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Canine Diet
last revision 07/03/2008
Photograph & design by Dawn M Turner
(Please note: Nothing on this website is intended to replace veterinary care. If your pet is experiencing any health problem, please seek a holistic vet’s advice and treatment. Be sure to do your homework, however, before permitting your pet to be subjected to any surgical procedure or medication. The purpose of this information is to get you thinking, asking questions, and NOT taking things lying down! Educate yourself, learn all you can, and make the best choices YOU can possibly make for your furbabies!)
After battling for years to read and understand all the dog food labels and ingredient lists, I finally decided to take dietary matters into my own hands. I did that for several reasons.
1 – My dogs were constantly battling odds and ends medical disorders that seemed to have little rhyme or reason, and they would NOT go away. Over time, they were growing increasingly worse. It suddenly dawned on me to wonder – was I feeding my dogs the way God designed them to eat? The answer was a resounding NO!!! He didn’t design humans to eat nothing but processed, unnatural foods, so what made me think a diet of super processed, unnatural foods was right for another species?!?!?
2 – Pet food bags are required to list the ingredients added by the pet food manufacturer, but they do NOT list ALL the ingredients that are in that bag or can. Additives put in by the rendering or processing plant are NOT included as these ingredients were not added directly by the pet food manufacturer. For instance, rendering plants must add, by USDA regulation, “denaturant” or “decharacterizing” agents to ANY meat products not intended for human consumption. This is done by the rendering plant. Since the pet food manufacturer does not add it directly, they are not required to put it on the ingredient list of their product labels.
3 – Far too many pet food companies put substandard, and even harmful, ingredients into pet foods. 4-D meats – animals that are disabled, dying, diseased or dead – which cannot legally be sold for human consumption as they are considered “unfit” and, therefore, unhealthy for humans to eat. Grains and vegetables no longer fit for human consumption. Chemical additives – colorants, preservatives, “nutrients” – some of which are carcinogenic, can cause hyperactivity and behavioral problems, can destroy the processes of the body, etc. You don’t have to wonder why so many pet food companies are now owned and operated by companies that produce human foods. If the meats, grains, and vegetables they use for human foods become unfit for human consumption, they simply move them over for inclusion in their pet food products. Quite a money saver for them.
Many big name and popular companies (most in fact) use 4-D meats and chemical preservatives in their foods, as do ALL the generic pet foods (store brands). A few companies naturally preserve their foods but they still do NOT use only human-grade ingredients. So you can expect to find 4-D meats and low quality grains/veggies in them. If you are interested in a list of dog foods that use human-grade ingredients and only natural preservatives, you might consider subscribing to the Whole Dog Journal. They publish a list every year of such dog foods. I don’t know of a similar list for cats.
On a related note, be aware that some dog foods were confirmed in 1998 by the FDA/CVM to contain pentobarbital, the drug most commonly used to euthanize animals. This is caused by rendering animals that have been euthanized and including them in pet foods. There has been no regulation that I know of at this point to remove those foods from the market, nor has there apparently been any move to stop companies from putting such carcasses in their foods. If you want to find out whether the kibble you are currently feeding was found to contain this drug, you can find a list of tested foods on the FDA/CVM site. The thing I find most disturbing about those results is that tests done on 2 different batches of the same brand and type of food, in some instances, came back with different results. Also, I must say I am not pleased with the results published for the 2000 tests. Very few results were actually published because they failed to perform a qualitative analysis on most of the foods. (Per the note regarding “blank” results.)
Here are some links to info specifically about the pet food industry’s practices. You can find a lot more by doing a Google search.
Conscious Choice: Safe Diets for Our Animals, by Deborah Straw
Dead Dog Food, by Carrie L Clayton
Dog Logic: What’s in YOUR Pet’s Food?
Food Not Fit for a Pet, by Wendell O Belfield, DVM; includes links to other information by him.
Food Pets Die For, by Ann Martin
Pentobarbitol: Report on the risk from pentobarbital in dog food – article by the FDA/CVM (note they say levels of the drug in pet food are “unlikely” to cause adverse effects – they really don’t know as it has not been studied)
Pet Food – Our pets are dying for it, by Sandra Brigola
What is in our Pet Food? – A whole page of pet food related links; LOTS of info there.
