Whilst I
strongly believe a raw diet is far superior to a cooked and processed diet such
as commercial pet food, there are certainly good and bad raw diets.
Healthy raw
diets depend on the quality of the ingredients, the variety of the contents,
how the food is prepared, a complete diet achieved over several meals,
knowledge of the supplements required, which type of bones and meat produce are
suitable, the source of the ingredients, the digestibility of the chosen
proteins and the quantity of food and supplements given.
The majority
of Veterinarians and pet owners are in full support of processed commercial pet
foods. My criticism of this tunnel vision view comes from the fact
that the incredible support of pet food companies is from a place of ignorance and
blind trust rather than from intelligent choice.
I know, I was
in this position myself only several years ago. Most people don’t question what they should feed their pets
(cooked or raw); it’s not even a choice that enters their mind. The supermarket has entire isles
dedicated to the pet food industry.
Every Vet Clinic I have ever took my pets to, also display an array of
brightly coloured bags and cans of pet food, which advertise health and
longevity.
Coincidently,
the pet food companies are training veterinarians in pet nutrition. Only
recently I found out that veterinary students at The University of Melbourne
are trained by IAMS pet food. No wonder
most veterinarians frown upon homemade, raw diets, when they have been
brainwashed by the market leaders in pet food.
As a result,
pet owners are being advised by their Vets to buy commercial food as its 100%
balanced and complete, unlike homemade diets. Is this what they are taught by the pet food companies?
The
supermarkets also cater specifically for pet owners on behalf of the pet food
companies, so where is the choice?
The only pet food advertisements I have ever seen on the television have
been marketing campaigns for commercial, cooked, heavily processed foods.
Whilst there
are many advocates of the raw diet, the popularity of the billion-dollar pet
food industry is without doubt a powerful force and influence. It will take some time to break through
the tunnel vision views of the majority but slowly, I think it’s happening.
Commercial
pet food is cooked, processed and packaged for a long shelf life. The pet food companies have made
feeding a pet incredibly easy, very convenient, quick and pet owners don’t have
to worry about the diet being balanced or species appropriate. Labels clearly tell pet owners the
product is ‘complete and balanced’ and pictures of healthy, happy pets on the
advertisements install faith in the buyer without a second thought.
When I, on
occasion, had my doubts about this type of nutrition, my Veterinarian would
assure me that this was the best way to feed my pets. I was told homemade diets can be very dangerous, difficult
to balance and can, long term, cause serious health problems due to
deficiencies.
I don’t
believe Veterinarians are saying this to sell more pet food. They are giving this advice, as they
truly believe homemade diets are bad and that commercial pet foods are indeed the
best choice to ensure healthy animals.
This is, no doubt, what they were taught at Veterinary School.
However,
times are changing and pet owners are becoming more empowered by slowly
learning that homemade raw diets can in fact be a healthy choice. Raw pet foods are on sale now in pet
food supply outlets such as ‘The BARF Diet’ by Dr Billinghurst and ‘Big Dog
Barf,’ a family owned Australian business. Slowly, they are gaining popularity with both dog and cat
owners. There are also a
staggering number of informative books available on how to feed our pets a raw,
species appropriate diet. Whilst
there are several texts that make the task of creating a raw pet diet quite
daunting, there are texts such as ‘The Barf Diet,’ which simplifies the
preparation and is very clear in all aspects of this method of feeding.
(Billinghurst 2001)
In support of
the raw food movement is Dr Jones (a Canadian Veterinarian and author). In his years of practice he has
observed vast improvements in cats and dogs after switching from cooked,
processed diets to homemade food.
