpts from a wonderful treatise about feeding dry food
to cats. The article has a lot of scientific information for those who thrive on facts. Go to
Michelle ’s site, http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html, for the rest of the article, “The
Truth About Dry Cat Food. “People sometimes ask me if I can recommend a good dry cat
food, but I cannot. Dry food — kibble — is the worst possible food you can feed to your
cat. …Grains are typically classified as carbohydrates and are composed primarily of
starch. … Cats must eat meat to survive. The principal function of carbohydrates in the
process of manufacturing dry pet foods is to provide structural integrity to kibble. The
starch works like "cement" that holds kibble together, preventing crumbling throughout
the manufacturing process.”
For the last 10 years I have heard various speakers at the Pet Expo in Timonium,
MD and one feline specialist talks about “litter box problems”. For the lasts 8 years she
has said that “Dry food has come back to bite us.” She attributes many urinary tract
issues and even litter bax behavioral problems to feeding dry cat food.
Elizabeth Hodgkins, a veterinary nutritionist working for Hills Food Company,
realized that her cat probably developed diabetes because of eating dry food with a high
percentage of grains. Her cat’s blood sugar returned to normal after a few weeks on
canned, no grain food and she wrote – Your Cat – simple secrets to a long life (She does
favor a raw meat diet – yet.)
Benefits of feeding a fresh food diet
I lecture regularly to kennel clubs and animal guardians. Over 80% who have
stopped feeding commercial foods have seen resolution of many minor problems and a
few major ones. Sometimes there is recurrence of the endocrine problems or the
autoimmune symptoms when a processed food is reintroduced. It is clear to me that while
some animals are “OK” on commercial diets, even the apparently healthy dogs attain an
extra glow or energy boost when switched to at least a partially fresh diet.
Beth Taylor echoes this, "Dogs and cats diagnosed with “unsolvable” problems
(arthritis, diabetes, a wide range of gastrointestinal problems, allergies) often improve if
not recover completely when eating a properly prepared fresh food diet. There are
conditions for which a cooked diet might be better, and animals with health problems
should be closely supervised by a veterinarian with extensive fresh food experience.
Whether we can totally solve health problems or not, by providing stressed bodies with
the tools for healing, we can optimize the outcome."
Reading any of the books on feeding a fresh food diet to animals you will hear
stories of amazing recoveries when animals’ diets are improved. While you will have
noticed that switching from one processed food to another often improves health for a
short time, feeding a fresh food diet seems to produce longer term, deeper positive
changes. A brief example of improvement from my practice shows the possibilities. A new
patient’s problems were not too severe, so I started with only diet corrections and not
homeopathy. Symptoms were mostly behavioral: constant movement, could only sit still for
minutes at a time; would circle the room for 20-30 minutes when someone came in the
house; drooled on walks and in car when excited; jumps up on counters (she is a golden);
swallows anything - socks, scrunchies, paper; gets into trash for food and other items. She
shakes her head even when there is nothing apparent in the ears and rubs and scratches her
face a lot. She has a history of ear and UTI problems. After 3 weeks on a raw food diet the
report was: 90% better on the lead with no pulling at all; calmer at all times; ears are only
slightly pink now, the skin lost its redness and is now white; she itches her face 80% less;
does not get into trash but still watches her do laundry; still eats stool; still drools; she is
20% better when people come to the house and can sit still for 3 minutes rather than 10
seconds; her stools lost their odor; her hair is glowing and a deeper color (common change
on good diet); she is now showing increased frequency of urinating and mucus on the stools
so it is time now for a remedy.
John Hanover speaks of the need for a better diet to prevent Leaky Gut Syndrome
that can cause occasional diarrhea or progress to severe inflammatory bowel syndrome
(IBS). He also emphasizes that he health of the GI tract has a huge impact on overall health.
Over 70% of the immune system is surrounds the GI tract. There is clinical evidence linking
the seepage of unhealthy proteins from the leaky gut to causing auto-immune diseases, joint
disease, endocrine dysfunction and many other chronic inflammatory conditions. A
patient’s GI health should be considered for any recurrent or chronic GI problems, ear
infections, skin infections, and/or allergies. I consider the GI tract key to healing any health
and even behavior or training problems.
