(By Guest Author Janis Currie)

Did you see those pearly whites when your pet chatted to you?

Nature is amazing; as humans we were given the brain to create toothbrushes, nature created gaps between our pets teeth so nothing would get trapped.

Ripping and tearing at the chunks of meat and crushing the bone are nature’s own toothbrush. Designed for dogs and cats at no additional expense to the pet parent.

Oh, that carrot or broccoli sprig your dog ate, did you check the output?

As it went in so it comes out!

You see, unlike the human, cow or horse our pets do not have the teeth nor the lateral moving jaw to chew and grind into smaller pieces. Nor do they have the salivary amylase to breakdown the plant matter.

But then again, dogs and cats are carnivores¹. Humans are classified as omnivores.

Our pets have a simple short digestive tract. You and I have a slightly longer more complicated tract, but certainly not as complex as cows or horses.

That chunk of ox heart your pet swallowed is being digested by the high strength hydrochloric acid with ease.  The pancreas and gall bladder are free to carry out their normal functions and are not over worked. The small intestine is vibrating and alive with amino acids, enzymes and nutrients it recognises and can use. Animal proteins are very easily digested; plant matter is more time consuming to digest.

Amino acids are proteins required by the body for maintenance and repair amongst other vital functions. You and I require eight essential amino acids in our diet, and here is the difference between you and your pets: your dog requires 10 and the cat 11.

Man did not create dogs and cats, but he did create the diet. Therefore, we have seen businesses and vet’s selling the concept of our pets are the same as us – omnivores. At the same time, we are seeing our pet’s health deteriorate at the same rate with the same conditions as us².

Why have we allowed big business to take responsibility of feeding our pets a healthy diet, and still have to pay to ‘attempt’ to get our pets healthy when the symptoms appear – what is missing?

Raw natural species appropriate food.

B Levi was not caught up in the hype of convenience foods. Today her kennels have generations of healthy dogs.

Tom Lonsdale, a vet, realised the industry was killing our pets. He created “Raw Meaty Bones”.

Pythagoras 500BC, Max Bircher-Benner 1890’s, and Max Gerson 1958 discovered cures for diseases in raw foods.

That ox heart, in its raw state contains an assortment of amino acids and nutrients that man is unable to replicate³. These nutrients are recognised in the pets body as bioavailable (meaning, they can be used and absorbed).

Heat and processing changes the structure of the nutrient to the degree – the body does not recognise it.

Cooking fat, results in carcinogens being formed. Raw fat is an excellent source of energy, and fatty acids for our pets. Carbohydrates are excellent source of energy for us⁴.

Raw bones contain amongst other nutrients a balance of calcium and phosphorus. A balance man is unable to mimic for any specific species.

Health stores stock vitamins, minerals and nutrients; this was created as the body is unable to survive without nutrients. One missing nutrient from the diet means a symptom appears. Symptoms suggest a process is not functioning within the body.

We kill the vital natural nutrients in the food by cooking and processing foods; resulting in them getting sick. We take them off to the vet, who gives them a drug (which is only relief not a cure) and we believe them to be healthy!

I do not know about you, I believe the body is capable of healing and maintaining health with no drugs or chemicals.

Symptoms such as skin conditions, arthritis, diabetes etc. are all due to missing nutrients in the diet.

Which ones you ask…….

If a cell within the body a hundred times smaller than a raindrop contains about 3000 enzymes each with its specific function………… can you guess which nutrient is missing AND how much?

Cancer cells are angry teenagers on the rampage. They did not get what they required so they react.

I have seen and heard of dogs having had a few operations to remove tumors and in a few months another tumor appearing. A dog fed a commercial diet and having drugs to treat the cancer; due to the age of the dog, the vets were not keen on further ops. The dog was changed to a raw diet, and with the help of herbs to assist the body. Six months later the dog was confirmed free of the cancer.

A cat was at its deathbed, vets could not work out why the cat had lost so much weight, fur was thinning and  it lacked energy. It was living on drugs. From smelly coat and bad breath to kitten within two months after a change to raw diet. What nutrients were missing, we will never know; the raw diet contained all nutrients.

A cat with dull thinning fur, weight loss and infected skin. Within 6 weeks of starting raw diet and adding kelp transferred the cat to a healthy weight with shiny coat. The fur started growing back.

A dog with ADD within a month of converting to a raw diet it was calm and peaceful.

Worldwide stories of health benefits from pet owners who will never change back to processed or cooked diets. The wonders and excitement at seeing their pets healthy (not surviving but thriving) with boundless energy is rewarding.

If you are wondering if changing to a raw diet may help your pet; these are some of the benefits:

Shiny coat

Clean teeth and gums

No stinky breath

No ‘doggy’ smell

Smaller stools (means less waste)

Plenty of energy (almost become kittens or puppies again)

Behaviour changes to relaxed and calm

Excitement at feeding time

Ailments clear up

And so on………

I know this is so exciting and you are eager to get the raw food and feed your pet. BUT, before you go rushing off………. There are some things you need to research. If you do not have time to research you must work with a holistic nutritionist. A raw diet is balanced if fed correctly. Conventional medicine does not have the training in animal nutrition. Their training covers diseases and symptom relief. The pharmaceutical companies advise them on the drugs. If your conventional vet is selling processed pet food in the front office, they will not understand your need for feeding a natural diet. I have heard so many stories of pet parents taking their pets to the vet for a check-up. The vet is so delighted at how well and healthy the pet is for its age (18-year-old cat) and enquired about what the owner was feeding. The owner stated a raw diet all its life. The vet had a fit “you will kill it”.

Sources and further reading

¹ Orijen White Paper; The Biologically Appropriate Food Concept and the Dietary Needs of Dogs and Cats. www.championpetfoods.com  files.championpetfoods.com/ORIJEN_White_Paper.pdf

² Pets, Protein, Dry Food and Disease.

http;//healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2009/07/07

³ Raw Diets For Dogs: Getting Enough Vitamins And Minerals.

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/raw-diets-for-dogs-getting-enough-vitamins-and-minerals/

⁴ The High-Starch Diet Myth That Pet Food Companies Want You to Believe. http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/11/18/high-starch-pet-diet.aspx

To get started on a raw diet:

Tom Lonsdale DVM. http://www.rawmeatybones.com/diet

Truth about Pet Foods, http://www.truthaboutpetfoods.com

Myths about raw feeding. http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html

Prey Model raw. http://preymodelraw.com

A practical Guide. Transitioning your cat to a raw diet. http://www.rawfedcats.org/practicalguide.htm