Dogs do not really need meat but cats do

Every year in the United States, 180 million dogs and cats eat about 25% of all animal-derived calories consumed. Since the livestock industry is a top contributor to climate-warming gas and water waste, the environmental toll from pet food is enormous.

January 5, 2018 Animals, Living

By AGENCY

As much as your poodle might look like a wolf, he isn't one, so it can thrive on a meatless diet. But cats, being obligate carnivores, need taurine, an amino acid unavailable in plants. Photo: TNS/ Dreamstime

It’s also largely unnecessary, as some in Los Angeles are beginning to realise.

The Los Angeles Animal Services Board heard a proposal last month to switch dogs at city shelters to plant-based food, and has since voted unanimously to study the feasibility of the idea. Commenters on social media immediately proclaimed, often in all caps, that “dogs need meat”, but science is not on their side. Dr George Fahey, head of the animal and nutritional sciences laboratories at the University of Illinois, has stated that a daily ration of corn and soybeans provides all the vitamins, minerals, protein, fat and carbohydrates a dog needs.

Two high-end plant-based dog foods under consideration are V-Dog and Halo. They don’t include corn or soy but are certified by the Association of American Feed and Control Officials as nutritionally complete for dogs. As explained by Dr Armaiti May, one of three veterinarians who testified in favour of the proposal, dogs have nutritional requirements, not ingredient requirements.

The Canidae line currently on offer in shelters has “chicken meal” as its first ingredient. Animal meal is made from rendered body parts not considered fit for human consumption, such as brains, hooves, snouts and genitals. It’s fundamental to the slaughter industry business model and a good protein source for cats. Obligate carnivores, cats need taurine, an amino acid unavailable in plants.

Dogs do not need rendered animal meal or “grain-free” food to replace it. Grain-free is a great marketing tool, but dogs have evolved over the millennia with humans and the gene crucial for starch digestion is 28 times more active in dogs than in their wolf ancestors. As much as your poodle might look like a wolf, he isn’t one.

In the initial report, shelter administrators said one reason to stick with animal-based food is that a switch to plant-based would lead to an increase in faeces – and therefore in sanitation work for employees. Constipation is indeed cleaner. But as Dr May informed attendees, “A bulky stool is a healthy stool.”

My dog, Winky Smalls, came home from the Best Friends NKLA shelter on grain-free food that included sweet potato and duck. Best Friends currently has an example of the latter ingredient, a duck named Mighty, up for adoption at its Utah shelter.

Winky had been plagued with recurring ear infections, which disappeared permanently after I phased the meat-based food out of his diet. Dr Jean Greek of Santa Barbara’s Animal Dermatology and Allergy Clinic, who treated Winky, told me she has had success managing many canine allergies with plant-based diets and that her own dogs eat plant-based food. While the board commissioner who put forward the proposal referred to it as “cost neutral” – Halo and V-Dog have offered to match Canidae’s price – if we take veterinary treatment into account, it may be cost-beneficial.

Speaking of money: For cost-conscious adopters, Natural Balance Vegan Dog Food is priced similarly to the Canidae fed at shelters. Winky is thriving on it, as did his predecessor, Paula Pitbull, who lived to be 17.

Testimony at the hearing in favour of the proposal was compelling. But as it defies every dog care norm and is bound to face backlash, I’m all for the due diligence of a full study. A law pushed through quickly can be just as quickly reversed by those who feel blindsided by it.

Some shelter somewhere will make the switch soon and others will follow suit when they see it work. Why shouldn’t LA go first? Animal lovers are increasingly adopting rather than shopping for dogs, and are likely to maintain the shelter diet. The plan could therefore significantly reduce the environmental impact of the meat industry while being good for our beloved pets. – Tribune News Service/Los Angeles Times/Karen Dawn

https://www.star2.com/living/2018/01/05/dogs-do-not-really-need-meat-but-cats-do/

Natural Sources of Taurine for Cats

Taurine is an amino acid that is essential in a cat’s diet because they cannot synthesize it adequately like most other mammals. 

Posted by Melody McKinnon on November 8th, 2011

The feline heart, platelets and retina require Taurine for both structure and function. Your cat’s liver, gallbladder, central nervous system, skeletal muscles and bones also utilize Taurine, and it may assist in electrolyte balance.

