SOTT Exclusive: Natural Pet Health: How dry food is killing your pets
Hello, and welcome to the second article in our new series on natural pet health (as featured on SOTT Radio Network's Health and Wellness Show). Previous articles in this series:
In this article we are going to talk about nutrition, or how to feed your dog or cat (or both) in a way that will contribute to their healthy and long life. But before we go into the proper way of feeding your pets, let's talk about dry food first, and why it's the worst food you could give to them.
What is dry food?
It's a highly processed mix, dried and ground to powder, that is comprised of various animal meats from cattle, swine and chicken, or restaurant waste and out-of-date supermarket meat, and yes, even so-called road kill or cows that died on the farm but never reached the slaughter house. It also includes -meat parts, such as intestines, lungs, spleens, unborn fetuses, diseased or parasitized livers, cut-away tumors, and other parts unsuitable for human consumption.
[embedded content]
Yep, that's right. When studying for my viral and bacterial diseases exam, I read right there in the textbook that, according to regulations, meat that isn't allowed for human or even animal consumption can still be used to create dry food for dogs and cats.
Some manufactures try to cut costs, and instead of meat they add ingredients like corn, gluten meal, soybean meal and plant protein concentrates to get the protein up to acceptable levels.Other ingredients include carbohydrates, or starch, a vitamin-mineral premix, and water.
All of this is mixed together and processed for hours at high temperatures. The problem is that proteins tend to denature at these temperatures: their shapes get distorted. And these abnormal proteins may be a factor in the development of food allergies, as the immune system reacts to these unnatural shapes.
What about carbohydrates?
Dogs and cats are carnivores. Dogs are considered to be 'facultative' or carnivores, while cats are carnivores, meaning both of them are meat-eaters. Their natural diet is high in protein and moisture. Carbs constitute 1 to 9% at most. The carnivore's ideal diet is essentially the paleo diet: lots of protein and fat, and a small amount of complex carbohydrates from vegetables.
And the average dry food contains 35-50 percent carbohydrate calories. Some of the cheaper dry foods contain even higher levels.
So basically, dry food, no matter how expensive, can't be considered optimal feed for both dogs and cats. And while dogs, as optional carnivores, have certain biochemical pathways that are designed to deal with carbs, cats are simply not built to process carbohydrates. Cats preferentially use protein and fat for energy, and these pathways are . Felines have very limited ability to process carbohydrates, and are "programmed" to turn carbs directly into fat.
They also lack specific enzymatic pathways that are present in other mammals. For example, they lack a salivary enzyme called amylase, which catalyzes the transformation of starch into sugars.Dogs also don't produce amylase in the salivary glands (but we do). Both cats and dogs produce amylase in the pancreas.
And so, since both cats and dogs have no real dietary need for carbohydrates, diets high in carbohydrates can be detrimental to their health. This is made worse by the fact that corn, one of the main ingredients of dry food, has a high glycemic index value, and other grains, which are also used in dry foods, contain gluten.
It doesn't matter if a pet has gluten-intolerance or not. Because of the specific physiology of carnivore mammals, any grains -- wheat, barley, soy, corn, etc. -- act as an allergen. And yes, dairy products trigger allergic reaction too. The well-known notion that cats need milk is the biggest myth there is. The same with fish, but that's another story.
Coming back to grains, wheat and soy are the worst, while oats and rice are less harmful. Therefore, people in East European countries who can't afford to feed their pets with meat only, make oats porridges and mix them with cheap meat cuts. While not ideal, it's still better than dry food, even if it's an expensive, gluten-free or corn-free dry food. The simple fact is, animals require their food to be moist; otherwise it gets stuck in the digestive tract, leads to the formation of urine crystals and other problems.
Perpetual inflammation and damage
As it turns out, dry food originally contained only corn, but then, after many complaints, manufacturers replaced it with wheat. But, again, some veterinarians noticed that pets' health experienced even further decline, not to mention the fact that one of the leading cat diseases nowadays has to do with kidney problems, specifically renal insufficiency. Now why do you think this is?
The answer is right before us: you don't add the number one dog and cat food allergen to their diet without some major repercussions.
Apparently the veterinary profession is just as shortsighted as the medical profession, because 60-70% of the modern diet is comprised of cow milk products and wheat. There is a price to pay for this sort of ignorance and it is heavier than most realize.
The main cost is the disruption of proper digestive tract function. Once the essential nutrients have been malabsorbed for a long enough time, there is no way back. It depends on an individual pet's immune system and resilience if they will become sick in the childhood, adolescence or adulthood.But the bottom line is, when a pet consumes dry food, it is a matter of they will develop problems, not if. Gluten will eventually affect every pet with its nutrient-blocking qualities.
Here is an example of how exactly the damage occurs. Take conditions such as hip dysplasia, elbow and shoulder problems, intervertebral disc syndrome, cruciate ligament ruptures, and even heart valve failure. All of these problems are caused by failing cartilage and connective tissue, both of which are structured similarly and made up of calcium and collagen. Collagen is the building block of most of your skeletal support structures. A principle component of collagen production is vitamin C. Therefore, when it is understood that calcium is absorbed primarily by the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine) while vitamin C and other vital vitamins and minerals are absorbed both by the duodenum and the rest of the small intestine, then it is easy to see that inadequate amounts of these in the diet or failure of their absorption will compromise the integrity of all of these structures.
There are also other problems that are usually associated with dry food consumption, like diabetes, kidney disease, urethral blockage, urinary tract infection, development of crystals, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, fatty liver disease, dental health, asthma and general poor health, including weak immune system.
Go raw
OK, so now you understand that you shouldn't feed your pet with dry food. But you are probably asking yourself what to do instead. And surely canned food is better than dry, but still, the quality of the meat is rather questionable, and there are cats and dogs that still develop various problems, including neurological ones. So it appears that a raw meat diet is the most optimal.
There are many sites and videos that provide detailed explanations and instructions about feeding your pets with raw meat. There are numerous techniques and ingredients. Unfortunately, expanding on all of those techniques isn't in the scope of this article, and I also urge you to do your own homework, read articles and watch videos. Each pet is unique, and so each situation. You need to find the best one for you.
In any case, here are several of the most interesting and informative links and videos on the topic. You can start with them.
Raw meat diet for cats and dogs: Links and videos
[embedded content]
[embedded content]
[embedded content]
[embedded content]
A disclaimer: The content of the Natural Pet Health segment and all related articles are not intended to be a substitute for professional veterinarian advice, diagnosis, or treatment, but are the result of my personal interest and research. Always seek the advice of your veterinarian or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your pet's condition.
0 reacties:
Post a Comment