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This was one of the first things I saw when I signed onto Facebook today and I love it!!! It truly made my day because our community is making an impact and we're beginning to align with the veterinarian community - the divide is closing!!!
In a world where simple conversations can turn into the ending of a friendship, it's nice to see that people are talking about pet food and that it's respectful. Learning about raw feeding was tough for me because of the contradictory information and the aggression in raw feeding groups.
Today, we're seeing fresh food cliques coming together. When's the last time you saw major bickering over vegetables? The suggestion that we should add vegetables to our dogs' diet used to spark off debates and trolling that would last for days.
Even the topic of "balance" has calmed down as people recognize that our dogs do need to eat a nutritious diet to living a long, healthy life.
WE NOW HAVE A STARTING POINT
Whether one supports raw feeding or not, we can all agree that our dogs need to eat a nutritious diet, right? Now is an opportunity to discuss what that looks like for a kibble diet, a canned food diet, a raw diet, a cooked diet, and a hybrid diet.
The truth of the matter is that fresh food is here to stay. This is no longer a fad. Dogs are dying at astronomical rates. During my time of learning as much as I could about hemangiosarcoma, I saw many pet parents take the first step of dropping kibble from the diet after a cancer diagnosis. For all of these pet parents, whether their dogs survive or not, I doubt that they'll race back to kibble with their next dog. At the very least, I bet they'll start adding fresh food to their next
dog's diet.
WHAT ARE VETERINARIANS SEEING?
Whenever a veterinarian comes out against raw feeding, I'm curious about what they see in their practice. We'd all love to think that they are only anti-raw because the kibble companies are paying them (trust me, this isn't the case) or because they lack knowledge about nutrition. I'm not one for conspiracy theories unless it's the X-Files (great show). I wonder what these veterinarians are seeing in their practice.
I often help people by reviewing recipes for raw diets in the Animal Diet Formulator to give them ideas on how they can improve the meals. You'd be stunned by the recipes I receive. Over the past nine months, I've only received one recipe that didn't need any tweaks. All of the others needed to be scrapped because it was a bunch of nothing - very few nutritional needs were being met.
If people think the diet they've formulated courtesy of FB groups is healthy, they're not going to challenge themselves to keep looking and they may not realize that their dogs have nutrient deficiencies until their dog gets sick and THAT'S what these veterinarians are seeing. No wonder their pushing for a commercially balanced diet.
NOT EVERYONE CAN FEED RAW
Another email I get all the time is "I can't feed raw, so what can I do." And the advice I give is to feed the best food that they can afford and to add fresh food when they can (bone broth, kefir, fermented fish stock, sardines, vegetables, etc.).
If you look at the second image, that's what they're saying. Feed a high quality, balanced commercial diet. Yes, this may be a kibble diet for some, but not everyone can feed raw.
There was a time when I was passionate about raw feeding; today, I'm passionate about improving the quality of my dogs' lives. For my dogs, raw feeding is part of the equation - but it's not the entire equation.
I hope that this graphic is a sign that we (pet parents, veterinarians, influencers) are coming together and bridging the gap with the goal of improving the quality of life of our pets whether you choose to feed fresh food or feed kibble.
We're all doing the best we can and as long as we're open to learning new things, we will be on the path to becoming amazing advocates for our pets.
And, don't forget the new blog, Dog Mom Style, a lifestyle blog with beauty, wellness, book reviews, and movie reviews.
This is a bulk raw food recipe for 4 dogs that weigh between 55 lbs and 73 lbs. I didn't use the Animal Diet Formulator to "balance" this meal. I created on the fly.
INGREDIENTS
- 50 lbs of ground quail from Columbia River
- 10 lbs of beef organ blend from GreenTripe.com
- 4 lbs of pork heart
- 5 cups of Dr. Harvey's Paradigm
When combined with raw eggs, duck feet, veggie mix, and fermented fish stock (which I add to individual meals), this will last our dogs 8-10 days. This time of year, my dogs also enjoy meals of raw meaty bones, which also stretches the food out.
SUPPLEMENTS
I add fermented fish stock daily for Omega 3 fatty acids (a short pour).
I add duck feet for cartilage (joint health) and crunch (teeth).
I add raw eggs to each meal every other day (multi-vitamin).
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Nutrient Spreadsheet and Other Freebies
Download the Nutrient Spreadsheet (PC)
Download the Nutrient Spreadsheet (Mac)
The above links will take you to a page of my website where you'll see the link to the spreadsheet - when you click the link, the file should automatically give you the option to download. I am sending this to you in this manner to avoid landing in your spam folder, which an attachment will do because of the size of the files.
I will send updated versions of the spreadsheets as I add food (no more than once a month).
If you subscribed to gain access to other free downloads, visit the Thanks for Subscribing page of my website.
If I've helped you in any way, please take a moment and leave a review/recommendation on my Facebook page. And if you've purchased either of my books, please leave a review (crossing my fingers for 5 stars) on Amazon.
And if you have interests in books, movies, wellness (for humans), and more, check out my lifestyle blog, Dog Mom Style.
Thank you!!! You have no idea how much this helps me reach more pet parents.
Have a fabulous week!
~ Kimberly
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