Both dogs and cats are from the mammalian Order Carnivora, meaning they are meat eaters by nature - carnivores. This is a scientifically proven fact.
Not convinced?
"The domestic dog is an extremely close relative of the gray wolf, differing from it by at most 0.2% of mtDNA sequence. In comparison, the gray wolf differs from its closest wild relative, the coyote, by about 4% of mitochondrial DNA sequence... Dogs are gray wolves, despite their diversity in size and proportion..." - Robert K. Wayne, Ph.D., (Molecular evolution of the dog family, 1993)
The dog and gray wolf were found to be so closely related, that in 1993 the Smithsonian Institute and the American Society of Mammalogists reclassified the dog (now Canis lupus familiaris) as a subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus).
Cats (Felis catus) are the strictest carnivores of the mammalian family. They are Obligate carnivores, meaning they need to obtain ALL their necessary nutrition from meat (including bones and organs), since their physiology does not allow them to digest vegetable matter. Cats are also unable to synthesize the essential amino acid Taurine; a deficiency in which can cause blindness, heart disease, and death.
From 1932-1942, Dr. Francis M. Pottenger conducted a 900 cat study to determine the effects of heat-processed food on cats. The results were startling. The raw fed cats remained healthy throughout the study, while the cats fed a cooked and processed diet developed diseases, facial deformities, frail bones, parasites, reproductive problems...and died out by the fourth generation.
So why have we been brain washed into feeding our carnivores heat processed, extruded cereal pellets, made of unnecessary ingredients and fillers? And how are these bagged nuggets really affecting our companion animals?
The multi-billion dollar pet industry doesn't want you to know!
Whether your vet recommended or prescribed it, or your local pet store employee assured you the kibble you just bought is 'super premium' and perfectly balanced, conventional dog and cat foods can be causing your pets more harm than good.
Highly processed, preservative laden, grain based diets have been associated with a multitude of nutrition related health problems including:
- Allergies
- Periodontal disease
- Urinary tract disease
- Kidney disease
- Obesity
- Chronic digestive problems
- Bloat
- Heart disease
- Hypothyroidism
For an unbiased, highly informative report, please take some time out to read What's Really in Pet Food, from Born Free USA.
Sure there have been many dogs and cats living on pet food for years, but they have been surviving on it at best. If you truly want your pet to thrive, the best diet is a natural, species appropriate one...a RAW diet.
Dogs and cats have evolved and thrived on RAW meat, bones, and organs for thousands of years. It's only logical to feed them what they are designed to eat. Who are we to change the nature of the beast?
Why, then, are the pet industries against RAW feeding? It's simple folks...pet food, veterinary, and pharmaceutical business would be devastated, billions of dollars lost, because your pet would be healthy.
My dogs eat RAW. Get your hands out of my pockets.