Whole Life Times: Do you Know What You’re Feeding Your Pet?, by Ann Martin
The Whole(istic) Truth about Pet Food, by Christie Keith (there are other fabulous articles on Christie’s site as well)
4 – The terminology required by the USDA on pet food labels is often ambiguous, not always giving an accurate description of what that ingredient is. For example, “by-products” in some foods means the organs, muscle, and bone not sold for human consumption. In most products, however, that generic term includes items such as beaks, feet, feathers, hides, hooves, etc. The USDA also permits the use of generic “animal fat” in pet foods. This can be problematic for pets with specific protein allergies. For instance, if you have a pet that is allergic to chicken and you are feeding a beef food that lists “animal fat” on the label, the pet may go along fine on that food for a while and then suddenly start having problems. When manufacturers list “animal fat” on the label, they can use whatever fat happens to be cheapest and most readily available at the time a specific batch of food is manufacturered. It may be beef fat today and chicken fat tomorrow, or even a combination of the two or other fat sources. So problems can come and go as you buy new bags of the same brand and type of food.
5 – The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) is NOT a reliable way to determine if a pet food is truly a nutritious, digestible food. If a pet food is labeled as meeting AAFCO standards, it means only that pets don’t die when fed ONLY that food for 26 weeks straight (6 months). That is all the time required to meet AAFCO standards. Yet, the foods are advertised as providing the necessary nutrition for the “life” of your pet. The study requirements are very loose, including: only 8 dogs of ideal body weight are required to test a food; all 8 dogs must be at least 1 year of age; and no dog can lose more than 15% of their body weight during testing. A fellow canine lover has laid them out on his website. Furthermore, AAFCO was created by the pet food industry to regulate the pet food industry. (Do YOU see a problem there?) It is NOT a government agency or organization. You can read more about that various places online. Here’s one source of info and another. Even generic foods with low bioavailability meet AAFCO standards.
6 – Commercial pet foods are a relatively new invention. Kibbles and canned foods didn’t come into common use until World War II. When I read that, I wondered “What did pets eat before that???” The answer, raw and home-cooked diets. If you read the old dog care books (I mean those published before the 50’s), you will see a raw diet laid out in your hands. I was stunned to realize this. And the dogs that were fed that way were living as long, and beyond, what our dogs today live. Have you noticed that the average lifespan for most breeds has dropped even from 20-30 years ago? Between lousy diet, over-vaccination, and over enthusiasm to medicate everything, is it any wonder? Commercial foods were and still are all about convenience. Convenience BEFORE health and nutrition. You can read more about this at Conscious Choice: Safe Diets for Our Animals.
In trying to deal with various food-related issues and trying to avoid all the weird ingredients the pet food industry puts in dog foods, I went through the whole gamut of commercial pet foods. We started out with Purina One in 1996, went through Nature’s Recipe, Nutro, and Purina Pro Plan foods, and then moved on to premium, naturally preserved, human-grade foods – California Naturals, Azmira, Canidae, and Natural Balance just to give you a few examples. I had read a great deal about raw diet, but fear kept veering me away from it. The same fears that confront all new raw feeders – dire threats of salmonella poisoning, pseudorabies (PLEASE!!!!), parasites such as trichinosis, impaction or perforations caused by bones in the diet, and (my personal favorite) ONLY a trained nutritionist can create a balanced diet for pets so your average pet owner cannot do it. Bull!!! All you have to do is read and understand how dogs were designed to eat, and YOU CAN do it!
After Xander’s illnesses reached a certain point of frustration (and he nearly died at 18 months of age), I tried a home-cooked diet formulated by my holistic vet, Dr. Daroowalla. We took him off all kibble, canned foods and commercial dog treats. From there, we moved into a raw diet. I held my breath and prayed for the best. I received all kinds of warnings (from everyone except my very knowledgeable holistic vet) about giving an immune-compromised dog raw meats – there was that threat of salmonella poisoning and parasites again. I trusted her judgment and my instincts and went with it. I initially treated Xander’s meats with apple cider vinegar to knock down the bacterial load. As his immunity improved (his health issues alleviated), I gradually decreased the ACV until I was no longer using it at all.
