Why The Raw Food Diet Is Better for Your Dog

We all realize and respect the fact that both dogs and cats, in their “natural" state, i.e. the wild, capture, kill and consume raw meat as their main food source. As a civilized society, we have taken our canine and feline friends far from their original standard of living. Has this been good for them? What do the studies show? What negative effects, if any, have been impacted on the health of either canines or felines?

A most interesting study was conducted, quite by accident which sheds a great deal of light on this subject.  I would like to share an excerpt regarding their conclusions with you:

“Toward the middle of the 20th century, Dr. Francis M. Pottenger, Jr., drawing on the experiments of Weston Price in his treatments of respiratory disease, conducted a study on the effects of heat-processed foods on cats.

His study was prompted by the poor health of cats he was using for adrenal studies; cats who were fed cooked meat scraps.

As neighbors to his clinic in Monrovia, CA, kept donating cats for his study, his supply of cooked meat dwindled, and he found a source for raw meat scraps from a local meat packing plant.

Dr. Potter observed within a few months that the cats receiving the raw meat scraps were in noticeably better health; thus his feeding study was born.

The controlled feeding experiment took place over ten years, between 1932 and 1942, and over 900 cats were eventually included. The optimum diet consisted of 1/3 raw milk, cod liver oil, and 2/3 raw meat, with one group receiving cooked food instead of raw.

The findings were astounding. Within a few generations, the cats receiving cooked food exhibited:

·         facial deformities: narrowed faces, crowded jaws, frail bones and weakened ligaments

·         an excess of parasites

·         all manners of disease

·         female cats became more aggressive while males became docile

·         difficulty with pregnancy and after three generations, pregnancy failed

·         kittens born of these pregnancies often did not survive to adulthood

·         kittens showed skeletal deformities and organ malfunctions

Clearly, there was a direct link between the cooking of meat and the resultant evidence of malnutrition in Pottenger's cats. Visit The Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, a non-profit educational organization for more information

This causes concern over the diets fed to both pet and show quality dogs and cats. After all, isn’t the health of our dearest pet just as important as the health of the finest breeding animal? Just what is the long term, or even short term effects of a commercially processed food diet? And can one find a commercially processed “health" food for both canines and felines that addresses these concerns and needs?

Please read what Dr. Swift DVM has to say regarding the feeding of grain products to our canine and feline friends:

"Carnivores cannot maintain long term production of the quantity of amylase enzyme necessary to properly digest and utilize the carbohydrates. In addition, the proteins in grains are less digestive than animal proteins. As a result, the immune system becomes irritated and weakened by the invasion of foreign, non-nutritive protein and carbohydrate particles. Allergies and other chronic immune problems may develop. The pet’s pancreas will do its best to keep up with the demand for amylase. What does this pancreatic stress do over a long time? I don’t know, but it cannot be good. I suspect that dental calculus may be another problem promoted by grain consumption." Dr. Russell Swift DVM

In his best selling book, "Pet Allergies: Remedies for an Epidemic", Alfred Plechner DVM, paints a dismal picture for the future of our pets:

 "The most common and most visible symptoms of nutritionally caused deficiencies are allergies of one kind or another. Because many commercial foods are woefully deficient in key nutrients, the long term effect of feeding such foods makes the dog hypersensitive to its environment. . . . [I]t's a dinosaur effect. Animals are being programmed for disaster, for extinction. Many of them are biochemical cripples with defective adrenal glands unable to manufacture adequate cortisol, a hormone vital for health and resistance to disease."

Allergies can be, and often are, unrecognized deficiency diseases. Recognizing nutritional deficiencies will save you a great deal of frustration and allow you to make the necessary adjustments in your dog or cats diet thereby promoting a long and healthy life for your paw-companion.

Some raw diet companies have introduced raw food products that are in essence the kibble version of raw food, with the thought in mind that they are supposed to be "100% complete and balanced, so you can feed it everyday".  However, no one food can be 100% complete and balanced enough to feed on a day-after-day basis.

The fact is that dogs and cats enter various stages of life and development that cannot be quantified into one unique food product. To meet your cat or dogs nutritional needs, one must consider the animal itself. His or her particular needs, breed requirements, health issues (or not), breeding status, stress levels, and age…to name just a few. 

Raw4paws is proud to provide you with a wide variety of high quality and yet easy to serve products in convenient size packages so that you can decide which oils, trace minerals, vitamins and other supplements should be added to your pet's diet. Since all our products are chemical and preservative free, you can rest assured that your pets and/or breeding stock is receiving exactly what they need. You maintain complete control over the supplements and “extra’s" your pet is offered, and thus you are able to make any necessary adjustments as you (or your particular vet) determine is required.

Raw4Paws also offers bone products, ground bone products, and complete carcass options for your selection. Is this really so beneficial for your canine or feline friend to consume?

The common practice of feeding meat without bones (or bone meal) is nutritionally disastrous for dogs and cats. Many people (and even breeders) offer eggs and meat to their pets without providing a balance to all the phosphorus they contain. Meat contains no calcium, and lots of phosphorus; bones contain lots of calcium. Eggs contain lots of phosphorus; the shells contain calcium. This is nature's balance. If one offers meat without the bones, or eggs without shells, or aren't sure of the correct ratios of those things to feed, we must use something to replace them. It is a common and tragic mistake to give a diet far too high in phosphorus to cats and dogs. Raw4Paws is pleased to offer Oma’s Pride Mixes, which contain the correct proportion of meat, veggies, and ground bone so that you may feed your pet or show animal with pride and confidence.

Raw4Paws even offers individual vegetable and fruit items, cookie treats, meat treats, specialty health items (such as garlic, bee pollen, and digestive enzymes), and supplements for both canine and feline health needs.

Remember, because there are no additives of any kind in our products, one can be assured of the total nutrition that their canine or feline friend is receiving. The mystery of good health and nutrition is locked within the fresh, raw foods provided by nature.  But now part of the secret is out: Raw4Paws is pleased to be able to share with you Oma's Pride® from Miller Foods.  Your one-stop source for the nourishing, natural meat and bones that will help insure a long and healthy life for your pet, show, or breeding canine and feline paw-friends.