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Food: Whole, unprocessed and even raw
By Gina Spadafori
July 16, 2007
The Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise has a done a well-balanced piece on how many people are preparing home-made meals for their pets in the wake of thousands of pets dead from contaminated ingregrients. The trend has been growing for years, and now, it seems, the number of converts are growing even faster:
The gold standard, say advocates of this natural-feeding movement, is a pet diet that closely adheres to what predators ate in the wild, namely, raw meat. The pet-food recall last spring — believed to be caused by contaminated protein concentrates — added raw-food converts and buttressed longtime supporters’ contempt for commercial products.“Cats are carnivorous,” says Antoinette Fabre, of Temecula, who feeds her four felines raw rabbit with bones and has eliminated dried grains from their diet. “They’re meant to be eating road kill, not cereal.”
[...]
However, the raw diet doesn’t draw universal raves. [...] Many veterinarians aren’t familiar with the BARF trend or discourage it.
“There’s a big push as a result of the recall,” says Dr. Diane Craig in Tustin, president of the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association. “I personally haven’t used the diet.
[...]
On the other side, Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins, 53, owner of All About Cats Health and Wellness Center in Yorba Linda, recently testified in Washington before a Senate subcommittee about what she believes is the magic-bullet cure for sick pets: raw meat. Joined by a growing number of pet owners, Hodgkins has sold 4,000 pounds of raw meat and bones in the last eight weeks.
“There’s nothing voodoo or mysterious about eating natural, whole, fresh ingredients,” says Hodgkins, who promotes a raw-meat diet in her book, published last month, “Your Cat: Simple Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life.”
Until a decade ago, Hodgkins, who’s had stints at Hill’s Pet Nutrition and Heska veterinary science corporations, used only commercial pet products.
“I believed what I’d been told,” she says. But when her beloved 4-year-old cat named Punkin nearly died from diabetes, she began studying pet-food labels and discovered a diet rich in carbohydrates.
She tossed Punkin’s dry food and substituted a diet of canned meat, low in carbs and high in protein and fat. Within days of the new regimen, Punkin was off insulin. Hodgkins eventually switched completely to raw meat to avoid carbs altogether.
“The bias against raw food is ingrained in us by the very large pet-food industry,” she says. “It has duped us into believing that artificial, packaged food is the only way to feed a cat.”
Don’t wait for the PFI to jump on board, though:
Pet Food Industry President Duane Ekedahl responded in an e-mail that bones can be dangerous to cats and dogs; bones and raw foods pose health risks to owners and pets; and a BARF diet can be messy and may not be nutritionally complete and balanced, and its products are difficult to store. He described most pet food as “one of the most highly regulated food products.”
Here’s the rest.
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shocking, i say, just shocking! people cam actually feed their pets themselves?! ;)
“a BARF diet can be messy . . .”
lol!~ aside from the occassional chicken foot in my bed compliments of Yankee, I’d have to say it’s a heck of a lot cleaner than canned food.
”. . . and may not be nutritionally complete and balanced . . .”
dude, have ya checked the contents of commercial pet food lately? seriously, feeding a pet is NOT that hard.
” . . . . and its products are difficult to store.”
ever hear of a freezer?! even us apt dwellers can seem to find space for these “difficult to store” items.
“He described most pet food as “one of the most highly regulated food products.”
he’s kidding, right? dude needs a reality check . . .
Comment by straybaby — July 16, 2007 @ 10:28 pm
25% of a vets income from food?
Wow, that answers …so many questions.
Comment by E. Hamilton — July 16, 2007 @ 10:52 pm
All I can say is that since switching my cat from dry kibble to raw food, he acts and looks 100% percent more healthy. I agree with straybaby, anyone who still believes that commercial pet food is “nutritionally complete” and “highly regulated” is either in denial or willfully ignorant. My cat would never eat canned food; he dives into the raw food with tremendous enthusiasm and I trust his judgment far more than I trust some toady of the corporate pet food industry.
