# The Skinny on Dog Food?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-skinny-on-dog-food/330970>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 14, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-skinny-on-dog-food/330970 "2005-11-14T07:13:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-skinny-on-dog-food/330970/61 "2005-11-18T15:46:10Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> by **lissener**  
> The fact that animals eat that in the wild is no recommendation: life expectancy for almost ALL animals tends to be higher in captivity, because through human intervention animals can avoid some of the more dangerous aspects of Nature Red in Tooth and Claw.

Oh, and while it’s true that veterinary medicine does much to protect our pets from bloody nature, I find some advancements in this area (setting bones, parasite treatments) more useful than others (inapproprate nutrition for the sake of convenience, budget, and profit). What they have evolved to eat is, for me at least, much the _only_ recommendation… mother nature has a much stronger track record at successfully maintaining species through millenia than Hill’s or Nestle.

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-skinny-on-dog-food/330970/62 "2005-11-18T17:09:18Z")

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> [@MixieArmadillo](#):
>
> mother nature has a much stronger track record at successfully maintaining species through millenia than Hill’s or Nestle.

Maintaining the species and maintaining individuals are two completely different tasks. The species can be maintained with short, unhealthy lives if they live long enough to reproduce. Pet owners have higher expectations for their pets.

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