Canine diet
In this Unit, students look at the various natural diet options for dogs, such as:
Research conducted by Canine Health Concern in 1996 showed that natural food - including raw meaty bones - is better for a dog than processed pet food. A major benefit reported by dog owners taking part in the recent survey included a dramatic reduction in veterinary visits for dogs fed the natural diet for six months or longer. Specifically, there was a drop of 85% in veterinary visits after changing from artificial pet food to natural bones and vegetables. This comparison was statistically significant (with alpha 0.5% and P<.0014) at 99.5% confidence.
Eighty-nine dog owners took part in the survey. Seventy-four per cent had changed to the diet recommended in Dr. Ian Billinghurst's book, 'Give Your Dog a Bone', and 13% were already feeding a similar diet. The main visible health benefits reported by owners of the 126 dogs who were changed to the new diet included: more energy and activity, improved teeth and gums, glossier coats, and skin, weight and behavioural improvements. Other benefits reported included lower susceptibility to fleas, improved appetite, an absence of stomach and digestive upsets, sweeter breath, cleaner ears, no more scratching, and veterinary medication no longer required.
Multiple benefits were reported by owners for their dogs. The majority (88%) of the benefits were achieved by feeding a mixed diet which included raw chicken wings, raw meaty lamb, pork and beef bones, raw green tripe, and both cooked and uncooked vegetables. These ingredients were statistically significant (99% certainty) as contributory factors to the improved health of the dogs in the survey.
Significantly, health improvements increased over time. Dogs on the natural diet for six months or longer were dramatically healthier than those whose diet had only recently changed. However, those who had been on the diet for only a few weeks still showed improvements.
Pat McKay: “The key to health is keeping live foods in the body. Live foods have enzymes, little protein molecules, which are essential for digesting food, for stimulating the brain, for providing cellular energy, for repairing all tissues, organs and cells, and functions so diverse that it is impossible to name them all. Animals and people cannot exist without enzymes. It is a myth that you can take supplements and make up for enzymes. Supplemental enzymes, vitamins and minerals can be very helpful, but they do not make up for RAW food.”
Russell Swift DVM: “At the recent American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association Conference, I discovered that I am not the only one questioning 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, fiber, B-vitamins and trace minerals. However, they are NOT part of the natural diet of wild dogs and cats. In the true natural setting, grains hardly exist at all.”
Alfred Plechner DVM: “Because many commercial foods are woefully deficient in key nutrients, the long term effect of feeding such foods makes the dog hypersensitive to its environment. . . . It's a dinosaur effect. Animals are being programmed for disaster, for extinction. Many of them are biochemical cripples with defective adrenal glands unable to manufacture adequate cortisol, a hormone vital for health and resistance to disease."
Look at the views of these specialists and others, and make your own informed choices.
In this Unit, students look at the various natural diet options for dogs, such as:
Research conducted by Canine Health Concern in 1996 showed that natural food - including raw meaty bones - is better for a dog than processed pet food. A major benefit reported by dog owners taking part in the recent survey included a dramatic reduction in veterinary visits for dogs fed the natural diet for six months or longer. Specifically, there was a drop of 85% in veterinary visits after changing from artificial pet food to natural bones and vegetables. This comparison was statistically significant (with alpha 0.5% and P<.0014) at 99.5% confidence.
Eighty-nine dog owners took part in the survey. Seventy-four per cent had changed to the diet recommended in Dr. Ian Billinghurst's book, 'Give Your Dog a Bone', and 13% were already feeding a similar diet. The main visible health benefits reported by owners of the 126 dogs who were changed to the new diet included: more energy and activity, improved teeth and gums, glossier coats, and skin, weight and behavioural improvements. Other benefits reported included lower susceptibility to fleas, improved appetite, an absence of stomach and digestive upsets, sweeter breath, cleaner ears, no more scratching, and veterinary medication no longer required.
Multiple benefits were reported by owners for their dogs. The majority (88%) of the benefits were achieved by feeding a mixed diet which included raw chicken wings, raw meaty lamb, pork and beef bones, raw green tripe, and both cooked and uncooked vegetables. These ingredients were statistically significant (99% certainty) as contributory factors to the improved health of the dogs in the survey.
Significantly, health improvements increased over time. Dogs on the natural diet for six months or longer were dramatically healthier than those whose diet had only recently changed. However, those who had been on the diet for only a few weeks still showed improvements.
Pat McKay: “The key to health is keeping live foods in the body. Live foods have enzymes, little protein molecules, which are essential for digesting food, for stimulating the brain, for providing cellular energy, for repairing all tissues, organs and cells, and functions so diverse that it is impossible to name them all. Animals and people cannot exist without enzymes. It is a myth that you can take supplements and make up for enzymes. Supplemental enzymes, vitamins and minerals can be very helpful, but they do not make up for RAW food.”
Russell Swift DVM: “At the recent American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association Conference, I discovered that I am not the only one questioning 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, fiber, B-vitamins and trace minerals. However, they are NOT part of the natural diet of wild dogs and cats. In the true natural setting, grains hardly exist at all.”
Alfred Plechner DVM: “Because many commercial foods are woefully deficient in key nutrients, the long term effect of feeding such foods makes the dog hypersensitive to its environment. . . . It's a dinosaur effect. Animals are being programmed for disaster, for extinction. Many of them are biochemical cripples with defective adrenal glands unable to manufacture adequate cortisol, a hormone vital for health and resistance to disease."
Look at the views of these specialists and others, and make your own informed choices.