Taurine deficiency may result in:

• Retinol degeneration leading to vision impairment or blindness
• Dilated cardiomyopathy leading to heart damage, enlargement or failure
• Infertility
• Impaired fetal development
• Abnormal skeletal growth
• Fur loss
• Tooth decay

Manufactured cat food is required by the Association of American Feed Control Officials to be supplemented with synthetic Taurine. With home-made cat food becoming more common, concern and awareness of the essential amino acid Taurine for cat diets has increased.

We Recommend Natural Sources of Taurine for Cats

• Shellfish – Excellent sources of Taurine, with high levels in clams, scallops, krill and shrimp.
• Fish – Cold water fish such as sardines or salmon are excellent, natural sources of Taurine that cat’s love.
• Meat – All meat contains Taurine, with dark poultry meat being one of the best sources.
• Eggs
• Dairy products
• Natural Taurine supplements suitable for cats – Fresh or low-temperature dried seaweed, freeze-dried krill, and brewer’s yeast. Our cat is fed both freeze-dried krill and a seaweed/algae mix on a regular basis.

Because Taurine is a free amino acid, it is easily lost with cooking (over 50%). If meat must be cooked, make it as ‘rare’ as possible, searing the outside to lock in the juices. Avoid cooking in water. We recommend heating fish to safe temperatures (140°F) for the purpose of killing parasites, or use freeze-dried seafood.  Contrary to popular belief, freezing is not a reliable method of killing parasites and their eggs.

Those who feed a variety of raw meat to their cat shouldn’t have to worry about Taurine deficiency due to insufficient intake. If your cat’s home-made diet is primarily cooked, experts recommend adding a Taurine supplement. Taurine supplements for cats are relatively inexpensive and the money we save in veterinarian expenses through premium health more than pays for itself. Of course, we’re also rewarded with a healthy, long-lived feline friend. 

There are manufactured Taurine supplements available specifically for cats. Some combined natural cat supplements also contain smaller amounts of Taurine, such as the popular Nu-Pet Feline Granular with Antioxidants.

You may be interested in trying this easy cat food recipe, Old Fish Bones in a Pumpkin, which is a good source of Protein, Taurine and Calcium.

Sources:
Freeman, Lisa M. Rush, John E. Nutritional Modulation of Heart Disease, Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 6TH ED.
Committee on Animal Nutrition, National Research Council. Nutrient Requirements of Cats, Rev Ed. 1986. 
Lima L, Obregon F, Cubillos S, Fazzino F, Jaimes I. Taurine as a micronutrient in development and regeneration of the central nervous system.
Strombeck, Donald, DVM, PhD. Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: The Healthful Alternative. 1999.
Little, Susan, DVM DABVP (Feline). The Cat: Clinical Medicine and Management
Messonnier, Shawn DVM. Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats: Your A-Z Guide to Over 200 Conditions, Herbs, Vitamins, and Supplements. 2001.

http://allnaturalpetcare.com/blog/2011/11/08/natural-sources-of-taurine-for-cats-homemade-foo/

Part 1: The Pet Feeding Mistake Linked to the Cause of Most Disease - Are You Making It?

For optimal health to occur, animals must consume the foods they were designed to eat. I call this a species-appropriate diet. So vegetarian animals must eat vegetation for optimal health. And carnivorous animals must eat fresh whole prey for optimal health ...

April 01, 2013 

Story at-a-glance

• In part 1 of a 3-part series on raw food diets for pets, Dr. Becker begins the discussion by reviewing the ancestral origins of today’s dogs and cats.
• From a genetic standpoint, domesticated canines and felines are essentially the same as their wild counterparts, who are carnivores.
• Dogs and cats have not evolved from meat-eaters to vegetarians, but you wouldn’t know it from the ingredients used in the vast majority of commercial pet foods on the market.
• Fortunately, dogs and cats are adaptable, resilient animals. Otherwise, the biologically inappropriate convenience pet foods they’ve been fed for the last century would wreak even greater havoc on their health.
• High-carbohydrate, low-moisture commercial pet foods have created significant metabolic and physiologic stress in our pets and have become the root cause of most of the inflammatory processes and degenerative disease we see in veterinary medicine today.

