Supporting Documents

The simple bare necessities-Old Mother Nature's recipes

Products:
    Beef, Buffalo & Pork
    Bones
    Chicken
    Turkey
    Exotics Meats
    Fish
    Lamb
    Mixed Meats
    Other Poultry
    Tripe etc
    Fruit and Vegetables
    Fish Oil
    O'Paws Supplements
    Freeze Dried Meats
    Dr. Harvey's Pre-Mixes
    Specialty Health Items
    Canidae and Felidae
    Natural Treats
    Oma's Natural Patties

I am sure there are still some of you who have concerns about the safety or benefits of a raw diet.

Here are some articles to support it.

1. This article explains why many vets may be opposed to raw feeding, how to lessen the chance of your dog getting bloat and various other points of interest regarding raw feeding.
http://www.beardie.net/bcca/health/articles/going_raw.shtml

2. This is a FAQ sheet concerning raw feeding. It covers various topics.
http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html

3. Raw pet foods come frozen and you keep it in your freezer and thaw it before feeding. Mostly freshly ground meat and bones, and many brands contain fruits and vegetables and sometimes grains as well. Raw chicken and turkey necks are a great way to clean teeth, provide natural calcium and phosphorus, and add variety to a dog's diet; and raw bones are the perfect healthful treat.
If you spend a little time observing the physical condition of animals in the wild, you will find that degenerative or old age diseases are relatively unknown to them. Except for the danger from natural predators, wild animals generally live quite long and healthy lives. What happens when we domesticate animals and make them into house pets, is that they quickly develop the same diseases as their human "owners". We must be making the same mistake with them that we're making with ourselves.

Commercial pet food (even the best known and most expensive brands) have had their nutrients altered, devitalized and destroyed by heat, processing, coloring, preservatives and other chemicals. Feeding your animal such food on a regular basis causes waste-toxins to accumulate in the blood, lymphs and tissue which contributes to a weak immune system and renders your pet susceptible to chronic diseases.

Animals, like humans, require the enzymes, amino acids and other nutrients in the raw meat in order to stay healthy. Many skin and coat problems are a direct result of a lack of raw animal fat in the diet - fat which humans often believe is bad for their pet. Animals need at least 30% raw fat, and their systems are not designed to handle cooked meat or cooked fat. In the wild, a panther or jackal does not barbecue, grill or smoke its prey. It definitely does not walk to the local supermarket to buy dry food either. Yet most pet owners recoil at the thought of feeding raw meat to their dog or cat, concerned about bacteria or parasites. However, dogs and cats don't get salmonella poisoning because their digestive system is so acidic (or at least it should be) that it kills everything. This is why a dog can bury a bone and dig it up two weeks later and eat the rotting meat.

For a return to health, pets require a diet which strengthens the immune system and most closely resembles that which they would get in the wild. It's really easy to do. Essentially, you feed your pet a combination of certain raw meats and select from a host of raw vegetables.
(from PetFoodDiner.com)

4. Why a Raw Diet?

We all want to give our pets the best possible care. We want them to live long, happy and healthy lives. Unfortunately, we are losing them in ever-increasing numbers, at younger ages to cancer, heart, kidney and liver failure. Even diabetes is becoming common in our pets. Orthopedic problems are at an all-time high. Allergies, dental problems and urinary tract disorders are but a few of the miseries that plague our pets.
Why are these health problems becoming so common place? Consider this. The processed commercial pet food industry (dry kibble) has existed for approximately 60 years. Veterinary Schools receive large amounts of money and support from the commercial pet food industry. Most of the veterinarians recommend you feed dry kibble to your pets, day after day, every day of your pet's life. No variety, no fresh food. It's time for pet owners to take back the responsibility of our pet's nutrition, health and longevity.
What did dogs and cats eat before we had this dry kibble? Nature designed dogs and cats to be carnivores, eaters of other animals. Their systems were designed to get maximum nutritional benefits from raw foods, including muscle meat, bones, organs and stomach contents. The high temperatures necessary to cook dry kibble dog food kill the live essential enzymes and amino acids. These high temperatures also destroy much of the nutritional value of vitamins and minerals.
By feeding your pets as nature intended, they are able to fully utilize the vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids found only in raw meat and vegetables. The result will be stronger immune systems, less allergies, beautiful coats and healthy skin. Stronger bones, cleaner teeth and fewer orthopedic problems. Longer, healthier lives and lower vet bills.

5. "As mentioned previously, dogs and cats have digestive systems that are designed to most easily digest and derive the greatest amount of nutrients from raw meat. Ideally, our companions would eat an all raw diet that includes some viscera and bones. Generally, the more raw food you can include in your companions diet, the better – but some is better than none. Some guardians choose to feed their companions a ½ raw and ½ dry (dehydrated or kibble) diet; either mixing the two or feeding raw for one meal each day and dry or cooked for the other. It does not have to be complicated – you can feed raw chicken and turkey necks and chicken backs as part or all of a meal several times a week. Raw poultry bones do not splinter, they crunch. This is a great way to clean teeth, exercise chewing muscles, and provide a natural source of balanced calcium and phosphorus, as well. As always, naturally raised, hormone and antibiotic free or organic meat is best." (more...)
(Healthy Pet Journal)

6. "WARNING: If you continue to feed your dog commercial dog food, death-by-disease is practically guaranteed! You must find an alternative and it doesn't have to mean spending more money. " - (The Dog Food Conspiracy)

7. Many articles on Raw Feeding - (My Pet Carnivore)

8. "Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst read American and English veterinary journals with wonder, for they routinely featured articles about illnesses and conditions he had never seen. In his book Give Your Dog a Bone, Dr. Billinghurst describes what happened when his nation adopted commercial pet foods in the 1960s. Until then, Australians fed their pets raw meaty bones and table scraps. "Everybody knew how to do it," he says. "It was common sense. As a consequence, most Australian dogs were very healthy."

Billinghurst fed his own dogs commercial food for two years and watched them develop skin problems, runny eyes, scruffy coats, itching skin, hot spots, ear infections, anal sac problems, smelly fur and feces, bad breath, tooth and gum problems, repeated worm infestations, bone and growth disorders and reproductive problems. Previously, his dogs had dined on fresh hare, raw bones and table scraps. They were never wormed or vaccinated, had large litters of robust puppies and stayed healthy with a minimum of effort.

As soon as he switched his dogs back to their previous diet their health improved. So did the health of dogs belonging to clients who adopted his BARF feeding plan..."
-(Trends in Home-Prepared Diets for Pets, The Weston A. Price Foundation)