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Feeding Raw to your Dog Why Feed Raw?
More and more professionals in the world of dogs and cats (breeders, veterinarians, breed ring handlers, sports competitors) are advocating a second look at what we feed our animals. Why? Because there is a growing belief that dogs and cats need a raw, natural diet in order to be healthy, and that commercial pet foods cannot supply the nutrients necessary for good health and long lives.
What Should Carnivores Eat?
Proper nutrition is vital to good health. In nature, it is live foods that truly nourish both people and animals. If your animals are to thrive, they need the live enzymes, phytochemicals, antioxidants, and unadulterated amino acids, vitamins and minerals that only raw food can provide. While commercial pet foods are convenient, most contain sub-standard or condemned meats. And because they are also highly processed at extreme temperatures, they are devoid of many of the building blocks of good health, and often full of questionable preservatives. So, commercial pet foods may sustain life, but unlike raw diets, they do not contain the life-enhancing nutrition that promotes health.
Cats and Dogs Are Carnivores
Cats and dogs are carnivores, or meat-eaters. Yet ALL dry commercial pet foods are at least 60% (or more) grain because the carbohydrates are needed to hold the food together. But as The Merck Veterinary Manual (8th ed., pg.
1628) tells us, dogs and cats have "no dietary requirement for carbohydrate." Does it make sense to feed our carnivores a diet that contains at least 60% of a substance they don't even need? Additionally, carbohydrates are metabolized by the body to glucose (sugar) which is known to feed cancers, diabetes and many other disorders that now plague our companion animals. If grains and vegetables were a primary nutrient source, you'd see cats and dogs stalking ears of corn and heads of wheat.
Raw diets simulate the menu that nature intended carnivores to eat. When a carnivore eats an herbivore like a rabbit, the carnivore eats some meat, some bone, some organ meats (liver, heart, kidney, etc.), and some green vegetation contained in the herbivore's digestive tract. That's nature's perfect meal - the meal that raw diets replicate.
Are Raw Diets Safe?
Dogs and cats are NOT humans. They have a very different digestive tract and process. For example, we can eat all the onion we want without harm, but some dogs can get anemic from a single, small portion of them. We can eat a pound of baker's chocolate and merely get fat or nauseous, while dogs can die from even a lesser amount. We can get very sick from raw meat, while dogs thrive on it as their natural diet. Again, they are NOT human.
Compared to us, dogs and cats have a very short digestive system, which means that foods are processed quickly -- before harmful bacteria have a chance to multiply and cause problems. Also, carnivores have a very high level of acidity in their digestive systems. This high acidity, which allows them to break down the nutrients in raw meats and bones, is also hostile to bacteria. We've all seen dogs eat true garbage (rotten foods, decaying squirrel carcasses, etc.) without any ill effects. Nature did not evolve carnivores to eat a diet that would kill them. And remember, we aren't suggesting you feed spoiled, contaminate foods. A raw food diet consists of good quality, USDA-inspected and approved meats and bones.
One of the first things you will notice about dogs being fed the BARF DIET is better quality of life!
Living Enzymes are proteins found in raw foods which help the body function. Enzymes are only beneficial to the body if they are living. Once food is cooked or processed, it no longer contains living enzymes. Foods without living enzymes put stress on the pancreas to produce the necessary proteins to function. Living Enzymes in a raw diet restore, repair, and maintain health. Animals replenish their enzymes systems by eating raw unprocessed foods. Our convenient patties retain their living enzymes along with phyto-chemicals, antioxidants, and unprocessed amino acids. Your pet’s long term health depends upon these factors, to ensure a long and healthy lifespan.
Healthy Teeth & Breath
Your pet will have much-improved breath, minimal tartar buildup, and beautifully clean and healthy teeth; all without having to visit the pet dentist or brushing the teeth. In addition, periodontal disease that is so prevalent with pets fed grain-based diets is almost nonexistent.
Healthy Skin & Coat
This can be one of the first changes you will notice when you start feeding the BARF DIET. If those persistent skin problems suddenly disappear or improve, and you no longer need vet visits, medicated washes, antibiotics, cortisone shots and cortisone tablets, it has to mean that the natural, healthy, and raw diet is supplying nutrients that other diets are missing. It really is hard to ignore the deeply colored, lustrous, thick and healthy coat!
Optimum Immune System
The BARF DIET normalizes and strengthens the immune system. The immune system is a wonder of creation. Because the BARF DIET contains a good balance of essential fatty acids and other immune normalizing and strengthening nutrients, it reduces inflammatory conditions and waves good-bye to infections.
Enhanced Digestion & Absorption of Nutrients
Living enzymes break down and utilize food to maximize the digestive system’s effectiveness.
Degenerative Disease
Pet owners that switch their older pets to the BARF DIET usually find that whatever degenerative disease their pet has contracted, becomes less of a problem. Our raw diet is not a wonder drug, but it has reversed many aggravating degenerative conditions and has given relief to a variety of diseases. One has to only review the various testimonials to see the dramatic changes that a biologically appropriate diet can make. Even arthritic conditions are improved and you can expect to see greater mobility in your pet. This is part of the reason so many older pets have a new lease on life when switched to the BARF DIET.
Stool Volume & Odor
Reduced stool volume and odor is a sign of an improved and healthy digestion cycle. The BARF DIET™ is more readily absorbed, than grain fed diets, in the digestive system and the result is less stool volume and odor. Odorous stools are a result of improper or incomplete digestion of nutrients.
Healthy, Lean Body Mass
By feeding the BARF DIET, your pet will lose unwanted fat and gain that much desired increase in muscle mass. This not only makes your pet look better, it increases your pet’s metabolic rate, its activity levels and its healthy life span. The effect will be more rapid if you combine the BARF DIE with some normal exercise.
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