I initially followed the Volhard Natural Diet as published in “Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog” 2nd Edition, using beef – both chunked and ground. As I learned more, I became confident enough to alter the diet to suit my animals better. Also, I had wonderful input from other raw feeders. As such, I now feed a prey model diet (basically “frankenprey”). I have dropped all grains. I stopped feeding fruits and vegetables. I feed raw meaty bones, muscle meat, organs and green tripe (about as close to veggies as they get except for leftovers). Their teeth certainly show the difference from our kibble days! I use no supplements except where needed to deal with specific health issues – for instance, my yeasty boy with hip dysplasia (now deceased) received gut healing nutrient supplements and herbs.
Follows is a list of the various things my dogs eat in a rotation diet:
Meats
Beef heart Pork heart
Beef kidney Pork kidney
Pork necks * Lamb necks *
Turkey necks * Chicken backs *
Chicken hearts Chicken gizzards
Chicken livers ** Ground turkey
Pig’s feet * Beef feet *
Green tripe Chicken leg quarters *
Duck frames * Whole Turkey
Whole fish Buffalo
Pig tails * Sweetbreads
Beef gullets & trachea (when I can get them)Pork chops (sometimes bone-in, sometimes boneless)
Whole chicken fryers * Oma’s Pride mixes (not fed much anymore – expensive and not really needed)
Venison Moose
Whole rabbit carcass (I raise it myself) Pork Loin (boneless)
* Bone-in products – these items, with the exception of the beef feet, include consumable bone for calcium and other minerals. Some of them are also natural sources of glucosamine.
We’ve also been able to get our hands on goose wings, ostrich necks and ground quail from time to time. We don’t feed much turkey, as it doesn’t seem to agree with my girls’ tummies.
Non-Meat Items
Yogurt (plain with live cultures – NO fruit or sugar added)
Salmon or Fish Oil on occasion
Raw eggs (shell included) – a couple of times a week or more
They also get leftovers from our meals, so they definitely get a wide variety of foods.
** I prefer chicken livers over beef liver for 2 reasons.
1) Chickens are typically slaughtered when only a few weeks old vs cattle being slaughtered at about 2 years of age, so their livers have less toxins built up.
2) MUCH easier to handle. There’s a tremendous difference between 30 lbs of chicken liver and 30 lbs of beef liver. Many times that 30 lbs of beef liver is in one or two HUGE chunks, while an individual chicken liver weighs maybe an ounce. Makes it very easy to separate them out for routine feedings. No chopping or cutting required.
For the most part, I purchase meats in bulk through a raw feeding group in Tucson, Arizona. The prices are much better than I can get elsewhere or in small quantities. I have a few other sources that I get things from now and then when they have meats on sale, but I buy most of them through the group. Needless to say, buying in bulk and feeding multiple dogs meant I had to buy a freezer. I have a 21 cubic foot chest freezer. All meats (except the green tripe) are USDA inspected and approved for human consumption, so no denaturants or decharacterizing agents.
Interestingly enough, my vet bills have dropped drastically! Most of those odds and ends medical issues have gone away since I switched to raw. So that is saving me money over the long-term. I am coming out ahead over a year’s time. My dogs are no longer vaccinated (except for rabies as required by stupid laws), so I also do not have that extra “cost” – i.e. no longer taxing of their immune systems unnecessarily and generating extra health problems through constant poisoning. Since I feed only foods approved by the USDA for HUMAN consumption (and thus no degraded “animal” grade meats), as meat prices go up, so does the cost of the diet for my dogs. The way I see it, it’s a more than fair trade for healthier animals with great energy and beautiful coats. I was surprised to realize that high quality commercial foods would actually cost me as much or even more to feed than what I’m paying for raw. Who’da thunk it?
Important Things to Remember when Feeding Dogs
No one diet works for ALL dogs. This rule applies even to raw diets. Even the best raw diet formulation or plan will need to be tweaked at some point to suit the individual dog. Be open to the individual dog’s needs. This could also mean NOT feeding raw at all. I know of a handful of dogs that do better when their meats are lightly cooked. They simply cannot properly handle raw meats due to severely damaged bodies. Those individuals are severely immune and digestive compromised. Rather than force the issue of raw feeding, go with a home-cooked diet for them. You will both be happier! J
I used to be of the mindset that grains were okay to feed, and even “necessary” for some dogs. No more! Time, research and experience has nullified this false assumption and convinced me that grains should play no part in the diet of a carnivore. Thus far, the only dogs I have known that exhibit a “need” for grains (to help maintain weight for example) have turned out to have chronic yeast issues (which can exhibit symptoms one might not expect). When the yeast issues are resolved, their "need" for grains disappears. Grains and other carbs, starches and sugars feed yeast, so ridding the diet of these ingredients is paramount to resolving yeast issues created by destruction of proper canine gut flora by factors such as poor diet, vaccinations, medications and even some chemical dewormers.
