Midnight Sun Herbal Health
A Complimentary and Alternative Health Practice
Nutrition for companion animals
Increasingly our companion animals are being diagnosed with the same chronic diseases we suffer with ourselves, diseases rarely heard of as affecting our pets in the past. This is not without reason. While there is a growing understanding of the role of eating healthy, whole foods for ourselves, this understanding does not always transfer to the foods we feed our pets. Fortunately it is a topic that is currently gaining recognition.
Pets often get fed what is cheap and easy, because the labels promise complete nutrition and we feed our pets the same food for years on end. Good health for a human comes from eating a variety of healthy whole foods, exercising, clean water, a restful, stress free environment. It is no different for our pets. The human being is an omnivore, a dog is also an omnivore, but a cat in any size is a carnivore. They cannot process and derive enough nutrition from vegetarian sources.
A human and a dog can both eat a vegetarian high carbohydrate diet and survive, probably not well, but survive. Most commercial pet food like commercially made people foods are high in carbohydrates sugars and salts and therein lays a problem. Many commercial dog and cat foods contain from 30 to over 50% carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, which break down in the body as glucose (sugar) are addictive in cats and dogs as in humans. On top of that most pets are fed dry foods and for cats, that poses an additional problem. They can end up in a constant state of dehydration, which will stress the kidneys.
The natural diet for a cat is fresh, just killed meat or fish, foods that are 70% moisture rich and rich in nutrients. That is not practical or particularly appealing to most of us. However there are many varieties appropriate for cats if one just looks for it.
While commercial brands of pet food come with the assurance of a balanced nutrition, it is not necessarily true. Further, some of the best designer diets that come recommended by veterinarians may not be better than the cheaper store brands. Fortunately there is an increasing availability in the marketplace of wholesome, whole foods diets for pets, as well as information on how a pet owner can make the food themselves for their companions without fear of not giving them appropriate nutrition. It is actually not hard. Animals have lived and eaten whole foods, just like humans for millions of years before commercial foods became available.
Commercial pet food in this country is nearly a hundred years old and has grown into a mega million, highly competitive market today. I grew up overseas and when I came here in 1965, I had never heard of pet food in a bag. We always cooked for our dogs, similar to what we ate ourselves and the cats got the pickings of fish and meat scraps from the butcher. As a result they were simply never sick and lived long lives. This was good, because the idea of private vets for companion animals was still in its infancy there and the veterinary hospital downtown a Dickensian affair one avoided going to. They mostly treated livestock. I have fed my share of kibble since I came here and for many years we had no trouble with our dogs, cats and assorted other animals that my kids grew up with. Now with the very competitive market and need to make a profit, ingredients in pet food, not fit for human consumption or animal consumption for that matter are used as fillers, as fiber, protein base in the form of animal byproducts, added vitamins and mineral that may not be particularly absorbable and flavorings to make this mess look and smell appetizing. To this mix are added preservatives and other chemicals, some that come as added “value” with the raw materials used. Pets and humans should not be around many of these chemicals, let alone ingest them.
I challenge you to eat only one food, let’s choose oatmeal for very meal, every day for the rest of your life. Think you can do that and stay healthy?
So let us explore foods that you can make yourself or buy if you must.
Resources:
Books
Foods Pets Die for, by Ann N Martin by New Sage Press
Pet Allergies; Remedies for an Epidemic by Alfred J Plecher, DVM and Martin Zucker
Foods and Pet needs: The Big Bad Woof
* * * * * * *
To make an appointment
email: Bodil or
call 301-270-1582
