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Surprisingly not-so-research-related update post

12/11/2018

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Some long time readers may find a pattern here; when the weather gets bad and cold and humid, Nokkaelaimet becomes inactive. That is unfortunately something I can't help much. I have a chronic illness that gets worse during the fall, and due to the climate change (if you still wondered if it's true, welcome to Finland to experience it) fall lasts FOREVER here. Partly because of this and partly because of work and studying I haven't been able to focus too much on researching matters I have been asked about. Instead of any properly researched in-depth article, this time you'll get pictures of our every day life and some casual talk.


My illness doesn't really have a name or a code, because this kind of a disease has yet to be properly studied. My situation was caused by breathing toxin and mold while working in an old building, and unfortunately while my condition gets better gradually, I can never completely heal and I developed some chronic issues because of that. This, along with work related stress, studying and some sort of a mental breakdown have slowed my researching down a bit. I have tried to update my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nokkaelaimet/) quite often, so head over there to have some pictures of fancy raw food. Also, as I have said before, you are free to use the comment section here and there to tell me if there is something you'd like to read about. 

So, to that casual talk, then!

Not so long ago we had two vet visits. 
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The first one was about my oldest ferret, Mr. Hittavainen. Hittavainen has been having some respiratory problems I wanted to have checked. Now, ferrets are considered exotic pets and not many vets can take care of them, but our vet tried the best she could and the problem itself is something that works somewhat same no matter what species.

Turned out Mr. Hittavainen is a completely healthy old man, if a bit plump, and that his age is most likely softening the walls of his air tubes, making it hard to breath sometimes. The situation has gotten better gradually, and I am very happy about that. Weather being more chilly sure works for Hittavainen, unlike it does for me.

The vet did say there are possibilities like cancer and tumor near lungs, but as there is no cure for either of the problems we decided it was best to care for him just like before and make sure he lives a happy, healthy ferret elder life as long as he enjoys it. After all, taking all kinds of tests and RTG and what-not's would, in this case, only be for me. Hittavainen doesn't gain anything from them, so I don't see any point in bothering him with those. 

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Mrs. Aloofness visited the vet, also. both to get vaccinated and to have a lump on her side checked. The lump was diagnosed to be a lipoma, in all likelihood, and completely harmless. We celebrated these good news with getting her a new set of leg wrappers for the fall (I assume she might have appreciated something to eat more, but what can I say? It does get muddy around here).
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Like I said before, I have tried to be more active in Instagram and post pictures of our raw food diet there. I am happy to say our most beloved pet accessory store brought new meats for sale, and some of those meats are chopped meats instead of minced meats. This is a great change and I have enjoyed feeding my dogs something they can gulp, chew and bite. We have also found a couple of products we can use both boneless and with bone. I am not comfortable feeding Miss Dominance full bones, but she has responded well to ground bone and it seems to fit her digestive system better than calcium products, so we have moved further away from powders and more towards natural even in there! All my dogs like ground bone products, even though Mrs. Aloofness sometimes gets full raw chicken necks to crush just because she seems to enjoy it and I always have some around for Armo Svensson, my younger ferret.
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Nothing good without something bad, unfortunately. These humid fall days have made Mr. Arthritis very sore and he needs lost of massaging and restricting of too heavy exercise as well as pain killers during the worst days to cope. This is something I know passes eventually, but it's a grim reminder of the fact he is getting older and older. 

I hope winter arrives soon, so he could once again enjoy exercising like he loves to do.


I think that's it for today. I have a post about crating coming soon; another one of those sensitive topics nobody really talks about but everyone has an opinion on. I have seen both the good and the bad sides of having to crate a dog for health purposes, and I think busting some myths about crating could serve a purpose. Not because I think crating is something everyone should feel comfortable doing every day, but because sometimes there might be situation in which you need to crate a dog. When that happens, it's beneficial to know some facts about the effects of crating, may they be good or bad. 

Till that day!
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Commercial puppy food - a necessity or something to avoid?

4/10/2018

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As long as there have been people feeding commercial foods to their. dogs there has been a debate of whether or not puppy food is good for your puppies. Those in favor say puppy food is a necessity, it has all the needed vitamins and minerals in a perfect, scientifically proven balance. Those against say puppy foods are not only unnecessary but even harmful for your puppies.


First, we need to understand what is puppy food. What makes puppy foods differ from adult foods or foods meant for all life stages? Why were puppy foods developed the first place?

Just like with us people, little puppies need more protein and in general more balanced diet than adults. Big food companies tend to recommend using their puppy formulas, but as one goes through the ingredient list, one big question arises; there is a difference, but it is minimal. Is it really necessary to feed puppy/junior formula, if there is no real difference between the foods?

Let’s take an easy road here and compare RC Adult Maxi Puppy with RD Adult Maxi (as RC has all the % in their PDFs easy to access). This is NOT to be seen as a recommendation OR a critic). You can click yourself into an in-depth site about the foods yourself and have a peek.

http://pro.royalcanin.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Click-here-to-download-the-Maxi-Adult-Pro-Technical-Sheet.pdf

http://pro.royalcanin.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Click-here-to-download-the-Maxi-Junior-Pro-Technical-Sheet.pdf

Let’s see the first paragraph. There is no significant important difference.  Omegas are a bit higher in adult food.

Second paragraph lists minerals. As puppy foods are often said to have more calcium than adult foods and a different calcium-phosphorus ratio, it is pretty surprising to see there is absolutely no difference in calcium and not any kind of significant difference in calcium-phosphorus ratio. As we go lower on the list, we’ll see pretty much the same list on both sides, with a slight raise in iodine and iron in the puppy food.

Next paragraph of vitamins shows no surprise; almost the exact copy. Vitamin A is slightly higher in puppy formula, and even there we don’t really speak about anything major.

There is one ingredient in the whole list of ingredients that appears only in puppy formula; lutein. Lutein is an antioxidant found in spinach, broccoli and eggs, for example, and it affects eyes and skin. RC Maxi Junior has 5mgs of lutein per kg, so 0,5 mgs per 100 g (just to give you a general idea of the amount, one egg contains 0.1 to 0.3 milligrams of lutein).

At least in the case with RC Maxi Adult and RC Maxi Junior the difference between formulas is so insignificant it breaks a question; does a puppy really benefit significantly of puppy food? For research purposes, I compared yet another two common foods that offer both puppy and adult formulas. Hill’s Junior Large breed differed the most from Hill’s Adult Large breed, but the changes were still very minor. Most changes were with minerals such as copper and in the increased (slightly) amount of vitamin A, while calcium-phosphorus ratio remained the same and protein and fat levels were not that far from each other. Other vitamins than the mentioned A are about if not exactly the same.

In Acana Puppy Large and Acana Adult Large the difference is ridiculously small. It is in fact so small the ingredients lists are almost completely exactly the same, and the changes in them, while they appear are hardly noticeable.

So, all in all, we can right here in the beginning come into conclusion that puppy formula is so close to adult formula feeding adult formula to puppies MOST LIKELY doesn’t affect them negatively. But, once again, I am no nutritional expert nor do I recommend using this blog as an ultimate truth. Research, talk to people, make your own decisions.

Is puppy food harmful to the puppies?


​This question raises up specially among large breed owners and breeders. The issue is, there are people saying feeding puppy formula to their puppies made the puppies grow too fast, causing abnormalities in bone structure. Some people and even vets say the exact opposite; that feeding adult formula will cause bone growth issues.

First suggested reason to puppy food causing problems with growth is that puppy food has too much calcium. At least in large food formulas I researched, this was not true. There was no more calcium in puppy foods or in adult foods and the ratio between calcium and phosphorus remained the same.

Another possible reason is too much protein. Once more, I did not see a significant raise in protein, however puppy foods do tend to have slightly more protein. This is because puppies need protein to grow.

I asked a question in a raw food group I am in, wanting to know if giant breed owners or breeders have or have not fed puppy formulas, if they have used kibble or raw, and if they have noticed abnormalities. Out of 6 people answering, one person said two puppies fed with raw food (the breeder did not identify whether the food was constructed by the owner or if it was store bought complete raw food) had developed abnormalities in bones. Four people said they had fed their puppies mostly with raw, some self constructed and some with MUSH Vaisto Puppy, and they had not met problems. One person said she had fed her puppies with both raw and kibble (she identified the kibble as puppy formula) and the puppies had grown up OK.