By Dr. Becker

Today and over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be discussing my favorite topic, raw food diets for pets. I want to talk about some of the myths and truths surrounding raw food diets, but before we get to the good stuff, it’s important to have a foundation of understanding about basic nutrition.

One point that no one argues is that for optimal health to occur, animals must consume the foods they were designed to eat. I call this a species-appropriate diet. So vegetarian animals must eat vegetation for optimal health. And carnivorous animals must eat fresh whole prey for optimal health.

Origins of Dogs and Cats

A good place to start a discussion of our carnivorous pets is to go back to the roots of the dog and the cat prior to domestication. The domestic dog, whose taxonomic name is Canis lupus familiaris, is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, which is a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora.

Most scientists believe dogs were domesticated from gray wolves about 15,000 years ago. But DNA analysis published in 1997 suggests that the transformation from wolves to domestic dogs occurred more like 130,000 years ago.

Data suggests dogs first diverged from wolves in East Asia, and these domesticated dogs quickly migrated throughout the world. Of course, humans began selectively breeding dogs to create animals that suited their needs and their likes.

The earliest evidence of cat domestication is a kitten that was found buried alongside a human approximately 9,500 years ago in Cyprus. Researchers have gained major insights through DNA testing into the evolution of cats by showing how they migrated to new continents and developed new species as the sea levels rose and fell.

A 2008 study revealed that lines of descent for all house cats, of the species Felis catus, probably came from self-domesticating African wild cats up to 10,000 years ago. And as happened with the domesticated dog, humans began breeding cats to suit their fancy. Today, over 80 breeds of cats are recognized by one registry or another.

Today's Cats and Dogs are Carnivores Just Like Their Wild Ancestors

Despite humans’ desire to create certain physical characteristics in dogs and cats – this is called their phenotype or how animals look externally – their genetic makeup remains essentially the same as their wild ancestors, which should tell you something about the foods they should still be consuming.

Of course, all animals are biologically equipped to assimilate and digest foods they were designed to eat. For example, earthworms are naturally designed to process dirt. The entire GI tract of worms, from the mouth to the other end where waste is excreted, was designed for this purpose.

Cows are designed to eat grass, and their GI tracts are set up perfectly for this. They have big, round, flat teeth used to grind grasses and an unbelievable range of motion in their mandibles, allowing them to chew, chew, chew, and chew. Cows have a lot of range of motion laterally in their jaws.

Dogs and cats do not have this range of motion in their jaws. Their jaws move up and down only, like a trap door or a hinge, because dogs and cats are gulpers, not chewers. They don’t have chewing teeth. Dogs and cats have incredibly sharp interlocking teeth designed to rip and tear flesh.

They also have very short GI tracts compared to vegetarian animals that need to ferment foods, as carnivorous animals consume foods with potentially very heavy pathogen loads. The bodies of carnivores are designed to get foods in and back out very quickly.

The ancestral lifestyle of a carnivore includes lots of variety and seasonal variability, meaning certain prey was more prevalent at certain times of the year. They thrived consuming fresh, living, whole animals. But carnivorous animals do not eat clean foods. Dogs and cats did not evolve to consume sterile foods. They have digestive tracts that are designed to be resilient and handle the loads of naturally-occurring bacteria that are present in the foods they eat. Their food in the wild was moisture-dense, meaning the prey they consumed was primarily water.

The carnivorous lifestyle required a tremendous amount of exercise and exertion. Food was not served to them, so they had to stealthily catch it. This provided intense stimulation of all the senses, plus nervous, skeletal, endocrine, and circulatory system involvement. Carnivorous animals had daily rigorous workouts in an attempt to catch enough food to stay alive.

Most Pet Food is Biologically Inappropriate for Dogs and Cats

What’s very important for pet owners to know is that “pet food” is a relatively new concept. So, “dog food” and “cat food” you buy from the supermarket has only been around a little over a hundred years.

However, animals have hunted prey or, in the case of dogs, scavenged -- for millions of years. And although recent research suggests domesticated carnivores were able to adapt to some degree to starch in the diet as humans became planters and farmers of grains, dogs and cats have most definitely not evolved into vegetarians over time.

