Reasons you should consider feeding raw, dehydrated, or whole foods to your pet.
~ Raz~
Shopping for dog food these days can be confusing, sometimes overwhelming. There are many options available to the pet owner. Each type of food, whether canned or kibbled (dry), has several different manufacturers, each of which offers various "bells and whistles." there are some with grain and some without. Some have high protein some have very low protein. Some foods are recommended based on age. Some even claim to only be appropriate for certain breeds. The comparisons and contrasts are endless. The one thing they do have in common is the fact they are all highly processed. What that means to your pet is that the food that ends up in his bowl for dinner has, to some extent, been degraded by heat during the manufacturing process. The food that starts out in raw form is cooked at high temperatures, then bagged or canned, and stored pending sale to distributors, who in turn sell it to retail stores that stock it for sale to the consumer. The question becomes: how many vital nutrients are still available to your pet by the time he gets to eat it? Are vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes and amino acids, inherent in the foods prior to cooking, still intact following the manufacturing process? If so, what about their nutritional value after months of having been stored in a bag on the shelf? Is there a way to augment processed foods (canned and kibbled) in a way that can drastically improve your pets vitality, immunity, and longevity? The answer is… absolutely!!!!!
Raw foods are nutritionally intact. Fragile vitamins, minerals, amino acids, digestive enzymes, and probiotics remain unadulterated by the heating, extruding, canning, bagging, and storage process. For the exact same reasons our doctors encourage us to incorporate whole raw food nutrition into our diets, we should consider providing whole, raw food nutrition to our pets. In actuality, they benefit from raw foods even more because their rate of digestion compared to humans is so much faster. This is in part due to the fact that their digestive tracts are much shorter. Also, this is due to the fact that the salivary, gastric, and digestive organ fluids they secret to break down foods they eat are far more potent than humans. There is truly no better way to provide a well rounded, complete and totally bio-available source of life, energy and immune enhancing nutrients.
Those of us working in the pet wellness industry over the last several years have begun to see a dramatic increase in the rate of disease in young pets. Diseases like arthritis, cancer, visual impairment, diabetes, allergies, and skin disorders and obesity to name a few. The question that begs an answer is: why are our pets dying younger, and becoming diseased earlier than ever before? Can we help them feel better, and live longer by simply including whole unprocessed nutrition back into their diet?
There are several companies that now offer us ways to enhance nutrition in this way. It is vitally important to clarify when we talk about raw food for pets we do not mean raw meats from the grocery store!!! The raw/freeze dried/ dehydrated raw foods to consider are complete, and balanced nutrition. The companies that specialize in the manufacture of raw foods take great care in providing products that are comprised of safe, high quality ingredients. These foods incorporate muscle meat, organ meat, and bone in the appropriate ratios. The meats are flash frozen and processed immediately to control/prevent pathogen development. Fruits and veggies compliment the meats and provide necessary vitamin, mineral, and anti-oxidant benefit. Whether you choose frozen, dehydrated, or freeze dried raw , use it as part of a meal or in treat form, is up to you. Keeping in mind that some is better than none... But, the more you can do the better.
Here is a list of some of the improvements in your pet's health that you'll see if you choose to incorporate less processed forms of nutrition into their daily meal plan:
- More energy, more lean muscle mass and a decrease in body fat
- Less stool volume
- Cleaner teeth and better breath
- Shinier coat and less flaky skin
- Improved joint health with less arthritic limitations
- Diabetic pets tend to require less insulin support over time
- Natural enzyme activity enhances digestion which prevents gas, bloating, malabsorption, and diarrhea
- Natural sources of pre and probiotics fuel the production of immune enhancing/disease fighting cells that circulate through the body.
If you find you are interested in learning more about including whole, unprocessed and raw foods into your pet's diet let me know, and I will be happy to assist you in this life enhancing process.