| Once upon a time, I was your average dog owner. I | | | | calcium, and number of calories you eat every day? |
| felt guilty when I spoiled my dog with "people food". | | | | Let's face it folks, the billion dollar pet food industry is |
| This concept was reinforced during my veterinary | | | | thriving because of brainwashing ads, endorsements |
| training, with terms like table food gastroenteritis. Oh, | | | | by veterinarians who fail to recognize that people are |
| the horror of clients feeding table scrapes to their | | | | smart enough to cook for their dogs, and the sad fact |
| dogs! After the reprimand, instructions to feed only | | | | that convenience itself has become too popular in our |
| commercial dog foods were made and the deal was | | | | everyday lives. Remember the basic tenets of good |
| done. Poor Fido was banned from the family dining | | | | nutrition: go for variety, choose fresh wholesome |
| room and forced to eat the same boring dog food | | | | ingredients, and avoid processed foods. Commercial |
| everyday. | | | | pet foods violate all the basic principals of this |
| Before the advent of commercial pet food diets some | | | | soundnutritional advice. For my dogs and the clients |
| 50 years ago, family dogs thrived from the benefit of | | | | that I council, the conversation pretty much ends when |
| common sense and our grandmother's cooking. Before | | | | I pop the final question: Would you eat anything labeled |
| the craze of pre-packed convenience foods, the | | | | as dog food? |
| relatives of today's modern dog enjoyed and | | | | Thanks be to those who challenge the status quo and |
| prospered eating the same foods we did. That's right | | | | then prove it wrong. When I learned that Donald |
| folks -- those dogs belonging to your grandparents ate | | | | Strombeck, DVM, PhD, a professor of mine who |
| real people food and thrived. We are not talking Big | | | | taught gastroenterology at the School of Veterinary |
| Macs and French fries, just fresh meats, whole grains | | | | Medicine at U.C. Davis, CA, had written a book entitled |
| and all the vegetables that a dog could dig up in the | | | | Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets-the Healthful |
| garden. Sadly, today's modern dog suffers from the | | | | Alternative, I knew he had something sobering to say. |
| economics of food technology, which has failed to live | | | | At first I was simply reassured by his statement that |
| up to its claims of being a "natural" and "nutritionally | | | | diet is one of the most important considerations in a |
| balanced" diet. | | | | pet's care and that it is a major determinate of health |
| So, let's first ask the question, what is an "all natural" | | | | and life expectancy. Wow, after 40 years of his work |
| dog food? I believe the meaning of "natural" would | | | | in gastroenterology, my professor confirms the |
| have its roots in Mother Nature herself and therefore | | | | connection between diet and health. He then goes on |
| be something that exists in nature. Bags of kibble and | | | | to blow the whistle on the pet food industry! Not only |
| cans of dog food only exist on the shelves of pet | | | | did he report that pet foods are not nutritionally |
| food supermarkets! So, the next time you are hunting | | | | complete and balanced, but sited nutritional deficiencies |
| down the aisles of your favorite pet store, don't fall for | | | | that result from feeding prepared diets that are very |
| hyped-up advertising claims of dog food being "all | | | | different from the diet of a foraging animal. Not only do |
| natural" or their newest buzz word, "holistic". Instead, | | | | pet foods contain ingredients that dogs and cats were |
| grab hold of your common sense and think about it. Is | | | | not designed to eat, there is documentation that pet |
| this how you eat? Furthermore, there is nothing natural | | | | foods can contain toxins and harmful bacteria and can |
| about forcing your dog to eat the same diet day after | | | | make your dog sick! |
| day. And Mother Nature herself would laugh at the | | | | How can this happen? Because of the failure to |
| idea of establishing feeding trials to help us determine | | | | regulate the pet food industry and set minimum |
| adequate levels of amino acids, fats, vitamins and | | | | standards as to quality of ingredients used in the |
| minerals needed to engineer a "balanced and | | | | manufacturing process. Bottom line: your dog is not |
| complete" diet for our dogs! In her wisdom she simply | | | | protected from ingesting harmful and even deadly |
| designed the ancestral dog to consume the bodies of | | | | contaminants. In short, our food supply is under the |
| prey animals and forge for edible plants found in its | | | | watchful eye of the USDA . Anything labeled as pet |
| native environment. Remember the advertising slogan | | | | food also carries the warning: Not for human |
| used in a popular ad for margarine, "It's not nice to fool | | | | consumption! Is it any wonder why veterinarians are |
| Mother Nature." It carried a warning not to try and | | | | called to treat so many mysterious cases of vomiting |
| imitate her genius! | | | | and diarrhea, often labeled as inflammatory bowel |
| Keep this warning in mind the next time you visit the | | | | disease or food intolerance, which magically resolve |
| supermarket and do your dog a favor by picking up a | | | | when they are switched to homemade diets... |
| real bird! Still not convinced? Ask your dog what he | | | | If you truly value the health of your dog, you cannot |
| wants, baked chicken or the stuff in the bag? Without | | | | afford to ignore the importance of good nutrition. What |
| a doubt your dog will gladly pass on a bag filled with | | | | you choose to feed your dog will ultimately decide his |
| inferior protein sources, processed by-products, and | | | | fate in terms of health, longevity, and the quality of his |
| preservatives. And for you die-hard skeptics out there, | | | | life. So, add some extra people food (poultry, fish, eggs, |
| ask yourself why you don't eat the same engineered | | | | cottage cheese, brown rice and veggies) to your |
| diet that has been formulated to "meet all your | | | | grocery list and invite your hungry dog back into the |
| nutritional needs" every day? Do you know how many | | | | kitchen! |
| grams of protein, units of vitamin E, milligrams of | | | | |