Over the last hundred years, major pet food companies have produced most of their products using a base of corn, wheat, rice, or potato. However, our carnivorous pets have not evolved to be able to process those foreign foods.

The good news is dogs and cats are adaptable and resilient unlike other species, for example, snakes. If we suddenly forced snakes to eat grains or consume vegetation, they would simply die, demonstrating rather visibly and quickly that they were not provided the correct food source.

Dogs and cats are among the most resilient animals on the planet. They are able to withstand really significant nutritional abuse, in my opinion, without dying. Degeneration does occur as the result of an inappropriate diet, but sudden death does not.

So one of the reasons we’ve been able to deceive ourselves into believing convenience pet foods are good for dogs and cats is because they don’t die immediately of acute starvation. For a hundred years our pets have been fed inappropriate diets that have kept them alive, but far from thriving like their wild relatives. Instead, we’ve created dozens of generations of nutritionally weakened animals that suffer from degenerative diseases linked to nutritional deficiencies – a link the traditional veterinary community has not acknowledged.

The Pottenger cat study is one example of how our current system of nourishing pets creates chronic disease.

The truth is that our pet population provides a place for recycling waste from the human food industry. Grains that fail inspection, uninspected pieces and parts of waste from the seafood industry, leftover restaurant grease, deceased livestock, and even roadkill is collected and disposed of through rendering -- a process that converts all sorts of human food industry waste into raw materials for the pet food industry.

These raw materials are purchased by huge pet food manufacturers – makers of the big name brands your parents and friends have probably used for the last 50 years. These manufacturers blend the rendered fat and meat with a large amount of starch fillers. They add bulk vitamin and mineral supplements, and then they extrude the mix at high temperatures, creating all sorts of toxic reactions including advanced glycation end products and heterocyclic amines. They call this “pet food” and sell it to customers at an unbelievable profit.

Is the entire system flawed? Yes. But pet food industry giants are realizing that pet owners are becoming more educated about their flawed system, and they are trying to clean up their image. We are beginning to see words like “natural” and “no byproducts” on labels. We’re beginning to see “grain-free” and “naturally preserved” on labels as well. Manufacturers are hearing the grumbles of educated pet owners and are changing their marketing to try to regain lost customers.

Common Pet Food Myths Many People Actually Believe

I find it amazing that pet parents buy into marketing gimmicks that human parents would never fall for. For instance, how often have you heard a pediatrician say, “Never feed your baby anything but X brand of baby food, because feeding a homemade diet could be dangerous to your child’s health?” Never. But you do hear it often in the veterinary world.

Or how about this one: “Switching your brand of baby food could lead to GI problems, so feed only one brand or type of baby food to your children for the rest of their lives to avoid GI problems.” You would never hear this, either, from a competent pediatrician. And yet, you hear this type of advice all the time in the veterinary industry. It’s startling to me to know that entire generations of people actually believe pets must have “pet food” to be healthy.

And there’s a host of other myths you’ve probably heard. For example, pets can derive all the nutrients they need for vibrant health from a dry nugget that can be fed day after day, year after year. Or that if you don’t feed crunchy foods to your pet, his or her teeth won’t be clean. Or canned food is too rich, and raw food is just a recent trendy craze that could be risky.

A lot of people also believe their veterinarian wouldn’t recommend X brand of food if wasn’t good for their pet... that all cats should eat fish and drink milk... that veterinarians are the people to trust for the most up-to-date information pertaining to nutrition... or that disease, degeneration, and poor vitality have nothing to do with day to day nourishment. All myths.

So... What are the Facts?

Number one, carbohydrates are not a necessary component of a carnivore’s diet. Cats have no taste receptors for sweet flavors and have low rates of glucose uptake in the intestine. They should not be fed any type of grain that metabolizes into sugar.

Cats have no salivary amylase to break down starches, either, and dogs have very low amylase secretion.

Also, cats never hunted fish from the ocean – fish is not an evolutionary food source for them.

The intense heat used to process commercial pet foods diminishes or destroys the benefits of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes in food. Processed pet foods require supplementation to replace lost nutrients.

The heating process also significantly reduces the digestibility of amino acids in pet food.