Steve Brown’s newest book, Unlocking the Canine Diet, states that even feeding one
raw meal a week significantly improves health in many dogs.
The veterinarians at Standard Process are finding that the Enteric Support for dogs
and cats helps illness in almost every organ, again showing the need for whole foods.
Different feeding options
There are several options for feeding your animals. Keeping a journal
(www.HealthyAnimalsJournal.com) and evaluating the Early Warning Signs of Energy
Imbalance will let you know if the diet you are feeding meets your animal's needs.
The best diet to feed is a balanced, supplemented, homemade diet. Think what is
best for people - fresh or processed foods? The same is true for all animals - the least
processed is the best. Add in what is best for the planet and the prey animals and realize that
grass fed, free-range organic meat and vegetables from local farms is the best. Local and not
labeled organic is fine as well. If you know and respect the source, that is the best. For
instance, the owner of Chow Now, a new frozen raw meat diet, visited every farm that
supplies ingredients to be sure they were honest about their meat being raised on pastures.
She found some were lying. As long as she runs the company, I trust the product, but if she
sold the business, I may be unable to trust the product.
While there is an incredible amount of debate as to what combination of fresh foods
is optimal, most clear thinkers will agree on the following grading system for the source of
the ingredients. Always encourage the best a person can do and not make them feel guilty
for not being able to afford the time or money for better. Research the local sources for
ingredients, for commercial raw food diet sources (your veterinarian boss can make money
selling frozen & dehydrated raw diets) and even for the best commercial foods. Every
animal is different, so some need the best, others do not.
On a scale of 0 - 100,
95 - Organic, biodynamic, sustainable - raised in your gardens and your fields. It
is not 100 because our soils are so depleted, and so even organic produce,
therefore the best raised animals, are mineral and nutrient deficient.
93 - Organic, biodynamic, sustainable - raised in your local area so you can visit
the farm. This loses a few points because it does not have your TLC.
90 - Organic, biodynamic, sustainable - from non-local sources
75 - Health food quality fresh organic produce and meat. (Problem here is that
you do not know the source of the ingredients, really.)
35 - Non-organic meat and produce from regular grocery stores (chemical junk,
but still better than what is in most processed foods). Try hard to
purchase liver organically as it stores toxins.
35 - 80 - Frozen or dehydrated raw meat diets commercially available. The range
depends on the source of their meats - free range pastured,
commercial grains fed, growth hormones, etc, determine the quality.
5 - A few quality canned or dry processed foods where I personally know the
owner and so can vouch for the quality. (Pet Guard, Wysong, Precise,
Azmira)
0 - Other “Natural” pet foods - they might be fine, but I cannot personally
know.
-50 and less - Any other commercial food, even many recommend by veterinarians.
Water should be whatever you consider the best, probably not from the tap.
Digestive anatomy of cats and dogs
Dogs and cats have ripping and tearing teeth, bone crunching teeth, no digestive
juices in the mouth; jaws that articulate only up and down, not side to side, therefore
cannot really chew. Anatomically the mouth is designed to catch prey and break it into
pieces small enough to chew (this process also cleans the teeth!!!). The tiny front incisors
are great for gnawing meat off bones too big to break up and swallow. The stomach is
full of acid and the food sits for 4-12 hours. This digests the bones and muscles but not
grains and vegetable. There is a very short transit time in the intestines which adequately
digests the pre-chewed vegetables taken in the stomach and intestines of their prey. Dogs
and cats do not pull out a knife to de-bone their prey and do not pull out matches to light
a fire to cook their meat and vegetables. Therefore the best diet for dogs and cats is raw
meat including raw bones, pureed raw and cooked vegetables and a few supplements
(Calcium if no bones are eaten is critical).
Feeding guidelines
The following guidelines are my personal ones.
