The Truth About Raw Pet Food for Dogs, Cats and Ferrets

Sept. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- Awareness and feeding of raw pet foods has grown exponentially in recent years.


The growth has been in response to the growing rates of unhealthy companion animals.


Our pets are stricken with ailments ranging from skin problems, allergies, diabetes, irritable bowel, kidney problems, weight control issues to cancer and ever shorter lives.


This is the reality facing modern pets today, subsisting on the same nutrient damaged, dried, highly processed, "100% Complete" unnatural pet foods, often for an entire lifetime.


Many of the above issues can be traced back to one place - the food dish.


The industry is a causal factor. Commercials and advertisements flood images of real fresh chicken, healthful grains and colored kibble bits.


While this may appear wonderful and healthy, in reality it paints is a bleak future for the pets subjected to these highly processed foods.


The Reason for Raw


Our dogs, cats and ferrets need raw food. Quite simply, as carnivorous animals, they are designed for it! Raw food is what they are supposed to eat.


Before the invention of cereal based kibble some 70 years ago, our pets were thriving on their natural foods. The kibble craze did not come out of necessity, but of convenience.


This western phenomena caught on quickly, but not without ill effect.


What's wrong with processed foods? We hear a lot about trying to avoid processed food for ourselves, and this is what we also need to heed when it comes to pet food.


Processed Foods


Processing in the case of pet food requires very high temperatures to achieve a hard, dry kibble.


Humans and pets are the only creatures on the planet that regularly eat highly processed foods. Likewise companion animals are the only canines and felines in the world forced to eat dry processed diets.


Unfortunately the further we deviate from a natural diet the more problematic our health becomes.


The effects of heat processing include:


   Denatured Proteins

   Proteins are no longer intact, instead they become damaged as chains between amino acids are broken and destroyed.


   In the case of allergies and irritable bowel these denatured proteins illicit immune responses, manifesting as itchy skin, ear infections and loose stool.


   Remarkably immunologists see many cases of pets thought to be allergic to a specific cooked protein, only to find they are not allergic to the same meat in its raw form.


   Expensive allergy testing also utilizes processed protein isolates and therefore cannot effectively determine the reactions to raw proteins.


   Enzyme Inactivation

   Enzymes naturally present in raw food are destroyed, creating a difficult to digest product, placing a high burden on the pancreas to produce enzymes to digest and break down protein, fats and carbohydrates.


   Destruction of Vitamins

   Naturally occurring vitamins are destroyed. To replace these nutrients poor quality synthetic vitamins are added, only replacing some with bear minimums required for survival. Any beneficial bacteria or pro-biotics are also destroyed.


   Production of Harmful Compounds

   Well known carcinogens known as nitrosamines can  be produced as by-products of heat processing.


   Fat Rancidity

   Heat accelerates the reaction between oxygen and fats, producing rancidity in fats and oils.


One other important distinction to make is that unlike cooked human food, pet food is processed to such a high degree that almost all of its nutritional value, at least in the case of vitamins and micro-nutrients, is altered or lost.

While in comparison, raw food is frozen fresh and maintains its nutritional value.


The Unnatural Diet


The high levels of processing used are not the only case against dry foods.


The grocery store brands and many foods available at big box stores are completely unnatural to carnivorous animals, including our dogs, cats and ferrets.


These foods are loaded with inferior protein sources, including by-products, incomplete vegetables proteins, and are laden with empty carbohydrates.


Many contain artificial additives and dangerous petroleum based preservatives while lacking any human grade ingredients.


Dry processed foods create a chronic state of mild dehydration. Dry food absorbs moisture from the body and stresses vital organs, including kidneys that must work harder to function.


Like canned foods, raw foods contain up to 80% moisture content, providing the natural source of water pets require. This is especially true in the case of cats, who as desert animals have virtually non-existent thirst drives. Carnivores were designed to obtain the majority of their water intake from prey animals in the form of raw food.


Through out the decades, processed foods claimed to be 100% complete and balanced have created imbalances and nutrient deficient animals. Each time they are reformulated, the same claim is made. If they were truly 100% complete to begin with, corrections would not be necessary.


Without exception, no processed dry kibble, cooked, canned, freeze dried or dehydrated pet food is equivalent to the nutrition in a fresh, natural raw food diet.


Doctors and nutritionists persistently insist that we eat less processed food. This same recommendation applies to any living creature, including our pets.


At this time prepared raw food diets can be found at small specialty pet stores. You may also consider investing in a raw food diet recipe book to make your own home made raw pet food. Recipes are widely available that are balanced with the correct ratios of meat, ground bone, organs, with and without fruits and vegetables while providing the variety all living beings need.

The recent invention of dry kibble is the "alternative pet food", where as raw food is, and always will be the baseline for health.


Source:

http://www.optimalpetfoods.com/index.php?page=article-the...

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About Optimal Pet Foods:

A pet store that specializes in natural dog food, cat food and small animal food, including raw diets.

Optimal Pet Foods is located in Calgary, AB Canada.

http://www.optimalpetfoods.com