[Dailydrool] raw meat feeding (long)

[Opal-Deitering, Gaylene]

I have only been skimming the drool lately, so have missed a lot.  Please accept my sympathies to all who have lost a beloved companion to the bridge.  I am particularly saddened to see so many long timers depart, but it is inevitable that they go, so we give them the best lives, and the best deaths we are able to give them.  The love they gave us will forever change our lives, and the stewardship we have over their lives will impact us and the world forever.

Hi Dave,
I think that your questions are good, but your vet has some misconceptions of what wolves eat.  Dogs and wolves are not strict carnivores.  They are what I like to call "second hand and opportunistic omnivores".  In the wild a canine would eat more than just the meat.  They would eat the entrails too.  Since most prey animals are vegetarian, the canine would also be eating what the prey animal had eaten, but it would be partially digested by the time the canine ate it.  If you wonder why dogs often eat their own poop or another animal's poop, it is because they can't totally digest vegetable matter in just one pass, their digestive system is too short and fast.  Other than the occasional fruit or berry that a canine might come upon , they really don't forage like a bear and eat vegetables.  (discounting the opportunistic snagging of garden produce in the summer) That is why grain and many vegetables in dog foods have to be processed so much for the dog to use it.  Ovine animals are cud chewers.  This includes all goat like creatures, such as deer, sheep, cattle, elk, moose, etc.  They all have multiple stomach compartments, regurgitate and chew over and over what they ate.  It takes a long time for an ovid to digest grass and get the nutrients out of it.  Dogs can't do that without help, so he eats the intestines and content when he makes a kill.  Rabbits and other rodents are gnawers, so their food is also ground up small, and when eaten partially digested, might do the dog some good.

Short answer is that a canine digestive system is too short, thus too fast, to let salmonella fester.  They pass their food in approximately 4-6 hours.  If you think about it, dogs eat their own poop, lick their paws, arses, and anything else that seems interesting.  They don't get sick from it, so I wouldn't worry about good bones getting the dog sick.  They eat nastier stuff on a daily basis than that! A healthy dog can't readily get salmonella.  If you want extra insurance, you can also add probiotic supplements to your food regimen.  This will ensure that the dog has HEALTHY flora in his digestive tract to kill off any bad flora introduced into his digestive tract.  There are many good products out there for you to buy in palatable forms that dogs like.  You can also purchase tripe from a company who butchers and processes organically raised beef.  This is the stomach, stomach contents, and trachea or esophagus of the animal, ground up and conveniently frozen and shipped to your home.  I haven't used them, but think it is a great idea.  www.greentripe.com<http://www.greentripe.com>

Remember these points when trying to figure out a "natural" food for your dog.

1.       Dogs can't cook.  It is unnatural for them to eat cooked meats, and cooked FAT can make them VERY sick! Cooked bones can splinter causing even more problems.  Raw chicken necks, raw fish, and raw joint bones should be fine, and a good source of cartilage that dogs need to keep their joints healthy. Soup bones splinter.

2.       Dogs can't digest vegetables in their natural state.  Even we have a hard time with grains and vegetables in their natural state.  Even cooked vegetables sometimes come out the same way they went in.  Have you ever looked in the toilet after eating corn-on-the-cob?  In order to get nutrition from vegetables they need to be pre-digested, or broken down by cooking or grating in order for them to be beneficial to the dog.

3.       Dogs need vegetable matter in their diets, so see point 2 above.

4.       If you want to BARF (bones and raw food) feed your dog, DO YOUR HOMEWORK!  There are lots of books and research available to you, don't just do it willy-nilly, or you will miss important stuff in your dog's diet.

5.       Dogs are not vegetarian, so if you decide against nature to make your dog a vegetarian, DO YOUR HOMEWORK, or you will have one very sick animal on your hands.
On a side note, I have been told that dogs should not eat soy.  They can't digest the proteins and even though they are good for us, they get lodged in the lining of a dogs intestines and reduce the effectiveness of their digestive process.  I avoid all soy containing dog foods.  However, if your dog is doing well on food that contains soy, good for him, I am not here to preach about that.

Happy feeding,
Gaylene Opal-Deitering
My passions do not replace my relationship with God, but are instead a reflection of it!

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20090226/bdafb086/attachment-0002.htm>