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The Raw Diet For Dogs
http://the-real-way.com
Have you ever wondered what goes into dry dog food? I don't mean the biscuits, although the same applies to them as well in fact but they are usually fairly costly. I mean the dry dog food that comes in big sacks and proclaims to be a complete dog food. What is in it? Really.
Wheat seems to be the biggest ingredient, so how can you purchase this stuff for $1 a pound, but a decent, two-pound loaf of bread costs $3 or more (in the UK)? The ingredients in the dog food have to be inferior, don't they? Dog food has to be safe for human consumption in the UK, but that doesn't say much either.
The majority of of this dry dog food, especially the cheaper brands, have to be full of ground bones, fish heads, feathers, sweepings off the granary floor and syrup to increase the calorific value. Clearly, it is the canine equivalent of junk food?
I fed my collie-cross almost exclusively on dried dog food for eight years, because I could put the food down in the morning and it would not go off whilst I was at work. She ended up with canine diabetes mellitus.
I took her to the veterinary one day because she had gone blind 'overnight. She had advanced cataracts due to diabetes. From that day on, I had to collect some urine in the morning, test it, and then inject her with insulin. Sometimes she had a fit.
I carried on feeding her dry food and over the next months, I had to increase her insulin regularly. Soon it was nearly a full syringe and I did not want to give her two shots a day, so I looked for a answer on the Internet.
A vet on a pet forum said that it was well-known that the high sugar content of cheap dried dog food frequently caused canine diabetes after prolonged use. Maybe, it is common knowledge, but I didn't know.
A different forum member told me the same and suggested a raw diet consisting of 1 lb green beans, 1/2 lb carrots, 1 lb raw mince meat, 2 raw eggs, calcium powder, bran, multivitamins and 8-12 cranberries. Process the green beans and carrots, mix everything except the cranberries together and divide into four. My 45lb dog had one portion and 2-3 cranberries two times a day.
The very first day I gave it to her she had a fit. I had calculated her blood-sugar with the old food in her. The new food did not contain as much sugar, so I had given her too much insulin. The next day her insulin requirement was around 35% of what it had been the day before.
My dog lasted another two years with the new diet, which my vet said was uncommonly long, because animals do not get the same level of care as humans.
I experimented with the diet during the years and discovered that adding an apple or two or a few Brussels sprouts did not have an effect on my dog's blood-sugar. Ever since then, when I see someone heaving a large bag of dry dog food into a trolley, I feel sorry for their dog.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Emergency for Dogs. If you want to know more, please go to our web site at What To Do If Your Dog Eats Chocolate.
Article submitted Monday, January 30, 2012 & read 132 times.
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