It is well documented that humans who eat a healthy 'natural' diet live longer and suffer less health problems than those who eat processed, additive laden junk food! The same holds true for canines. Dogs that eat a species appropriate natural diet, will be healthier and live longer lives. The problem is that, as a result of time-poor modern consumer lifestyle and clever marketing by pet food manufactures, we have lost touch with what constitutes a 'healthy natural diet' for our furry companions! Dogs are descended from wolves, yes they may be domesticated and come in all shapes and sizes but this only happened during the past 15,000 years. Wolves have been around for 40 million years and despite the change in their outward appearance a dogs organs and digestive system remains identical to a wolf and thus they should eat a similar diet
Pet food may be convenient and it may be marketed as 'scientifically approved' but it is essentially junk food. Canned pet food has only been around since the 1900's and complete kibble since the 50s and 60s, it exists largely as a means of disposing of waste from the human food chain for maximum profit. Surplus grain and tainted or diseased meat unfit for human consumption is heat treated, highly processed and cleverly packaged to be sold as yummy meaty chunks of goodness for your cherished pet, the irony is that typically less than 50% of the product actually contains meat and the meat it does contain is largely VERY poor quality
Furthermore, an advertising loophole allows the nutrients added to pet food, at the start of the manufacturing process, to be listed on the end label, despite the fact that heat processing typically destroys upto 70% of these nutrients in the end product! This holds true for even the most expensive 'specialist' brands of kibble. The cheaper kibbles are even worse for your dog, containing additives, preservatives, chemicals and are usually bulked out with cheap fillers like grain. Dogs digestive systems are not designed to process grain, they do not have the correct enzymes to break it down, which is why dogs on a commercial diet typically excrete vast quantities of smelly poo! The grain simply passes straight through! Grain is also one of the main causes of skin allergies, diabetes and flatulence in dogs. Commercial pet food, whether canned or kibble, also fails to clean a dogs teeth and gums correctly. This is the reason that so many dogs have gum disease, smelly breath and rotten teeth, even from a VERY young age. The dogs jaw needs to be exercised and the teeth and gums stimulated, for a healthy mouth
The sad fact is that vets today are seeing a proliferation of pets with all manner of 'preventable' diseases. Some veterinary surgeons even suggest that as many as 9 out of 10 canine health issues, everything from bad breath, flatulence, allergies and skin problems, to cancers, liver disease, kidney disease and heart disease, may be directly related to a processed commercial diet. A processed diet can also have mental implications for your dog, causing him to be hyperactive, even aggressive as a result of additives and chemicals contained within it. Most people just want to do what's best for their dog, Owners feed kibble because its convenient but also because they typically believe it provides a complete, balanced meal for their dog. It is worth remembering that pet food manufacturers do not exist to promote health, reproduction, growth or longevity of dogs, they exist merely for profit. Alarmingly, these same pet food manufactures fund courses on nutrition attended by vets in training and pay veterinary surgeries commission on the pet food they sell! My argument is that you would not feed a 'complete kibble' to yourself or your family everyday for the rest of your life (1 hope!) so why doom your dog to this fate. It much easier and cheaper than most people realise to feed your dog a nutritiously balanced RAW diet and it has so many benefits for you both! If you are interested in switching your dog, or starting your puppy, onto a raw diet but have no idea where to begin then I can offer you advice, whether by phone, email or a face to face consultation to get you started. I can furnish you with step by step instructions to make the switch, lists of suppliers and personalised menu plans. I also offer ongoing lifetime support should you need it :)
