Real Food, Itching and Allergies!

Published on July 14, 2008 by Freelance Contributors   ·   4 Comments

written by Karen Clark-Stapleton

I get emails from around the globe asking for help with dogs that itch, scratch, lick paws, roll across the floors due to itching skin etc, the list is endless.

Many owners today feed what their vet recommends at the initial puppy health check , this may not be the best advice available and would apear to be enshrined in the mantra that Vets give , partly due to them selling branded named dried foods for which they receive a healthy return, sadly though, your pet receives an expanding waste line and itchy skin…….

Many breeders do not fully appreciate how the canine digestive process works and will advise “THIS BREED ARE ALLERGIC TO BEEF”

Factually they are wrong and they tend to justify their uses of poor dried foods by giving false, inaccurate and nutritionally detrimental health advice to new naive owners.Most dried foods are mostly based on carbohydrates , they contain anything between 30% and 70 % which as we all know if not used as fuel will inevitably be stored as fats .The value of carbohydrates in dog and cat foods is often debated among nutritionists.

If we examine the diets of the wild canines and felines that most closely resemble our domestic pets, we recognise that the wild canines do eat some carbohydrates through the consumption of berries and intestinal contents of their prey.

However, it would rarely constitute even 30% of their diet, and in wild felines, the carbohydrate intake would be less than 5%, if any at all. There are many owners with dogs that are under the misinformed illusion that too much protein causes skeletal problems and allergies, what a load of twaddle they speak, they misquote and misread and place at risk the very dogs they adore simply through ignorance.

The best guidelines for owners of a young dog of a breed at risk for HD is a food with balanced mineral contents at a lower lever to increase osteoclast activity and thus increase skeletal remodeling, but not too low to induce alimentary hyperparathyroidism with pathological fractures. It is important the food is of high quality, including high quality of proteins.

A balanced diet with high protein content has NOT proved to have negative effects on skeletal development in carnivores. A recent fad, “low-carb” pet food, has some companies steering away from grains, and using potatoes, green peas, and other starchy vegetables as a substitute.

Except for animals that are allergic to grains, dry low-carb diets offer no particular advantage to pets. They also tend to be very high in fat and, if fed free-choice, will result in weight gain. Canned versions are suitable for prevention and treatment of feline diabetes, and as part of a weight loss program, as well as for maintenance.

For a look at just how many myths exist about feeding dogs a real diet take a look here

To estimate how much your dog needs then read this table and calculate the daily requiremsnts based on how your own dog lives its lifestyle.

Feeding a raw diet is easy – don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Just in the same way that you are more than capable of feeding yourself a well rounded wholesome diet, and just in the way you are already more than capable of feeding your human children, so too are you already well equipped to feed your canine companions.Dogs cannot survive without protein in their diets.

Dietary protein contains 10 specific amino acids that dogs cannot make on their own. Known as essential
amino acids, they provide the building blocks for many important biologically
active compounds and proteins. In addition, they donate the carbon chains needed to make glucose for energy. High-quality proteins have a good balance of all of the essential amino acids.

Studies show that dogs can tell when their food lacks a single amino acid and will avoid such a meal.
Dogs are known to selectively choose foods that are high in protein. Whether this is simply a matter of taste or a complex response to their biological needs for all 10 essential amino acids is not known. However, dogs can survive on a vegetarian diet as long as it contains sufficient protein and is supplemented with vitamin D.

So in conclusion the only true diet for dogs is a natural one any other will encourage health problems and an early death .We have seen over the last 5 years that owners we help who have been on courses of prednisilone for many months , once they commence a natural fresh food diet the allergies lessen and will eventually disappear, dont forgethat many allergies are misdiagnosed, and food intolerances are due to poor weaning practices by breeders who use dried foods as a matter of convenience, ask youself, could you live on a diet of rich tea biscuits for ever?

Poor cuts of meat are higher in fats so will encourage looser stools, you know the breeders that think more about prfit than canine health by how they wean a litter, ALWAYS ask how the pup you buy is weaned and what foods they have been given.

Our dogs live on pork , beef, venison, kangaroo, chicken, salmon, mackeral, sardines, fresh fruit and vegetables and are extremely healthy, they are never ill or itch and have excellent teeth, bones, weight, muscle . exactly how every pet should be !

Highly Recommended: This could be the most important link you EVER click as far as your dog’s life is concerned – see why….!