WE ARE CARNIVORES! Part II

 

Many pet owners want the best for their pets, and are willing to spend tons of money getting their beloved companions the best of everything - the prettiest collars, the coolest t-shirts and premium or even ultra premium pet food. 

In the past, I used to feed my dogs and cat the best kibble there was on the market. Why? Simply because I did not know any better. And surely if my vet thinks that I should feed my pets kibble, who am I to disagree? 

I was one of those who thought I was doing the best for my furry companions by buying them the "best" and "most expensive" kibble there was in the market. But little did I know that I was actually slowly but surely "poisoning" my kids. 

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So, Should You Feed Your Dog High Performance Kibble? 

Click on the following link to find out  

Why I will Never Feed My Kids Kibble Again?

 

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And then of course, there are those pet owners who will go to great lengths to prepare home-made meals for their canine or feline companions in order to ensure that their beloved pets get a balanced diet. Very often however, these home-made meals include fruit and vegetables. And some even go so far as to advocate a vegetarian diet for their pets which is completely inappropriate.

The ideology that including fruits, vegetables and grains in your pet's diet will make it a wholesome and balanced diet is completely and utterly wrong. Your canine and feline companions do not need these types of food and by feeding them these foods, you are actually putting unnecessary stress on their internal organs. 

When I first started raw feeding I was sort of following the BARF method which included a small amount of pureed fruit and veges. Why? Well, it was because the few raw feeder friends that I had included fruit and veges as part of their dogs and cats diets, and because I was desperate to try anything that would improve Cleo's health. 

*Yes, I only made the switch to raw feeding after Cleo was diagnosed with a severely enlarged heart and her condition deteriorated so rapidly and there was nothing the vets could do except give her medication to alleviate the symptoms.Thankfully, two years down the line, Cleo is doing really well on her prey-model raw diet which does not include any grains, fruits or vegetables.

Anyway, since we first started raw feeding almost two years ago now, I have been doing extensive and continued reading, and I have learnt that dogs and especially cats have no use for fruits or veges. (I should have realised this on my own after the first month of raw feeding. In the first few meals, yes they would eat the pureed fruit and veges, but then later on they would just go for the meat and bones only!).

Picture from www.vetmed.wsu.edu

Picture from www.vetmed.wsu.edu

Now let's take a look at the teeth of our furry companions. Note that both dogs and cats have no flat molars which are required for chewing and grinding veges, fruits and grains. They only have sharp incissors, canines and molars which are meant to cut and rip meat off bone as well as to crush non-weight bearing bones. If you observe your dog carefully, they do not chew... they merely crush  their food a couple of times (if it's a big piece) and then swallow. Dogs and especially cats, are unable to move their jaws from side to side to provide the grinding movement required to chew. This is also another reason why many dogs choke on kibble or other "small" pieces of inappropriate food - because they are unable to chew and therefore will inhale or swallow small pieces of food.

Additionally, dogs and cats do not produce the enzyme amylase in their mouths like humans (and herbivores and omnivores) which is very important for breaking down starch and carbohydrates before they enter the stomache.

Their digestive systems are that of true carnivores, i.e.a they have a very short digestive track which means that it cannot digest plant matter which requires a much longer time to be broken down. How many of you have noticed that if your dog ate some grass, it would come out the other end completely undigested?

This means that if you feed your dog or cat grains and carbohydrates, you are stressing your pets digestive system and you may cause excessive strain on your dog's or cat's pancreas.   

For a more detailed analysis on whether or not your dog or cat requires fruits, grains and veges, check out the following links:

The Great Debate: Do Dogs Need Fruits and Vegetables?
Myth: Dogs are Omnivores 
What is Wrong with Dog Food?
Canine Evolution and Anatomy

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Note: This post is intended as a guide or reference and is not meant to replace veterinary advice. The information on this post is based on conclusions that I have made after extensive reading, advice from other raw feeders in particular the Raw Feeding and Raw Chat Facebook groups, and on my experience with my own dogs. Please consult your holistic veterinarian for advice on the most appropriate way to feed and supplement your dogs.

ACUPUNCTURE FOR LITTLE TEDDY

We rescued Little Teddy (Tadasana) a couple of months back from a six foot drain. He was in a terrible condition and had injured one of his hind legs slightly. We started him on a raw diet and began to see improvement in his condition within days. We were unable to take him to the vet at that point in time as he was also a very fierce kitten. He would hiss, spit, scratch and bite whenever we tried to handle him.

Anyway, over time he became a really sweet and adorable kitten. He started to play as a normal kitten and we were really happy.

