Is Raw Right for Your Pet?
Feeding raw foods, or homecooked foods, to animals is not a new idea; this has been happening for many, many years, especially on farms and ranches. The "BARF" diet (Bones and Raw Food, or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) is a healthy way of feeding which supports the immune system and provides the most easily assimilated nutrients. While feeding a raw diet is not for everyone -- some dogs or cats may not be able to tolerate raw bones, or may be too debilitated to handle raw meat until healthier -- it is one of the best things you can do to give your animal a long life and the best health possible. Watch allergy symptoms disappear, goopy eyes and ears turn clear and clean again, skin problems resolve, and much more. The money you will save in veterinary bills because your animal is healthy is another great reason to switch to this way of feeding. A natural diet, whether raw or homecooked, is crucial for dogs and cats who are dealing with cancer.
Going Against the Grain
Many human and dog foods are now gluten-free. We've all seen the labels in the supermarket or the health food store. Why? Because so many people (and their dogs!) have intolerances or sensitivities to these things. Why? Because we and our dogs were never meant to eat them. Pretty simple really.
For thousands of years, dogs roamed the ancient world. They made their homes on the Savannahs of Africa, the plains of India and the forests of Europe, Asia and the Americas. Packs of dogs swirled through every type of terrain in every climate. They ate what they could wherever they could. Their food came from three sources: prey, scavenged and grazed items. Prey would be mainly herbivores, for example rabbits, deer, sheep or antelope. Scavenged food was food which dogs, acting as nature’s cleaners, devoured from the scraps left over from the meals of big, messy carnivores such as lions, bears and pumas. Grazed food included apples, berries and other wild fruits and nuts in season, and formed a small but significant part of a dog’s diet, especially during summer.
Dogs hunted in packs. They devoured their prey completely: nothing would remain of the carcase. The soft organs, or viscera, were the first things to be eaten, followed by the gut contents, which, in herbivores, would be full of chewed and partially digested vegetable matter. Cereals were also present, but only as a small proportion. Then the muscle (meat) would be eaten. The bones, skin and hair comprised the final course, being nature’s way of cleaning the teeth after a large meal.
Man has been feeding dogs for about forty thousand years. The canines helped with the hunt and man rewarded them with some of the leftovers, which the dogs were only too happy to consume. Life was easier for both species under this arrangement: man got a useful hunting companion; the dogs got a pack mate who fed them a broad-ranging diet without them having to do too much work.
Using Supplements
Animals in the wild are not supplemented. With bones and raw food type diet we can get as near as damn-it to the wild-type nutrition. In fact, as we are getting meats and non-meat foods from all over the world, the diet is probably superior to the wild-type.
Calcium
As everyone knows it is one of the main minerals in bone. This is why it is so important in growing animals. But did you also know it is essential for good saliva production, blood clotting, muscle contraction, nerve impulses and the absorption of vitamin B12 from the gut? It is found in broccoli, fish (if bones are present), bones (obviously), green leafy vegetables, pulses and root vegetables..
