As of last Friday, January 18th, there wasn’t much of a change in Zig’s weight. Yesterday she was down about half a pound! Since my last post we’ve been through a package of Nature’s Variety Venison patties and we’re now onto some Natural Pet Pantry ground buffalo mixed with Sojos Europa. So far she’s loving it all!
Dogs, just like humans, need digestive enzymes to break down their food into manageable chyme to be processed and absorbed by the large intestine. Pretty much anything that eats has a certain amount of digestive enzymes inside already as mother nature’s way of making sure that food is going to get digested. But we don’t have ALL of the digestive enzymes we need. To provide back-up for and to replenish our own store of enzymes, we also get enzymes out of the food we eat. Used to be that was no problem. We ate raw foods that had been minimally processed. Today, however, that is not the case for people or for animals.
The prepared kibble diet as we know it has only been around since the mid-1950s, which is just a blip of time if you consider the fact that cats have been domesticated for about 4,000 years and dogs for around 14,000. Part of the process involved in making kibble includes baking it at really high temperatures. Unfortunately for us and for our pets, enzymes and other naturally occuring nutrients cannot survive this process and hence our own stores of enzymes become weakened and depleted. Without enzymes our ability to properly digest what we eat and receive the maximum amount of benefit from our food is compromised. This can lead to other complications such as stools with partially undigested food, gas, constipation and/or diarrhea, a dull coat, itchy skin, body odor, etc, etc.
For animals eating a diet consisting mainly of canned or kibble, we highly recommend supplementing their food with digestive enzymes. We carry a house-brand formula put together by Susan & Ira Moss (founders of ATB) which is fantastic but there are other commercial brands as well. Check out Animal Essential’s line of enzymes and probiotics or ask your local naturopath/holistic veterinarian for their recommendation.
For more information about digestive enzymes please click here.
- Mag & Ziggy
As my usual days off are Fri/Sat Ziggy will get weighed again at the end of this week. The diet is going well so far. Currently I’m feeding about a patty and a half of Nature’s Variety Organic Chicken per meal. Occassionally I feed only a patty and add in some frozen vegetables from Natural Pet Pantry.
Some of you who read this will think something along the lines of “What about dental care? Doesn’t Ziggy need to eat kibble to keep her teeth clean?” In short, no. Though this is a common myth, it is indeed a myth. I think that S. Somerville, an ATB employee who researched the matter thoroughly, says it best in the informational handout she wrote for ATB entitled Dental Health and Your Pet:
“Dog and cat teeth are designed to rip and tear at fresh meat and bones, not to crunch kibbles. Carbohydrate based matter, such as kibble, requires animals to adopt an unnatural chewing style which can often lead to particles becoming lodged in between the teeth. Once there, the carbs break down into sugars that can contribute to further tooth decay…While canned food does not offer any abrasive properties, the high moisture content helps to rinse the teeth and keep them free of food particles. The low carboydrate content of high-quality canned food also means a lowered amount of simple sugars introduced into the body. The top choice for dental health, however, is a diet based on raw meat and bones.”
While raw meat and bones are still the prefered diet for optimum dental health, there are other methods and products that kibble users might consider adding to their pet care routine. There are several kinds of dog and cat toothbrushes and toothpaste out there on the market. The brands we carry here are Petrodex and Veterinarian’s Best. These are toothbrushes like you would buy for yourself but there are also “finger-brushes” which are caps you put over your finger tip which have soft rubber bristles to rub off the tartar and plaque.
It’s easier said than done to brush most dog and cat teeth however. Fortunately there are also some supplements that help matters. We carry two such supplements which work in different ways to combat tartar and plaque. The first is called Denta Treat and it is made by Wysong. It is made with cheese enzymes that eat away at the tartar and plaque on contact. It is administered by sprinkling it on top of whatever you’re feeding. The second, which I have tried with Ziggy (and noticed an improvement in her breath) is called PlaqueOff. This is a strain of seaweed (strain D1070) which only grows off the coast of Sweden. It works systemically to keep the tartar and plaque from binding to the teeth in the first place. Additionally it softens the tartar and plaque that are already in place. Though aproved in Europe for humans as well as animals, it is still pending FDA approval in the US for human consumption.
Dental disease is the number one health problem faced by dogs and cats over the age of three. It’s estimated that approximately 85% of dogs and 70% of cats show signs of gum disease which eventually leads to tooth loss and other complications (read: vet bills). No matter which products you choose to use or what methods you choose to employ, it’s important that you stay on top of your companion’s dental health.
- Mag & Ziggy
I weighed Ziggy yesterday morning and she is a hefty 57.8 pounds. Incidentally, the nice receptionist at the vet clinic I went to to use the scale gave Ziggy a treat and then told Zig that it would “help clean her teeth.” Admittedly I have no idea exactly what kind of treat it was as she pulled it out of an unlabeled jar on her desk, but I can tell you that few (if any) dry kibble-like treats help clean teeth. Ever tried brushing yours with a handful of pretzels? Same concept. Stay tuned for more myth-busting information about a variety of subjects and the low-down on what really leads to good dental health for our beloved pets.
Before we get too deeply into this, I figure I should address the question “What is raw food?“ Many health-conscious people with enough money have themselves started eating raw and “whole-food” diets. The kinds of foods I’m feeding Ziggy are exactly the same thing, only designed with dogs and cats in mind instead of people. As one might guess, raw food is, well, raw. Of all of the types of dog food available to us, it is the least processed, the highest in moisture and protein, the lowest in carbs – in short – the closest we’ll get to our companion’s natural diets. Check out what Nature’s Variety has to say about the benefits of raw food.
So, today we’re in day two of the Raw Food Challenge. Yesterday started with a package of Natural Pet Pantry “Cooked” Buffalo Stew for breakfast, a raw lamb bone from Nature’s Variety in the middle of the day, and about 9 medallions of Nature’s Variety Beef Formula. Today was one and one half patties of Nature’s Variety Lamb for breakfast and another 9 medallions of beef for dinner.
- Mag & Ziggy
Ziggy’s a little chubby. Perhaps a bit more than a little chubby. She used to have a waist line and now most definitely does not. I work at All The Best Pet Care which sells all natural human grade pet foods for dogs and cats along with digestive enzymes, supplements, and other various pet supplies. We’re big on nutrition.
The first thing I did was to talk to people at All The Best (ATB) about dog nutrition. What should I do about a fat dog who is eating all of the right things? A lot of good suggestions came my way but then Susan, the owner of ATB, proposed the Raw Food Challenge.
Here’s the deal. For 12 weeks Ziggy will eat nothing but raw food and bones. I’ll be getting a starting weight on her soon and will continue to weigh her throughout the process. I’ll also be blogging regularly here about our experiences. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave those and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. The challenge starts Monday, January 7th and lasts through March 31st so be sure to visit often and follow us along our journey to better health!
- Mag & Ziggy