However, two weeks ago, he suddenly became very ill. One day he was doing fine and the next day I noticed that he had not eaten his food which he normally gobbles down within minutes. He also did not greet me or try to play with me like he normally does.

He was just lying in his litter box. I tried to pick him up and he screamed in pain. That was when I realised something was very wrong.

Anyway I brought the food to him and he ate it all up but he was in severe pain. I took him to the vet the next day blood was also taken as physically there didn’t seem to be very much wrong with him.

The results came back and the readings for his organs were okay. But His neutrophil reading is quite high about 10,000 and bands at over 500. So he was put on a 5 day course of antibiotics.

We saw an improvement as the pain descreased and he started to try and play again after the 3rd day of antibiotics although he still could not stand, but he was trying to grab our hands and nibble on our fingers.

On the 5th day he started to try and stand and walk, but he was still quite wobbly. So we took him in and the vet recommended that an x-ray be done.

The x-rays apparently showed that he had a severe calcium deficiency as his bones were not clearly defined and were very faint.

There was also a small fracture on his leg, but apparently that was nothing to worry about and should be just left as it is.

Our vet has since recommended that we switch him to a kibble diet as it is a more balanced diet. I disagree and cannot bring myself to feed Teddy such rubbish.

My main area of contention is that if there was a severe calcium deficiency then the change should not have been that drastic, i.e. happy kitten one day, miserable kitten the next. It should have been a progresssive deterioration. These pictures posted above were taken only 3 weeks ago with the exception of the first picture which was taken when he was initially rescued.

So anyway, I decided to take him to see Dr Susanna of Asia Paws, and he took to her really well. No screaming or hissing and allowed Dr Susanna to put in several needles into his back and into his legs. He then even started to walk about on the treatment table albeit rather wobbly. So we will be continuing acupuncture with Dr Susanna for Teddy and hopefully he will be all better soon.

WE ARE CARNIVORES!!!

 

 Folks, I have been completely swamped with work, rescued ones and fostering and have not had the time to post anything at all... So I do apologise for the silence.

However, this is just a gentle reminder to everyone that our cats and dogs are CARNIVORES!!! 

So just because you might be vegetarian, your cat and dog should NOT BE VEGETARIAN!!! 

Ideally they should be fed a PREY MODEL RAW DIET! This consists of plenty of fresh, raw meat and bones and organs!!! Not veges and fruits and other nonsense like grains!!!

Sorry, for shouting there, but had a phone call from someone who wanted advice on what to feed her over-weight basset hound that seems to have a million allergies. But whatever I tried to tell her, she had an excuse for not doing that, and then ends the call by telling me that a vegetarian kibble diet is what her basset hound needs! 

Argh... have no idea why she even called me when she did not want to listen to or even consider anything I had to say...

RESCUED KITTEN - NEED ADVICE

UPDATE 17/05/13: The little kitten did not make it through the night unfortunately. May she rest in peace. 

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Hi all,

Need some help. Just rescued a tiny little kitten this morning, prob about 4-6 weeks when I was walking Cleo and Lucky. She has definitely been in an accident of some sort. Fed her some tiny pieces of raw chicken as soon as got her home which she ate with difficulty.

Then took her to the vet, and he confirmed that she was hit by something. Her jaw is slightly misaligned, and she is very very weak. There was pain in her back and legs, but nothing seemed broken. Vet force fed her some a/d tinned food, and then gave her a shot of steroids and a dose of karo syrup. He's worried that there might be some brain damage. It's a case of - see if she can pull through the next 48 hours. If she makes it, then we will look at realigning her jaw later on.

Since she has been back, she has not eaten anything eventhough I have been trying to put some tinned food down her throat. She won't swallow! Not even water. I've offered her raw chicken again and she just won't have it.

Would appreicate some advice, as am generally a dog person... Would know exactly what to do with a dog... but kittens are so tiny and fragile in comparison...

HOW TO RESOLVE YOUR PET'S DIARRHEA

For some strange reason, Mishka seems to be having a small bout of diarrhea, and he refused to eat completely this morning.

As I have never actually experienced diarrhea with Mishka, this is my first time "treating" him for it.

I made a slippery elm bark "tea" by diluting about 10 capsules of slippery elm bark (by opening the capsules) with about 10oz of boiling water. You can keep this for about 5-7 days in the fridge.

Once it cooled, I gave Mishka a 5ml portion of it with a syringe which he took like a good kitty that he is. Will be giving it to him about 4 times a day, with reduced food until he is all better.

So far, it seems to have helped a little as he ate a little this evening quite happily. 