This leads me to think, if the problem with fast growth is both genetic and caused by feeding errors. You can make a difference in general to the dog’s life with a good diet, but there are things you can’t control. You can also break a perfectly healthy dog with a poor diet. So, it is very difficult to say whether or not, in cases where abnormalities form, the main cause is genetic, wrong kind of exercise, accident or feeding. One thing to note is that abnormalities are usually met with very large/giant breeds. This leads to another possible situation; large dogs may just be so big they are getting too big for their own structure. 

One thing one can possibly say quite safely is that excessive/too little calcium and poorly constructed diet cause problems with growth. Puppies are much less forgiving with feeding than adults. When you feed your pup with raw food, make sure you really meet all the requirements. If you choose to go with kibble or 50 / 50, always go for a good quality kibble. If it is puppy formula or adult formula most likely does not matter.

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Quality matters

6/7/2018

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Another important matter to remember when rawfeeding, besides making sure your dog gets all vitamins and minerals needed, is the quality of the meat you feed. It's a common practice to use lower quality parts of the carcass in order to make minced meats for dogs. This means less meat and more tendons, throat, lung and muscle membranes. 


Dogs can digest ”rubbish” parts of the carcass, as can we people. The problem is, there are little to none important vitamins and minerals in those parts of the body. We are talking about tissues that hold no vital nutrients, take longer to digest and can cause issues with the digesting system. One of the main reasons raw fed dogs develop rock solid stools is feeding too much bone and feeding low quality meats.

If you are not willing to pay loads of extra and only use human consumption quality meats from your nearest grocery store or raise your own meat, you unfortunately need to do a little research trying to find proper quality meats. It all likehood you can't find super meats, but you can find decent and good meats. As long as the meat is clean and you use the best product you can get with as much meat as possible, you are good to go.

How can I tell a good meat from garbage?


First, look at the meat. It's hard to see if a frozen meat is good quality, so if you are about to buy frozen meats, buy one package first, melt that and take a look. If the meat is stringy under the spoon, it has lots of big pieces of cartilage, membrane and throat and in worst case scenario, this all topped with bone, skip it. You can find better. Even without bone meat like this is not really giving anything to your dog. It just takes time to digest and makes stools hard. Many small dogs can't properly digest these kinds of meat, so I would recommend being careful with small dogs and bad meats.

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Second factor is the smell. I recently changed our cow meat, which was not the best possible, to a new, way better beef, and the change in smell was huge. The previous meat, also stringy and filled with big pieces of whatever garbage parts of the body, also smelled horrible when defrost. This new meat smells the same as the minced beef I use to make meatballs (or I would use, if I'd make meatballs). It is finely minced and has nice texture and it's not overly bloody either. 

Third factor is, unfortunately, the prize, but let me tell you, it doesn't always tell the ultimate truth! True, if the meat is dead cheap, it is probably not that great. Have a look at the prizes of different brands, ask around, and then pick test packages to defrost. That way you can find a nice quality food. II will list some good picks I use myself down below, but since I live in Finland and most people in the world don't, you might need to sneak around and do some research on your own among your own meat manufacturers.
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Risks of membranes and cartilage


​Like said, meats with lots of rubbish parts are harder to digest. Small dogs that are fed lots or cartilage, bone, membranes and other stuff like that can even suffer from clogs. This is possible even with larger dogs. Therefore, if you need to use not that great meats at one point, for one reason or another, mix them with finely minced good meats. From my experience I can say it's easier to find good quality minced turkey and chicken than good quality beef, pork and a mix of the two.

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Even if your dog is able to digest these worse quality meats, their stools often get rock solid. This was one of the reasons I became aware of the problem; the stools were always hard no matter what I did and how much I fed fiber. When I played around with the meats and made sure I use better quality meats, the stools gradually got better. 


Benefits of good meats


Shortest paragraph ever; more vital nutrients, softer stools, easier digestion! As simple as that. Better quality meats means better quality food, and better quality food is what we aim for, isn't it?

Some good products


Bear in mind, these brands are met mainly in Finland (some in Sweden too), so if you happen to be from somewhere else, I am afraid this is of little help.

MUSH:
Grounded salmon (jauhettu lohi): MUSH uses whole salmon, grounds it, and packs it with only one freezing behind each product. Their salmon is thus good quality and it has vitamin D to good extent. It does have lots of bones in it, up to 11%, and the ground is not super fine. Use it as a small part of food rather than main ingredient. If it's your only source of vitamin D, I would sometimes add D with another fish product or cod liver oil, for example.

Boneless minced turkey (luuton kalkkuna): Excellent product of finely minced turkey meat. Also comes with bone.

Boneless minced chicken (luuton kana): Excellent quality finely minced chicken. Also comes with bone.

Pork intestines (sian sisäelinseos): Lots of intestines that are considered just meat for the dog, but also liver. I have liked this product and feed it every now and then as a source of vit A.

Chicken gizzards and hearts (broilerin sydämet / broilerin kivipiirat): Excellent add-on sometimes. Just what it says they are.

Mur-Kis:

Minced white wish (siika kylkiruotoineen): Excellent, very finely minced product that has lots of vitamin D in it. So finely minced I have never met large pieces of bone in it. It's a bit pricey, but worth the money.
Chopped beef (naudan palaliha): OK. I was hoping to have more actual meat, and the product does have muscle menbranes in it, but works sometimes instead of minced meat.

KennelPakaste:

Minced turkey (jauhettu kalkkunan liha, luuton): Excellent product once more. As you can see, it is fairly easy to find nice quality turkey and chicken. Unfortunately they are also pretty expensive.

Salmon (jauhettu merilohi): I liked this one. It seems to have a little less bone in it that the MUSH equivalent. A bit finer minced, maybe.

Minced beef (naudan jauheliha): As far as I know, only beed meat and no other rubbish ingredients. Very expensive, too, but good.

Hurja:

I like the whole brand. Most of the meats have been very good, including salmon and some minced meats like turkey, chicken etc.

Kennelrehu:

This is the name of the company that delivers meats from various sources as well as produces some themselves. They have a truck stopping roughly once per month in certain towns and you can then pick up products you have pre-ordered through their website.

Some of the meats are very good, some not that great. I have tried many, and have grown fond of

Minced turkey (jauhettu kalkkuna): Boneless product. Very nice, fine mince, clean, doesn't smell and keeps the stools good.

Puppy minced beef (pentunauta): Best price/quality ratio beef I have found. Their minced beef has cow meat and minced cow hearts, nothing else. Excellent product used for small dogs and puppies, thus, because it's easy to digest. 

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The mystery of vitamin E

9/5/2018

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It has been a while since I wrote. This will hopefully be a one timer; I have been very sick lately and very exhausted, and I had a very important test to focus into. Now however I am back in business, sort of, and I have some time at my hands to write about a matter I've been wondering lately and done some research on.


Being an enthusiastic raw feeder, I've been looking at the vitamins more closely, and specially the vitamin E, that is often said to be the second most plentiful vitamin to be getting from the food. However, giving it some thought I've found myself wondering why would a carnivore with just omivore potential, specialized in the usage of fat and protein as energy source, need such high doses in vitamin mainly met in certain vegetables and plant sources?

Internet is filled with different ideas of raw feeding. If you browse through sources you can't miss certain repeating numbers, such as the generally high needs for vitamins A and E. If you look at those sources deeper, however, there are hardly, if any, proof or reasoning based on studied facts. There are some, naturally, and from those some one is able to gather a basic guideline explaining certain dietary needs.

  • Wolves, the ancestors of our tame dogs, ate mainly meat. Wild meat includes very high levels of zinc, and if the wolf happens to get a hold of the liver, the liver contain incredibly high levels of vitamin A. Therefore, both the need for zinc and the need for vitamin A as well as the ability to filter some of the vitamin A out are explained with natural diet of the animal.
  • Vitamin D is essential for the development of dogs and wolves alike, and both need to get it from their food. Wolves get it much less on a daily basis, but we need to remember that dogs are not wolves and they have evolved towards omnivore metabolism. This may explain why dogs benefit from larger doses. However, there is vitamin D in the liver and wolves do, if given the change, eat liver in high amounts.

