THE NATURE OF THE WOLF (OR LION)
If you were to put a small child in a room with a banana and a bunny, it is very likely they would eat the banana and play with the bunny. If you were to do the same with a cat or dog, I can guarantee they would make a very different choice. Our pet dogs and cats are instinctively carnivores. The cat is in fact an obligate carnivore, meaning they must have a very high percentage of meat in their diet to function in a healthy, vital manner. Dogs can handle a higher percentage of plant matter in their diet than cats, but they still require a large proportion of animal tissues, including meat, organs and bones, in order to thrive.
THE PERFECT CARNIVORE
Both cats and dogs have the anatomical and physiological make-up of a carnivore. In fact, cats are sometimes described as 'the perfect carnivore' as their whole being is geared for hunting and consuming prey. They are genetically extremely similar to their wild counterparts, and their digestive tract is geared to eat a natural prey diet similar to their wolfish or wild cat ancestors.
The digestive system of a carnivore, including the teeth, stomach and gut, is very different to ours. The incisor teeth at the front are there to grab, hold, scrape and cut. The purpose of the large fang teeth is to grab, hold and tear. The molars crush. The jaw is a hinge joint, meaning there is no sideways action, so dogs and cats cannot grind their food like we can. They have no chemical requirement to do this, as their saliva lacks digestive enzymes and instead acts merely as a lubricant enabling them to swallow chunks of food whole. All these teeth in this powerful, muscular jaw are designed to grab, hold and tear prey, and cut it into chunks just small enough to swallow. Dogs that 'wolf' their food down do not lack manners, but in fact are eating in the most natural, canine-appropriate way.
Once the food reaches the stomach, enzymes and strong acids are released that excel at digesting proteins and fats. The food spends a much longer time in the stomach than for omnivores and herbivores, and the stomach acid does a great job killing off any pathogens and breaking down animal flesh, fat and bone. The dog's stomach secretions are very acidic, so they can handle bones that have been buried for a few days, or meat that to us may appear slightly 'off'. Bacteria, including salmonella, E coli, and other food-borne pathogens, will not survive in such an acidic medium. Cats also have very acidic stomach juices, but have evolved as self-reliant hunters, and spend much of their day hunting down fresh prey, so prefer their meal freshly 'killed', rather than cold from the fridge, or a few days old.
From the stomach, the food then passes into the intestines, where more enzymes are produced, and the food is broken down into tiny particles for absorption, transportation and assimilation around the body. The intestines of a carnivore are very short compared to those of humans and most other animals, and the food passes through the intestines very quickly. They are designed to excel at assimilating animal fat and protein that is mostly digested by the stomach, but their capacity to handle foods that require fermentation, including vegetation, carbohydrates and fibre, is very limited.
THE NATURAL CANINE DIET
A dog in the wild would likely eat like this:
Monday - Feeling energetic today, might go hunt down some prey. Ooh, that's a tasty deer, I'll go round up the pack and hunt him down. Stalk, target, run, chase, catch, success! Yum, tasty innards, wow, yummy digested grass and stuff in the tummy, mmmm, a bit of spleen and liver, okay, full now, let's cache this and come back tomorrow.
Tuesday - Woohoo, still have yummy deer to eat today, mmmm, scrape some meat off his bones, yum, kidneys, oooh and a little bit of fat. Woah, full again, need a drink, will come back tomorrow to finish him off.
Wednesday - Yay! Still have deer to eat. Ooh, raw, meaty bones to chew, yum, yum, yum, oh and some tendons and a bit of sinew, soooo good, I'm in heaven. And my teeth feel so clean!
Thursday - Might go check that deer carcass again, oh hello, still have some bones and a bit of meat left here, ooh and some brains, my favourite! Yum, yum, now where's that waterhole?
Friday - Ah shame, finished that deer off yesterday, what to eat today? Oh look, a bird's nest, yum, I love raw eggs, and look, some berries on the ground over here, might snavel them up before anyone else finds them, oooh, and some horse poo yippee!
Saturday - Slim pickings today, oh hang on, just spotted a little rabbit, might chase him down and eat him, stalk, target, run, chase, catch, success! Yummy bunny, so gourmet, not so keen on all the fur though.