Protein: Dogs need 30% - 60% (even up to 90%)protein. A few can be healthy with a
vegetarian diet. I have seen dogs die who did not do well on vegetarian diets. Cats need
60% - 90% protein, mostly meat, and therefore can probably not be vegetarian. Even
ones with kidney problems can have this high level of protein as raw meat because it is so
well digested, unless their renal values show they are in the last stages when a lower
protein is preferred by some holistic veterinarians. All meats are fine - chicken, beef,
lamb, turkey, fish, deer, rabbit, coon, exotics. Chinese and Ayurvedic medicines classify
meats as “warming” or “cooling”. If the dog or cat has a “hot” condition – aggression or
skin inflammation – cooling meats may heal.
Meat is best raw as cooking destroys enzymes and denatures the proteins
rendering them less digestible to cats and dogs. Dr. Clive McCay of Cornell University,
in Nutrition of the Dog (1944), stated, in the days before commercial food was available:
"The cooking of meat for dogs is a waste of time from the point of view of nutrition.
Cooking tends to destroy vitamins. Raw meat is probably the best digested protein.”
Feeding chunks of meat (with bones) big enough to need gnawing will exercise jaw
muscles, (most animals swallow their food relatively whole, so the purpose of the mouth
is just to get it small enough to fit down the trachea). Ground meat does not help their
teeth, but is certainly better than processed. We find in practice that some animals just do
not seem to be healthy until on chunks of raw meat, although others are fine with all the
fresh ingredients pureed. You can buy in quantity and freeze in portions. We rarely see
Salmonella, E. coli, and toxoplasmosis due to the intestinal flora and short transit time of
dogs and cats.
Bones: Raw bones, yes bones, are great on a regular basis. If the animal is eating bones
(not just gnawing on big ones), you need not supplement with calcium. The best way to
eat bones is when they are a part of the meat. So a whole chicken leg, or thigh, or neck, or
back that has the meat and tendons around the bone is best. Feeding bones that are too big
for a dog can cause broken teeth. This did not happen much in the past (60s and 70s) as
dogs were healthier then, but now it needs to be a concern). If marrow bones are fed they
should be removed after the marrow and meat has been gnawed off. Standard poodle size
could eat beef or deer rib bones with the meat on them.
Vegetables: Raw fruit & vegetables are great, but must be pureed in a food processor or a
juicer (best) to break down the cellulose. Thus the dog and cat short intestinal tracts can
fully digest them. My suggestion is to keep a food processor by your sink. As you prepare
vegetables for your dinner, put the hard ends, green carrot tops, bruised spots (anything
you would normally put onto your compost pile) into the processor. Let it sit. Cook your
vegetables and put the cooking water into the processor. Then put any of your leftovers
(including grains if your animals are fairly healthy) into the processor and run it. This
way your animals will get a variety of vegetables each week and they will part of the
family. If you have large dogs, purchase extra vegetables (think of them as another family
member) and meat.
Dairy: Milk products are fine. Only a few animals get diarrhea from milk. Cheese,
cottage cheese, kefir, active yogurt are great. The best are raw milk products from cows
or goats.
Eggs: Raw or cooked, eggs are a great source of protein. A dog would have to eat huge
quantities of raw egg white to tie up the biotin.
Carbohydrates: These are contraindicated in most carnivores, especially cats, yet can be
tolerated and therefore decrease cost of food in big dogs. They need to be
overcooked/soggy if fed at all. Some are theorizing that the grains are the cause of the
sudden increase in Cushing’s disease and cancer. In the wild, the intestinal contents of the
prey are pre digested seeds and nuts, which are high fat and protein, not our modern
grains which are high carbohydrate. A veterinary nutritionist, Dr. Hodgkins, (Your Cat)
had her own young cat become diabetic, realized it was probably due to feeding
carbohydrates. She switched to a non-carb diet and her cat was fine in a few weeks, so
she quit working for Science diet and wrote about this. Most oncologists agree that
carbohydrates "feed" cancer.