By far, the high need for Vitamin A is explained with evolution and metabolism of the dog. The need for vitamin D is also kind of explained, and the requirements in general are actually not that high. One is very able to achieve said amounts with just adding some fish to the food. However, by far there has been no explanation on why dogs would need such high doses of vitamin E. We will dive deeper into the world of dog nutrition in a second, but before that I want everyone to remember three things:

  • Nature is never optimal, so no matter many natural animals can go on with less, it doesn't mean they get the absolute optimal amount of vitamins from their natural diet every day. Many times, raw feeders aim for the said optimal, therefore feeding more than the animal would get when living wild.
  • Nature doesn't create an animal that can't survive with it's natural diet, or that will fall in sick when fed like it would eat in the wild.
  • Dogs are not wolves. Dogs use plant material and grains better (usually) than wolves, however being able to adapt to different food sources than meat doesn't mean dogs benefit from grain based or vegetable based diet. Many studies and real life examples show that dogs do best with mainly meat diets.

Lastly, no matter I have studied several sources, everything written here applies only as something I have read and personally found out and it is not to be taken as any ultimate truth. In general, I don't teach feeding. It is however my great passion, so what better than share the research with you. ​
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Needs


People, as an omnivore species, have adapted to use grains and vegetables and therefore can extract vitamins and minerals from plant sources far better than dogs, no matter some dogs more than others are able to somewhat use plant sources as well. At the moment the recommended daily doses of vitamin E (in alpha tocopherol) for people are

  • adult men 11mg / day
  • adult women 8 mg / day
  • pregnant / breast feeding women 11 mg / day

Vitamin E is mostly met in plants, though one can also get some from eggs. Meat also has vitamin E, but excluding fish the amounts are pretty low. Considering the metabolism and evolution of the human species the said amounts are easily explainable with our natural food sources. We CAN get decent amounts of vitamin E from our ”natural” diet, and therefore our need for that is considered believable.

Now with the dogs, things make a turn to odd.

Dogs are mainly carnivore. They can use plant sources and grains to some sort, but most of their diet in wild in the past has been wild meat of large prey animals. If we, for example, take reindeer as our example animal, the reindeer meat would have 0,8 mgs of vitamin E in 100 grams of meat. Therefore, a wolf eating for example 600 grams of meat would get 4,8 mgs of vitamin E. If we play some more and think maybe the wolf will eat some eggs when it finds a nest (about 2 mgs of vitamin E just to make it simple), we could somehow think it is probably realistic to think the wold would get >10 mgs of vitamin E daily.

The current recommendations for dogs are 400 IU - 800 IU, some sources say 100 IU is enough per day. That means even at it's lowest the need of vitamin E would be approx 100 mgs a day.

That is about TEN TIMES the amount of adult human male meant to consume foods that are rich in vitamin E.

There are many articles about the benefits of vitamin E for dogs, mainly cellular health, immune system boost, faster recovery from stressful / physically exhausting activities and helping to maintain good skin and coat. The positive effects of vitamin E supplementing to sick animals and people alike have been tremendous. The amounts supplemented are high, sometimes multiple times the recommendations, and their effects have been positive when fed regularly during a short period of time. However, there have been no clear explanations on why the constant intake of vitamin E should reach the current recommendations, considering we people as omnivore would naturally consume much more vitamin E rich food sources and only need that 11 mgs a day, even during pregnancy. Nowhere it is stated why a dog as a specialized user of protein and fat would need such high doses of vitamin E on a regular basis, as it is clear it's a benefit during sickness. Evolutionally speaking, it makes no sense.
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For and against


People who supplement high amounts of vitamin E on regular basis, as well as many supplement producing companies, explain that the use of vitamin E based products is safe
because the extra, unnecessary vitamin E does not store in fat. Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin, but some studies suggest our system wouldn't be able to store too much vitamin E and that the extra would be naturally disposed. The benefits of vitamin E, specially to sport dogs, combined with this talk in advance of supplementing E continuously.

The question is, do the dog need such high doses? While it is undeniable that vitamin E does benefit dogs, how much do the dogs need it?

As vitamin E is naturally met in vegetable oils, mostly, the amounts are not that high. Nature rarely has hundreds of milligrams of vitamin in anything. Giving the dog too much vegetable oils to fill the mentioned recommendations (it's impossible even, I tell you, if you don't plan changing your dogs water to sunflower oil) will work against the dog. The more there is fat in the food, the more the dog would need vitamin E to avoid the fats becoming rancid. The only possible way to face the recommended limits is using supplements, but then we meet the problem of unnaturally high amounts of vitamin without any explanation on why a carnivore would need such doses. In nature it would never meet even a fracture of those said amounts.

Where lies the truth? What is ENOUGH, not too much but not too little?

These days I am making sure my dogs get some mgs of vitamin E daily, gotten mostly from cold pressed sunflower oil, and I don't exceed the oil limit of 15 ml with the bigger dogs (this means about 10-13 mgs of vitamin E / day from the oil). If we calculate the need with 0,5 mg / kg, they get the minimum they need during most days, however I don't really think that is the actual minimum. Based of what I have read and studied, my personal opinion is that as long as dogs get some mgs daily, and as long as they live the usual life of a usual pet dog, they probably get enough vitamin E. Vitamin E defficiency is usually not met with healthy dogs, and this speaks in the favor of dogs being able to work fine without ridiculous amounts of vitamin E as long as they are healthy. Does the added vitamin E do good things? Probably it does. It is necessary for the dogs health to supplement it with such high amounts continuously? Probably not.

Most sources seem to agree that higher doses should be fed in regimens, and this speaks in favor of the continuous supplementing of vitamin E on lower doses. If the high doses are fed only during some weeks, and the dog goes without most of the time, probably, if fed some vitamin daily, it will do fine with lower, more sensible amounts of vitamin E. Like said many times before, vitamin E is fat soluble, so feeding high doses of it during a short period of time is thought to ”fill up the stock”. If you feed the vitamin regularly, it doesn't necessarily need stocking since the absorbing is continuous.

This might also mean that the dogs with less body fat, such as sighthounds, may benefit from lower amounts of vitamin E daily instead of higher doses here and then, as they don't have anything to store the vitamin in. Just a thought.

I am no vet, I am no trained food expert, so don't take my words as truth. Like I have said, my opinions are based on both read facts, dog evolution, dog metabolism and some natural feeding sources.

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Natural or artificial sources of vitamins?

7/3/2018

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Rawfeeding has always been like a gold mine to supplement producers. Many rawfeeders believe in the power of vitamin jars and there are claims made to convince people that you can never achieve the required amounts with feeding. Since I disagree to a certain level, I will explain in depth what I feed, how that meets the requirements, and what I need to add from a jar.
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​When I started raw feeding first time years ago, I was very lenient with ingredients. I went with ”three different meats in a week”, added some veggies to that and liver every now and then, and that's it. When I started again after having a pause because of personal health issues and extremely lowered energy levels, I asked a friend to construct me a diet and then went with that.

I noticed certain changes in dogs that were positive, but there were some issues still I thought I wanted to fix. I started learning the matter more, asked some opinions from people who teach raw feeding, read posts made by self-proclaimed gurus, and finally came up with our current style.

I'm a strong believer in natural ingredients and that no animal is constructed so that it can't get what it needs from it's natural diet. Dogs are carnivore with some omnivore potential, and their genetics are not that different from that of wolves. This is also proven by the fact dogs and wolves can produce offspring that can further breed successfully. Dogs are NOT wolves, neither were they developed from the wolf species living in forests today, but even so many of their dietary requirements are similar.

Needs 


​As I listed before in a longer post, there are certain needs one needs to keep in mind when constructing a proper raw diet.

The most important vitamins A, D and E, all fat soluble, are ones the dog can't produce itself and it needs from it's diet. From minerals, calcium, if you can't feed bone, is a must, and so are zing and iodine. However iodin is needed in such ridiculously small amounts that feeding seaweed every now and then during a week meets the needs just fine. Therefore we don't list it here, though one has to keep in mind it is a needed supplement, no matter you go far with just 1 gram.