As a side note – even doing a months long elimination of all grains from his diet did little to help Xander’s yeast issues. Then I learned more about dealing with yeast and realize starving it wasn’t the only thing I needed to be doing. I also needed to help Xander’s good bacteria get re-established, help his damaged gut wall heal, and help him immune system take over yeast control. Once I removed all grains and added gut supporting and healing supplements to his program, the strides forward were remarkable. Homeopathy also boosted things by helping with vaccine damage. Unfortunately, all of this only bought him some wonderful time without yeast issues before hemangiosarcoma took his life.
Many dogs have actual allergies to various grains. When this is the case, be aware that they can exhibit allergic reactions to meat from animals who are fed those grains. This is also a common problem in humans with regards to wheat, corn, soy and others.
Something that
recently came to my attention -- There seems to be a knowledge gap with regards
to what exactly constitutes "grain." Most people know and
accept that oats, rice, barley, wheat, rye and such are grains. But it
seems like some miss the fact that other "seeds" are also grains -
including but hardly limited to flax seed, which is a favorite ingredient in
some commercial dog foods - raw, dehydrated, kibbled or canned. This is
not a healthy thing for dogs to eat, and many develop skin problems directly as
a result of its use in their food. I was absolutely appalled to discover
that one major name brand of dehydrated "raw" food (like there is
such a thing) contains flax seed as its second ingredient. This makes
this food very high in grain, and the company claims it is "grain
free" and thus suitable for dogs with skin problems. NOT the case!
We, as consumers, absolutely can NOT count on these companies to:
(1) Know what they are doing - some are merely jumping on the raw bandwagon and
basically repackaging kibble concepts loaded with unnecessary and potentially
harmful ingredients without understanding the first basic rule of raw - keep it
simple, stupid. This rule is especially important if the dog has health
issues, as so many ingredients that are not species appropriate to these
carnivores can exacerbate or even CAUSE a lot of problems.
OR
(2) Be honest - some of these companies will lie through their teeth just like
others in the pet food industry have done (and will continue to do).
Educate yourself. Know what you buying. Know exactly what it
contains! And most important, know your dog.
I don't know whether the company who is advertising a "grain free"
product loaded with grain in the form of flax seed is lying to customers to
sell products (wouldn't be the first company to do that), or whether they are
just plain ignorant of the fact that they are using an unhealthy GRAIN in their
"grain free" foods. I can't make that judgment. All I can
tell you is that their products are not what they claim them to be. And
regardless of the reason for that, this is something to be aware of, educate
ourselves about and steer clear of for the sake of our own pets.
Vegetables are NOT a completely unnecessary, worthless additives. However, there’s a caveat! Wild canines obtain plant matter from the digestive tracts of the animals they consume. Wild predators have been seen grazing on wild grasses, berries and other vegetation, mostly when food is scarce or when they are self-medicating (i.e. trying to push something out of their digestion tract via either end). Some pets even seem to adore fruits and vegetables, and there is no harm in giving them as treats from time to time. When consuming whole rabbit carcass, my GSD boy went for the stomach and intestines first thing, including their contents. (He wasn’t stupid – he knew the digestive tract was rich in digestive enzymes and B-vitamins, which he needed for his yeast issues.) Then he ate the remaining organs. Muscle tissue and bone were the last thing consumed. And if any of the contents of the intestines fell on the floor, he licked it up. Even raw feeders who feed whole prey such as rabbits, mice, other rodents, and small birds (like quail and small chickens) to their pets ARE feeding plant matter to their pets, as these are in the stomachs and intestines of those small prey. That said, one should not overlook that these vegetables are partially predigested and include the enzymes herbivores produce that are required to actually digest plant matter (enzymes dogs don’t produce). This is why green tripe from cattle, sheep, goats and such are so well received and healthy for dogs.
