The benefits of feeding raw dog food and raw cat food

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FEEDING YOUR PETS THE NATURAL WAY
In the 1930s, the Natural Pet-Rearing Movement was started by herbalist Juliette de Bairacli Levy who promoted a diet of raw food for dogs and cats. In 1993 Dr Ian Billinghurst revolutionised the way people were thinking about pet food, taking us back to Nature. Both Billinghurst, and Dr Tom Lonsdale (2001) researched the diet of wolves and wild dogs and showed us that the natural meal plan of our dogs’ ancestors can help us to keep our beloved pets as happy and healthy as they were meant to be Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) is Dr. Billinghurst’s name for the diet he proposed. The basic philosophy is that optimal pet health will only be obtained if we mimic the foods that our pets would eat in nature. Dogs and cats both feed on whole carcasses - meat, bones, offal, and the stomach contents of the prey (vegetable matter). Wild puppies eat a variety of food including soil, grass, stomach contents of prey, raw meat, bones, offal, vegetables, fruit, berries, insects, bark, roots, faeces. And they never cook!
Why Feed a Natural Diet We have been feeding our dogs natural food for so long, that this question has become "Why feed anything else?" We were nervous in the beginning - advertising had convinced us that hard dry pellets filled with grains and preservatives and other ingredients that we could not see were the only path to pet health. It took our dog , and then our cat, becoming sick on an expensive brand of pellets to clear the wool from our eyes. An article by Born Free USA entilted What's Really in Pet Food put us off pellets for good. With raw food, you can see exactly what your animals are eating. Your animals are getting a varied diet filled with fresh, high quality ingredients. A raw diet is the way nature intended. A species appropriate diet for dogs is one that mimics the way wolves and wild dogs eat in their natural habitat. They feed on the whole carcass, including the organs and the bones, which provides them with all the essential nutrients. They also forage for additional nutrients. Cats are natural carnivores, so their diet must reflect the prey that they would catch in nature.


Benefits of a Raw Food Diet People who have switched their cats and dogs to a raw diet have seen that ... Allergies their pets previously had on commercial foods disappeared with the raw diet Arthritis has significantly reduced or disappeared in some dogs switched to raw foods Teeth are naturally clean - chewing on raw meaty bones helps scrape tartar off the teeth The ripping and chewing involved in eating raw meaty bones develops the jaw, neck, and shoulder muscles. Commercial foods will never assist in this important muscle development Dry skin has cleared Stools are smaller and don't smell as bad Better weight control No more pet odour! Bitches managed their pregnancies better Their animals are living longer on a raw diet than what their other pets previously had survived on commercial dog and cat foods Better weight and survival figures in puppies and kittens. Puppies develop at a more appropriate rate - and quick growth spurts are avoided. A GOOD breeder will want to stop fast growth in any pup. Less cost for dog and cat food - commercial pet foods are ludicrously expensive Decreased vet bills (your dogs are healthier!)
More information on feeding your pets a raw natural diet can be found in books and on websites. Here are a few recommendations: Books: Give your Dog a Bone by Ian Billinghurst Raw Meaty Bones by Tom Lonsdale The Herbal Handook for Cats and Dogs by Juliette de Bairacli Levy Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schultze Dr Pitcairn's Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Richard Pitcairn Raising Cats Naturally by Michelle Bernard Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food by Anne Martin Websites: rawmeatybones.com drianbillinghurst.com totally raw dogfood .com rawlearning.com catnutrition.org catinfo.org livingfoods.com raw fed.com - cats raw fed.com - dogs naturalrearing.com cats.about.com barfworld.com www.kittycat.co.za/www.tanyatiboxers.co.za/raw.html
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FEEDING YOUR PETS THE NATURAL WAY