Vitamin A : dog needs 25 mcg / kg
Vitamin E: dog needs 0,5 mg / kg
Vitamin D: dog needs 0,3 mcg / kg

Calcium : dog needs 60 mcg / kg
Zinc : dog needs 1 mg / kg (optimum is often said to be 2 mg / kg)

We will use Ms. Dominance as an example here, because she eats about 500 to 600 grams a day depending on how much we are exercising. During winters 500 g seems to be enough, during our most active summer months I give her more if she seems like she's needing it. Let's now go with 500 grams, just for the simplicity. Also to be noted here, we have "different diet" days about twice or thrice a week, where I may boost some ingredients and tone down the others. These boost days are to balance out the overall diet, mainly the vitamin A and vitamin D.

We now know Ms. Dominance, using our numbers above and calculated by her weight, needs:

Vitamin A: 600 mcg
Vitamin E: 12 mg
Vitamin D: 7,2 mcg
Zinc: 24 mg
Calcium: about 1,4 grams
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Her current daily diet consists of 250 grams of pork/beef minced meat that has 5% of liver in it, 125 grams of grounded whole salmon, 125 grams of turkey and about 20 – 30 grams of vegetables. Weekly she eats about two whole eggs, and also during two days the total of 100 grams of herrin fillets. She gets added 15 ml of sunflower oil a day, along with 5 ml of rapeseed oil also served daily.

In 250 grams of pork/beef minced meat there is

Vitamin A: 42,25 mcg
Vitamin E: 1mg
Vitamin D: 0,75 mg
Zinc: 9 mg

In 125 grams of minced turkey there is

Vitamin A: 16,25 mcg
Vitamin E: 0,875 mg
Vitamin D: 0,875 mcg
Zinc: 3,25 mcg

In 125 grams of grounded whole salmon there is

Vitamin A: 3,875 mcg
Vitamin E: 1,75 mg
Vitamin D: 6,5 mcg (minimum)
Zinc: 0,375 mcg

In 12,5 grams of pork liver there is

Vitamin A: 1900 mcg
Vitamin E: 0,06 mg
Vitamin D: 0,11 mcg
Zinc; 0,9 mcg

From oils she gets

Vitamin E: 9,33 mg + 2,8 mg

Let's do some maths and add the numbers from all our ingredients together and compare them to the minimum needs of the day.

Total of 1962 mcg of vitamin A. Requirements are more than met.
Total of 15,8 mg of vitamin E. Requirements are met.
Total of 8,2 mcg of vitamin D. Requirements are met.
Total of 13,525 mg of zinc. Requiremens are NOT met.

So, by far we have succesfully debunked the myth of natural ingredients being unable to meet the needed vitamin requirements. Now, of course one needs to remember minimum is not the same thing as optimal, but maximum is not the same as optimal either. More is not more, necessarily, when it comes to vitamins. Fat soluble vitamins also gather in the body, so it's not necessary to meet the needs daily, as long as the longer over all picture is balanced. I tend to fill the minimum needs every day, but during some days we might skip some ingredient just for the change. When the over all diet is in balance, changes like this don't affect the dog in any negative way.

Vitamin E is a vitamin that is needed in greater amounts the more fat there is in the food and the more the dog exercises, so it's the only vitamin that could be given as a supplement. However, some studies show that vitamin E supplements have been linked to cancer. Adding vitamin E from natural sources is safer than adding it from the bottle. In supplements, should one need to add them to the diet, natural sources are a must. Artificial vitamin E does not work or absorb as well. I have not added any extra vitamin E till this day, but if it seems that some of the dogs would need it, I shall try a supplement with natural vitamin E.

Hobby dogs, as well as very active people, need more than us ”regular folks”.

With vitamins A and D requirements are easily met in a balanced diet. Herrin fillets work as a boost for vitamin D twice a week, vitamin A is high enough not to need any boosting at all. Dogs are able to discharge up to 60% of vitamin A they eat, and therefore from any commercial kibble, for example, you get far more than the required amount of vitamin A. It is often used as a preservative, mostly because it's relatively harmless even in big amounts (to dogs at least). Even so, I tend to keep one or two days completely free from liver a week, just to even things out. As said earlier, with fat soluble vitamins this is possible.

Zinc, by far, is the only mineral needing a boost. Calcium amounts are more than met if you use products with bone, but as I do not and the salmon grounded with bones is just and just there, I usually add a touch of calcium powder just to be extra sure.

Since the amount of zinc is lower than the minimum is, I use two tablets of good quality zinc product for pets, adding the total of 30 mgs of zinc. This means the total amount of zinc will raise from about 13,5 mg to 43,5 mg. That is pretty much exact the optimal. The reason why most sources recommend zinc to be added in relatively high amounts when raw feeding is because zinc doesn't absorb so well and it absorbs even less the more fiber there is in the diet.

So, with all above it is pretty safe in my mind to say that you CAN meet the dietary requirements with a proper diet. The fact we often can't fill the need of zinc is that we give meat and maybe bone, but not the whole animal. In whole prey there would be a lot more zinc, too. However, adding zinc is usually very beneficial for any dog, and as long as one doesn't go over the recommendations mentioned in the jar, it is also safe. The same can't be said with fat soluble vitamins. You can't really cause an overdose with feeding, unless you feed terrible amounts of liver a day, but you can pretty easily cause problems with careless use of supplements.

More is not more. More is dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. 
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Why to construct a proper, diverse diet rather than lean on supplements only?


​As said above, it is safer. You can't poison your animal with proper diverse diet unless you feed your dog terrible amounts of liver daily. It is very easy, however, to cause poisoning with supplements.

As said before, some studies have linked vitamin E supplements to cancer. Whether or not one thinks the dog needs some vitamin E boost, always consult your vet if you are unsure. Same goes with vitamin D. Vitamin D is, indeed, very important for any dog, but something to remember is the symptoms of vitamin D poisoning are very severe and highly similar with those of a dog poisoned with ratsbane. There is a reason for that; the poison causes critical vitamin D overdose. So, it's not really a supplement to play with. If you are not 100% sure your dog needs a supplement like that, I'd suggest constructing a diverse diet or feeding 50 / 50 rather than just buying a jar of supplement and throwing some pills in the food.

No matter most people choosing to prepare their dog's meals themselves try their best to build a good diet, some rawfeeders have adopted a very simply way of doing things. I have heard and ever read that many people choose minced pork/beef and just add supplements to that, and to me it breaks the basic idea of constructing a natural diet. There is hardly any natural to add pills from many different jars or feeding the one and the same meat with the excuse of ”I add all the dog needs from bottles”. This might be true, but the diet itself is not that much more natural and organic than feeding kibble. It's just changing the dry ingredients to a meat bough from a trusted source. The added artificial stuff is still there.

This is obviously my own opinion and in no way I am educated enough to tell anyone they are feeding their dogs WRONG. I am simply challenging the idea of being lazy and choosing to use chemicals rather than paying some attention in the ingredients because I think going as natural as possible with as many good quality products as possible is the basic idea of constructing your dog's diet yourself. Whether or not you cook the meat or give it raw, feeding balanced, diverse diet prepared from quality natural ingredients is healthy and tasty, and you can't accidentally cause any lethal overdose.

I used to go about saying even the simplest raw diet is better than commercial kibble. I don't think like that anymore, but I highly recommend thinking about preparing your dog's food yourself. If you can't go all the way full custom mode, prepare one meal a day. If you choose to go all for it, remember to consult some professionals and be critical. The information is out there, and most raw feeders are eager to tell how they do their thing.

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OK. So what are those quality ingredients, then?


Excellent question.

In Finland our meat producers are very controlled, meats are often free from salmonella or other sorts of malicious bacteria and it's relatively easy to find good sources for preparing a proper diet. However, I am aware in many countries this is far more difficult. I'd suggest always asking the source of the meat or buying straight from the butchers you know to handle their animals and products properly. You can also buy products meant for people, if their quality is better regulated.

