Considering a raw food diet for your dog can be intimidating. You enter a pet store or the pet aisle in your nearest supermarket and you have unlimited options of possible foods you can purchase for your pet, from dry food, cooked food, semi-cooked food, tinned food and raw food.
You stand there considering what food is going to give your dog the proper nutrition it needs, a food that will stimulate your dog’s immune system, a food that will stop inflammation, a food that will slow your pets ageing, a food that will provide health, wellbeing and longevity for your pet. *Ah! Parenting is hard!
We love them, they are part of the family, and we want them around as long as possible. So this decision is possibly one of the most important ones you can make for your dog.
All of the foods that are available on the shelves promote their extensive list of ingredients that will provide all the nutrition your dog needs, supposedly… but who do you believe? Why believe one company over the next?
Nature gets it right every time
We're pretty big advocates that nature always gets things right, so with this thought process when thinking about our pets, the decision is made pretty easy and so can yours be if you are considering a raw food diet for your dog.
What does nature tell the carnivorous animals (dogs and cats) they need to consume to survive in the wild? Therefore what is nature then telling us as a pet parent what our domesticated carnivorous pets be should be fed?
The reality is that the physiology and genetic make-up of the domestic dog and cat is less than 1% different to their carnivorous cousins hunting and scavenging for food in the wild. If you take into account the physiology of these animals, then you quickly realise that they are true carnivores, and their requirements for proper nutrition, is as nature has shown for thousands of years – a raw diet, extremely high in meat, that also contains fat, bones, offal and some vegetable matter that is either raw or pre-digested.
Essentially, that is as difficult as it gets considering feeding your dog a raw food diet and what is involved.
Benefits of a raw food diet
Your dog will not only survive but will thrive on a raw food diet that has been properly formulated to compliment the essential nutrients our pets need.
An easily digestible food that compliments the short digestive tract of carnivores to make for easy assimilation and in-turn make available the necessary nutrients, including the macronutrients and micronutrients required.
A high meat diet obviously provides the number one source carnivores need, which is protein. Protein is essential for proper functioning, growth, repair and maintenance to the carnivore.
The other ingredients that are consumed in the wild include offal – liver, kidney, heart and spleen. These offals are extremely rich in necessary vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids and are normally the very first ingredient consumed after a kill.
Bone is next for inclusion after offals and meat have been consumed. Bone is essential also, as this provides a rich source of calcium, essential for bone development. But Calcium is also essential for other important reactions and synergies that occur in the body. It also provides a wonderful level of essential fatty acids, including omega 3’s.
Finally, the stomach of the animal they have caught can be consumed, and here they nourish their bodies with some pre-digested vegetable matter, and a nice inclusion of probiotics that will also assist with digestion, helping to keep their internal flora healthy.
So, as you can see, with the inclusion of these ingredients mentioned above, a nutritionally blended raw food diet for your dog will provide a wonderful balance of proteins, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, phytonutrients and probiotics. All this nutrition is also available in an unadulterated format (no cooking, blanching or processing), and therefore easily digested.
Nature always gets it right, and for thousands of years nature has shown us through evolution of our pets, that a raw food diet principally based on meat, is what is required for our pets to ensure a long and healthy life.
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