Canine Nutrition – Let them THRIVE!

My personal journey into proper canine nutrition didn’t happen overnight. I, like most pet parents, fed the kibble that was in pet and grocery stores. Purina, Iams, Science Diet, etc. I thought, were the best. It’s the kibble that my vet recommended and even sold at her clinic, so why wouldn’t they be the best? 

And then I stumbled upon a documentary called Pet Fooled and my perspectives about canine nutrition were forever changed. Pet Fooled Trailer and the full Pet Fooled documentary

The absolute proof that proper canine nutrition can extend health and longevity was shown to me by my rescue puppy, Lily, whom I adopted at 8 weeks old. At 12 weeks old, I did what most pet parents do – I took her to the vet for a routine check-up and vaccines. This is when she received her first Leptospirosis vaccine and it was the last vaccine she’d ever receive. 

Within 48 hours of the lepto injection, she went into renal failure. She was quickly dying.  

Our vet advised us to euthanize Lily due to the extent of the kidney damage and gave her a prognosis of fewer than 2 weeks to live. Not able to euthanize our 12-week-old pup, we took her home, continued to love her, and began feeding her the recommended veterinary prescription diet – Science Diet Renal/Kidney Formula. 

This is when we realized that although we chose not to euthanize her, she was choosing to starve herself to death than eat the prescription renal diet.  

Not wanting to feel defeated, I fell even deeper down the rabbit hole of canine nutrition. 

If a veterinarian can’t help Lily in the area of nutrition, who could? 

My search for a canine nutritionist began.

I found a canine nutritionist who prescribed a low phosphorus home-cooked renal diet for Lily and I learned to prepare and cook her meals. She was also given supplements that assisted in digestion and supported her kidney function. 

I watched Lily enjoy food again and I felt good knowing what she was eating. 

Although we had some ups and downs along the way, against all odds, Lily thrived until her growing body couldn’t be supported by her compromised kidneys. She peacefully crossed the rainbow bridge at 16 months old. Although she had lived a short life, she thrived, full of life with many adventures – thanks to proper nutrition.

This experience changed my entire perspective on canine nutrition and I have since become a certified Raw Canine Nutritionist and am beyond thrilled to feed my dogs a species-appropriate diet with amazing results. 

I feel it is my duty to Lily – and all dogs – to share these results and information with others. 

More to consider…

Dog Kibble has only been around for about 100 years. In that time there has been a drastic and continued increase of disease in dogs – chronic degenerative diseases, auto-immune disease, allergies, kidney, pancreatic, and liver diseases, cancer, and more. Experts are quickly realizing these diseases are directly related to our dogs eating a highly processed inappropriate species diet.  

In addition, because kibble is baked in heat of excess of 212 degrees Fahrenheit, essential elements are destroyed and pet food manufacturers are forced to add these elements back in, usually by spraying them on after the heating process. Many vitamins and minerals are depleted after being paired with so many preservatives in kibble.

Luckily, there’s a better way to keep your dog healthy and thriving –

1) a fresh food diet (cooked or raw) or 

2) a mix of high-quality kibble with fresh food (cooked or raw). 

A fresh food diet duplicates what dogs ate in the wild and is considered a species-appropriate diet by canine nutritionists. Positive results are often seen within just a couple of weeks. 

Over time, health benefits can be life-changing and include the following:

• Superior joint and bone health – Crushed real bone is a natural source of calcium, phosphorus, glucosamine, chondroitin, collagen, and marrow. All of these components result in healthy growth in puppies as well as maintaining great joint and bone health for your dog throughout its life. 
• Strengthened immune system – Providing complete and balanced nutrition is essential to help our dogs’ immune systems thrive and the nutrition in all-natural ingredients has the added benefit of being highly digestible for your dog.
• Improved skin and softer, shinier coat – raw diets contain many ingredients that support skin and coat health, one of the most notable and researched being omega-3 fatty acids. Healthy omega fats play a large role in supporting healthy skin and a soft coat and providing anti-inflammatory benefits, perfect for dogs with allergies or inflammatory skin diseases.
• Superior dental health – Poor dental hygiene can, in some instances, be attributed to a poor diet, especially those that are heavily processed or high in carbohydrates. Raw, meaty bones are well-known as being nature’s toothbrush for our pups, helping to get into those tricky places between their teeth and assisting with the removal of plaque. 
• Reduced stool volume and odor – An effect of having a diet made up of highly digestible ingredients for your pet is that more of what goes in is absorbed and utilized so less comes out the other end. 
• Enhanced reproductive health – In a 2009 study, working with the Queensland Guide Dogs, we monitored the impacts of a 100% raw food diet on their colony numbers. During this time Guide Dogs Australia reported an increased number of dogs per litter, healthier pups, and increased health in both the brood bitches and stud dogs.
• Reduced Body Odor – While there hasn’t yet been any formal clinical research done on diet and odor, this is something we commonly hear a lot from the raw feeding community at large.

[Full article: Health Benefits of Raw Feeding]

Interested in learning more about raw and home-cooked diets? Visit the Perfectly Rawsome website here!

I will always support a balanced fresh food diet (cooked or raw) over kibble. However, I understand how big of an undertaking this can be so I support high-quality kibble. After much research, these are my kibble recommendations:

• Nutrisource Grain-Free
• Orijen
• Farmina Grain-Free Pumpkin & Farmina Ancestral Grains
• Nature’s Logic
• Canidae Grain-Free Pure, Canidae Grain-Free Pure
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain-Free, Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain-Free

Raw dog food toppers can be mixed directly with kibble to increase the meal’s nutritional value, support your dog’s immune system, and provide increased excitement and taste for your pup! 

Appropriate fresh food toppers include the following with NO added salt or seasoning:

• Meat – beef, chicken, turkey, venison, or any meat. Tip: Some dogs will eat around the kibble so coating it with ground meat works better than chunked meat.
• Wild Game – please read this article before feeding wild game. It must be frozen for 3-4 weeks (I always wait 4 to be safe) before feeding.   
• Liver – beef, and chicken liver are easy to find in most grocery stores
• Raw eggs – shell and all – are full of protein and vitamins. 
• Fish – Anchovies, salmon, sardines
• Vegetables – red peppers, green beans, broccoli, cucumbers, and more! 
• Fruits – Blueberries, apples, cranberries, and more!
• Seeds & Nuts – pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, and more!
• Plain yogurt or kefir
• Oils – Coconut oil, sunflower oil, flaxseed oil, and more!

Here is an article that gives you the specifics about adding fresh food toppers to your kibble. 

In closing… 

DCM & Grain-Free Diets: Some veterinarians continue to misinform their pet parents about the risk of developing Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) from eating grain-free diets. The controversial studies that linked DCM and grain-free diets have been disproven. In fact, not one study has shown a link between grain-free diets and DCM. Not one. The FDA’s report, released over 3 years ago cites multiple studies that were done and the conclusion was: There was no link between specific diets and DCM. You can Google the study and read the entire 77 pages yourself. Here is one article that discusses these findings.

And that’s about all I have for canine nutrition! I encourage you to continue doing your own research and do what’s best for your pup. After all, you are their voice! I trust you will be the voice of health and longevity. For your dog’s sake! 🙂