When searching for the right meat, stay away from leftovers. Specially with salmon it is fairly common to ground only the heads, fins and bones, the leftover parts in other words, after the precious meat has been removed. Unfortunately the meat is exactly the thing that has all the good stuff! Grounded bones and heads have little to no vitamin D and they are good mainly for adding calcium and adding some oil, as products like this can sometimes be rather oily. I suggest going for grounded whole salmon, meaning the whole fish was used, meat and bone alike. This way all the good stuff is there.

Minced meats should always have meat in them. If the product consists mainly of lungs and trachea, it doesn't really include anything. Make sure the meat you use has meat, not only leftover parts. The more, the merrier.

The last thing I want to mention are oils. If possible, use cold pressed oils. They are darker in color and also have more vitamin E left. You need less to achieve the same results. Using oils rich in vitamin E, like sunflower oil and the way more expensive but excellent wheat germ oil, is more beneficial than using large amounts of lighter oils since this also means you need more E as there is more fat. 

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Meaning of veggies in dog's diet

18/2/2018

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I could have used shameless clickbait and name this blog post as ”dogs are not carnivores”, but that would be false assumption and pretty cheap. Dogs are clearly carnivore, if juDged by their anatomical features. However, if the classification is based on what food source the animal can use, then dogs are actually omnivore. 
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Let's start with what science says; they are part of carnivora order. They are mainly meat eaters, and their physical features support this. However, when we take a look at the dogs dietary system, it actually differs from creatures like cats and ferrets, for example, that can ONLY use meat sources for food. Dogs CAN use plant sources, and newest research show some individuals are better in that than the others. This means, living with people as scavengers has lead to the dog developing more towards omivore that can use various food sources. Evolution just isn't quite there yet.

In this post I am not going to talk about dogs being carnivore (anatomy) or omnivore (their ability to use plant sources) more than what has been stated. There are way better and more educated people out there to talk about that. However, it is important to understand that dogs are able to use plant sources, no matter what many BARF and prey model and raw feeders might tell you. There are multiple sources out there proving dogs can use carbohydrates and they can use plants, and that they can even use vitamins and minerals found in plants.

The most common explanation people have against using plants is that dogs don't have amylase in their saliva like herbivores do. They don't, that ius correct, but research has shown dogs do produce amylase in their body and they even have genes to support the digestion of plant based material (https://primalpooch.com/the-great-debate-do-dogs-need-fruits-and-vegetables/ has a great post about this matter with many different sources. Check it out!). This means, to some extent some individuals can use plants and will benefit from them

This leads us to the question I want to talk about today; why do I feel feeding vegetables along with meat supports your dog's health, and why I feel like adding vegetables to your dog's meat based diet is a good thing.
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Fill in the gaps
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Following is based strongly on the pet nutrition blogger Rodney Habib's research. He has studied pet nutrition and after discussing with numerous experts has came into conclusion that plants can be used to fill in the gaps in modern raw feeding diets.

These gaps are created mostly because raw feeders, such as me, rarely provide the dog with 95% of their prey animals, and we usually provide human bred meat from just a few sources. This means, dogs are not eating like wolves would in the wild. One also needs to remember dogs are not wolves, and that dogs have better adapted to use plant sources and for example carbohydrates. Therefore, we CAN use plant sources to fill in the gaps left with too simple meat based diet, specially when the meat is not from organic sources and thus richer in, well, everyhting than your basic factory meat.

Many raw feeders feed minerals and vitamins from jars. Some self proclaimed feeding experts state raw feeding and feeding organs and meat is never enough to provide the dog enough nutrients such as vitamins and for example zinc, so they turn to man-made supplements to provide their dog with that. They base their opinions on the same research material as I do, but we look the matter from different perspective. They think what I can't get from commercial meats I get from jars. I think what I can't get from commercial meats I must try to get naturally, because animals in the wild do not die from defficiency. They thrive, in best cases. There MUST be a way for me to mimic that. True, wild animals do lack some vitamins and minerals depending on what situation they have with their prey animals, how often they eat and where they live, but if they can get everything they need from their diet, then it is simply false to say one can't give the dog what it needs only by feeding it natural ingredients.

Research proves that while it is not possible to give the dog all it needs from veggies and plants, you can fill in the small gaps left with plants when you provide your dog with good, preferably organic meats. You might have to give your dog some supplements, like the added zinc, if you do not feed your dog whole prey animals from various sources, but you can get most out of meat and you can benefit from veggies if you just pay some attention. 
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Busting the myth; plants have vitamin and other stuff

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​The most common thing I hear against using plants in diet is that there is hardly anything else than water in plants.

My little sister went vegan a few years back. Like, not just partially but full damn organic vegan. She uses no supplements, either. She tries to get everything she needs from natural sources. Almost two years ago she also had a child, and she decided with her partner that the child would go full organic vegan too. I, as a meat eater, was very sure the child would have horrible problems in future because we people are meant to be omnivore by nature.

Turned out I was wrong. The child thrives, and should it be right what many raw feeders say, that there is simply not enough vitamins and minerals in plants, it should not thrive. It should be dead. It is wrong, just simply and plainly wrong, to say you can't get vitamins from plants. You CAN. You must, however, remember that dogs are not as good in using those vitamins as we are and that you can't provide dogs mainly plant based food and expect them to be healthy. Dogs do best when their diet is based on meat. Plants are there only to fill in certain gaps left when we feed our animals with two or three main protein sources and organs, leaving out other parts of the prey animals.

Steve Brown, dog nutrition experts too, is know to have said

“Vegetables provide essential nutrients, including fiber, minerals, and vitamins. Without plant matter providing those nutrients, an all-meat diet would need supplements. ”

I have not studied more about Mr. Brown's ideology, but it seems to go together with what others have said.

Also, In 2005, Purdue University conducted a study using fresh vegetables in canine diets. Their plan was to see if vegetables affected incidences of bladder cancer in dogs. The results show that vegetable consumption has been reported to reduce the risk of TCC in Scottish terriers who have a strong breed-associated risk for the disease (Raghavan et al. 2005). The numbers were as high as reducing the risk by 90% if the vegetables used were green leafy vegetables high in fiber and low in carbs.

Where is this based on?
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Vegetables and cancer


​To make this simple enough for my own brains; studies have shown that vegetables can be used to boost the process called autophagy, which means the process the body goes through to clean itself of debris, toxins and damaged cells and mitochondria. This leads to better over all health and longer lifespan of cells (meaning, longer life in general).

Cancer happens when the cancerous cells appear and start to grow. Protein and carbohydrates, specially getting more protein that is needed, has been reported to increase the growth of cells, even the growth of cancer. Behind this is the process called mTOR. The process has also been reported to inhibit autophagy, meaning the unnecessary growth of cells is messing up the system which takes care of cleaning up our system and making sure we have better cellular lifespan.

Implimenting fiber-rich and low carb vegetables in the diet can both boost the autophagy and benefit the microbiome inside the digestive system (this means, the better the microbiome, the healthier the dog), AND help slow down the unnecessary growth, meaning the mTOR, that would happen if the dog would get enormous amounts of protein. Since meat protein is where the dogs get their vitamins and minerals in raw feeding, producing some of the vitamins and minerals in the form of plants will slow down the process of growth without slowing down autophagy. The cleaning process continues, microbiome is kept healthy, but the unnecessary growth or unnecessary cells that would otherwise mess with the autophagy and cause tumors to spread is slowed down.

Now, this is highly speculative, BUT the study with Scottish terriers did show adding veggies to replace small portion of their diet of kibble (note here, high in carbs. Sugars stimulate mTOR too, like we remember) did lower their risks of getting cancer.

We are onto something here. We can't leave meat out of the diet because dogs need meat, but we can use vegetables to provide nutrients and fill the gaps and boost the microbiome, and it may also benefit us in the form of not having to feed humongous amounts of protein.

Nobody uses this now as any kind of justification on making their dog vegan. That is in any way against any biological facts. I am not saying feed your dog only with veggies. I am saying adding veggies in a little amount might be a good idea because of all the above.  
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Fascinating. Now what's the meaning of all this?


​Well, I assume nothing else than knowing all the above. Knowing stuff in usually beneficial.

TO ME all the above means adding some small portion of leafy greens in my dog's diet, those rich with fiber and low in carb, is probably a good idea. I get vitamins, minerals and support digestive system and I can still offer my dog energy in the form it needs, protein and fat. I can also avoid chemicals and artificial supplements to certain extent. To me this adds to the purity of the food. The less we consume anything artificial, the better our system works. It's the same with dogs and people alike. 