And digestibility of meat-based protein is proven to be superior to plant-based protein – the type used in most inexpensive commercial pet foods -- for dogs and cats.

So in a nutshell, for 99.99 percent of their time on earth, dogs and cats have consumed a natural diet. For .01 percent of the time, they have consumed an extruded, processed diet. Dogs and cats evolved to consume a low-carbohydrate diet. But for the last century, the majority of pet owners have fed pets a high-carbohydrate, low-moisture diet. This has created significant metabolic and physiologic stress, and convenience pet foods have become the root cause of most of the inflammatory processes and degenerative disease that plague today’s dogs and cats.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/04/15/raw-food-diet-part-1.aspx

Part 2: The Biggest Myths About Pet Raw Food (And Why They're Mostly Nonsense)

Dogs and cats need quality protein, fats, and a small amount of vegetables and fruits. Vegetables and fruits provide antioxidants and fiber to animals that no longer hunt whole prey.

April 08, 2013

Story at-a-glance

• In part 2 of a 3-part video series on raw food diets for pets, Dr. Becker defines optimal nutrition for dogs and cats and lists her nutritional goals for her patients.
• Your pet’s overall health is heavily influenced by two factors -- genetics and environment. Environmental factors include diet, antioxidant intake, exposure to chemicals, and water and air quality. Your pet’s weight, sex, age, breed, prior illnesses and injuries, hormonal status and fitness level are also part of the equation.
• Pet food recalls are on the rise, but did you know most of the recalls are because something was found (often salmonella bacteria) that could pose health risks to humans – not necessarily pets? And have you noticed the vast majority of recalls involve processed foods, not raw diets?
• Fear of the presence of salmonella remains a big hurdle for pet owners considering raw diets, but the risk of handling raw meat for dogs and cats is no greater than the risk of handling raw meat for human consumption. The same safe handling precautions apply. And sterile raw foods are widely available.
• Dr. Becker also puts to rest pet owner concerns about trichinosis, toxoplasmosis, salmon poisoning, GI parasites and unidentified pathogens in raw pet food.

Visit the Pet Video Library

By Dr. Mercola

Welcome to part two of my three-part video series on the myths and truths surrounding raw food diets for pets. In part one, I discussed the origins of pet dogs and cats, and the fact that, like their ancestors and wild counterparts, Fido and Fluffy are carnivores.

I also discussed the fact that while dogs and cats have been able to survive diets of biologically inappropriate pet foods for many years, processed diets have caused significant metabolic and physiologic stress, resulting in many of the degenerative diseases we see in today’s animals.

Optimal Nutrition for a Pet Carnivore

I typically break the list down into necessary and unnecessary foods.

Dogs and cats need quality protein, fats, and a small amount of vegetables and fruits. Vegetables and fruits provide antioxidants and fiber to animals that no longer hunt whole prey.

Natural sources of trace minerals, vitamins, and fatty acids must be added, since the soils in which foods are grown are depleted of many of the nutrients pets need. Also, food storage, whether it’s in a freezer or a pantry, decreases critical essential fatty acid levels in foods.

Pets need unadulterated, fresh, whole foods that are moisture dense. They don’t need grains, fillers, artificial preservatives, colors, additives, chemicals, byproducts, or processed foods. Although animals can eat some processed foods, they aren’t designed to consume a lifetime of dry or canned diets.

My Nutritional Goals for My Patients

• A diet that is as species-appropriate as possible (low in carbohydrates, high moisture content, and unprocessed)
• A variety of fresh, whole foods that are nutritionally complete and optimal for the species
• Providing everything their body needs and nothing it doesn’t
• Helping my clients understand the difference between biologically appropriate and metabolically stressful diets. This means we must put aside our religious and/or political beliefs and recognize that most of us have preconceived ideas we must address in order to provide the best possible food for our companions.

The reality is most pets live their entire lives without consuming any living foods. They eat an entirely processed diet from birth to death. There are a wide variety of reasons for this.

Not everyone believes food matters to overall health. Many people don’t correlate disease with diet. And there are also people who realize there’s a connection, but just don’t care. In fact, I regularly hear at my practice, “Well, you know, they got to die of something.”

