Letters to the Editor
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Our dogs will eat anything
Several years ago I was curious about feeding our dogs bones and read some articles by wolf biologists. In particular, I read that one of the reasons that wolves can eat bones so readily is they also eat hide and hair and that helps keep bone fragments (they also ingest dirt, small stones and other things) from injuring them. As one of them said, their poop can be quite hairy.
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Where are all the Mutts in this Story
I find it hard to believe that all the BARF people are really feeding their dogs this diet out of simple animal altruism -- even while they support the inbreeding of genetically screwed up and unhealthy full-bloods while perfectly healthy mutts are put to sleep every day in animal shelters. Is humanly selected breeding of dogs really any more natural than feeding dogs kibble?
What this sounds like to me is a bunch of bored upper middle class twits trying to distinguish themselves from ordinary folk any which way they can. So they buy Great Danes and Rhodesian Ridgebacks from puppy mills to distinguish themselves from the rest of us who are so low as to pick up our pooches at the pound, and feed them raw bones to distinguish themselves from the rest of us who are so low as to feed our dogs kibble.
My answer? REAL DOG LOVERS KEEP MUTTS!!
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Dogs Gone Wild
Raw foods? Pfft. These pet owners are amateurs. I've been feeding my dog raw meat for years, because, as the pet owners in this story rightly point out, that's how it was in the wild.
But I don't stop there. I haven't bathed dog, ever, because it would be an insult to his non-domestic ancestors. If my dog gets sick? Too bad. Wild dogs don't have vets. That racoon bite will get better on its own. And if he doesn't make, I'm sure I'll get over it, the way I did after I released my goldfish into the ocean. That's how it was in the wild.
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raw food
What more anecdotal evidence are you looking for that raw food works? Do you want our pets to become rocket scientists to prove that it works? Before I knew about raw foods, I fed my cat commercial pet food and at 15, she developed chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The animal hospital was only too happy to gouge me for the "treatment" and duplicative tests, none of which mentioned diet changes. After I took her to a holistic vet and we changed her diet, her disease coincidentally disappeared. She's now 19, eats raw chicken, heavy cream, sardines, and the like. OK, so she still can't figure out how to do my taxes using Turbotax, but if raw food presents so many potential hazards, why did you not interview anyone who had negative experiences with raw food? I've also never developed any bacteria-borne illnesses and thank you for telling me to wash my hands and my cats' bowls after each feeding. Duh!
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interesting analogy
It is funny how much this discussion is like the debate over breastfeeding. Those who use formula generally don't have strong opinions for or against breast milk, while the La Leche League types rail against formula (and those who would use it) as something akin to poisoning babies.
In both cases, I think what bothers many on the sidelines of each debate is the strident zealotry of the pro- sides. I for one know I'd be more willing to listen with an open mind, without rolling my eyes, if they would just get off the soapbox. But then, I dislike extremists of all types.
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Treating Pets Like Children - only the best will do!
My dog Beau (stray in the woods) would eat almost anything. He was a great dog and quite a foodie. He'd beg at the table for whatever the family was eating then he would sit by his bowl and persistently growl in a low tone for his Purina kibble. He once killed a nest of newborn bunnies and was greatly annoyed when we interrupted his snacking by taking the carcasses away. Our other dog Jasper (shelter dog) has aabsolutely no interest in table food and doesn't eat his dog food with great enthusiasm either. The only thing he really likes is some peanut butter on a cracker, a treat he gets a few times a week. He's not a foodie and we don't obsess over what he might like to eat or how he might feel about it. People who are obsessed with spending enormous sums of money on special food for their pets could be the type of people who would spend their time and money overindulging their kids (if they had them) and inflicting their self-absorbed and entitled offspring on everyone else. It may be better in the long run that they indulge their pets instead.
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I'm a vegan but.....
I'm still waiting for a rational explanation from a vegetarian who sees no contradiction in feeding a pet raw meat. That is the funniest f**king thing I have read all week.
It's always kind of fun when we on the left are every bit as pigheaded as those we villify on the Right...nice to know we're all a bit loony.
By the way, that dog or cat you're preparing a BARF meal for is someone else's dinner in a few other countries. Personally, I'll get a pet as soon as every person I know is well-fed with decent medical care. Priorities, people.
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Hey, "manatee"
Good point.
And to the poster just before "manatee"--how much more anecdotal evidence do you need that feeding raw food DOESN'T "work"--or doesn't seem to improve much of anything for the majority of pets?
My kibble fed-dogs:
#1--from a breeder--lived to 16--died of old age
#2--got as a rescue at 7 yrs--lived to 17--died of old age--high-level Agility titles. Never ailed a thing, was doing stairs even until the last few months of his life.
#3--got as a rescue at 2 yrs--11 years old, and going strong. High-level Agility and Flyball titles. Rally and Obedience titles. Very healthy except for slab fractures on 2 rear top carnassials(from chewing hard bones!) which required removing the teeth, and a slightly arthritic shoulder (from an injury when a puppy before I got him)
#4--from a breeder--4 years old, exceptional Agility/Flyball/Herding dog with great speed and glowing health.
Manatee is correct. What many of us object to is NOT the feeding of raw food, but the VERY aggressive pushing of that diet by its evangelists. I've been on the receiving end of too much of that not to push back at this point.