More on Raw Food

For this entry, I will only cover this topic as it relates to dogs and cats, but I will stress that for ANY pet, the closer you get to what would be a natural diet for them, the better! What would your rat eat in the wild, your iguana, your guinea pig? 

BENEFITS OF A RAW DIET

Firmer, smaller, better smelling stools (and biodegradable!). I mean, all poop smells really, but many of us often take for granted that poop should smell really bad. Well, it shouldn't! If it's smelling like sulfur or just plain unbearable, it is not normal! (This applies to humans too!) This was the very first change I noticed in my cats after switching them from kibble! 

Improved digestion. A raw food diet mimics our dogs' and cats' ancestral diets. Compared to a dry kibble diet, raw food is higher in protein, fat and lower in carbs. Our pets tend to wolf down their food, eliminating the time the stomach needs to properly receive it. Raw food takes more work, which gives their tummies enough time to secrete their digestive juices.

Healthier skin and coat. Cuts back on shedding! Raw food has way more moisture than kibble, and all the necessary nutrients for a silkier coat. As a double plus, watch skin allergies improve!

Better weight management. Because raw food is more wholesome, your pet will tend to get way more nutrients in way less food. I currently feed my cats about 4 tablespoons of food a day, maybe five if I'm home. 

Portion control. You simply can't leave raw food out, so your pet will learn to expect their portion and that's it. There'll be no overeating and no begging throughout the day.

Cleaner teeth. Our dogs and cats are equipped with very sharp teeth and strong jaws made for ripping through their prey. This action scrubs and flosses their teeth, which leads to healthy gums. I cannot stress how extremely important dental health is to the overall health of your pet! If you're feeding your pets kibble and canned, and you're not brushing their teeth, expect some serious health issues in the long-term! 

Better breath. Something else we take for granted. Your pet should not have pungent breath!

Mental health. It is still important to honor our dogs' and cats' inner wild side. A raw food diet will stimulate them emotionally and mentally and increase their vitality.

DOWNSIDES

Convenience. Raw food takes some degree of preparation. 

Price. I would say I spend about $30 a week on raw food for my 3 cats. This can vary depending on appetite and special needs. But if it saves me a ton of vet bills and heartache in the long-run, then it's a small sacrifice to make!

Salmonella and E. coli. Guess what! For YOU, not your pet. You always have to be careful when handling raw meat. Our dogs and cats have a more acidic stomach and their digestive tracts are way shorter, which makes infections rare. If they have a healthy immune system, this bacteria will be of no consequence. On that note, check out the FDA's list of commercial pet foods that were recalled due to traces of salmonella and E. coli.

What about fruits and veggies?

Dogs are not obligate carnivores and therefore benefit greatly from fruits and vegetables! Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they need a higher amount of protein, but it doesn't mean they can't benefit from fruits and veggies. Think of it this way. If your cat hunted down a rabbit, it would essentially it whole. That includes the muscle meat, bones, organ meats, raw eggs, and whatever it had in its tummy…grass, fruits, veggies and some grains. Same with dogs!

Precautions

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy your pet's raw food at a grocery store!!! I don't care if it says free-range, cage-free, grass-fed, happy cows… This should be a whole different entry, but in short, if you think this meat comes from chickens roaming a beautiful green pasture happily greeting each other as they welcome the morning sun, you're mistaken. Cage-free means chickens aren't necessarily kept in cages. BUT they can still be enclosed in large chicken houses with barely any room to walk around. And free range? Free range only means that chickens must have access to the outdoors, but that space doesn't need to be very big. The Humane Society website has more on the terminology. And in the end, the slaughtering process can be extremely unsanitary, not to mention the chlorine and ammonia often found in "washed" meat. 

So where can you purchase your raw food? 

