REALLY Fascinating Reading

For two decades, Dr. Martin Goldstein -- America's most successful, renowned holistic veterinarian -- has healed and helped his animal patients with the same natural therapies that benefit humans. The results have been so astounding that today critically sick pets are brought to him from across the country for a new chance at life and health.

Now this is a book that you simply must have! It has a chapter about diet but if you're really interested in a more natural approach to your pets health, its the best I've read so far.

I just couldn't put it down, nor could I give it a high enough recommendation. You'll just have to see for yourself.

The Nature of Animal Healing: The Definitive Holistic Medicine Guide to Caring for Your Dog and Cat by Martin Goldstein

My Apologies

I must apologise for being absent for a long while. I haven't been that well and under a lot of stress.

I will put up a new post in the next couple of days and hopefully we can get back into a regular thing.

Thanks for reading!

Easy Reading: "Raw Dog Food"

If anyone is looking for a great book to get you started with switching your pet to a raw diet, you must check out "Raw Dog Food: Making It Work For You and Your Dog" by Carina Beth MacDonald.

This is a very easy book to read and understand with some good wit and not to much technical stuff. Highly recommended for a good introduction to raw food diets.

Get it here on Fishpond.com.au Raw Dog Food: Making It Work for You and Your Dog

Or here on Amazon.com Raw Dog Food

Components of a raw diet - Offal

Offal can include any clean offal that you can get from a butcher or supermarket. This has been through the meat inspection service and classed as fit for human consumption. It is therefore completely safe to be fed raw to your dog.

Heart, liver and kidneys are the most beneficial. Unbleached, green tripe may also be used for the beneficial bacteria content. Liver should equal the total amount of other offal combined. Offal from younger animals is better.

MYTH: Dogs are carnivores

Well, dog are carnivores, but not true obligate carnivores. All scientific evidence points towards the fact that dogs, while not true carnivores, are opportunistic, carnivorous scavengers. Cats on the other hand are true, obligate carnivores, requiring animal protein to survive.

There is a difference between a carnivorous scavenger and an omnivore though - dogs lack the dental characteristics, longer digestive tract and specific enzymes of true omnivores like humans.

That is the reason why they can not digest grains and vegetables unless they are "predigested" by processing, mincing/grinding, breakdown by enzymes, or fermentation through bacteria. Once converted, they are fully available to the dog.

This does, however, not mean that your dog will thrive on a diet mainly made up of poor quality grains or grain fragments, which is what most cheap foods are. Whole grains, including their entire complement of nutrients are much more valuable - and this does not only apply for a dog's diet, but for humans as well!