So anyway, I thought that this video might be helpful to any of you who may have had to deal with your pet having diarrhea...

PORK RIBS & EGGS FOR DINNER!

Yesterday, the kids were introduced to yet another new meat - pork! Well they had pork ribs to be specific. I bought these a few weeks ago and put it in the freezer and only fed it to them yesterday.

I was a little concerned about the parasites that might be present in the pork that we get here in Malaysia, hence the freezing for a few weeks. Apparently any parasites that might be present in raw meat can be killed by freezing. 

Some sites recommend freezing the meat for at least 24 hours, others 3-4 days and some in the case of pork 3 weeks. I wasn't quite sure which to follow so I decided that to be safe and go with 3 weeks.

See Myths about Raw and Bold Raw for more information.

The kids really enjoyed eating the ribs. It took them much longer to finish their dinner but it was really fun watching them eat with such gusto and relish.

Yesterday was also their weekly gorge as they now fast every Sunday. So they got a chicken quarter, chicken feet and a couple of pork ribs.

The only one who didn't get a gorge fest was Cleo as she is still on anti-biotics for her UTI and so can't do her weekly fast.

When they finished their meal, everyone had a big snooze!

Mishka also had a bit of pork meat that I trimmed off some of the ribs. He enjoyed it too. If any of you are thinking of feeding your cats a raw diet, just remember to be patient and to just keep trying. Your cat will come round to it.

And don't stress if your cat doesn't like something. Keep offering different types of meat to him periodically and you will soon learn what your cat likes and dislikes. Also I have learnt, that Mishka can eat something one day, and then turn his nose up at it the next day.

So far, he likes his chicken best, followed by lamb and then I guess pork. He ate beef one day and then didn't want anything to do with it the next day... But I will keep trying. 

And this evening, although they were supposed to be fasting, I gave them a soft boiled egg each as a small snack.

Ordinarily I don't give them anything the entire day, but as Cleo was having her dinner, I felt it would have been really mean of me if I didn't give the rest of them something.

I cracked the egg for them and left the shell in their plates to see if they would eat the shell too.

I had read somewhere that you were supposed to feed them the whole egg raw, shell and all. They gobbled up the egg, played with the shell a little and then left the shell. 


See Dogs Naturally for more information on feeding raw eggs.

Observations:

Everyone had good poops this morning, so I know they didn't have any issues with the pork.
No dog seemed hungry either although they didn't get breakfast.

Oh and I can't remember if I mentioned this in my previous post, but one BIG difference from eating raw meat is that they have all pretty much STOPPED farting. They used to fart alot when they were on kibble, and now they don't. :-)

Thoughts: 

I will definitely be getting them more pork from now on. I just need to plan their meals properly as I need to freeze them for quite a bit before feeding it to them. This means that I will need to clean, pack and label each meal to ensure that I defrost the right pack to feed.

I am definitely getting more confident with each meal as they seem to just handle everything that I have tried with them really well. The only real exception being Belle's dislike for liver! 

But overall I am quite pleased that I am now able to feed them more variety. It really is so much fun watching them eat these days. And I know I must sound like a broken tape recorder, but seriously I have zero food wastage now. So it's just really great! 

BEEF FOR THE KIDS

My kids have been on a Raw Meaty Bones diet for a couple of months now. Generally, they all seem to have adapted pretty well to it.

So far, they have been having organic chicken, mackerel and lamb. They have also had some chicken liver and gizzard as well as pork liver. Belle has been the only one to NOT like liver and has struggled with eating it. So when I fed them the pork liver, I decided to boil it and everyone ate it.

I have also been practicing a one day fast per week and it seems to do them good. They have been fasting on Sundays and no dog seems to be bothered that there is no food for them on Sundays. What I do though is to give them a huge meal on Saturday evenings to make sure that they don't get too hungry on Sundays.

Last week I bought a 1.5kg strip of beef. I cut the beef up into large pieces and served it up with their chicken quarters.

Every dog gobbled the beef up pretty quickly... I only managed to get a picture of Lucky eating it as he usually waits for Cleo to finish her food before he starts to eat for some reason.

Observations: 
Poop talk again - all the kids generally have had good poos throughout their raw diet so far. On the rare occassion that they have slightly soft poo, it resolves itself pretty quickly.

Overall, all of the kids skin and coat have improved. They are all shedding ALOT less. The difference is really quite obvious.

 

Belle's skin has improved significantly. She still has a few small red-ish spots, but they all seem to be drying up.Additionally, she is also alot trimmer than she was before which is fantastic!