One needs to remember, always, that for a dog most of the vitamins and minerals come from organs such as liver, but individuals are more or less likely to get something out of vegetables too. Fiber and over all good effects of vegetables are something that affect every dog. 

So your mom was right. Eat your veggies. Give your dog some, too, if you wish.
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I don't want to eat painted corpses

15/2/2018

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When I decided to ”go raw”, har har, I didn't do it because I think raw feeding is superior or the only right way to feed a dog. I do think it has some great benefits, but it also has some issues and there are other ways to feed your dog properly than just raw. My main reason to start mixing the meats on my own was so that I'd know exactly what goes into their food. I know what I eat. Why shouldn't I know what my dogs eat, too?

I own dogs that are in very different life stages and need very different things. Mr. Arthritis is an old man, tends to get chubby easily and has a stress belly. Mr. Hyperactivity is an old man with arthritis as well, but he is also still active and energetic. He needs special diet to support his joints. Mrs. Aloofness is a middle age lady with very sophisticated taste, she gets fat easily and she enjoys long naps. Exercising isn't really ”her thing”. Ms. Dominance is young, full of energy, and she exercises a lot. She jumps, climbs, pulls and the terrain she plays on changes from grass to little pebbles to forest full of branches and rocks. I also have an elderly ferret, who could use some more weigh and has bad teeth, and an adult ferret, who loves to play but also loves to sleep. A lot.

There is no way I could ever feed all my pets the same exact food. All my dogs the same kibble, both my ferrets the same kibble. Yes, I have some kibble there and they do eat kibble every now and then, but their main diet has to be specifically meant for them. It has to answer to their needs. Not a single brand of commercial pet food can offer me EVERYTHING I need in the same bag, and it can't do that to anyone else either.  
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Issues with commercial dog foods

 The amount of brands is endless. There are bags after bags after bags on shelves, each promising to answer to your every need. There are foods for active dogs, foods for puppies, foods for elders, foods for dogs with gastric issues. One could think it's easy to find a good fit, when in reality finding a good fit is pretty impossible unless your dog was the exact dog they developed the food for.

First problem of commercial dog foods is that they are developed and engineered to answer to the so called ”example dog's” needs. The problem is, none of our pets happens to be that example dog. They live different lives with different exercise, different environment and different genetics.

”For many years, the public, through TV and magazine ads, colorfur packaging, endorsements from actors and even our own veterinarians was told that dry and canned dog food was high quality and the best food for our dogs. We were told that all of the essential protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals were all right there in the package and all we had to do was pour it into a bowl. It was easy and convenient way to feed our pets and everyone agreed, it was easy to do and our pets readily ate it. Sales of dry and canned foods soared, particularly after World War II with baby boomers staring families and the family pet being a big part of it.” - Victoria Spencer (Afghan Hound – A contemporary view, 2014)

Foods are sold to us with easyness. How easy would it be to answer to every active dog's needs by buying food meant for active dogs? Or have a healthy senior dog by buying senior foods? This image is sold to us with ads, and it is temping to think the promises are true. However, the general idea of every dogs being the exact same is like stating all people should eat the same food. It's completely ridiculous idea since we need different things, everyone knows that. Food producers know this too, but they continue to market their foods as ”fit for all”, because the easy way is a tempting way.

The next big issue with commercial foods is that most of them are manufactured in countries that demand little to no quality control considering the ingredients.

Lately there have been many cases of commercial pet foods causing problems. News pop up frequently stating dog foods have caused poisonings or other health related issues. This is due to the fact the quality of ingredients isn't supervised. According to many sources, for example the documentary Pet Fooled and numerous different sources in the net, including www.truthaboutpetfood.com , state that meats and grain used in dog foods are low quality, often leftovers or even plain garbage, and they are handled with unhygienic manners. Now, the situation may and does vary from country to country, but since most of our pet foods come from USA, we can assume most of them are exactly what is described above.

Why use low quality ingredients? It's cheaper, first of all. Secondly, dogs as scavengers can process foods impressively well and they can live long, even healthy lives no matter the food they consume is not the greatest. This does not mean all dogs will. It has even been speculated that the increasing lecels of canine cancers would have something to do with processed commercial dog foods made from bad ingredients filled with many kinds of unnecessary chemicals bad for health.

Cost is also the reason why dog foods are mostly grain. The amount of carbohydrates in dog foods is astonishing. Meat is expensive, processing meat is expensive, and even if you use low quality meat you pay more the more meat your products contains. Therefore grain is used. Rice, corn, even wheat. None of these are in any way natural food for dogs. Dog can benefit from carbohydrates, but this can not justify majority of the food consisting of grains.

There are good brands available. Usually these brands can tell you exactly where their ingredients come from and they use good ingredients free from chemicals. Their sources are trustworthy, preferably local, and no third party is included. 
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Know what goes into your pet's food

Another issue with many commercial foods is poor proof of used ingredients. Some brands have very little to no actual information on where all the stuff mentioned in the bag comes from. They say they have lots of meat and this and that and their food contains this much of whatevers, but there is no actual information even about what kind of meat is used, from where they get for example all the mentioned vitamins and minerals, and how much does the product contain grain, and what grain. Sometimes names like ”chicken meal” or ”protein meal” are used. This means the food manufacturers have bought already rendered product that in some cases could even consist of the remains of sick animals, road kills, even deceased pets (www.truthaboutpetfood.com).

If you browse through the list of ingerients you can even find added color. This being paint. Noms.

If the manufacturers themselves can't be sure of the origins and quality of their ingredients, there is no way a customer could ever know for sure. The only way to know what goes into your dog's mouth is to prepare the food from real ingredients yourself. 
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Grounded turkey, grounded pork/beef, grounded salmon, veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, spinach). No surprises here.
The quality of the ingredients matter. Buying the cheapest possible leftovers from butchers is sadly very common, but no dog will live a healthy life eating pork legs or chicken necks only. Whether you use raw or cook for your dogs, it's also important to know what your dog needs. No matter dogs can live with many diets, surviving doesn't mean the diet is optimal. You may want to do some research and be critical.

Unfortunately it seems there really is no fast lane to victory. Ignorance is bliss, but knowing your basics when feeding a dog properly is just a must. This doesn't have to mean spending your evenings crying and calculating milligrams. You can always rely on those good, reliable sources of food, ask some help or read some tips. There are many found in books and internet. 
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Raw feeding for dummies

11/2/2018

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And from a dummie, might I add. I am not seeing myself as any kind of an expert here, but I am good at researching and understanding written instructions. Based on those I have re-evaluated my feeding and found out some mistakes I have been making. I thought I'd share some of what I have read with you now, so you could avoid my errors.  


​I have talked about feeding raw meat before, so if you want to, you might like to check out my previous post.

Before we start, I want to underline once more I am just a dog enthusiast and someone who fights to feed my dogs the very best I can. None of what I write here is to be considered an ultimate truth. I base my feeding mainly to the teachings of two dog feeding instructors. In some things they agree, in some they disagree. I am not really swearing for either's name, I just try to pick up what I can and make my own assumptions.

Basically when raw feeding a dog you must make sure you are giving your dog every vitamin and mineral it needs as well as the right kind of meat it can consume and use. Now, some people believe all this can be achieved with natural ingredients, while some people believe you can never get enough from the food itself. I am somewhere in the middle. I think it is possible to get everything you need from natural sources, but that situation might be easier to accomplish with some well chosen ad-ons.

I am NOT one of those who think it's best to give lots of extra. I believe filling the need is a must, some extra to that doesn't do harm, but giving double doses based on limited internet sources or personal thoughts is most likely not justified.

Vitamins

At this point I am using the chart offered by Katiska (https://www.katiska.info/ruokinta/yleista/vitamiinit-ja-hivenaineet-pahkinankuoressa/) explaining the needs of vitamins and minerals. The chart itself is based on various sources AND personal opinions, and therefore I am also using what I have learned from another dog food instructor, Riikka Lahti from the MUSH team ( https://www.mushbarf.com/fi/ ).

