TeamMisha.com - K9 Nutrition Part 1

Continue to Part 2

Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian and my advice should not be used in place of the sage advice of your vet. This article is the result of personal experience and is not meant to replace meaningful treatment and dialog with your veterinarian.

The following, is part 1 of an article written by Anna Muldoon and published with permission. Although it is geared towards Rottweilers, the information can be used with ANY breed.

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"K9's Saving Lives"

K9 Nutrition Part 1

As a Rottie owner for the past 20 years, I have to admit, that in a lot of cases, I did more harm than good when it came to caring for and feeding my dogs. Just like everyone else, I was brainwashed by the clever marketing of dog food companies and my vet. I fed a high grain based diet and over vaccinated my dogs. In the end my last two girls paid the ultimate price for my ignorance. They both died of cancer and one also suffered from thyroid dysfunction. This is not to say that diet and vaccinations cause all cancer, but they do contribute to the health problems of dogs.

It wasn’t that I was a bad owner or that I didn’t care about my dogs. I just did not know any better. It never occurred to me that pet food companies and even my trusted vet would mislead me into harming my pets through poor nutritional products. Frankly, I don’t think that most vets realize it themselves. Pet food companies largely support veterinary research. As a vet, wouldn’t you trust someone who was handing you millions each year? You can read more on grains in pet foods here

http://www.jeanesholistics.com/id34.html .

After the loss of my last female Cissy, I started asking a lot of questions and doing research. To my horror, I realized that I had contributed to her illness and may have even caused it by feeding her a low quality grain filled diet and being a “Good Pet Owner” by vaccinating her every year. New vaccination studies have shown that yearly vaccinations can do much more harm than good.

http://www.doglogic.com/vaccineinfo.htm#news

Shortly after her death, I was asked to foster two eleven-week-old pups; a male and a female that I named Atticus and Nala. Of course I fell in love with them and decided to adopt them. In that process I also decided to do things differently.

While I feverishly read everything about diet I could get my hands on I fed them what I thought was a high quality food for large breed puppies. Within a month Atticus had developed Panosteitis. My vet suggested a low protein diet; the only dog food that I could find that was low protein was “diet or light” food for overweight dogs. After reading the label, I realized that the food did not contain nearly enough calories or nutrients to support a growing puppy. That was the turning point for my vet and me. I decided to become responsible for their health and to think outside the box.

With the help of a canine nutritionist, Lew Olson, I switched all of my dogs to a raw diet. Within two weeks, Atticus’s Panosteitis was gone. My vet argued that the diet was even higher in protein than the large breed puppy food (28% protein) I had previously been feeding. He instructed me that the diet was dangerous and was adamant that I change to a commercial food.

With the help of the online USDA nutrient database, I formulated a spreadsheet, which showed the protein contents of what I was feeding. It came out to an average of 17% protein, which is optimum for a growing large breed dog. My vet had not taken into account that raw foods are 70-80% moisture. At that point in time, he had to admit that I knew more about nutrition than he did and we called a truce. To this day he marvels at the condition of my dogs, even though he only sees them once a year for a checkup. However, as a rescuer, he has seen the benefits in dozens of dogs that have come through my home.

Proper Nutrition for your Rottweiler Part 1

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