Comment by Susan — July 16, 2007 @ 11:20 pm
You know that cartoon that shows an owner talking to the dog in one panel, and in the next panel, shows what the dog actually hears (the “talk bubble” above the human this time contains “Blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah.”
Well, that’s pretty much what I think they they should put between the quotation marks any time they quote Duane Ekdahl any more! (Pet Food Industry President Duane Ekedahl responded “Blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah.”)
Comment by The OTHER Pat — July 17, 2007 @ 5:28 am
Wow, I can’t say enough about feeding my crew of cats a raw diet. Virtually everything about them has improved tremendously and we’re talking old cats here (17 & 19 are the oldest). No more running, pussy eyes; skin allergies; vomiting; runny stool; constipation; coats are like silk; playful and full of energy, and the list goes on. I use Felines Pride which was recommended by Dr. Hodgkins and I am so grateful I found her and this food! Previously I was feeding all the recalled crap and one of them, 10 year old Persephone, was killed by Menu Foods. I will never trust commercial foods again, or PFI, or the FDA. I avoid all foods and foodstuffs from China as well.
Comment by Nabiya — July 17, 2007 @ 9:23 am
He’s right! Home cooked and raw diets don’t have melamine, artificial flavors and colors,or grain based carbohydrates. How can our pets live without this….apparently a lot better than they did with these ingredients.
Comment by Andrea 2CatMom — July 17, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
“Many veterinarians aren’t familiar with the BARF trend or discourage it.”
…well, this is no trend. Our grandparents and ancestors have fed raw/real food for thousands of years and we can now see “the trend of commercially prepared foods (as in kibble)” has peaked. The trend of increased sales for kibble or dry food will hopefully end.
Of course vets will discourage raw feeding if they have never had a chance to learn about it at school. As we know, vets only get a few hours of nutrition sponsored by the big pet food companies and many have a loyalty to them as a result of gifts and grants while attending school. You don’t need to be a Dr. or PHD to feed a dog. There is a conflict of interest when vets sell their food.
Comment by Dave — July 17, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
A question for people serving their pets raw diets do most of you serve a commercially prepared raw diet or buy your own meat? i am thinking of having my dog try this a couple of times a week to see how he would like it thanks for any info!
Comment by lindak. — July 17, 2007 @ 4:09 pm
I recently lost my cat Tiger to pet food related kidney failure. It was extremly hard to watch her melt to nothing. I would love to join the lawsuit and get the poor pets lost to this “mistake” there has got to be a way to make our pets food and our food safe, how it should be.
Comment by Tiger's Mom — July 17, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
Hi lindak, having a local mentor is very helpful when making the change to raw. See if a local pet store sells raw and ask for their help. You can also join a “raw feeding” Yahoogroup. The Whole Dog Journal recently has published a number of articles about raw feeding (home prepared) and for a small fee you can get their on-line news letters.
Don’t mix the kibble or dry food with raw. Do your homework and then make the change.
Comment by Dave — July 18, 2007 @ 6:04 am
The OTHER Pat: Boy, did you ever hit the nail on the head. When Duane-o speaks, that’s all I hear or believe…..”blah blah blah”……he speaks with forked tongue…..
And that goes for the rest of them too. That’ll be the day I’ll believe that commercial pf is nutritionally complete & well balanced. Only when they convince me that melamine, cyanuric acid & acetamenophen (sp?) are good for our animals.
I can’t bring myself to feed raw so I cook for my dog but I don’t think it matters: whether it’s raw or cooked, it still is 100 times more nutritionally complete & well balanced than the crap in cans & bags. Hopefully enough pet parents will figure that out & stop buying that junk food.
Comment by JanC — July 18, 2007 @ 9:10 am
I agree JanC. I didn’t go Raw, but I have gone 75% homecooked, supplemented by evo dry and Wellness canned when I travel. Yesterday I cooked two recipes, Chicken/Sardines and Chicken/Salmon. I used Dr. Strombeck’s recipes. When I start mixing it in the food processor my cat starts vocalizing. It is warm and fresh and full of everything that she needs. And she wants a taste!
Comment by Shawn — July 18, 2007 @ 10:15 am