Some vitamins and minerals are more important than others when trying to build a balanced diet. This is both because there are both fat- and water-soluble vitamins as well as the fact that some vitamins are easy to get from the food while others are tougher.

Some vitamins the dog most likely gets enough from it's diet when raw feeding are vitamins B and C. There are both produced by the dog itself, and there's lots of vitamin Bs in meat. C-vitamin is also found in fruit, some veggies and liver.

Vitamins you might want to look a bit closer are vitamins A, E and K.

A vitamin is found mainly in liver. It is fat-soluble and that can't be ignored, no matter dog is somewhat able to push out the vitamin it doesn't need. Judging by the chart the minimal amount of A-vitamin per day would be 22,5mcg per kilogram. The amount of A-vitamin one gets from liver depends on what liver is used. I use pork/beef liver, so the amount is somewhere around 19 000 mcg / 100g. This means 1g of liver would have around 190 mcg of vitamin A. Mss. Dominance is around 24 kilograms, so she'd need 540 mcg vitamin A per day, meaning about 2,8 grams of liver per day. 2,8 grams. However, the absorbing is not optimal, so giving a little teaspoon of liver per day would fill her need of vitamin A just fine and not give a dangerous overdose either (teaspoon being about 5g). If you are giving something else with vitamin A in it, you might want to make sure the dose doesn't get too high, though. We talk about this later.

E-vitamin is found in fats and oils. The best way to get enough E-vitamin is to feed good quality, preferably cold pressed, oils and fish-liver oil. Some people like to add drops of E vitamin as well. I don't do that, and I will explain later why so. The chart suggests that the need of the vitamin E is 0,5 mg per kilograms. This means, once more, that for example Mss. Dominance would need around 15mg of vitamin E per day. From fish liver oil you get about 10 mg per 5 ml. Obviously from that very same oil you also get lots of vitamin A, around 250 mcg per 5 ml, so be careful with liver if you feed fish liver oil. I prefer to use sunflower oil and rapeseed oil mixed, and this way I get near the optimal.

I am a little bit over careful with possible over dosing, and therefore my boys, who eat also kibble and get A-vitamin from there, too, don't get liver that often. My girls need to have liver so they have all the vitamins they need, so in their case I try to give liver not daily but once in a few days or so. They still have the fish liver oil to give them A. And just to compare, and to ease my own mind, Royal Canin Maxi adult gives about 480 mcg / 100 g , so by eating that my girls would get more vitamin A than they do now (assuming they get about 3-4 grams of liver per daily, which they don't every day, and 250 mcg from fish liver oil).

There is not much I know to say about vitamin K. It is found in some light meats, liver, and produced in small amounts by the dog itself. Some greens, including spinach, include vitamin K as well. There is no real need to add vitamin K, as long as the dog is fed properly and it is healthy. Vets do give vitamin K in case of poisoning however, but in normal situation there should be no need to add vitamin K if the feeding is otherwise alright and the dog is healthy.

Now we get to the really important stuff, the vitamin D.

Vitamin D has it's fingers in many different processes within the body. The most important role is working together with calcium and allowing it to absorb. If the dog is suffering from lack of vitamin D, it can't use calcium, no matter how much is given. Therefore adding vitamin D when raw feeding is to be considered essential.

The optimal amount of vitamin D per day is said by the chart to be 0.7 mcg per kg. Most sources in the net, however, talk about 0.3 or 0.4 mcg, and since 0.7 mcg is the writers own opinion, I go with 0.3 mch per day per kilogram as the daily need. Once more, we use Mss. Dominance as an example and calculate her need to be around 8 mcg per day. So, where to start gathering that? Well, fish is one good option. 100 grams of sea salmon has about 6.8 mcg of vitamin D. One can also use fish liver oil, since it has pretty high amount of vitamin D (10 mcg per 5ml). Once more, if fish liver oil is used, make sure the amount of vitamin A is not super high.

Some people give products meant for people, but I find this controversial as if we are supposed to feed optimal food, I eant to give as little chemicals as possible. Fish liver oil and fish are natural sources for vitamin D.

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Minerals

 Minerals come in many, and I am mostly concentrating on those you can actually add. Most minerals are gotten from the meat itself, or from the veggies added to the diet. Iodine is gotten from the dried seaweed most raw feeders are using.

Zinc and calcium are probably the most important to look at closer.

Calcium is gotten from bones. Now, remember what was said about the vitamin D, now. No amount of calcium does any good if the dog is lacking vitamin D. When it gets enough vitamin D, the suggested amount of calcium per kg is 60 mg. With our example girl the amount of calcium per day would be about 1,4 g.

If you feed bones, calcium is rarely a problem. If you feed calcium as a powder, make sure the amount of calcium is high enough.

Zinc is one important mineral, and probably the most comtroversial. Some people say zinc is gotten from the food while others say one can never get enough zinc from the food. There is zinc in the meat as well as in internal organs, but it doesn't absorb that well. The minimal amount of zinc needed per kilogram is about 1mg, the said optimal being 2mg. I am not sure in what that optimal is based on, so I have been giving our example dog about 30mgs per day, trusting that the lacking amount is gotten from the meats and veggies she eats.

Zinc has many jobs to do, too, but as someone who owns long haired dogs one of the most obvious is good coat and good nails. Now, zinc if often paired with biotin and metionin, and as I have been using products with and without the last two I have to say I noticed the difference when using zinc paired with the said ingrediends opposing to using it without them. Therefore I use products with biotin and metionin, these days.  
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Products I use

 From what I have gathered and read, what I need to add to my dog's diet are vitamins A, D and E as well as calcium and zinc. I also need to add seaweed to get enough iodine.

As a source for vitamin A I use liver, mainly, and fish liver oil. This way the amount of A the dog gets is a tad high (not even a tad), but since vitamin A is pushed out by the dog if it's not needed I am not too worried. I also give more than enough zinc and that helps vitamin A to absorb. I give very little liver per day, and I try to compensate this by making sure we have enough oils and veggies in the food to fill the needs of vitamins K and E that are both also met in liver.

Enough calcium could be achieved with feeding crushed bones, but since I'm hesitant to do that due to Mss. Dominance's special needs, I add calcium to their food as a powder. My powder is not having added vitamin D in it, however, so I use salmon to get the vitamin D I need for the calcium to be absorbed. I might change, later, to a product that has vitamin D added, but by far I haven't founded one with reasonable prize.

Zinc is added from a jar as well. I use Avital Biotin, so the need per day is 2 pills (this means 30 mgs of zinc per day, which is over the minimum but under the said optimal. I trust the gap is filled with zinc from the meats and organs and veggies I use). 

So in the end added to our meats and oils I have no more than 5 jars / bottles of supplements. To someone like me who hates any kind of playing with bottles and jars that is a tad irritating. Sometimes I wish for an easier solution, and there actually IS one. That's called MUSH Vaisto, a complete raw food made by a Finnish company MUSH. Their products are 100% Finnish, with the exception of some meats one just don't have here in Finland. We don't actually have sea salmon swimming in our lakes here.

Anyways, what I like in Vaisto complete foods is that they fill all basic needs of the dog and one doesn't necessarily have to add anything to them. I would probably still add zinc and maybe vitamin D in the form of the fish liver oil just to be sure, but other than that I wouldn't have to add anything. The simplicity of this intrigues me and should it be I'd only have one dog I would totally go for Vaisto. I also suggest it strongly, as my own experiences with it have been great.

My only problem, owning 4 dogs, is the cost. No matter during some months I choose the easy road and go with Vaisto, during some other, less rich months it's cheaper for me to mix the meats myself. During those times I mainly buy my meats from KennelRehu. Sometimes I buy some meats from pet stores, specially for my ferrets since they are very nitpicky, but that tends to be somewhat costy.

Since cost is a factor to most of us, let's talk about expenses next. 
​

But it's so expensive!

​ First of all, quality costs.

I have a serious problem with some raw feeders and actually non-raw feeders too for choosing the cheap option JUST because ”no way I am paying that much”. It is common within raw feeders to use supplements meant for cows and other farm animals and just dilute them with water. They are still too strong to be given daily, so they are given once or twice a week. I have done this myself too with ADE liquid, but there is no real justification in that. I can't go on the whole week without eating any vitamins or minerals whatsoever and then eat one weeks amount of supplements on Sunday. It makes no sense. Most of the good stuff gets out of the system that way, and the very next day deficit is there again.

