Holistic Nutrition

The fun thing about having your own website is you get to express your point of view on whatever topic you deem worthy. As you can see I have chosen the very controversial subject of Holistic Canine Nutrition.  Now, even though this article focuses upon our dogs nutritional needs, much of the same principles apply to our cats.  I will stress right now, that dogs and cats are different animals and cats being the special critters that they are do have nutritional needs that differ from dogs, so please do your homework on Holistic Feline Nutrition (There are some links on the bottom of this page that will point you in the right direction for kitties). 

          carnivore; -noun car - ni - vore (kär'nə-vôr')                                   

1. an animal that eats flesh

2. a flesh eating animal of the order Carnivora, comprising the dogs, cats, bears, seals, weasels etc. 

For those that are interested here is the taxonomy classification for wolves and domestic dogs:

                    Grey Wolf        Domestic Dog
Kingdom:      Animailia           Animailia                      
Phylum:        Cordata             Cordata                            
Class:            Mammalia         Mammalia                          
Order:           Carnivora          Carnivora                       
Family:         Canidae             Canidae                          
Genus:          Canus               Canus                           
Species:        Lupis                 Lupis Familiaris 

As you can see from the table above, our domestic dogs are virtually identical to their wild cousins who, without question are carnivorous.  Thus we debunk the popular myth that dogs are omnivores.  An omnivore is an animal whose normal diet includes both plants and animals.  A dog's normal diet doesn't consist of plants in any significant quantities.  Mother Nature has designed canines in such a way that they thrive on a prey based diet (fluffy bunnies, etc).  But because canines are not the perfect predator (cats are the world's most perfect design in a predator) they must hunt their meals in packs to increase their chances of success. But even in a pack situation they may still be unsuccessful in acquiring food. So, Mother Nature has given canines the gift of psudo-omnivorism to tie them over between meals.  A dog can not thrive on large amounts of vegetation and small amounts of meat.  He may survive, but he will not thrive. And given the option any dog is going to take steak over a banana!  

Humans are true omnivores.  Humans thrive on large amounts of vegetation and small amounts of meat.  Just look at the differences in our teeth and our dogs teeth.  We have slicing teeth at the front for food like carrots and we have grinding teeth at the back to grind the carrot up.  Dogs have great big sharp teeth designed to rip and tear flesh.  Dogs don't chew and grind their food the way people or cows do.  They bite, tear and swallow.  We humans also have enzymes in our saliva that begin to pre-digest the foods that we eat for our stomachs. Dogs lack these enzymes, and this entire pre-digestion process. Dogs start digesting their food in their stomach.  All of the powerful enzymes for digestion are located in the stomach, and are designed to break down raw meat.

Did you say RAW MEAT!?!                                                    
Why yes I did.  Wolves don't catch a rabbit in the wild, skin it, roast it and then pick all of the meat off of the bones! That's just silly!  They eat the rabbit.  All of the rabbit; hair, skin, muscle, organs and bones, right down to the skull and toenails. That's a bit graphic!! Canines do very well on a raw meat diet. Now having said all that, this article is not a kibble bashing article. Kibble, or processed dry dog foods, are a very recent invention, and have really only been around since the 1930's. Dogs have been domesticated for at least fourteen thousand years, some people speculate longer.  My question is "What have dogs been eating for the past fourteen thousand years?" They caught their own food or they depended on human food scraps. Back to the kibble topic; obviously there are high quality kibbles and there are very low quality kibbles, and although I don't believe in the overall concept and theory behind processes commercial dog foods, it is very important to note that commercial diets (dry or wet) are only as good as the quality of ingredients that they use. Please do your research.

Why I chose to feed a species appropriate diet.                      
Years ago I decided that I would eat smart myself.  I spent time reading labels and learning what ingredients to look for and what to stay away from in food.  I read about all sorts of "fad diets" and supplements trying to figure out what would be the healthiest choices. I came across a very good article about species appropriate diets and what evolution had intended for each individual species of plant and animal on this planet.  So, from that point on I changed my approach to eating and changed my eating habits drastically.  I started eating the way the human species would have eaten before the commercialization of food products.  Now, I am not saying that I am perfect, because I still really like my ice-cream! But, the foods that I eat today are far closer to what humans evolved to eat than they used to be.  So, when I got my first dog, to me, it was a no-brianer.  Dogs evolved eating meat and continue to eat meat to this day.  Why would I feed my dog processed foods day in and day out when I try not to eat them myself? So, I started to research what it is that I needed to feed my dog to make him the healthiest, and happiest he could be using evolution as my guide. 

Enter the Raw Diet.
All of my animals (dogs & cats) are fed a natural prey based diet. They have something different on their menu each day. Variety is the spice of life.  Do you eat the same thing for every meal day in and day out? No.  So, why would you feed your dog the exact same meal for the rest of his life?  This has nothing to do with whether or not our dogs get bored of their food.  Dogs have very little sense of taste.  They identify their food by smell. They do not eat for the "pleasure" of taste as humans do, so don't let pet food manufacturers fool you into buying their food because it "tastes good".  Dogs simply choose the food that smells the most appealing.  If you have been a dog owner for any extended period of time I know you are guilty of taste testing a dog kibble!  Ewww!  Sometimes they do smell kind of good, but they always taste awful!  If dogs ate for taste then they'd be pretty dumb!

The reason why I feed a variety of meals to my dogs is to ensure that they do not become deficient or overloaded in any vitamins or minerals.  I also feed table scraps - healthy ones. Some people are mortified when I admit this.  Food is food.  I don't feed my dogs potato chips, they might get a bit of whole wheat spaghetti that I can't finish for dinner.  Or steamed veggies that I make extra of on purpose.  It's not rocket science to feed a dog.  You feed yourself and you feed your children, you can feed your dog.  But pet food manufactures and vets have scared the general population into thinking that they are stupid and can't possibly give their dog 100% of his daily requirements every day.  Leave it to "science" to save the day and feed your dog for you.  Here is a question: Do you eat 100% of your daily requirements every single day?  When was the last time you had a salad?  Two days ago?  I had a very busy day yesterday.  All I ate all day was a banana, a cup of tea and a soy hot dog.  Does that sound like all of my daily requirements to you?  Am I dead today?  Maybe if I ate that way for the next three months we would start to see some problems, but one day is not going to kill anyone.  The same principle applies to your dog.  Everything balances out over time.  Feed your dog healthy foods and try your best and you will be fine.  The key is understanding what the overall picture should look like.

I have fed my dogs the raw diet from day one.  My oldest dog is 7 years old (2007).  The only food he has ever known has been raw meats and veggies and table scraps.  I very recently took him to a new vet because we moved to another city.  The new vet was astonished at his actual age.  He thought just by looking at my dog that he was no older than 3 or 4 years.  I often get asked if he is still a puppy by many people.  Many people think he is under 2 years old!!  I must be doing something right!! 

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