What in the World Should I Feed My Dog?
June 18th, 2009
Dogs provide millions of Americans comfort and stress relief, but are we shortening our dogs lives by feeding them commercial dog food?
submited by GHM
Dog owners live on average 7 years longer than non-dog owners. But how do we prolong our pets' lives? With improper nutrition do we shorten their lives?
This is a story of my search for truth behind the controversy about commercial dog food. It all started a couple of years ago when I adopted a beautiful female golden retriever, Kiki. She is the best thing that happened to me in years. Golden retrievers are just like two-year-old children. They follow you to the bathroom. They want your undivided attention and they make sure that they get it by pawing you or jumping up. They are so loving and friendly that even when they bark at the strangers passing their house is more like invitation to come and party than a warning. Needles to say, I fell in love with Kiki head over heels. With this new found love I started to have a fear of losing her. I wondered about the average length of dog's life, because I want her to live as long as possible. Consequently, I began my google search for any helpful information on how to prolong life of Kiki.
The answer to my first question was disappointing; the average life expectancy of a North American dog is 12.8 years. Despite their short life-span compared to humans, this is an increase over the past 100 years and is mostly attributable to better nutrition and medical care. However, their is still a controversy surrounding dog food.
When we first adopted Kiki. I was feeding her commercial dog food. She gained 10 lbs. Of course I didn't blame myself but the food. I started changing brands of food moving to more and more expensive ones. Kiki reached almost 80lbs. Again I blamed the food. It is hard to believe that these kibbles were once meat and vegetables. The long list of ingredients with unpronounceable names bothered me, especially "meat by-products"
What Are Meat Bi-Products?
Meat bi-products are parts of an animal not suitable for human consumption: "lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood", But won't include feathers or fur. Commercial dog food requires FDA approval, but so do many drugs that end up causing heart attacks and we see commercials advising us to contact lawyers if we used them. Since I treat my dog as a family member, I cannot feed her something I find questionable. I avoid eating processed food. Why feed my dog something that I wouldn't eat?
There are websites prompting us to learn "shocking truth" about commercial dog foods, full of preservatives, grinded dead dogs, plastics, collars, ...etc / poison. However, all of the provided personal stories full of emotional appeal, as well as $27.00 book that will teach us how to prolong our dogs' lives for another 8.3 years make me very skeptical of these web sites and claims.
Cooking For Kiki
I decided to educate myself in dog nutrition. I ordered dog cookbooks with recipes that made my husband look into the dog bowl rather than his plate. Some of these recipes were exaggerations though: dog burrito or dog carrot cake for example. At some point I wondered if the authors of those cookbooks had any clue what kind of nutrients dogs need.
Are dogs supposed to eat wheat tortillas or cookies with corn flower? No, they are not according to BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) diet. This diet consists mostly of raw meats and bones and no grains. The main idea is that dogs are carnivores that got all of their nutrients from a killed prey. By cooking meat we destroy all of the beneficial enzymes necessary for optimal dog's health, therefore meat has to be raw. It makes sense but that kind of a diet can get very expensive. So, I thought before buying half of a cow for my dog, I better get a closer look at this BARF diet.
According to Nutrition for Veterinary Technicians and Nurses by Ann Wortinger, feeding your dog raw meet can be more dangerous than beneficial. Raw meat can contain deadly bacteria, especially when it is not fresh (or supermarket fresh). How many of us can kill a cow in our backyard and feed it to our dog right away? Not many. By cooking the meat we can ensure its safety. Yes, high temperature does modify the proteins, but they do get modified during digestion by stomach acids anyways.
At the end of my research I was more confused than before, and probably many dog owners are too. There is so much information on this topic and it seems that many are trying to take advantage of a devoted dog owner with their get rich schemes.
So what are we supposed to do? I decided to design my own dog diet for Kiki. I learned what is poisonous for dogs and I always avoid these foods. I learned what nutrients dogs need and try to meet Kiki's daily requirements with a mix of meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy, brown rice and whole grains. My dog looks happy, healthy, and finally started losing weight. However, now I have a problem with my husband, who wants to switch to Kiki's diet and is secretly stealing food from her bowl. (Do not feel sorry for my husband, I cook for him too.)
Ref.
1 . http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/Products/AnimalFoodFeeds/PetFood/default.htm
2. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-industry-exposed/shocking-truth-about-dog-food/
3. http://www.secretdogconspiracy.com/dog-food-secrets.php
4. http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/barfdiet.shtml
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