Quality of the Ingredients: Organic or not organic? As noted on the scale above, organic
is certainly best, but when not available or affordable, fresh is key. Local and organic are
the very best. A team of Danish scientists in 2000 confirmed that crops, spared artificial
pesticides and fertilizers, are more nutritious than treated crops. The findings are that the
organically grown plants contained higher levels of nutrients. They also had a higher
concentration of vitamins and far more secondary metabolites, which are naturally
occurring compounds helping immunize plants from external attack. Some of these
metabolites are thought to lower the risk of cancer and heart disease.
Source of ingredients for home prepared foods
Can you afford organic, especially the meat? Where can you even find free range or
organic locally? Each state has web sites listing local organic farmers and listing those
with pasture reared meat. Reading labels in a health food store is not as good as seeing
pictures on the web or visiting the farm. Very local truly free range and well treated
(maybe with a fly spray, or a little corn to finish, or non-organic chicken scratch) may be
better than organic reared in pens. Remember that wild game is hormone and steroid free
even when they eat pesticide reared corn and crops. Look into meat lockers and reselling
wild meat, or finding butchers who will keep the scraps from game, or hunters willing to
bring in the organ meat they clean out in the field, and the stores who discount their
almost ready to expire meat. This year I saw a sign: “Free deer meat – you pay
processing.” Look for “happy meat and happy vegetables” when you are in the grocery or
health food store. Paying extra for organic food, especially local free range or produce is
like making a charitable contribution to the health of our planet.
Organic vegetables are readily available in many areas. Remember that buying
fresh local produce may be better than organic because you can find out what they use for
sprays or fertilizers. While not organic, they may only spray once in the whole year.
These vegetables would be better for the environment than ones shipped long distances
and maybe you can convince the farmer to raise some organically, too. Ask for CSA
farms (Community Supported Agriculture) where you pay in January for a years worth of
fresh vegetables picked up by you each week right after harvesting.
You can really help clients by compiling a list of where to purchase meats (the most
expensive item) at what prices and quality. People should look for the parts not eaten by
humans (cheaper and better for the environment to use the entire slaughtered animal) hearts, livers, kidneys, gizzards, trips, stomachs, lungs, intestines, brains, heads, etc.
Remember that wild game is hormone and steroid free even when they eat pesticide reared
corn and crops. Freezing is fine. Look into meat lockers and reselling wild meat, or finding
butchers who will keep the scraps from game or hunters willing to bring in the organ meat
they clean out in the field, and the stores who discount their almost ready to expire meat.
The more research you can do to find inexpensive, healthy meat sources, the more likely
your patients will get to eat healthy meat. Look for “happy meat and happy vegetables”,
says Dr. Pollak.
In the Baltimore area there are many great sources for healthy meats. Roseda Beef
(www.Rosedabeef.com), Springfield Farms (www.ourspringfieldfarm.com), Carriage
House Farms (410-415-5846), One Straw Farm - vegetables and can give some meat ideas
(www.onestrawfarm.com). Stores that carry commercial raw food diets include Howl (in
Hamden), Baron's (Bel Air).
Supplements and tips
Calcium is the most critical supplement for every animal. If you are not feeding
bones, you need to feed calcium. (1/2 teaspoon ground eggshells per pound of meat,
BoneMeal (NaturVet), Algae calcium by Animal Essentials. Other than calcium, no one
knows exactly which animals need which supplements, just as no nutritionist knows the
supplements needed for each person. Juliette de Bairacli Levy found that animals grazed
(yes, even carnivores) and selected their own herbal supplements from the pastures and
lawns. If an animal needs more than just a few supplements to stay healthy, more holistic
treatment is needed, as healthy animals will get the most of their nutrients, vitamins and
minerals, from a good diet. Keep experimenting to see which supplements are really needed
for each individual. Juliette de Bairacli Levy found that animals who could graze would
select their own herbal supplements. Each animal may prefer one brand to another. It is
good to try different brands, and even rotate if there are several that do the best, as each
supplement contains different food sources.