Some use products meant for people. This is more OK, should you know what you are doing, but I don't feel comfortable doing that. The only thing I actually do use from the human side is fish liver oil, since it's the same exact product for both animals and people.

My dogs eat 70 to 80 euros worth meat per month, depending on how much turkey I use. My preference is 50% turkey, 25% beef/pork and 25% fish, but since turkey is expensive, during some months I may go 50% pork/beef and 25% turkey instead.  
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To this, the needed supplements: 1 jar of Avital Biotin about 25 euros, 1 bottle of fish liver oil about 15 euros and dried seaweed and calcium sold in so large jars the monthly cost would be somewhere around 5 euros per month from both. This means the total monthly cost of ad-ons is about 45 euros maximum.

These two combined the expenses of the current diet would be 125 euros max, 105 euros min. To compare, feeding with complete food formula from MUSH the expenses would be around 130 to 140 euros. So, I save a little mixing the meats myself. This is only practical when owning many dogs. With one or two I'd surely go with complete raw food formula and just add zinc and D.

So, yes, it's expensive, HOWEVER we have to remember I have four dogs. If we divide that 125 euros with four, and then divide that with the average mathematical value of days per month, 30, we get whooping 1,04 euros per day per dog. From food specifically planned for this certain dog, from the best possible ingredients, 1 euro and 5 cents is hardly expensive.

Same goes with MUSH Vaisto.
​

How does it look irl?

 This is something I find myself asking any time someone makes a post like this. ”Yes, fancy numbers and all, but how does that look in real life?!”

Well, it looks like this:

I add 450 to 500 grams of meat mix I have prepared. This mix consists of 1000 grams of grounded turkey, 500 grams of grounded beef/pork, 500 grams of grounded fish and about 100 grams of veggies (usually grounded raw spinach, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, along with some possible seasonal berries like cowberries, blueberries, apples, zucchini etc.)

To this I add supplements based on the dog's weight. For Mss. Dominance this would be about 2 grams of calcium in total, so I don't really add that much because the salmon I use already has calcium, a little bit of seaweed, 2 pills of Avital Biotin, 5ml of fish liver oil (when we use it), half a teaspoon or so of liver, some rapeseed oil (I hate that name, seriously), some sunflower oil, some grounded flax if needed. Sometimes I add lactic acid bacteria, sometimes I crack an egg there and reduce the amount of meat a bit.

It sounds like a hassle, and it is a bit, so I usually give all supplements during evening. In the morning I only give the meat mix with some added grounded flax and oils, because it's faster. I have more time to play jar bingo in the evening.

* just to mention, I do use Working Dog Hyaluron 365 for my boys every day, but as it's not a must, I left it out of this post. I talked about it more in my post about arthritis. We also have kibble days every now and then, usually when I forgot to defrost food, and boys get some kibble every day because they tend to get hungry during the night if they don't get kibble in the evening, but most of our diet is based on raw meat and the calculations above.   
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Raw Food Diet - feed your dog like it's a dog

11/6/2017

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I have always been very keen on learning how I can improve the life and health of my dogs. Food is one big factor in how healthy and how long a dog lives. There are dogs who eat ”bad” food their whole lives and still live long, but those dogs are to be considered very strong individuals that could have maybe done even better with proper diet. It is also quite often, from my experience at least, that modern breeds that have been selectively bred by people for a long time and are not as original as some older breeds do better with stuff like wheat, corn and everything with sugar in their diet. Original breeds that are still relatively closely related to wolves and original stock have more problems digesting things that were not meant for dog's digestive system (once again, this is just my own speculation and something I have noticed over the years).  
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Carbohydrates

The use of carbohydrates in dog food is often explained with the need of sugars. Sugars are essential for the brain, which is correct. The dogs, however, are able to form glucose out of fat (the process is called gluconeogenesis), and therefore they do not need a special source of carbohydrate in their diet. The reason why dogs and wolves can use some carbohydrates and turn them into energy is because their prey in wild consists of plant eaters. While eating their prey they can sometimes consume parts of the undigested plants eaten by the prey animal. Therefore their digestive system can use that source of energy to some extent. In most commercial dog foods the amount of carbohydrates is as high as 30%-70%. It is not natural for dogs.

The most common problem created by excessive use of carbohydrates is obesity, along with problems like diabetes. A dog is just plain and simply not made to use that much carbohydrates. However, because dogs CAN use carbohydrates for energy to some extent, and because the sources of carbohydrates are cheaper to use for the companies, commercial dog foods often use lots of sources of carbohydrates as part of their ingredients.

It is often recommended that puppies are not fed low-carb diets, however many companies producing low-carb diets have puppy foods. There is no real reason to why puppies should have high level of carbohydrates in their food if they are offered enough protein and they get all the supplements they need to grow.

Carbohydrates are not to be mixed with fiber, that does indeed serve a purpose in food. It is, however, not needed in great amounts. A little goes a long way.

Damn it - it's yeast

Another problem often caused by carbohydrates, and the reason why I am writing this post, is yeast.

Afghan hounds are prone to yeast. It's a common thing in the breed due to the breed's ”originality” and because of their long, quite heavy hanging ears. It is possible a dog developes yeast because of humidity, but it's even more common because the dog gets too much sugar from it's diet.

Yeast needs sugar to live. The yeast infection of a dog is simply an overgrowth of the natural bacteria the dog already has in it's normal flora. It's usually a symptom of the imbalance of digestive system, either because of allergies or inability to use as much carbohydrates the dog is fed.

”Diet is the foundation of health. The way you nourish your dog is either going to help his immune system manage yeast, or it's going to feed a potential or existing yeast overgrowth situation.” - healthypets.mercola.com

So quite simply, if your dog has yeast, you should take a look at it's diet. Are you feeding your dog a food it can process, or are you expecting it's system to digest food that is actually not appropriate for it's species? Before you go on trying million different hypoallergenic kibble, take a moment and consider the possibility of going raw.
​

raw food diet

Raw food diet does not cure cancer, nor does it do miracles, but sometimes it can change the life of a dog. This is because most dogs benefit from being fed like dogs should be fed – getting low carbohydrates and lots of protein and fat.

Allergies are always a symptom of an immune system failure, however if your dog is ”allergic” to wheat or gets yeast from too much sugar, it is not to be considered suffering from immune system failure but simply having a digestive system of a more original canine. The fact some dogs are better using carbohydrates and dealing with sugars is not a reason to call the others allergic. Allergy is something caused by an overactive immune system failing to see what is to be considered a threat and what is not. Yeast is simply an overgrowth of bacteria that feed on sugars (however, in some cases it is caused by allergies).

Raw food diet is not feeding raw bones and hoping the dog survives (that is actually called BARF and it's not healthy for the dog. It provides mostly calcium with the loss of everything else). It is feeding raw MEAT. Bones are actually quite small part of any canine's diet, and therefore they shouldn't be too dominant in raw feeding either. In some cases you can't use bones at all, but you can still feed your dog raw meat as long as you prove the source of calcium.

What does this benefit, then?

Well, obviously it's the most natural way to feed a dog! Most dogs do great with raw, most do great with getting some raw and then getting kibble. Some dogs that have digestive system problems may be bad at using lots of fat and therefore some very rare cases may benefit better from a high quality kibble than from raw food. This is totally alright, as long as the kibble fed is good quality. I myself avoid kibble with corn, rice, potatoes or sweet potatoes, as they are high in sugar and sugar is exactly what I don't wish to have in my dog's diet.

Raw food is mostly just protein and fat, and with added supplements (such as vitamisn A, D and E, calcium and zinc) it answers to the basic need of a dog. Your dog is a meat eater. Take a look at it's teeth – are those made for biting rice or ripping the flesh of a prey? Often dogs that are fed raw have more energy. This is simply because they can use their food faster and better.

Raw is what nature meant for canines to eat. 
​
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1659&aid=655
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/03/eating-these-foods-can-make-your-dog-itch-like-crazy.aspx
http://www.katiska.info/


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