Oh yea, and one I’ve previously posted, because it is important to realize…
Dog’s Body Condition Score chart. If you take the animal to the vet, and she/he says something about how the animal is in a scale from 1 to 9, here is the explanation.
Please notice how, for many of us, a “healthy” dog is a 6 or 7. This is significant, as the ideal weight is 4 or 5, and many dogs are thus the equivalent of slightly to moderately overweight.
I never said that I only feed my animals protein and fat. I feed bones (uncooked - I add this because so many people freak when I say I feed bones) and organs, too.
I don’t feed grains or vegetables and I firmly believe that commercial pet food makers use those ingredients because it is cheaper for them, not because it is what my pet should be eating.
When it was revealed that China had poisoned dog food, it included many, many different brands, including some of the expensive brands. They all come from the same plant.
No, not you personally, Hannah. You’re right, and I apologize if the way I wrote it looked like a misdirect attack to you. But the poster to whom I replied the first time, rhubarbarin did write that, and another poster commented on the price between dog food and meat, on a per pound basis. Hence my comment about it.
Read some of the links I sent, if you want, as they do discuss in more detail the presence of grains and carbohydrates in a dog’s diet. I do want to mention that in commercial diets for specific purposes, such as weight loss, increased fiber (a type of carbohydrate) is added to act as a “filler”.
I recently made the mistake of buying a can of Newman’s Own organic dog food. My dog went nuts for it - like it was nectar of the gods’ or something - and he’s a very picky eater. It’s like $2.00 a can and I mix half a can with his dry Beneful Healthy Radience for dinner. I think he actually prefers it over table scraps now. But I gotta say, the liver one is the most disgusting dog food I’ve ever seen. Looks just like pureed poo…
For Excellent Poopage I reccomend Bil-Jac dry.
So what? So does human food, by the way. 
The manufacturing plant bought some ingredient required for the diets, which the Chinese had tainted with another chemical so at to increase the protein content of the product. Turns out the combination they produced was toxic to animals. That is the condensed, generic version of what happened.
Just like in human plants for processed foods, manufacturing plants for commercial dog foods have different production lines. Each line consists of a different recipe, with different quantities and ratios of the ingredients.
Purina Dog Chow, Meaty Bones, and whatever we eat. He’s - er - huge. 120.9 lbs. So he gets whatever the heck he wants!
My post was pretty clear that I feed them packaged, whole (bone-in) cuts, and organs.
None have ever eaten stomach with contents. If they had the opportunity to eat an animal whole, they would pull out and discard the digestive system like all my outdoor cats always did. They do get ‘green’ cow’s tripe which is cleaned of any fiber residue.
They do not seem interested in eating any plants.
When an animal is labeled a carnivore, it means that other animals are their preferred meal/staple of their natural diet. I don’t care much what or how much other kinds of food than the ones they digest most efficiently and have the most nutrients they can ‘tolerate’.
Right. Which is why I said it is not true that their diet is “100% protein and fat” like you mentioned later. Because it is not!
And once again I repeat, that just because animals are labeled carnivores (or herbivores), this does not mean they have the exact same nutritional requirements, the exact same way to digest and absorb nutrients, the exact same way to deal with excess or unnecessary nutrients, the same requirements of micronutrients. That is not true!
To address this… Healthy dogs can tolerate the higher protein content in cat food, their kidneys will take care of it. But, cat food may also have more fat than what a dog would need. Commercial cat food is balanced for the cat, not the dog. Lastly, it won’t lead to renal problems, but if by chance the dog develops renal problems independently, continuous feeding of a high protein diet has been shown to be detrimental.
Commerical pet food is primarily carbohydrate. In terms of macronutrients, my pets eat only fat and protein (there might be a few grams of carbohydrate here and there from liver, kidney, etc but organs are a small proportion of their diet). They also eat a large amount of bone and many different micronutrients.
You seem determined to put words in my mouth. Of course every animal under the sun has a different metabolism and nutritional needs. However any animal classified as a carnivore (obligate or facultative) can get perfect nutrition from a diet of only other animals. Thems just the facts. Whether or not they can tolerate or even thrive on varying proportions and kinds of plant foods in their diet has nothing to do with this.
I am aware that many consider dogs to be ‘omnivores’ given their long history of coexisiting with humans and eating plant foods. However they are still in the carnivore class biologically, and their nutrition requirements are unchanged from those of a wolf. Put a dog in it’s natural enviroment with no access to human trash and they will hunt to live, with their sharp tearing teeth and short digestive system with strong stomach acid still perfectly adapted to thriving on a diet of other animals whether fresh killed or carrion. Plant foods are consumed only when there is nothing else available, and based on much research on the stomach contents of wild canines, rarely.
Thanks for the links, KarlGrenze. I found the info on allergens especially interesting, as our last dog had severe skin issues and I believed more grains were higher on the list. One quote:
[QUOTE=THE PET NUTRITION CORNER
By Wendy C. Brooks, DVM, DipABVP ]
The most common food allergens for dogs are: beef, dairy, and wheat. These three ingredients account for 68% of canine food allergies. The most common food allergens in cats are: beef, dairy, and fish. These three ingredients account for 80% of feline food allergies.
[/QUOTE]
I’ve got a question – You know all the ads that tout as a benefit that your dog will have smaller poops?
Is this genuinely a benefit to the DOG? Because at the very same time manufacturers and dieticians and the like keep stressing the importance of adding fiber to YOUR diet.
So I keep wondering – are we short changing dogs on fiber (which, as we know, helps OUR digestive systems work easily and smoothly) just for our own selfish convenience of having smaller turds to clean up?