In the years that I have been working with dogs and cats with
behavior problems, one thing stands clear: Diet and nutrition play an
integral role in behavior. Like a person, if a dog doesn't feel well, it can
manifest in their behavior. My goal is to educate people not only about
nutrition itself, but also how a dog or cat's diet can directly relate to
their behavior. I truly believe that dogs who eat a super-premium, more
species-specific diet will feel better, and thus behave better.
I urge every dog owner to re-evaluate what you are feeding your pet.
Please don't buy the grocery store brand because it is cheaper. You are
doing your pet an injustice. Do research. Be informed. Study the labels on
the foods that you are currently feeding your pet. On food labels,
ingredients are listed in order of their volume percentages. For example, if
chicken by-product is the first ingredient listed on the label, then chicken
by-product is the major ingredient in your pet's food. Also, manufacturers
only have to list the minimum amount of crude protein, not the digestibility
of it.
Many dogs and cats eat the same thing day-in and day-out for their
entire lives. There is no variety, and most domesticated animals are fed a
dry kibble. One could argue that this is the equivalent of humans eating
Pop-Tarts everyday for our entire lives. Dogs are omnivores, which means
they need both meat and vegetables. Cats are true carnivores. Unfortunately,
dry food kibble alone doesn’t give them all the species-specific nutrition
that they need.
The
digestive systems of dogs aren’t made to digest anything but what they would
eat in the wild. Their digestive tracts are much shorter than ours so food
basically goes in and out. It doesn’t take as long to go through as a human.
Also, their saliva lacks the digestive enzymes amylase and cellulase that
are essential to break-down raw vegetables. Ideally, veggies should be
shredded or steamed.
I recommend supplementing your pet’s dry kibble with wet food whenever
possible. This will add more moisture in his system, which will put less
stress on his kidneys and liver. Most importantly, it will boost the meat
content of his diet.
Dry dog is 50% grain (or more) by nature. It
has to be to hold the little pieces together. Therefore, by feeding your dog
dry kibble everyday, you are giving him 50% more grain than he would eat in
the wild, which is none. Dogs don’t need grain or traditional carbohydrates,
but we are feeding it to them everyday.
Look for foods that have whole protein sources like Chicken, Turkey, Beef,
or Lamb. If you see ‘chicken meal’ as the first ingredient, it means it’s
been rendered twice (cooked), losing valuable nutritional value. Meal may
also contain a majority of bone, and may not have any meat content at all.
There is a belief today that certain well-known national brands on
the market are ‘the best’, when they are absolutely not. These brands are
full of by-products and fillers, which can harm your dog’s long-term health
and behavior. Another myth is that corn is an acceptable grain. Corn is very
hard to digest and has little nutritional value for our pets, especially if
it’s been cooked over and over to make corn meal. Also, although many vets
are wonderful and are very knowledgeable (like mine!), some do not think
nutrition is necessarily important in your dog’s health. Veterinary students
only take one nutrition course their entire time in vet school, and just as
human doctors don’t know much about nutrition, some vets don’t either. Don’t
take your vet’s word for it- investigate foods on your own and make an
informed choice.
These are parts of an animal that are left-overs from the human food chain.
They can include intestines, chicken heads, lungs, livers, kidneys,
duckbills, chicken and turkey feet, feathers and bone. Ingredients listed as
chicken, beef, poultry, and animal by-products are not required to include
actual meat.
These are chemical additives used as preservatives. Ethoxyquin is
FDA-regulated as a pesticide, and is now banned in Europe for both human and
animal food. If these chemicals are part of the left-over food that comes
from the human food chain, manufacturers are not even required to list it on
the label!
These are ingredients such as corn, brewers rice, beet pulp, feathers, soy,
cotton hulls, corncobs, peanut hulls, citrus pulp, screenings, weeds, straw,
and cereal by-products. These fillers have no nutritional value for your pet
and are only used to hold the dry kibble together.
ALTERNATIVE DIETS
Really good video on feeding raw diets....
http://www.youtube.com/embed/G3wLTlqnMMg
The raw, species appropriate diet does not contain grain products, which are
not biologically appropriate for our pets. The ingestion of grain and other
starchy foods contribute to many degenerative diseases. Domestic pets should
be getting their carbohydrate in a similar manner to their wild ancestors.
That means fresh meat, vegetables, and fruit. To maximize your animal’s
health, he requires protein from sources like his wild ancestors who derived
their fats and essential fatty acid from raw meat and vegetables. In
addition, raw food is a great ‘weight maintainer’. If your cat needs to lose
weight, he’ll lose it while eating raw food. If he needs to gain weight,
he’ll gain it- both with
the same amount of food.
Some argue that the best diet for a dog is the rotation diet, which consists
of rotating protein sources every 6 months. A lot of animals develop food
allergies, and this can be attributed to eating the same protein every day
for 15 years. If you rotate the kinds of proteins you give your dog, you may
reduce the chances of him developing a food allergy. All this means is you
can feed your dog a chicken based food for 6 months, then switch to lamb or
beef. Rotate and you can see major health benefits.
Some people may prefer to make their pets’ diet, which has now become even
easier. There are freeze dried powders, including bone meal, vegetables, and
supplements that you can add to raw or cooked meat to allow for your pet’s
nutritional needs. It can be more cost effective than some diets, but can
also be more time-consuming.
There are many different views on the pros and cons of all
dog and cat foods. All I hope for you is to educate yourself and feed your
animal a more species-specific diet, with less grains and fillers.
Dr. Kari DVM
TESTIMONIAL
Our
4 year old pug, Oliver, had always been a “licker”. His giant tongue made it
easy for him to give kisses and lick his own paws. About 6 months ago, we
started to notice the licking was becoming more frequent and more intense.
It got to the point where every time we turned around, Oliver was licking
himself.
The other concern we had was the amount that Oliver needed
to go to the bathroom. He has a doggie door and lets himself outside so we
had no idea how much he was defecating. Then, we started spending the
weekends in the mountains where there is no doggie door and the yard is not
fenced. Once we started having to take him out we learned that he needed to
go up to 5 times a day! We didn’t understand how such a little dog could be
producing so much waste.
The licking was really out of control so I sent Kari an
e-mail explaining the situation. It did not occur to me that the licking
could be related to the “potty issue” and didn’t even bring it up. Once I
told Kari the food Oliver was on, she became concerned. She explained how
the food is full of fillers, corn and even known carcinogens. The food was
almost like poison going through Oliver’s body and skin, and he was eating
it everyday! Because it had so much “junk” in it, the food went right
through the body which explained all the defecating. I had no idea! The food
came directly from the vet’s office and was very expensive.
After talking with Kari, I went to a natural pet store in my
neighborhood. I bought new food and treats made from quality ingredients.
Oliver’s “potty issue” was better almost immediately. Within a day, Oliver
was down to needing to go 1-2 times per day. The licking is getting better
everyday. He still licks his paws but the intensity is decreasing. We were
told it would take a few weeks to really clear-up so Oliver is right on
track.
Kari, thank you so much for the information on the
importance of good nutrition. We are telling all of our dog owning friends
and they are also making the switch to natural food too.
Owner: Katie Greenwell
Nutrition,
Diet, and Behavior
What to
Avoid