Meat allergies/intolerances. Aside from the grain-fed meat reaction noted above, some dogs have developed allergies to specific meat sources. I found it interesting to note in my research that dogs that are allergic to a specific protein source in kibble do not always have the same negative reaction to that same protein source when it is fed raw. For instance, my boy developed severe allergy-type reactions to lamb dog foods. However, lamb fed entirely raw gave him no trouble at all. Whether the difference is due to some chemical added to the meat, or changes wrought by the kibble cooking process, I cannot be certain. Dogs, just like people, can be intolerant to or even allergic to ANY protein source, but don’t rule anything out until you have given it a shot. The more variety you can offer, the healthier the diet will be.
Food allergies are not always actual allergies. Issues diagnosed as “allergies” often are not true allergies at all. Some “allergies” are an indication of nutrient deficiency. For example, wheat “allergy” can be caused by histidine deficiency. Resolve the deficiency and the “allergy” disappears. I certainly found this to be true in my boy’s case. Amino Acid deficiencies can generate all sorts of issues that can be inaccurately diagnosed as food “allergies”. And amino acids are not the only nutrient deficiencies that can cause such problems. An animal can also appear allergic or intolerant to things in the presence of B-vitamin deficiencies. Other nutrient deficiencies can generate other health problems, too.
Trust your instincts. If your gut tells you something is NOT correct for your dog or is not working for your dog, listen to that, and pay attention to what your dog may be trying to tell you. They communicate very nicely on what they do and don’t like, and do or don’t need, but we often don’t “listen” to what they have to say. Stop and “listen.” Diet truly is a matter of finding the best combination of foods for YOUR individual dog.
Recommendations
If you are interested in learning more about a raw diet, I recommend reading as many books on as many techniques as you can find. Check out your local library if you don’t want to buy the books! Check out used bookstores if you can’t afford new. Read everything you can find on the web, both pro and con. Only by reading both sides of the argument can you truly make an educated choice. If something doesn’t ring true or correct to you (like the threat of pseudorabies in pork in the USA), check into that specifically and learn what you can about how realistic that threat truly is.
I also HIGHLY recommend newbies to natural diets and holistic animal rearing join the Yahoo group RawK9s. Among the raw feeding groups currently on the internet, it is the cream of the crop, in my opinion.
Unless you are VERY thick-skinned, I highly recommend extreme caution when dealing with some of the other raw diet groups. Some can be pretty brutal with newbies, particularly those who are still feeding any amount of kibble or canned foods. These groups have a gem to offer sometimes, so if you are a lurker, you can learn something from them, but they have a very “my way or the highway” attitude. Some of them do NOT take kindly to questions about why they believe or feed the way they do, and more often than not, they do NOT have sources to back up what they espouse about raw diets, among other things.
There are also groups dedicated to specific feeding methods. Some of them are safe for learning; others aren’t.
My only advice is to carefully screen the groups you join. If at all possible, lurk for a while and see how they handle questions, especially from newbies, before you introduce yourself or dive into posting. Are differences of opinion tolerated? Or are dissenting opinions squashed? Do they use facts to back up the “rules” they espouse for raw feeding? Or do they expect you to simply take their word for it? Are differences of opinion handled logically and rationally, or does name-calling occur and is that tolerated? When debates turn into arguments, how do the list moderators handle it? Do newbies get flamed for asking what some may deem to be “stupid” questions? Or is flaming of still-learning newbies tolerated by the list owner and/or moderators?
For those of you who are further advanced and interested in natural rearing – be you breeder or pet owner – I highly recommend AuNaturelK9s. This group consists primarily of natural rearing breeders and pet owners – species appropriate diet, no vaccinations, no harmful chemicals (“preventatives” and such), desexing pros and cons (yes, there are definitely cons), etc. They share a great deal of information about how to deal with illness in a natural way whenever possible.
Read, read, read, and when you get tired of reading, read some more. It is only through educating OURSELVES that we can truly make the best choices for our pets. We CANNOT rely on vets, trainers (which I am), or any other pet-related professional to make decisions for us or to be educated better than us about such things. They do NOT always have our pet’s best interest at heart. They often do not have the information necessary to make such choices for our pets. For example, vets receive only about 40 hours of nutrition training in school, and all of that education is done by the pet food industry. Trainers have even less education than that, unless like me they make an effort to educate themselves. WE, as pet owners, have complete control of what our pets eat. This need to educate ourselves does NOT stop with diet. It overflows into vaccinations, medications, medical procedures, holistic medicine, and every other area of our pets’ lives.
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