Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / January 2004

............Why do you say that?  Have you, yourself, had a bad experience?

buglady
take out the dog before replying

just in case you didn't understand his question, he's talking about feeding
his dog actual food, rather than extruded fillers and chemicals.  did you
have a comment about the diet?  or are you just trying to make a joke that
the rest of us don't get?

-kelly

 I live in the South Island of New Zealand - and have been feeding my dog
the BARF diet for the past two and a half years - (since she was eight weeks
old ) and I can thoroughly recommend it.  I am a Vet Nurse and we recommend
the diet at work as an alternative to the Hills/Eukanuba/Iams etc.
 > I've not used the Barf diet yet, but I'm considering with my Rott.  The
dogs
 > I've seen on the BARF diet seem far happier, healthier and far more jazz
in
 > their step compared to when they were on kibble.  Also I've heard of
some
 > pets with skin allergies going on the barf diet and being pretty much
cured
 > within a few weeks.  BARF also stand for what it says.  the 4 people
I've
 > met who have their dogs on the BARF diet claimed that their Dogs tended
to
 > BARF a lot for the first week or so as their intestines got used to
dealing
 > with all this food that actually has flavour.
 >
 > An interesting fact that a dog trainer pointed out to me regarding
Kibble.
 > Dogs need a certain level of protein in their diet.  there is no
industry
 > standard saying what the protein source can be.  good dog food is made
from
 > lamb, chicken, or beef.  not so good kibble is made from hooves, lips,
ears,
 > hair skin, claws, feathers, beaks.  now to tell the difference, look at
the
 > recommended serving.  for a 50lb dog if the recommended feeding is 5
cups a
 > day on low end dog food, then the recommended feeding will be about 3
cups
 > on good food.  it takes more lips and beaks to get the recommended
protein.
 > I just did a search at a grocery store.  some were up to 6 cups a day.
but
 > IAMS is 3.5 cups.  I still have yet to investigate some of the higher
end
 > bags at petsmart and other places like that.
 >
 > "frank t" <frank37@cox.net> wrote in message
 > news:EzEJb.37299$gN.684@fed1read05...
 > > is this a good diet for dogs? my retriever has not been very healthy
on
 > dog
 > > food.
 > > Barf stands for "bones and raw foods".
 > > thanks.
 > > frank
 > >
 > >
 >
 >

The dog food companies almost always recommend way more than one should
actually feed the dog. The cheaper the food the more likely this is. I don't
think it has anything to do with the cheaper food needing more cups of
kibble to get the proper amount of protein. The labels list the protein,
fat, etc per cup. So if Kibble and Bits lists it's protein at 27%, and
recommends you feed 10 cups a day. The one cup of food is 27% protein, but
in order to sell more kibble they recommend you over feed your dog.

Hi,

Lots of dogs have actually had severe problems with the BARF diet ranging
from botulism to kidney failure. The diet may be appropriate only if you
know exactly how the animals were killed and basically raised them yourself.
Feeding raw leaves your dog open to parasites and a host of other problems.
"Bones" is also giving out misinformed information about what is allowed to
go into dog food. There are several things that you will see on dog food
labels and these terms are regulated by the USDA.

1. Poultry or meat by-products- any parts of any type of poultry or animal
EXCEPT- bones, beaks, feathers, hair, hooves,etc. It can include clean
flesh,blood, tendons, organs, spinal cords which may seem gross but actually
have valid nutritional purpose
2. Meat or poultry meal- meat (not including by-products) that have been
dehydrated and made into a meal.
3. chicken, lamb, beef, etc.- whole meat that has had the water content left
in before processing- is not necessarily human grade.

I hope that clarifies what the law is regarding processing for animal food.
That being said there is no guarantee  of quality, diseased meat and
deadstock can still be used in some instances for pet food. Most of the
ingredients do have a nutritional value that is favourable to your pet. Good
foods typically include meat meal or meat as their first two or three
ingredients. The problem with a lot of these foods is more regarding the
carbohydrate source of the food. Wheat and corn are not digestable for some
dogs and can cause problems. People should check their facts before they
post messages with incorrect information creating a bunch of alarmists.
sincerely
amy the dog lady.

we use a modified barf diet here: yogurt or cottage cheese, home cooked
oatmeal with meat and vegetables mixed with raw which we grind
ourselves. I make dog biscuits for them too.  we're happy with the
results and our animals love it.