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PARIS — The junk food and poor eating habits affecting humans is also killing their four-legged pals, say veterinary surgeons and experts.
Allergies and obesity are reducing the life expectancy of Lassies and Mittens nourished worldwide on industrial foodstuffs, said Gerard Lippert, a Belgian acupuncturist for animals who has just completed a study on the diets of 600 dead dogs.
“Pets, like humans, are victims of junk food,” he told AFP.
Of the 600 furry corpses he examined “those fed on processed foods died three years earlier than those fed on food made in the home.”
Dogs, he added, “originally were omnivores who shared their food with humans.”
Rippert said he was increasingly called on to heal skin, motor and digestive problems as acupuncture was an all-embracing method enabling work on practically all organs.
“Dry dog food and cat food croquettes are over-heated, which destroys vitamins, trace elements and other basic nutritional elements,” he said.
“We don’t know the origin of the proteins in the foods,” he added. “And there’s an excessive amount of cereal, often genetically modified, and very little vegetables.”
“We’re turning our dogs and cats into ruminants,” he said.
Laurence Colliard, a veterinary surgeon and nutritionist located in the Paris suburbs, estimates that only five percent of French pet-owners cook food for their four-legged companions.
France is Europe’s top pet nation — with 7.8 million dogs and 10.7 million cats, according to a 2008 study by the Sofres/Facco polling institute.
“I’m seeing an increasing number of allergies, diarrhea, vomitting, skin dermatitis as well as cases of obesity, specially amid cats because of the excessively high energy content in industrially-produced cat foods,” said Colliard.
Pet owners tend to favour processed foods because of the difficulty of preparing nutritionally balanced meals, which in an ideal world should contain some 50 nutrients as well as meat, vegetables, rice and pasta. An animal’s age, weight and exercise routine also need to be taken into account.
The packs on offer on supermarket shelves also claim as a bonus to reduce nasty urine smells and modify the consistency of animal poop.
The pet food industry was born in England where James Spratt produced the world’s first dog biscuits in 1860.
Some 150 years later, many Internet sites are calling for a return to natural foods for pets.
BARF or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food is a type of pet diet that consists of raw meat, bones, and organs,” says www.barf.com. “It is the practice of feeding domestic pets their evolutionary diet as a way of maximizing their health and longevity.
“Dogs should not eat cooked or processed food,” it adds. “Instead, your pet should consume foods that are similar to a dog?s wild ancestors. This includes bones, fat, meat, and vegetable materials.”
Likewise offers tips for natural home-made meals.
It’s only in the last 100 years we have we been led to believe that dogs cannot survive without packaged food. We are told it would be harmful if we were to give them the scraps from our own home cooked meals. This is pure poppycock!”
My little yorkie, only about 2 years old, will be getting out of the hospital, today. He has been in since last Thursday, he was a little sick and then right before work, he had pooped blood (alot, for a little guy)..So I called the vet, immediately, and took him in..Later that day we found out he has colitis.. we actually have other dogs, a black lab and a mixed breed dog..Both of which are over 5 years old, we have always fed them basically the same diet. So, now today when I pick him up I am expecting to hear that I have to change his diet completely. I am a bit upset, because no one will really say whether he got this from his diet, or is it possible then for him to have gotten it from the cat feces in the yard.. I really don't know what I can do for him but I am definitely willing to do what I can. Any suggestions?
Michelle, take your dogs of the commercial diet, go natural like the article suggests, you won’t look back 🙂
For the past year, I have had my 3 kitties on holistic cat food. It may be more expensive but I would rather feed them what is healthy for them. I thought that in the long run, it would be cheaper since they would be healthier and fewer health problems which would mean less vet bills. I found out the importance of reading the labels of all pet foods that claim to be nutritionally balanced and complete. The additives were amazing and most contribute to pets being overweight, having proteins that they can't digest, and other things which tax their thyroids, kidneys, and liver. They don't need cereal fillers, corn meal, animal bi-products (parts of an animal that slaughter houses throw away since they are not fit for human consumption), soy, or gluten. If it is not good enough for me to put in my stomach, why should it be okay for it to be put in my cat's stomach? I have found that Wellness puts out an excellent product as does Innova. I currently use EVO which is the grain-free variety from Innova. It is high in digestible protein, the lowest in carbs among the grain-free kibbles, and is low in fat. It has no additives, fillers, or artificial stuff which animals do not need. Please read the labels. I have found that you can get holistic food in pet specialty stores, health food stores, and in animal feed stores. The supermarkets usually do not carry them. Also, many vets/animal hospitals will carry holistic foods.
Our ETT has recently suffered several bouts of severe colitis. We tried several specialist high quality biscuits, but have had to take him off all pre-packaged dry dog foods, in favour of home prepared chicken, fish or rabbit, mixed with rice. On this, he is now fine and dandy. It's so worth the effort to see him fit again. I may investigate the products I see mentioned here, but am reluctant to change what is now working well for him. I am certain we should be very careful what we feed out pets.
Dogs have been sharing cooked food, not raw, with humans for thousands of years. Processed food bad is bad for humans and dogs alike.
Cooked food is also unatural for a dog , but far better than commercial petfoods albeit, raw is essentially what you should aim for 🙂
Dogs have evolved along side humans eating our table scraps and leftovers. I’m not a believer in the raw diet, but think that occasional raw scraps are ok. Cooked food is definitely natural for a dog to eat.