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 Healthy Feeding For Dogs: Fresh chicken and turkey and beef. Fresh raw vegetables and fruits. Fresh brown rice and oatmeal. Fresh yogurt, eggs, and cottage cheese.
This is not "people food." Calling real food "people food" makes it sound as though people are the only living creatures who are entitled to eat fresh foods. Virtually all living creatures thrive on real, fresh food.
Listen to what Dr. Martin Goldstein D.V.M. has to say about fresh food for your dog: "You can boost your pet's health profoundly by making one simple decision. All you have to do is change his diet from commercial-brand fare to something you may never have imagined giving him: real food. The fresh food you buy at the market for yourself is the food you should give your pet, too." Generations of dogs lived to ripe old ages on fresh foods before the pet food corporations came along. Pet food corporations - "Just Say No" Commercial dog food has only been around since the 1930s, when cereal companies were trying to find something to do with their rejected grain -- their wheat and rice and corn that failed USDA inspection because of mold, rancidity, and other contaminants. They discovered that the meat industry faced the same dilemma. Meat that couldn't pass USDA inspection because it had spoiled or because the livestock was diseased. The idea of mixing the rejects together and calling it "pet food" was born. Marketing firms were hired to plant this lamentable term in the public's mind, but their product was not then -- nor is it now -- "pet food." It's simply a processed artificial diet created for the benefit of the grain and meat industries and the pet food corporations. REAL "pet food" was, is, and always will be fresh foods grown in the ground and produced by our farms. That's what your dog should eat.
Listen to what Dr. Richard Pitcairn D.V.M. has to say about artificial diets for your dog: "The whole concept of Insta-Meal for humans is repulsive. Most people would soon be climbing the walls in frustration, desperate for a salad or some fruit -- anything whole and fresh, or just different. Perhaps the thought of eating kibbles for the rest of your own life helps make the point that pets forced to do so are being shortchanged. All of us -- humans and animals -- should have fresh, wholesome, unprocessed food in our daily diet." Let's Look at Those Ingredients
THE GRAIN Virtually all artificial diets are heavily based on grains and cereals. But dogs are not cows. A dog has the large stomach and short straight digestive tract required to digest meat. A cow has several small stomachs and the long winding digestive tract required to digest fibrous grain. The two are just not interchangeable! Even worse, many dogs are allergic to corn and soybean and wheat. They develop chronic digestive problems (loose stools, spitting up, gassiness) or itchy skin. You'll see them licking their feet or rubbing their face against the carpet. You might never think to associate these problems with the grain in your dog's diet, but that is often the case. Finally, the quality of this grain is suspect. The good grain is reserved for the human market. What goes into the pet food bin is deemed unfit for human consumption. Mold, rancidity, contaminants -- yuck! THE MEAT Many dogs gobble up their kibble, yes -- because it's sprayed with greasy fat to make it smell yummy. But we don't allow our children to eat only junk food because they love the smell or taste, do we? The relish with which a dog eats doesn't indicate whether something is "good" for him. THE CHEMICAL PRESERVATIVES Preservatives are always used in artificial diets so the bags and cans last longer. That's convenient for the manufacturer, yes, who can leave it sitting in his warehouse for a long time. It's convenient for the retailer who can leave it sitting on his shelf for a long time, and it is convenient for the owner who can dish it out for a long time. What is this stuff that keeps ingredients from spoiling?
The most common pet food preservatives are:
Ethoxyquin -- which is actually manufactured by the giant chemical corporation Monsanto as a rubber preservative. The containers are marked POISON. The Department of Agriculture lists it as a pesticide. OSHA lists it as a hazardous chemical. BHA and BHT -- both of which cause liver and kidney dysfunction, and bladder and stomach cancer. These chemicals are all banned in Europe!
Most pet foods list these preservatives right on the bag or can, but even when it doesn't say so, it's usually in there, anyway. How can this be? Because a legal loophole allows manufacturers to only list what THEY themselves put into the bag. If they buy some of their ingredients from a supplier who has already added the chemical to those ingredients, the pet food company doesn't have to disclose that on the bag. Isn't that nice?
Australian veterinarian Dr. Ian Billinghurst says: "If you look at the ingredient list on a can or a bag of pet food -- with understanding -- you will realize that what is being listed is a heap of rubbish. Definitely not the wholesome nutritious food you would want to feed to a valued member of your family!" How Commercial Pet Foods Affect Your Dog's Health They suffer from: itching
hot spots dandruff excessive shedding foot-licking face-rubbing loose stools gassiness What are these dogs eating? Artificial diets, virtually every one of them.
Listen to what Dr. Richard Pitcairn D.V.M. has to say about the connection between health problems and artificial diets: "Since I graduated from veterinary school in 1965, I've noticed a general deterioration in pet health. We now see very young animals with diseases that we used to see only in older animals. Without the perspective of several decades, vets just coming out of veterinary school think these degenerative conditions in younger animals are "normal." They do not realize what has happened over the passage of time. I believe, along with poor quality nutrients, the chemical additives in pet food play a major part in that decline. Pet foods contain slaughterhouse wastes, toxic products from spoiled foodstuffs, non-nutritive fillers, heavy-metal contaminants, pesticides, herbicides, drug residues, sugar, and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives." If you decide to continue using pet food: Halo is an organic, holistic food which only uses human grade quality ingredients. The following might also be considered: Merrick Evolve Evanger's Wellness Solid Gold |