Multivitamin: Pick one of the following with which to begin. Vetriscience Canine
Plus, Merritt Naturals MultiVitaminHerbal (MVH), Wysong C-Biotic Canine or Feline
Supplement (all three at www.ChristinaChambreau.com/products.php), Azmira Mega Pet
Daily, Nupro All Natural Dog Supplement, NaturVet Vita Pet Tabs, Halo Anitra’s VitaMineral Mix, Solid Gold Mineral & Vitamin Supplement.
Digestive enzymes and beneficial gut flora(Probiotics) are needed more with the
processed foods, but it helps with the transition to raw and if there are any skin or digestive
problems. My favorite probiotic is (Mitomax www.ChristinaChambreau.com/products.php). Pick one of the following digestive
enzymes with which to begin: Prozyme Enzyme Supplement, Azmira Digest Zymez, Ark
Naturals Gentle Digest, Wysong C-Biotic Canine Supplement. These are useful while the
animals are healing and transitioning to a raw diet, and may even be needed for life once
they are really healthy. If your dog is doing great you can try not using the enzymes and
keep evaluating through your journal.
A “whole food” supplement may be needed because of our deficient soils. Try
Merritt Naturals Green Alternative, Sea Meal or Missing Link. Rotate these every few
months or less, rather than just using one.
Also because of the pollution, Vitamin C is good to use for our dogs (and us).
N.A.N. Calcium Ascorbate is especially for large breed dogs as it adds a little extra calcium
but this should be switched to Sodium Ascorbate as they mature. Azmira Super C 2000
Powder can be used for puppies and adults.
For the meals that are raw, Wysong has a great supplement, Call of the Wild. It
helps achieve archetypal feeding patterns by providing organ meat, fats, connective tissue
proteoglycans, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, probiotics, herbs and innumerable other
micronutrients in the levels and proportions found in natural prey. Get Wysong’s free
tape to give to clients about why it is better to feed a fresh food diet.
Individual differences: As with people, some animals do not thrive on specific food
items, so individually adjust the diet. Keeping a journal will help the guardian monitor
subtle signs of health – energy level, activity, interest in life, specific symptoms.
Have a "meal-time" - don't leave food out. Do not feed dry food to cats. A normal,
healthy cat is not thirsty! (You may see them drink rarely.) Feeding dry food will make
them thirsty and may stress the kidneys, and the high carbohydrate level can be harmful.
This should be fun for both the owner and animal. Counsel patience while switching to
the new diet. If there are appetite problems - finicky or ravenous - these are signs of
energy imbalance and the animal needs your holistic evaluation and possibly treatment.
A healthy animal will eat any good foods presented. Overfeeding causes pickiness, too.
Anitra Frazier's book, The Natural Cat is excellent for showing how it is best to have
meal times and not feed dry to cats.
Helping clients who want a better diet
As you start to feed better food to your animals, you may create your own diet
suggestions for the clients. You can also recommend books for guidance. After a time,
people will either follow their favorite book's recipes, feed their own combinations, cook
mixtures or give raw meat plus what they eat. Since each individual animal needs different
foods and people have different schedules and abilities, your duty as a holistic CVT is to
support and guide people, not insist on one way being the only way. The following books
are the classics, and more are published every year. Real Food for Dogs (my current
favorite), Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet, The Ultimate Diet, Give Your Dog a Bone,
See Spot Live Longer, Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, The New Natural Cat, Its For the
Animals “Cookbook, Cat Care Naturally, Dog Care Naturally, Holistic Guide for the
Healthy Dog and Reigning Cats and Dogs. The Whole Dog Journal has had and continues to
have excellent articles comparing the 3 main diet approaches, different “holistic” foods and
books on nutrition. Every year they list the best commercial diets, raw or processed. Each
book has a slightly different perspective. New magazines like Dogs Naturally are covering
nutritional choices for animals, so keep current with these magazines and web sites below.
You must find the best diet for each animal (by tracking the early warning signs) and help
the owner find a diet that is right for the “chef”.