Another huge issue is that veterinarians don’t receive an objective education in animal nutrition. As a result, they aren’t doing their job of helping clients make wise nutritional choices for their pets. In fact, many people virtually never discuss their dog or cat’s diet with their veterinarian.

Your Pet’s Health is Determined by Genetics and Environment

I believe health and wellness are based on two factors: genetics and environment.

Nutrigenomics is the emerging field of study that links our lifestyle choices to genetic expression, which means the food you feed your pet has the potential to either up- or down-regulate target genes. What this means is that early identification of cell markers can allow doctors to provide nutritional intervention and return the patient to cellular health, avoiding genetically predisposed disease. This is huge.

Environmental factors that influence genetic expression include not only the foods you choose to feed your pet, but also antioxidant intake, exposure to chemicals, and overall toxic load. Chemicals include topical flea and tick preventives, yard and household chemicals, and medications (including vaccines).

Water and air quality also play a role, as does your pet’s weight, sex, age, breed, prior diseases and injuries, hormonal balance and level of physical fitness.

Research shows the best way to reduce metabolic stress and chronic inflammation is through lifestyle choices, in particular the food your pet eats. The classic anti-inflammatory diet most holistic vets recommend is essentially a low-carb, high-protein diet that eliminates refined foods.

But in addition to all of these considerations, pets also have a unique hurdle – the serious quality control issues surrounding “pet food.”

Pet Food Recalls are Increasing

As a pet owner, I’m sure you’re aware of the vast number of recalls occurring in the pet food industry. What many pet owners do not realize, however, is that pet foods are recalled for two reasons. Either something has been found that could harm pets, or much more commonly, something has been found that is a potential health risk for humans.

Last year, the FDA launched a national effort to test products for the presence of potentially harmful microbes. The goal was to evaluate the prevalence of salmonella in pet foods and treats. This is because humans and animals handle this organism very differently. The identification of salmonella in pet foods is responsible for the majority of recalls due not to pet health concerns, but human health concerns. Many people have become sick by touching or accidentally consuming salmonella in dry pet foods or treats over the last several years.

Interestingly, there have never been any reported human or animal outbreaks of salmonella from consuming or touching raw pet food.

So salmonella isn’t a problem for most dogs and cats, but contaminants certainly are. In addition to foreign substance-related impurities, pets regularly become ill from dry foods manufactured in this country that are contaminated by aflatoxins.

In 2006, 76 dogs died from eating aflatoxin-tainted dry food. And in 2011, there were many brands of foods recalled for the same problem. Aflatoxins are a type of mycotoxins or fungal toxins that come from grains. So another benefit of feeding a grain-free or raw diet is you eliminate your pet’s risk of mycotoxin poisoning.

Speaking of Salmonella …

It seems many pet owners are still concerned about feeding raw foods because raw meat can contain salmonella bacteria.

It’s important to note that salmonella can be found in up to 36 percent of all healthy dogs and 18 percent of healthy cats regardless of the food they consume. Many pets harbor these bacteria as a part of their normal GI flora and naturally shed salmonella organisms in feces and saliva regardless of what food they eat.

All non-typhoid salmonella species are ubiquitously present in the environment and reside in the GI tracts of many animals, including pets. The fact is the majority of human salmonellosis cases are acquired through ingestion or handling of contaminated dry pet foods and treats – not raw meat. In fact, as I mentioned, there’s no known incidence of human beings being infected with salmonella by raw-fed cats and dogs.

The points I want to make about salmonella are:

• Dry food and raw food can certainly harbor salmonella, so awareness is important.
• Regardless of what food you feed your pet, animals can naturally harbor salmonella which can be a risk to humans, especially if they are immunocompromised.
• The raw meat used in commercially available raw food diets is USDA-inspected and is no different from the steak and chicken purchased for human consumption from a grocery store. It should be handled with the same safety precautions you use when you prepare, say, burgers for your family. It’s all the same meat. Your counters, bowls, cutting surfaces and utensils should be disinfected whether the raw meat is intended for your pet or human family members.
• The FDA’s Safe Handling Tips for Pet Foods and Treats page recommends washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with warm water and soap right after handling dry pet foods and treats. They also suggest you wash your hands before preparing human food and before eating. They recommend infants stay away from pet food areas and pet feeding stations, and that kids not be allowed to touch or eat pet food. The FDA also recommends washing pet bowls after feeding and sanitizing eating surfaces regularly.