Sunday - Not much around today, feeling a bit lazy, might just chew a bit of grass then lie down here and have a little rest. Nice gentle breeze, warm sunshine, comfy grass, ahhhhh, bliss.
So we can see that, left to their own devices, dogs naturally eat quite a varied diet, incorporating raw animal flesh, organ meat, raw bones, some plant material in the form of stomach contents of their prey, and some scavenged or foraged fresh or decaying animal or plant matter. The natural diet of the wild feline is somewhat similar, however they prefer their prey fresh and tend to eat the small animals they catch entirely in one sitting.
Now the question is how do we mimic this for the modern urban pet?
In an urban situation, it is rather unpractical to allow your cat to prey on mice, lizards and small birds for their daily ration, or to send your canine friend out to hunt for rabbits. We can, however, source the building blocks of their natural diet in order to provide them with the essential elements they need to live a long, healthy life. This is one of our many responsibilities as pet owners.
NATURAL DIETS FOR URBAN PETS
Although you may be used to simply opening a bag or tin of pet food and spooning out your pet's ration, providing a homemade pet food diet consisting of natural, nourishing ingredients is easier (and cheaper!) than you may think. Our pets simply need raw meat and bones, organ meats, and some plant matter presented in a 'pre-digested' form (ie blended or pulped).
NATURAL PET FOOD INGREDIENTS
When feeding a natural diet, we should be aiming to mimic the relative proportions of muscle meat, edible bone, organ meat and plant matter that the dog would naturally obtain if they were able to exercise their hunting and scavenging prowess in the wild.
For your canine friend to thrive on a natural, homemade diet, the following constituents must be present:
• Raw meaty bones
• Raw organ meats including liver, heart and kidney
• Raw plant matter, including sprouts, grasses and leafy greens
• Raw 'extras', such as whole eggs and fish
It is important to feed these components in the correct proportions, which can depend on your pet's age, health status and unique nutritional needs. To ensure optimum balance of a natural homemade diet, I recommend a nutritional consult with a Holistic Veterinarian. Many pets are transitioned to an inappropriately balanced natural diet if this advice is not sought out.
WHY TRANSITION TO A NATURAL DIET?
Your pet seems happy and healthy eating a commercial pet food diet, so why change?
It is likely that the pet food you are feeding could be compared to sawdust from a nutritional perspective. As a Holistic Veterinarian, I have witnessed all too frequently the damaging effects of commercial pet food diets on our pets, including my own geriatric cat a few years ago. (See my article "The Perils of Commercial Pet Food - A Personal Encounter") Pets fed commercial pet foods that are lacking in necessary nutrients and filled with inappropriate ingredients are more prone to health issues and degenerative disease including:
• Poor skin/coat health with a tendency to suffer from recurrent skin infections and allergies
• Poor gastrointestinal function with recurrent episodes of gastrointestinal upset, diarrhoea, vomiting, and/or pancreatitis
• Poor stool quality - often smelly, too large, too frequent and too soft
• Dental disease with bad breath
• Hyperactivity and other behavioural issues
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Cushing's Disease
• Arthritis
• Epilepsy
• Arthritis
• Liver disease
• Kidney disease
• Low energy and vitality levels
• Shorter life-span
• Sudden tragic death (such as from the pet foods contaminated with melamine involved in the 2007 pet food recall)
Since commercial pet foods became widely available only a few decades ago, the veterinary profession has witnessed an exponential increase in these types of health issues in our pet dogs and cats. Poor breeding practices, polluted environments, overuse of chemicals and stress and boredom all have their parts to play too, but certainly poor diet is one of the major contributors.
MAKE THE CHANGE
If you transition your pet to a natural diet, either 100% homemade, or including a proportion of high quality, carnivore-appropriate, natural pet food, such as K9 Natural or Ziwi Peak, you will most certainly notice numerous health benefits. Your pet will display exceptional health, be resistant to many of the health issues and diseases that plague our modern pets, and live a long, healthy life full of vigour and vitality. This is their right, and it is our duty as pet owners to make it possible.
If you are committed to improving your pet's health and providing them with a diet they are designed to thrive on, visit me, over at Roar Kingdom ( http://www.roarkingdom.com.au ), where I provide an online natural nutrition consultation service for pet dogs and cats.
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