[ SHOWGSD-L ] Is it time for a raw food debate ;o))))
- From: "YCHARRON" <raiseyourpaw4raw@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 14:06:31 -0500
http://www.mercola.com/2005/feb/5/pets_grains.htm
I just received it -
Yvette
Do Dogs and Cats Need Grains?
By Steve Brown and Beth Taylor
Dogs and cats are designed by nature to be primarily meat eaters.
Dogs are scavengers. Their diet included almost any food that provided calories
-- but rarely grain. A major factor in the domestication of dogs was the food
available at the human garbage dump. The "tamer" wolves, those least afraid of
humans, over a period of tens of thousands of years, became our close
companions.
According to a recent study by biologists Ray and Lorna Coppinger, the natural
diet of dogs included, "Bones, pieces of carcass, rotten greens and fruit, fish
guts, discarded seeds and grains, animal guts and heads, some discarded human
food and wastes."(1)
However, cats are more selective about food by nature and anatomy. Their
ancestral diet consisted of small rodents. Their usefulness to humans had much
to do with their eagerness to dispatch the rodents so plentiful around human
habitats.
Almost No Grains
The natural diet of both species includes high levels of protein, fats and
water, and very little carbohydrates. The "recommended" diet of dry foods,
which is the diet of most cats and dogs, is the complete opposite of this
natural diet: High in carbohydrate, low in protein, fat, and with almost no
water.
Dogs and cats do not need carbohydrates, and most veterinary textbooks agree:
a.. Canine and Feline Nutrition "The fact that dogs and cats do not require
carbohydrate is immaterial because the nutrient content of most commercial
foods include (carbohydrates).(2)
b.. Small Animal Clinical Nutrition III, written by the founder of Science
Diet (Mark Morris Sr.) and his son (Mark Morris Jr.): "Some question exists
regarding the need of dogs and cats for dietary carbohydrate. From a practical
sense, the answer to this question is of little importance because there are
carbohydrates in most food ingredients used in commercially prepared dog
foods."(3)
c.. The Waltham Book of Companion Animal Nutrition: "There is no known
minimum dietary requirement for carbohydrate..."(4)
For more details, see our book, See Spot Live Longer.
More Grains, More Insulin, More Inflammation
A highly processed, grain-based diet fed to an animal designed to thrive on a
meat-based, fresh food diet is very likely to produce symptoms of ill health
over time. Diets to address disease most frequently deal with the symptoms that
are the result of a lifetime of inappropriate food, not the true cause of their
symptoms. The optimum diet for a dog or a cat should closely resemble their
natural diet.
A diet balanced heavily toward grain promotes insulin production and the
production of inflammatory chemicals. Over-production of insulin makes it hard
for the body to maintain its correct weight, and can lead to diabetes and other
problems. An overabundance of inflammatory chemicals means more aches and pains.
Improve the balance of your dog's diet by reducing grain, and you may not need
the dangerous non-steroidal and steroid drugs so commonly prescribed for dogs.
Readers who follow Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program will agree eating fewer
grains means less inflammation! Toxic drugs certainly make animals more
comfortable, but will shorten their lives too.
A word of caution: Diabetic animals or any other medical condition making a
switch to a more protein-based diet should be under the close supervision of a
veterinarian.
Making the Switch to Meat
We believe the best diet for a dog or cat is a fresh, raw meat, bone and
vegetable diet. Still, we may not always follow that advice due to financial
constraints. Understanding that every step helps, we hope these suggestions
will help you to move toward that goal.
Add meat to promote your pet's health: As you add meat to your pet's diet, at
the same time, reduce the grain content of your pet's diet.
Add up to 15 percent fresh meat, raw or cooked: This increases the protein and
reduces the carbohydrate content of the pet's food, but will not unbalance the
levels of any essential nutrient in your animal's diet.
Also, ensure the meat scraps you're adding are mostly meat! Your doggie bag is
likely to have much more fat in it than meat. Fat is a very important nutrient
but one that needs to be kept in balance. Every fat gram provides double the
calories of a gram of protein or carbohydrate.
Avoid senior, lite and diet foods: These varieties usually have fewer calories
per cup because manufacturers have increased the fiber and carbohydrates and
reduced protein and fat, compared to adult maintenance diets. This is the
opposite of what they really need, and has no scientific foundation. Older and
overweight pets need meat, not grains.
Add canned food: Good canned food has no grains, and has more protein and fat
than dry pet foods. Two good choices we recommend are Nature's Variety and
Wellness. "Complete and balanced" canned diets may be fed as an animal's sole
diet.
For cats, we highly recommend switching all the way. Cats should not eat dry
foods. Urinary tract problems and kidney failure in cats have been closely
related to dietary water, which has a different effect on their bodies than the
"real" water an animal drinks. It's much better for the cat to eat her food
with the water in it!
Add a commercially prepared frozen raw diet: As with canned foods, if these are
"complete," they can replace all other food fed to your animals.
Research proper homemade meat, bone and vegetable diets and supplement with
good dry food to cut cost: Homemade foods can be nutritious and affordable, but
must be made correctly. (We'll write more about this in a future article.) This
option provides the protein and fat our pets need, reduces the amount of grain
they eat, and is affordable by most people.
Feeding your pet a meat- and vegetable-based diet is clearly the best choice to
protect and optimize their health. By following these simple recommendations,
you will radically reduce the deadly toxins your dog encounters. Read more of
our recommendations in See Spot Live Longer.
May your Spot live a long, healthy life!
Please feel free to get in touch with Steve and Beth for more information.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
There is indeed a special relationship that exists between pets and their
owners that goes far beyond the sharing of a home together. Our happy-go-lucky,
four-legged friends also provide us with constant unconditional love, devotion,
friendship and something else that might not be at the forefront of most
people's minds -- health benefits.
Conversely, as owners, we should be just as mindful that our pets depend on us
to look out constantly for their safety and good health. Pet health and
nutrition experts Beth Taylor and Steve Brown remind us, just as you can
benefit by optimizing your diet according to your body's unique metabolic type,
you can help your cat or dog live a long and healthy life by ridding their
daily diets of grains, "fake foods" they, along with their owners, were never
meant to eat in the first place.
For more information about the work Beth and Steve are doing in the field of
pet health and nutrition, visit their Web site.
http://www.seespotlivelonger.com/
Yvette
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