Improvements include shinier hair coat, no more bad odours, improved
muscle mass to fat ratio, fresher breath and cleaner teeth, reduced itching,
urinary tract health, less infections, reduction in arthritic symptoms, less
allergies, less hairballs in cats and a decrease in stool volume. (Jones 2009)
In addition
to the above credits given to the Raw Diet, author of ‘Whole Health for Happy
Cats, claims there is an elimination of gastro-intestinal problems, the urinary
tract maintains itself at a species appropriate pH of 6-6.5, the immune system
gets stronger, long haired breeds shed less and in the long term its cheaper
than commercial pet food. (Arora 2006)
The greatest
fear of switching to a raw diet by most owners I have spoken to; tends to be
that raw animal produce contains pathogens, which are potentially harmful to
our pets. Author of ‘Food Pets Die
For,’ agrees with this. Raw food
can contain huge amounts of E. Coli and Salmonella that even freezing can’t
kill. (Martin 2008)
Chicken and
organ meat in particular carry contaminants dangerous both to us, and our pets.
Domestic cats and dogs are very different from their wild relatives who have
long fasts between meals, which allow the toxins to be eliminated from the
body. (Brown 2006)
If these claims were true then why have my pets over the last
several years of feeding raw food never been sick from the diet?
In fact all I
have seen is massive improvements in health. I totally disagree that raw food can cause more harm than
good.
To answer the
question is author of ‘Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs.’ Dogs (and cats) digestive tracts are
very short, their stomach contains highly concentrated hydrochloric acid, which
breaks down not only fat, but also protein, bones and harmful bacteria such as E. Coli sometimes found in raw food.
“The canine digestive tract is developed to
kill germs and stop them from multiplying.” (Olson 2010)
Dr Pitcairn,
Veterinarian and author, claims that in 15 years of recommending a raw diet to
his clients, he has never saw a case of salmonella or E. Coli poisoning in any
of his patients. In total support
of raw food for cats and dogs, the key ingredient missing from heavily
processed, cooked pet food is the,
“quality found only in fresh grown uncooked
whole foods: Life Energy!” (Pitcairn et al 2005)
Cooked foods
are dead foods. Their enzymes,
proteins, vitamins, fats and plant produce are all either altered or completely
destroyed in the heating process.
Against raw
diets and a strong supporter of cooked foods for cats and dogs is Veterinarian
and author, Dr Schenk. Placing a
heavy emphasis on ‘foodbourne illnesses’ she claims, “The practice of feeding uncooked diets should be discouraged.” She advises, any pet on a raw diet
should be checked by a Veterinarian every 6 months. As the book is an advocate for homemade cooked diets it
gives a massive number of recipes and an enormous amount of detail in regards
to each and every ingredient in the diet.
However, the task of switching from commercial pet food to her dietary
advice is somewhat overwhelming.
The author even after writing the book specifically for pet owners to follow,
writes,
“Formulating a homemade diet is a difficult
task.” (Schenk 2010)
Thank
goodness this wasn’t the first animal nutrition book I read, I would surely have
given up the task of switching diets immediately.
After seeing
the benefits (I never thought possible) of the raw diet for the last several
years in my own cats and dog, there are still several small drawbacks to making
our own raw diets at home that need to be considered.
-Time
required for preparation
-Freezer and
refrigerator space needed
-Providing a variety
of foods to ensure an overall balance in the diet
-Initially
costly to buy supplements, oils, high quality produce
-Meat
grinding machine (if necessary for non-bone eating pets), it takes up space in
the kitchen.
-The fear of
not getting quantities of ingredients correct and causing deficiencies or toxic
overload
-Fussy pets
addicted to commercial pet food!
However, as
practice makes perfect, it really doesn’t take that long to work out a system
that’s good for our pets and that fits into our lifestyle. The sheer pleasure of seeing healthy,
happy animals with a high quality of life is truly rewarding.
Now, for all those pet owners who remain faithful to the pet food companies….
There is a
general consensus between animal nutritionists, (whether they support the
cooked or raw homemade diet) that most commercially prepared foods are not
providing our pets with health and longevity.
