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The hidden truth about raw dog treats and raw diets

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
I skimmed it after it looked to be the usual info... what was the "hidden" truth??

I feed raw. Denna's diet is based on the "Whole Prey Model Raw" plan, but I add in veggies and fruits randomly, because Denna enjoys them, and I've read scientific studies that suggest incorporating some veggie content (but not grains) lead to reduced instances of various cancers.

If you have kids... how do you feed them? convenience foods? fast food? hamburger helper out of a box? or whole foods, prepared fresh at home with no preservatives or added synthetic chemicals? Which do you think will better help your kids become healthy functioning adults?

I don't like to eat "fortified cereal" from a box for every meal (or for any meal, for that matter)... so I don't feed my dog "fortified kibble" every day either.

I personally feel MUCH better eating what they now refer to as "clean"... i.e. whole foods, minimally processed, in balanced and as-needed (not too much, not too little) quantities.
I can't help but translate that to expecting my dog to feel better when eating fresh meals of raw meats, organs and bones.

So, what do I think? I think a home-prepared raw diet is the best diet you can feed your dog. But I also think the link has a lot of personal commentary in it that is unnecessary.

The video in the link started off silly..the dog as a sophisticated biological machine.... hmm.... not sure I buy into that. Biology has adapted to a LOT of crap over the eons, and has lots of methods to survive on really bad fuel. Depending on the dog's genetics, the quality of the fuel may - or may not - have a significant effect on the dogs's overall quality (and quantity) of life. There are people here who feed their dogs purina dog chow, and the dog does fine. But there are MANY others who have dogs that itch like crazy and have other serious health issues when fed that low-quality fuel.

Note - heart is NOT fed as an organ, it is fed as muscle meat. His meal is NOT balanced. It needs liver and other organs (like kidney, spleen, brain, pancreas, or any other secreting organ) to fill out the nutrient profile. Also, with big dogs, you don't have to cut up the meat into such small pieces. If you want the dog to benefit from a good tooth flossing, leave the chunks in big enough pieces that they'll need to chew, and get the meat sinews to floss a bit!
 

Sheila Braund

Well-Known Member
I skimmed it after it looked to be the usual info... what was the "hidden" truth??

I feed raw. Denna's diet is based on the "Whole Prey Model Raw" plan, but I add in veggies and fruits randomly, because Denna enjoys them, and I've read scientific studies that suggest incorporating some veggie content (but not grains) lead to reduced instances of various cancers.

If you have kids... how do you feed them? convenience foods? fast food? hamburger helper out of a box? or whole foods, prepared fresh at home with no preservatives or added synthetic chemicals? Which do you think will better help your kids become healthy functioning adults?

I don't like to eat "fortified cereal" from a box for every meal (or for any meal, for that matter)... so I don't feed my dog "fortified kibble" every day either.

I personally feel MUCH better eating what they now refer to as "clean"... i.e. whole foods, minimally processed, in balanced and as-needed (not too much, not too little) quantities.
I can't help but translate that to expecting my dog to feel better when eating fresh meals of raw meats, organs and bones.

So, what do I think? I think a home-prepared raw diet is the best diet you can feed your dog. But I also think the link has a lot of personal commentary in it that is unnecessary.

The video in the link started off silly..the dog as a sophisticated biological machine.... hmm.... not sure I buy into that. Biology has adapted to a LOT of crap over the eons, and has lots of methods to survive on really bad fuel. Depending on the dog's genetics, the quality of the fuel may - or may not - have a significant effect on the dogs's overall quality (and quantity) of life. There are people here who feed their dogs purina dog chow, and the dog does fine. But there are MANY others who have dogs that itch like crazy and have other serious health issues when fed that low-quality fuel.

Note - heart is NOT fed as an organ, it is fed as muscle meat. His meal is NOT balanced. It needs liver and other organs (like kidney, spleen, brain, pancreas, or any other secreting organ) to fill out the nutrient profile. Also, with big dogs, you don't have to cut up the meat into such small pieces. If you want the dog to benefit from a good tooth flossing, leave the chunks in big enough pieces that they'll need to chew, and get the meat sinews to floss a bit!

I feed my dogs raw diet of meats bones and yes veggies too....no grains....
Now this new vet is telling me that dogs need grains too that because of the raw without grains feed dogs that their seeing more and more dogs with heart issues....
That in most cases the damage has been done when they find it and can't be undone..... then says so after that then the owners are spending big bucks on medications to treat heart disease.......
At this point I think after the X-rays I'll ask for them to send for hip certification and ask for the results and X-rays to be forward to my traveling vet.....at least my traveling vet isn't afraid of Bella..... this vet office seems like everyone is afraid of Bella..... I even thought perhaps I should invest in an muzzle..... and get Bella use to wearing it to the vets office so they wouldn't be so afraid of her.....or would that reinforce they're fear seeing a muzzle on her and thinking she must be dangerous or I wouldn't muzzle her ......
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
The DCM thing is crazy - I think I saw you, Sheila, on the other thread with more info.
Dogs do not "need" grains. Humans don't even "need" grains! BIRDS need grains! :)

The problem (as I understand it), is that "some" dry foods replace grains with pea and lentils... which provide both a startch (to help kibble bits stick together), AND protein (which helps the ultimate analysis #'s).

The only problem, is that pea and lentil proteins are not complete proteins. Not only do they not include taurine, but they also inhibit the dog's ability to synthesize taurine from the other amino acids they eat. So... double jeopardy.

Grain-free kibble diets that do NOT use pea or lentil proteins have been around a long time, and do not cause DCM. Adding in pea and lentils is a new thing. Some are now also trying to point to potatoes as being bad... but since those don't add big amounts of protein to the mix, I'm not buying that one.

As for your vet and the muzzle - I've heard a lot of people here recommend muzzle-training your dog. I haven't done it yet... but I've thought about it, too. It probably will make the dog look scary to a lot of people... but... that's their problem, I suppose.

It still amazes me how un-dog-savvy so many vets are. Don't they know how to read dog body language? They really should teach animal behavior and body language in vet school...