Natural Diets

Midway Animal Alternative and Complimentary Clinic

Dr. Trish Kallenbach, DVM

1821 South Suncoast Blvd Homosassa,Florida 34429
(352) 795-0250

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Natural Diets

We are what we eat could not be more true than with our pets, and they have no choice in their diet. They are at the mercy of their caretakers to provide, to the best of their ability, their diet. The problem with this is that most of the conventional diets, even the ones purchased at their veterinarian, are far from the most beneficial diet. The Institute of Animal Health and other sources have a variety of articles that discusses what is in today's pet foods, and the negative effects on our pets' health.

Dogs are omnivores (eats both plant and animal), similar to the human, but requiring more meat and significantly less grains (just as is being revealed in our own diet recommendation changes in the last few years). In a more natural habitat, canines' and felines' prey (rodents and rabbits, as well as larger animals) would provide meats and organs, including the intestines with their contents, rich in protein, fats, digestive enzymes. They would also supplement their diet with some tubers (root based vegetables), fruits and berries, grasses, and even some tree barks and bugs. All of this diet would fluctuate based on the time of year, as well as other factors.

The conventionally available diets consist primarily of grains and discarded oil and fat products with some meats and meat by-products (all of which usually have failed USDA inspection for human consumption). They "balance" these with synthetic (incomplete) vitamins and minerals. And none of these diets have to prove themselves actually digestible by our pets' digestive systems.

Another significant factor that I see as a contributor to progressive or chronic bad health are the chemicals incorporated in these same diets. Starting with the pesticides and various medications used in and on the animals and plants that are the base ingredients, preservatives, color and flavor enhancers, extruding agents and other products are added, often in very high amounts.

The overall products are not what I would want going in my body (and has certainly not passed USDA inspection for healthy consumption) so why would I want it going into my best friend, the family pet?

The cat is actually one giant step worse! The small, "domesticated", feline is an obligate carnivore. It evolved in North Africa, a desert region, and is at an evolutionary stage to get a balanced diet from prey. The only grains and plants it would normally consume would be in the intestinal contents of the intestines of their prey. And that prey would be approximately 80-90% water, so drinking would not be a normal event for the small feline. Our domestic felines have made some adaptations, but still suffer from the stress put on their organs from our readily available, common diets of grains and oils.

The pet food industry has treated the cat like a small dog, with a few extra amino acids thrown in. A diet based on huge amounts of grains, little to no moisture, and very little actual animal tissue is a significant contributor to the processes slowly killing our feline friends before they even get a good start on life. Add in the chemical toxins and the picture continues to spiral downward.

What can we do?

There are many options from bagged and canned "organic/natural" diets to raw diets to home cooked diets. All of these options have their own unique benefits and weaknesses and each owner must decide what is best (and manageable) for their lifestyle and their pet. My clinic primarily relies on a few lines within brands of commercially prepared natural diets that have been chosen to highlight the best components, but all options are available and worked with.

The basics for deciding a diet (NOT a brand name!!!) are the following:

1. The diet should be organic or natural or at least human grade - raising the ingredients to the level of inspected by the USDA and judged for human consumption, as well as benefiting from the absence of most of the chemicals and drugs in other diets.

2. The diet should contain no wheat or corn contents.

3. The diet ingredient list should have the first 2 ingredients be of animal origin - to have "had a heartbeat".

Here, another trick should be watched for - if an ingredients list shows a grain divided up into various components of that grain scattered through the list (ie, rice, rice hulls, rice germ, etc.), this is often misleading. If it were just listed as "rice", the rice grain would more than likely be the primary ingredient!

These simple rules generally get the diet much closer to the more natural balance of meats without the unhealthy overload of grains and the insult of various toxic chemicals (preservatives, pesticides, medications, etc.), and are then brought to some balance with more natural "complete" whole food sourced vitamins and minerals and trace elements.

Is this all we need?

In some cases, our pets' clinical problems can be addressed or their life overall improved with just this modification. More commonly, however, digestive enzymes and other supplements or detoxifications are needed to bring the body back into balance for maximal healing and health. We have to remember that what has taken months, if not years to develop may have progressed to a very significant level and take a lot of work, and time, to relieve. Each animal is an individual and must be evaluated as such.