 Lucky's skin is also improving. He had a pretty nasty lesion on his foot for a very long time. And all we could do was control it. It has now healed completely and his fur has started to grow back. The hot spots that he had seem to have pretty much gone too. While he still itches it's very much under control now.

Rascal is doing great on his raw diet. He has put on a little bit of weight and is alot friskier.

Cleo is doing pretty well. She gave us a minor scare last week cause she developed UTI. She is now on anti-biotics for it. While I am generally against anti-biotics for myself, I guess I am not sure if I can make that decision for her. However, I am giving her pro-biotics at as well to hopefully counter the effects of the anti-biotics.

Mishka is also doing quite well. He eats pretty quickly now and although he still likes it when we hand feed him, we no longer have to coax him to eat his raw meat. He has also tried some lamb and beef and seem to quite like the different types of meat. He still does not like liver though.

Conclusion: 
I am really pleased with how the kids are adapting to the raw diet. And I am also getting more comfortable with feeding them, and am less worried about trying new things. I am still working my way up to include more variety in their diet. This week I will be introducing pork ribs to them and hopefully it will go well.

MISHKA THE CAT AND RAW FOOD

Hello folks...

I know I havent written much about raw food and Mishka the cat... I guess it's cause it was progressing quite slowly...Apparently, cats can either take to it immediately or take ages to make the switch. In my case, Mishka took about a month before I could get him on 100% raw.

So for those of you who might be interested in making the switch to raw for your cats, here's how I did it...

Firstly, I stopped the kibble "buffet" for Mishka. He used to have his kibble available 24/7 and would just eat whenever he felt like it. So I started putting the kibble down at set times 3 times a day for about 30 minutes a time and then removing it. 

Then I introduced chicken breast meat (cut into tiny pieces - almost like mince) for one of the meals. He started eating the chicken quite happily but would not have alot of it. This was then increased to 2 meals a day. So he only had kibble once a day. 

It is important not to mix the kibble and the raw food in one meal (in my opinion) as they have different digestion rates. So your kitty might get a tummy upset if you mixed it. I usually make sure there's a 6 hour gap between kibble and raw...

By week 4 I finally managed to get Mishka on 100% raw chicken meat. He was however determined not to have any BONES! He would really turn his nose up at the bones. 

I have therefore, decided to grind the bones with a bit of meat and feed it to him, and he loves this... He still gets 2 meals of just raw chicken meat (cut into pieces - a little bigger now) and 1 meal of ground meat and bones... :-)

I tried to introduce some liver and gizzard to Mishka a couple of days ago... He hates the liver but is quite happy with the gizzard... So I will have to look for some other ways to supplement Mishka I guess. 

 

What I have learnt however is that with cats, you just have to keep trying and not give up. And apparently, if they dislike something one day, the could like it a couple of weeks down the line.

This morning he had a meal of raw mackerel and chicken which he enjoyed. However, it is also important not to give your cat too much fish as it is not a natural food for cats. See Raw Meat Cat Food for more information.

Observations:
Mishka started pooping alot less when I added the raw meat to his diet. And his poop was a lot less stinky.

He did give me a scare though once we were 100% raw. After the first few days, he only pooped once every 2/3 days - which was fine as I have read that some cats do this as the food that they are now eating is so muhc more digestible that there is very little waste.

However,by the end of the first week, he didn't poop for 4 days. I felt his stomache and it was quite normal in my opinion but I took him to the vet anyway. My vet checked him and didn't think there was anything wrong either. But told me to bring him back if he still does not poop in another 2/3 days.

Mishka pooped as soon as we got back from the vet, and he pooped the next day... And then he went for 6 days without pooping... I was worried again by day 4 but he felt normal and so I told myself that he will go to the vet again by day 6 if he still does not poop. He finally pooped on day 6 (yesterday) and this morning.

Mishka did not show any signs of being ill or abnormal during this time, so although I was worried I kind of knew that he wasn't sick per se. His eyes were bright and he was alert. His stomache felt normal and he was active and playful as usual. And he was eating all of his food. So I will see what happens over the next week - we will be on Week 7 of raw, Week 3 of 100% raw. Yay!

The most significant change in Mishka so far is that he really is shedding alot less. I have mentioned previously that he had to be brushed every day with a slicker brush and I get about 4 or 5 loads of fur each day. It went down to about a load a day, and now I only brush him once every 2 or 3 days and I don't even get half a load of fur! This is really great...

The other thing is that Mishka has always had an issue with his ears. I constantly have to check his ears to make sure that they are okay. His ears also seem to be improving now... :-)