Cooked,
processed, long-life pet foods:
-Are
overcooked
-Contain too
much fibre in the way of cheap fillers
-The protein
is poor quality which is taxing on the liver and kidneys
-The cooking
process destroys nutrients including enzymes and amino acids. As a result, the overall quality of the
protein suffers (Olson 2010)
-Full of
cheap grains
-Too many meat
by products which lack integrity
-Chemical
additives
-Toxins e.g.
pesticides, herbicides, hormones (from cheap animal factory farmed produce)
-Produce that
would not be considered suitable for humans
-Lack of
regulations when compared to the human food industry
-There is no
such thing as one meal being complete and balanced (Jones 2009)
-Dry pet
foods adhere to our pet’s teeth and gums and with a large amount of sugar from
all the grains; generate periodontal disease (Hodgkins 2007)
-Too many
grains in cat food when they are obligate carnivores
-Dry food is
unnatural for cats. They are
required to drink more. However, as they naturally do not drink a lot of water,
this places strain on the kidneys causing concentrated urine, urinary crystals,
stones, renal failure
-Have an
alkalizing effect on the urinary tract which should naturally be acidic
-Can lead to
obesity (pets will crave more due to the food being deficient in real quality
nutrients)
-Are
misleading a trusting public as to the ingredients in their products
-The source
of ingredients is a scary thought
-Are of low
quality, most company costs go into advertising and marketing campaigns
Unfortunately
I find most pet foods to be unethical.
Knowing what most of the ingredients in their products actually are, I’m
not surprised the Vet Clinics are busting at their seams with sick cats and dogs.
“only about half the actual contents of the pet food are listed on
the label due to minimal legal regulations in the pet food industry.” (Martin 2008)
According to
Veterinarian and author Dr Jones, pets on commercial, cooked, processed diets
are being taken to clinics with bad allergies, skin and gum disease, arthritis,
kidney problems and autoimmune diseases.
“Many of the chronic diseases we see today are directly attributable
to poor quality food…” (Jones 2009)
In conclusion
I do believe pet owners are waking up and starting to question why their pets
have so many allergies, diseases, ongoing problems that require expensive and
ongoing veterinary care.
As we are
questioning the source of our own food, we are also questioning the source of
our pet food. Bad practices in the
world of food produce are now thankfully being exposed.
Factory
farming of animals, in particular, pigs and chickens are now relatively well
known, thanks to organisations such as Animals Australia and the Royal Society
for the Protection of Animals.
Slowly we are learning that nicely packaged animal produce in
supermarkets are products of pain, suffering and contain a massive amount of
chemicals used in the food industry to keep profits high and sale prices low.
The
popularity of free-range food labels
and organic plant produce is
thankfully increasing. This is
evident when we go into the supermarkets and each year, more and more space is
taken up by free-range eggs, rather than the eggs from caged birds.
As the
consumer drives the food market, not the farmers, it is up to each and every
one of us to make more ethical, kinder, more healthy and as a result more
educated choices both for ourselves and for our pets.
References:
Arora, S 2006, ‘Whole Health for Happy Cats.’ Quarry Books
USA
Billinghurst, I. 2001, ‘The Barf Diet.’ SOS Printing Pty Ltd,
Australia
Brown, A 2006, ‘The Whole Pet Diet, Eight weeks to a Great
Health for Dogs and Cats.’ Celestial Arts, USA.
Hodgkins, E.H, 2007, ‘Your Cat, Simple New Secrets to a Longer,
Stronger Life.’ Thomas Dunne Books, USA.200
Jones, A. 2009, ‘Veterinary Secrets Revealed,’ Four Paws
Online Ltd, Canada
Martin, A. 2008, ‘Food Pets Die For, Shocking Facts about Pet
Food.’ NewSage Press, USA.
Olson, L 2010, ‘Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs, The
definitive guide to homemade meals.’ North Atlantic Books, USA.
Pitcairn, R. H. & Pitcairn, S. H, 2005, ‘Dr. Pitcairn’s
guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats.’ Rodale Inc, USA.
Schenck, P. 2010, ‘Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets Second
Edition.’ Blackwell Publishing, USA.
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