A lot of pet stores already sell raw pet food with all the necessary nutrients! If you're feeling adventurous and want to cook something up yourself, visit your local farmer's market. Just remember, you'll still have to throw in some very essential vitamins, such as taurine, for cats! Or just get some good probiotics or a daily supplement to mix in! Two of my favorites are Anitra's Vita-Mineral Mix for Cats and Dogs by Pet Guard and Earth Animal's Daily Health Nuggets.

~*~

A growing number of vets state that processed pet food is the main cause of illness and premature death in the modern dog and cat. In December 1995, the British Journal of Small Animal Practice published a paper contending that processed pet food suppresses the immune system and leads to liver, kidney, heart and other diseases. This research, initially conducted by Dr. Tom Lonsdale, was researched further by the Australian Veterinary Association and proven to be correct. -From the British Journal of Small Animal Practice

I don't believe it is possible for cats to be truly healthy when living on commercial foods for a long period of time. This belief came about after contrasting the condition of house cats with feral cats who have access to adequate prey. -Christina Chambrea, DVM

Survival is insured by commercial food; nothing more; not health, not the robustness for life. -William Pollak, DVM

Dogs should eat raw food -- raw meat and bones, vegetables and fruit. If they were meant to eat processed, sterilized food, they would have evolved with tin openers instead of dew claws. -Nick Thompson BSc. (Hons), BVM&S, VetMFHom, MRCVS

Dogs and cats need raw meat to be really healthy and even the best processed foods cook their good ingredients, and most commercially available foods, even the expensive ones, use the cheapest ingredients (that means dead, diseased and decaying meat & by-products). -Christina Chambreau, DVM

Nutrition

This has been bugging me for months. Animal nutrition. For years, the general public has trusted many "high end" brands to feed their dogs and cats, and many of us have fallen for it. 

MEAL BY-PODUCTS

These CORPORATIONS have very smart, highly-paid marketing teams who work everyday to convince us that crap is good for our pets. And the larger the corporation, the lower the quality of their product. 

These companies have figured out a way to get us to trust their labels without researching their ingredients. One common example is meal by-products. The Hills and Royal Canin brands are some of the largest culprits. They have convinced us that meal by-products are FOOD. Do you know what meal by-products are? If you love and care about your pet, you should know EXACTLY what you are feeding it. So why take THEIR word for it? Let me tell you something that might shock you. NO ONE CARES MORE ABOUT YOUR PET THAN YOU DO. Meal by-products are the undigestible parts of an animal, such as hooves, snouts, feet, undeveloped eggs...essentially the waste products of meat processing…what's left AFTER the edible parts have been removed (probably scraped off the slaughterhouse floor, if you ask me). 

CORN

A vet prescribed one of our family cats a Hills diet to help her lose weight. She prescribed Hills T/D Dental Health, because it was the lowest calorie food they had available. Months later, she has NOT lost a single pound. She is currently 15 pounds. I read the label, and this is what I found...

Does anything stand out? Well, I've covered some of the by-product problem. Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Corn. SERIOUSLY. THIS is what they prescribe an overweight cat???

You might say, well, this particular vet is an idiot. Yes, in this case, she was. Or who knows…the Wall Street Journal came out with an article earlier this year you might want to read about how the Hills corporation gives veterinary hospitals incentives and puts veterinarians through school… So who do you think is teaching nutrition at school?

But…DOES Hills make an actual low-calorie diet for cats? They do. Hills R/D Feline Weight Loss-Low Calorie. Get this. The first three ingredients are EXACTLY THE SAME, except in this order: Brewer's Rice, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal.

What is wrong with this picture? Three things.

1) The vet recommended a prescription diet. Why does ANY animal need a medicated diet for weight loss? How about play with it for a few minutes a day? Or don't leave food out. Or feed it a WHOLESOME diet so that it won't be craving food all day? Just some thoughts.

2) The vet sold the WRONG prescription diet because it is all they HAD. This means that instead of suggesting another veterinary hospital for the correct product, she recommended next best thing, because it was somehow in their best interests to have it purchased THERE.

