Foods Pets Die For by Ann Martin
This is very important. Processed foods, no matter how high the quality, are still cooked foods. Cooking destroys essential enzymes that aid the dog in digesting foods. If you feed any kind of processed or cooked food, ALWAYS add a digestive enzyme supplement before you feed. One quality brand is Prozyme® that can be ordered through Drs. Foster and Smith catalog (1-800-826-7206). In many cases, replacing the enzymes can make a big difference, but feeding a higher quality food is necessary, too.
Raw Food Diets Include Raw Meats and Raw Meaty Bones
Quite an eye opener-feeding dogs raw meats and raw meaty bones. Aren't we told those are bad for dogs? Would you believe it if I said that was untrue? Those of us who believe our dogs should be fed what nature intended for them to eat, understand that our dogs, even though domesticated, are still mainly carnivores, just like their cousins the wolf and their ancestors going back millions of years. In fact, in 1993, scientists designated the wolf and dog as the same species. Therefore, our dogs are "domesticated wolves." I believe our dogs should be fed the way nature intended for them to be fed, before the invention and convenience of processed dog food came onto the market. Dogs have a short digestive system, which is perfect for digesting raw meat and bones. They are designed by nature, over the millions of years, to eat and stay healthy on a species-appropriate raw food diet or ARF for short. There is great evidence linking processed dog food products (and other things) to the epidemic of cancer and disease seen in dogs today, as well as digestive problems.
So what then are my options?
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz&naturaid=1
Click on this link to compare ingredients in dog foods
If you choose to continue to feed processed dog food products, it is important to try to feed a food with higher quality ingredients to start off with. Sometimes, switching to another quality kibble can make the difference. Big advertised brands do not guarantee they are better or of top quality ingredients. The top 10 dry dog foods according to The Whole Dog Journal (March 2000) are:
• Wellness Super5Mix (hormone free lamb) [1-800-225-0904]
• Best in Show (Solutions) [1-800-364-4287]
• Canidae [1-800-398-1600]
• California Natural (Chicken & Rice) [1-800-532-7261]
• Flint River Ranch (Dry Water) [1-909-682-5048]
• Innova [1-800-532-7261]
These companies are producing good, high-quality foods by using clean, fresh meat and whole ground grains and vegetables. They shun the chemical preservatives and poor quality ingredients that the majority of the larger dog food companies use. Avoid foods of any caliber that list any of these on their label:
• by-products (chicken by-products, beef by-products, etc.)
• fats or proteins named generically (animal fat, poultry fat, meat meal as opposed to beef fat, chicken fat or lamb meal)
• food fragments (brewer's rice, corn gluten)
• animal digest
• artificial sweeteners (corn syrup, sucrose, and ammoniated glycyrrhizin (added to attract dogs to unappealing food)
• propylene glycol
• artificial preservatives (BHT, BHA and Ethoxyquin)
• artificial colors
• sodium nitrate
• flavors