No time to cook
Often clients say they do not have time to prepare food. My interaction with them
often starts with a question, “Do you eat?” Meals can be prepared weekly, &/or entrees &
salad bars purchased for your animals. Next best, for busy or traveling owners, while
switching over or for taste variety are the increasing number of frozen or freeze dried raw
meat diets. It is fine to feed a combination of good quality commercial food (Wysong, Pet
Guard, Precise, …) and home-prepared food. You could feed commercial as you run out the
door in the AM and raw meaty bone in the PM, or just on weekends and days off. Any
amount of better nutrition may help. Different animals need different foods: you and the
owner need to be the judge of what foods are best by watching the effect of the various
diets.
Because so many animals are thriving on raw meat diets and people are busy and
conditioned to think someone else is the expert on food, the marketplace has responded with
a plethora of prepared, usually frozen, raw or cooked meat diets.
Some companies, like Bravo, offer different levels of their mixture for different prices –
factory farmed meat, organic, organic free range. Some companies say they cannot get free
range, some use only free range meat and organic vegetables. As with all foods, research the
source of ingredients, then see which ones keep your animal healthy by tracking symptoms.
Evaluating commercial foods
You or your clients or bosses may agree that fresh food makes sense yet you are
nervous about home preparation. When looking at processed pet food there are many
questions to be answered. What quality are the ingredients and the processing? Where
did the ingredients come from? What about chemical additives & preservatives? What
about contaminants? Ann Martin’s book, Foods Pets Die For , while not advocating raw
meat, vividly describes how commercial foods are made. Some people and some animals
seem to maintain their health on poor quality foods, but others become less and less
healthy until their diet is changed.
The Animal Protection Institute (www.api4animals.org) has a wealth of
information about diet and vaccines, mostly written by Dr. Jean Hofve. I highly
recommend reading their articles. ”What most consumers don't know is that the pet food
industry is an extension of the human food and agriculture industries. Pet food provides a
market for slaughterhouse offal, grains considered "unfit for human consumption," and
similar waste products to be turned into profit. This waste includes intestines, udders,
esophagi, and possibly diseased and cancerous animal parts. Three of the five major pet
food companies in the United States are subsidiaries of major multinational companies.”
When such a large company produces food you have no idea about the quality of the
ingredients. The president may have a commitment to great quality, but the person in
charge of getting the grains, or the meat, may have a supplier who cuts corners so the
president has no idea of the quality.
While some veterinarians still accept any food as good, more are realizing they
want natural preservatives and whole foods as the main ingredients. Even with “holistic”
foods, unless you know the owner you can not trust the label. I know one brand that was
great, then poor, then ok. And now is back to great. Each time it switched owners. This
is the main problem with any processed food – not really knowing the ingredients.
What about feeding a vegetarian or vegan diet to dogs and cats?
I feel the best discussion about this is in Pitcairn/Hubble’s book “Natural Health
for Dogs and Cats. He brings in the morality of feeding so many carnivore companion
animals as an ecological drain on the planet – of water, nutrients, space, etc. We all agree
that it is difficult to have healthy dogs and virtually impossible to have healthy cats when
feeding a vegan diet. Feeding a vegetarian diet (adding dairy products) seems to help, but
we still see animals who were healthy before the change in diet. If people can be trained
to keep a health journal and then evaluate all symptoms on a regular basis and look for
those early warning signs of ill health, it would be fine to try a non-optimal, but fresh
diet. This advice would even apply when using Pet guard or Wysong vegetarian diets.
Summary on diets
We cannot reliably know what is in commercial foods, even the commercial
frozen and freeze ones. Since some guardians and some animals prefer the commercial
cans (dry is just not as good), you need to pick a few you like to suggest. Contact the
owners of foods you have heard are good. Speak with them and if the food sounds good,
start some of the practice animals on it who have a few minor symptoms. See if they
improve and like the food.
Be open to people who are feeding a fresh food diet. Counsel them to deep a
journal and monitor energy, interest, happiness and physical signs. Animals do not slow
down much with age when they are healthy.