3) CORN. CATS ARE OBLIGATE CARNIVORES. This means that their bodies are HIGHLY dependent on a high-protein diet. If this is so, WHY are the first ingredients on these foods anything but? And why would ANY low-calorie diet have CORN in it? Cats CANNOT digest corn well! They get very little nutritional value from it. It takes several hours to digest. AND cats have a short digestive tract, so food needs to be broken up quickly before it leaves their bodies. Shouldn't Hills know this? I mean, they are "soooo high-end" and all.

MONEY

It's the same reason your Doritos (crap) bag is mostly air and not enough chip! It's why Lucky Charms (crap) has way less marshmallows than it should have! It's why they always put extra ice in your soda (crap) and not enough soda!!! BECAUSE it increases the overall protein level of the food, and is thus a CHEAP FILLER. 

STAYING TRUE TO NATURE

We are learning more and more everyday about eating organic, gluten-free, hormone and antibiotic-free food. WE are NOT living off of human pellets or canned food. Why should our pets? All my cats have been eating a raw food diet for over a year now without incidence. They might not need to hunt anymore, but their digestive systems remain unchanged from that of their wild counterparts. They are eating what their bodies are designed to digest. 

IS IT SAFE?

Absolutely. But always do your research! These companies are small enough that if ANYTHING were to happen, they'd probably be at risk of shutting down. Their goal is quality. They are run by people who LOVE animals. If it is done right, salmonella and E. coli WILL NEVER be a problem. They are not so much in it for the money. Yes, like the M&Ms commercial says. THEY DO EXIST. But question everything! Ask where their meat comes from, how it's slaughtered, how it's cleaned… They'll give you an answer. Try asking Hills!

Throwing a handful of kibble into your pet's food bowl might save you a ton of time, but it is likely to cause long-term degenerative illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and renal disease, a couple of which I have personal experience with, and in a very small way… has been a blessing in disguise.

And hey, if raw still freaks you out, cook it a little. A Little. 

If that's STILL too much, there is hydrostatic high pressure (HHP) raw food (i.e Primal pet foods and Stella and Chewy's).

And if it's just no use… at least get kibble with wholesome ingredients, ingredients you can read and understand (i.e. Blue Buffalo). Although anything that has been cooked under such high temperatures probably has very little nutrition left in it.

TRUSTED COMPANIES

I've used all of the above, and still feed Stella and Chewy's to my girls. But here are some raw food companies I whole heartedly trust and currently use:

Bioethics Pet Food - They are by far my favorite. You can find them at the Hollywood Farmer's Market every Sunday and just recently, at Tailwaggers in Hollywood. The owner ACTUALLY formulates a special diet for Sweetie to help treat her kidney disease, all achieved through natural, local ingredients. Needless to say, her BUN and Creatinine levels have been great! They make homemade cooked food too and jerky!

Small Batch Pet - Small family owned company. Sustainable sources. Organic, hormone-free and antibiotic free.

Stella and Chewy's - Products produced from start to finish at their plant. They clean and sanitize their machines at the end of every day. Every batch is tested for E. coli and Salmonella before shipping. 

Rad Food - Small, family owned and operated. Antibiotic and hormone free. Certified organic. Free-range or pasture-raised. No preservatives, by-products, or grains.

PLUS… everything is energy. You can rest assured that the meat from these companies carries a different energy than the meat from animals who have lived a tortured existence. So by feeding your animals a good quality diet from a small company, you are also supporting animal welfare. Cheers!

DON'T TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY

We live in a highly commercialized world, and sometimes we trust too often, so my intent is to inform the misinformed… not bash or insult. I'm also not a know it all, but I like to question and research. I know the "better" diets can also be pricier, and for many of us working in rescue, for example, we can't afford to feed all our fosters a raw diet. It would absolutely break the bank! But just know that if you CAN do it…there are other options.

Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food. -Hippocrates