So the takeaway on salmonella is that you should follow the same safe handling precautions regardless of what you feed your pet.

Other Raw Diet Concerns Put to Rest

Trichinosis. Trichinosis is a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pig or wild game infected with larval Trichinella. There are eight species of this worm.

The majority of human infections in the U.S. are a result of eating undercooked wild boar, bear, or fox meat. So, I recommend not doing that.

According to the FDA’s website, Trichinella larva may be inactivated by heating, freezing, or irradiation of meat. One interesting point: freezing may not be entirely effective for inactivating Trichinella nativa, which is a species of Trichinella found in the Arctic. Reservoir hosts include the polar bear, Arctic fox, and the walrus.

The important thing to remember about Trichinella is this: if you freeze pork for three weeks prior to feeding it, all will be well. And of course, don’t feed your pet any raw polar bear, Arctic fox, or walrus!

Toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis is caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. This parasite can infect most mammals. Between 30 and 60 percent of all people worldwide are thought to be infected with toxoplasmosis. Infection occurs through the ingestion of oocysts found in raw meat, especially venison, pork, and lamb. Oocysts are killed by cooking or freezing meat for 24 hours. You can also acquire toxoplasmosis through infected feces.

So to avoid toxoplasmosis, freeze meat for 24 hours prior to feeding. And disinfect all surfaces and utensils after preparing raw food, whether it’s for the humans or pets in your family.

Salmon poisoning. Salmon poisoning is also sometimes mentioned as a concern for raw fed pets. Salmon and other anadromous fish (fish that swim upstream to spawn) can harbor a parasite called Nanophyetus salmincola. The parasites can harbor a rickettsia organism called Neorickettsia helminthoeca, which causes salmon poisoning.

The good news is freezing fish meat can inactivate both organisms, but it does depend on several factors including the freezing temperature, the length of time needed to freeze the fish tissue, the length of time the fish is held frozen, and the fat content of the fish.

So, the takeaway here is to deep-freeze salmon for at least seven days if you’re going to feed it raw, or cook it before feeding it to your pet.

GI parasites. Intestinal parasites are also sometimes mentioned as a concern with raw pet food. The good news is parasites such as roundworm, hookworm, tapeworm, and coccidia are primarily found in the GI tracts of prey species. Since we don’t feed the guts of prey to pets, there’s no risk of contracting GI parasites through eating USDA-inspected, human-grade meat.

Most animals get GI parasites from eating poop, so you want to avoid allowing your own dog or cat to do so. Also at risk are pets that catch and kill whole animals, as they can get parasites from consuming the GI tract of their prey.

Unidentified pathogens. Generally speaking, raw pet food manufacturers have two different ways of dealing with salmonella, E. coli, and other pathogens sometimes found in raw food. Some companies have adopted a technology called high pressure processing, also called high-pressure pasteurization or HPP, which exposes meat products to very high water pressure of up to 87,000 pounds per square inch. HPP achieves microbial inactivation of pathogenic bacteria, including E. coli, salmonella, and listeria. What you end up with is essentially “sterile” raw food.

Raw pet food companies that don’t want a sterile product perform quality control through batch-testing for pathogenic bacteria. This is an effective method that the USDA also uses to inspect our human meat supply. Because most raw pet food manufacturers use USDA-inspected meats in their products, the pet food ends up being inspected twice, which actually surpasses human inspection standards. 

A third method that a few pet food companies have used to address potential microbes in food is through herd health. Research has shown that pastured, happy, drug-free livestock shed significantly less E. coli and salmonella than stressed, feedlot cattle. A few raw pet food companies have gone to great lengths to purchase meat only from farmers of pastured food animals, which means there is significantly less risk of opportunistic bacteria in the meat these animals produce.

Stay tuned next week for the final segment of my 3-part raw food series. I’ll discuss why raw food diets for pets get a bad rap. I’ll also offer tips and tricks for feeding a raw diet safely, and how to successfully transition a pet from processed food to wholesome raw nutrition.

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http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/04/15/raw-food-diet-part-2.aspx