Start your own animals on a raw meat and pureed vegetable diet with plenty of
variety. Try it on a few clients. Have clients bring in before and after pictures, or take
them yourself at the clinic. Schedule nutritional counseling sessions or train your
technicians to do that. Send them to conferences with nutrition lectures.
REFERENCES
The following books are a few of the many now available.
Dr. Becker's Real food for healthy dogs and Cats - Taylor and Becker
Healthy Animal’s Journal - Dr. Christina Chambreau (www.HealthyAnimal’sJournal.com)
See Spot Live Longer - Taylor and Brown
Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet - Brown
Natural Health for Dogs and Cats - Richard Pitcairn (Rodale Press)
The New Natural Cat - Anitra Frazier (Plume)
The Ultimate Diet – Kimythy Schultz (BARF type)
Complete Herbal Book for the Dog - Juliette Bairacle-Levy (herbs & food, cat, too)
Rationale for Animal Nutrition – Randy Wysong – 800-748-0188
Pottenger's Cats - a study in nutrition proving raw meat the best.
www.price- pottenger.org/catalog.pdf
Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution
Cat Care, Naturally – Celeste Yarnell (Tuttle) (and Dog Care, Naturally)
Reigning Cats and Dogs - Pat McKay
Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog – Wendy Volhard and Kerry Brown
Super Nutrition for Animals - Nina Anderson.
The Healthy Cat (Dog) Book - Wendell Belfield (McGraw Hill)
Healthy Cat and Dog Cook Book - Joan Harper
Give Your Dog a Bone. Dr. Ian Billinghurst. Bridge Printery. ISBN 064610281.
Grow Your Pup with Bones - by Dr Ian Billinghurst
Home-Prepared Dog and Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative. Donald R.
Strombeck, DVM. Iowa State University Press. ISBN 0813821495.
It's for the Animals! Natural Care & Resources. Helen L. McKinnon. C.S.A. Inc.
www.ItsForTheAnimals.com; 888-339-IFTA (4382);
Raw Meaty Bones - Dr Tom Lonsdale
Keep Your Pet Healthy the Natural Way (1983) By Pat Lazarus
Natural Health Bible for Dogs and Cats – Shawn Messonnier
Food Pets Die For Ann Martin (1997)
Wonderful videos, Save your Dog & Save Your Cat, by Kate and Patrice Soliste shows a raw food
diet being prepared. www.AKinshipWithAnimals.com
BBC News summary of a report showing that organically raised food is healthier.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_588000/588589.stm
http://www.soilassociation.org/ - British association for organic farming.
http://www.AcresUSA.com is a wonderful newspaper for organic and pasture farmers.
http://www.MyForeverGreen.org/132195 – my site for a company that supplies the best convenience
foods for people and probiotics for people and animals along with wonderful organic essential
oils. Call me before ordering from the site to get the maximum value.
www.api4animals.org – click on Publications
www.auntjeni.com/ click on reading room
www.naturalpetfood.com/meat.html – frozen meat product
www.betterwayhealth.com/live-food-dog.asp
www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm - site for barf beginners
www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/nutritioncomments.html TJ Dunn
www.itsfortheanimals.com – great book to make fresh food easy
www.listservice.net/wellpet/ - a major holistic pet care site with plenty of information.
www.egroups.com/subscribe/BARF - BARF (Bio Active Raw Food ) Diet user group
www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/7244/barf.html" – this gives lists of all the list serves
with description. Excellent resource.
www.rawmeatybones.com - Dr Tom Lonsdale's Raw Meaty Bones, this is a good article
with some helpful references
www.critterhaven.org/critterchat/feedingnat.htm" - Feeding Naturally My computer only
found critterhaven, then I had to look for articles.
http://www.barfers.com/barflists.html
The following are all yahoo.com groups about feeding raw meat.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/;CarnivoreFeed-Supplier/; /dogmentor/;
/canineaggression/;/ RawChat/; /SeniorRawFeeding; /rawbreeder/; /RawPup; BasicRaw/
NaturalFerrets/; /RMBLobby/; /rawissues/; /rawpaws/.