An interesting take on food

[Fran Griffin]

Anything  I post here doesn't necessarily reflect my personal opinion, but here is an interesting take on the dry versus natural diet argument. Take from it what you like.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/04/01...

[Trish Haill]

Bess has just found a lamb bone in the garden which must have been out there for six weeks or more.  Apparently it has now matured enough for her to eat it!  :0)

[Kimberly Simmons]

Yummy

[Fran Griffin]

Unless there is a malabsorption issue Finn, then it is possible for them to remain thin, just like humans who have malabsorption issues. However, a good quality raw food is easier for them to digest, but as with two of mine, they need digestive enzymes to help them absorb all the nutrients, and this is caused by lack of pancreatic enzymes.  Considering dried food contains NO natural enzymes what so ever, just think how much harder it would be for them to digest those foods, as opposed to their good quality raw which has a certain amount of natural enzymes.  Well, I know that by now Tallulah would have died, and Barkley would probably be quite ill by now.  Fortunately, they are both doing incredibly well considering their condition. The only vet who isn't gobsmacked by the fact Tallulah is still alive is the homeopathic vet, who fully understands why she is still here and having a good quality life.

[Trish Haill]

I was converted to raw when Bess was six months old.  She turned her nose up at any of the dry foods I offered, even the one she'd been weaned onto.  I spent a lot of time looking at ingredients and trying to get her onto a 'good' food, but even the most expensive foods she walked away from.  I had a skinny six month old, and was becoming desperate!

In my reading up of the different foods I came across the raw diet information.  At first I was unconvinced.  Surely pet food manufacturers knew what they were doing?  My mother had always told me never to feed a raw bone to a dog else it would become bloodthirsty, chicken bones were a complete no no as they'd kill a dog etc etc.  But the more I read, the more I was convinced that raw was the way to go.

I was very nervous at the start - giving Bess her first chicken wing was a big step for me.  But she ate it with obvious enjoyment - something I'd not seen before.

I don't find feeding raw difficult, and in fact get a lot of enjoyment (sad I know!) from choosing her food each day, and giving her a variety.  From the start Bess began eating better, and started putting on the weight she should.  She's still not a dog who rushes to her plate when you put it down - she'll wait a few minutes and then deign to wander over to see what's in it.  With the exception of rabbit and hare shoulders - these are special treats and she loves them!

This article is very good, and it's this type of information that convinced me.  Dogs survived very well before we put them onto a commercial diet.  Bess drinks less on raw as she gets what she needs from her food, and she excretes a lot less, which tells me she's using what goes in rather than it just going straight through her system. 

[Fran Griffin]

Hi Trish. I felt just like you to start off with. I went to a raw feeding workshop about 10 years ago, and the speaker had a bucket of chicken wings which he started giving out.  Well I gave some to my dogs, feeling really uneasy about it, as I had always been told chicken bones kill.  When I arrived home, I was convinced  my dogs were going to die, and was watching or listening to their every move. All of a sudden Nalle coughed. "oh that's it" I thought and went rushing back into the room fully expecting to see him writhing in agony.  He lifted his head, looked at me as if to say "what's the matter mum?".  From that moment, haven't looked back. lol

[Christine Pullen]

Hi Trish, can I just ask where you get your rabbit and hare shoulders from?  Would love to try mine on those but butcher doesn't have them!

[Trish Haill]

Manifold Valley Meats I get a delivery once a month from them. Their food is great quality.

[Fran Griffin]

Ah, so you are happy with them then Trish.  A friend and I have been looking at their website and wondering what the quality is like. They sound really good from all the things you have been saying, and reasonably priced too.

[Christine Pullen]

Thank you!!

[Fran Griffin]

For humans too :-D

http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/

[Susan Stone]

Please, anyone following this thread, take a moment to stop and think: MONEY is behind 'Dr. Karen Becker' and the Mercola organisation. BIG MONEY! Both Karen Becker and Joseph Mercola are responsible for spreading non-scientific misinformation wit the sole intention of making MONEY! They do this by criticising science based medicine and promote their 'beliefs'in a fashion liking to religious fundamentalists.

Feed your dog what suits him best. It is that simple.

I am sorry, Fran, but you are taking this too far. So your friend died of breast cancer because she was not willing to go down the road you suggested? I am at loss for words.

 

 

[Fran Griffin]

That's your opinion Susan, however, Mercola and his information have saved my life, and also Karen Becker only served to back up what a Polish vet told me, and her helped to save Tallulah's life. Also your claim that effectively I am being taken for a ride is highly offensive Susan. When my Professor, who is located at Machester Royal Infirmary, took Mercola's details because he was so impressed with the information which was being put out, and actually shook my hand for "taking it seriously" and being "a model patient" and "I wish ALL of my patients would do 1/2 of what you have done, because it would make my life so much more rewarding" I know whose information I would rather be looking into. Lost for words Susan??? try walking in my shoes for 1 week without doing a single thing to take control of the health issues I have. Susan. Had I not done so, I would not be sitting here now writing this. Guaranteed!!!! 18 months ago, like my friend I was staring death right in the face, with an adrenal tumour, which has now actually shrunk to the point that this year I haven't even had to go through the awful CT scan with its awful contrast which made me feel like I was burning on the inside. I have achieved this with no chemo. I have also stemmed some other nasties such as type 2 diabetes which was coming right at me, all by putting into action what Mercola has put out there. Not only Mercola, but others such as Jerry Brunnetti who reversed his own cancer.

http://www.naturalhealthstrategies.com/food-as-medicine.html

If you have a problem with this Susan, then it's your problem, your personal issue. Not mine. I know who I would rather take medical advice from.