Feeding species-appropriate food has amazing benefits for your dog or cat. Feeding real meat and vegetables instead of food from a bag or can may sound complicated, but is actually easy. Well-nourished dogs are happy and energized!
Oz and Lily sharing some of their good energy…
Your Companion’s Digestive System
Dogs and cats have very short, acidic digestive systems designed to quickly absorb nutrients from whole, unprocessed food. This type of food is enzyme- and nutrient-rich – the food most easily converted into energy, health, healing and rejuvenation.
Switching to a simple whole food diet very often resolves digestive issues quickly and permanently – I have seen it happen hundreds of times. Why? Dry and canned foods have been heated to high temperatures, destroying all enzymes and many of the most important vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutrients. The heating process also binds the proteins and carbohydrates, making them much harder to digest than raw, dehydrated or home-prepared food. Simple, but true. This applies for even the “best” dry or canned food. Heat-processed food is treated as a foreign substance by the weak or out of balance feline and canine digestive systems, while whole foods (meat and vegetables) are species appropriate and easy to digest.
Having spoken, over the years, with hundreds of people about digestive disorders in dogs and cats, the common denominator in 99% of these cases was consistently heat-processed dry or canned food! Sadly, this is something that is almost always overlooked by traditional veterinary medicine or made even worse by the recommendation of yet another dry or canned food. Add on antibiotics and steroids and you have a never ending cycle of misery for the dog or cat that can go on for years, if not for the entire life of the animal. I have many examples:
A 5-year old Maltese had experienced chronic diarrhea and digestive disorders for most of her life. She was now vomiting blood. Prescription drugs did not resolve the imbalance, nor did prescription food or other dry foods. This dog was switched to a diet of raw stew meat mixed with Sojos Europa Grain Free dehydrated food as the vegetable-and-greens part of each meal. The dog’s digestive system recovered over the course of a week, and she has been happily digesting her food since that time. Discoloration around her nose and mouth (which was not mentioned in our initial consult) unexpectedly and completely disappeared (after 5 years). Many other improvements were noted, and her human companions breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Lacy, a rescued Weimeriner, had chronic diarrhea, sometimes explosive, for the first 18 months of her rescue. She was very thin and nervous. Other disorders included frantically eating her own poop and stealing food from other animals in the household. After trying a long list of dry and canned food, including prescription food, and almost as a last resort, Lacy was switched overnight to a raw diet. No gradual change, just switched to raw. The next day, Lacy had her first normal bowel movement. The trainer working with Lacy called her owner the following afternoon wondering what happened, as he had never seen Lacy have a normal bowel movement! Lacy’s digestion has fully stabilized and has been normal since that time. She now eats a variety of whole foods, including raw, freeze dried, dehydrated, and home-prepared, with no further problems. The rapid transition and recovery demonstrate just how compatible a whole food diet is with the canine digestive system.
An 8 year old feline with chronic diarrhea and steady weight loss for more than six months was switched, overnight, from dry/canned food to raw and dehydrated meat (which was rehydrated before serving), and the problem resolved within days. Prior to this, she had been switched from one dry/canned food to another with no relief. After her amazing and rapid recovery, the owners hastily switched back to canned food and the problems resurfaced immediately. This feline is now on an exclusive diet of raw and dehydrated food, supplemented with greens, and is doing very well. Again we see how feeding species appropriate food can heal quickly.
Once you begin introducing whole, unprocessed foods that are loaded with the proper nutrients, you will notice a difference. Look for clear eyes, white teeth, soft shiny fur and good energy!
