| Mary Wakeman writes..... |
Jane Anderson responds......
|
|
One of the questions on the form new clients are asked to complete at our office is what dog food they use. The answer to this question leads me to jump to conclusions about the client. This could be a bit unfair, since there are large gray areas involved, and there is probably the occasional person who truly is a good pet owner despite having fallen into bad feeding habits.
|
I'm with you Mary. I like to know what people feed their dogs too. However, I really don't need to ask. Once I open the dog's mouth I usually know. If it's full of periodontal disease, I know they have been fed commercial dog food. If teeth are sparkling, I know there's a very good chance the dog is getting some or all of the right types of food in their diet. If their coat is dull, and/or falling out, I know the dog is being fed commercial. If the coat has that icky "doggy smell", I know it is being fed commercial food.
|
|
In many cases, we see that the pets are obese - and often morbidly obese. The blindness of these owners to the health of their pets is stunning. They are in total denial and often have a small submissive smile on their faces as I speak to them about weight and diet. They know they are doing wrong, but have no intention of changing their procedures, and just want me to get it over with. One additional problem for the pet owner here is that dog food bags that say to feed their dogs way more than is sensible. But, the only true test of whether your dog is eating the correct amount or not is your dog's body condition.
|
Yes, dog obesity is unfortunately very common in dogs fed a commercial dog diet. Perhaps it may be an idea, that rather than being so patronising towards the pet owners, you could be a little more helpful. With this attitude displayed already, you're a vet I'd never recommend.
|
|
Purina is the company that has put out information on the correct shape for your dog. They have said that your dog, when viewed from above, should have a discernable 'waist' behind the ribs and in front of the pelvis. The ribs should have a slight covering of fat on them. Well, in 2002, Purina published information that they had taken dogs conforming to their definition of perfect weight, and cut their food consumption by 25%. The dogs on 25% less food lived on average two years longer than those in their formerly identified 'perfect weight' classification. We're not talking a couple of weeks, we're talking a couple of years. Why should your veterinarian have to say anything more? Doesn't everyone want their pet to live an extra two years?
|
Nature has also provided us with information as to what the dog should look like, and perhaps this is a model that you could teach instead.
People who feed appropriate raw diets to their dogs notice their dogs are fitter, appropriately energetic, and don't have that pudgy look that often accompanies dogs fed commercial food.
|
|
The next dog food company that presented new information in 2002 was Iams/Eukanuba. In a study of 1500 dogs (most studies are run on much lower numbers) the newly formulated 'Eukanuba Premium Performance' kibble produced an average of two more puppies per litter. Once again, we're not talking subtleties here. In urging my clients with bitches being bred to change to this, I've had anecdotal and visual evidence of many unexpected benefits of this ultimate dog food. Instant change in coat condition in short haired dogs where you can observe this easily and reduced coat loss in the bitch after weaning a litter. Being a concentrated food you might expect a tendency for weight gain; instead we seem to be seeing a better utilization of the food and more muscle than fat being laid down, and even old neutered dogs coming into wonderful coat. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I speculate that if you get extra puppies per litter, improved coat and improved muscle mass, this food must be meeting a great many nutritional needs that the previously used high quality food didn't meet.
|
I'd be interested in this study. "Two more puppies" compared with dogs fed some other type of kibble? I really don't want larger litter sizes than I'm getting now, quite frankly, and neither do the dams. I can't imagine having litter of 14-16 puppies! What breeder in their right mind would want litters that large!
I have had personal contact with thousands of people who have moved their dogs from commercial food to an appropriate raw diet and have found improved coat condition, reduced coat loss, and leaner condition. Many of these people have specifically sought answers for their dog's health problems because their vets have only recommend commerical pet foods and a plethora of drugs, none of which appear to work, but do cost an awful lot of money.
|
|
I've always contended that the larger the pet food manufacturer, the better and more frequent quality control and more research they will run, eventually benefiting you and your dog. One very important factor to consider in purchasing dog food is freshness. Don't buy your food at a low volume boutique pet store; you want a place where the food flies off the shelves. Don't buy more than a month's supply at a time of any dry food.
|
I think this is a niave presumption. Perhaps you could spend some time working for a large company to really understand how they work.
In terms of "use by date" issues, most if not all commercial dog foods have a plethora of preservatives in them to extend shelf life. Some of these preservatives are associated with health issues. I'm surprised you haven't raised this.
|
|
Our society is driven so much - and more all the time, it seems - by marketing that we are well into damaging our dogs by becoming the disciples of idiots with a good pitch. I am not naming names here, but rational readers will immediately know what I mean; of course, the gullible brain-washed culties will never get it. I saw one newly advertised dog food produced by a Mom-and-Pop (as they proudly proclaimed) business. Well, unless Mom or Pop was Chairman of the Animal Nutrition Department at the local land-grant university, and unless their annual sales are in the billions of dollars, I personally wouldn't even bother to read the label.
|
Right, interesting attitude you've got here Mary! When did "nature" have a nutrition degree? Why don't we use the model created by nature, rather than trying to create artificial diets? As soon as you move away from the model proven by nature, you then introduce variables that there is limited knowledge about. Let's not try and fool people that you need a nutrition degree to feed your dog! I educate people for a living, and I find it patronising that your attitude is to assume people are too thick to sort out how to feed their pets, without some big multi-national company needs to put together some seemingly "balanced" food to feed their dog. Feeding dogs an appropriate raw diet is easy. Very easy. I can explain the concepts to even someone with the most basic education is less than 5 minutes. I find those who are hardest to educate vets - those that pretend they have a PHD, and so know more than others. Interestingly, these are the people that treat their patients like they are the dumbest.
Many of the nutrition courses at university are backed by pet food companies. They write the books, they provide students with groovy shirts, pens, sponsorship, bbq's with lots of grog (students love those!), and all sorts of things to help promote their brands.
|
|
Then there are those who scan the human nutrition news until they find mention of a new exotic plant that may turn out to have some benefit to humans. They immediately throw a stick of this stuff in the batch of food and add it to their ingredients list. Come on, where's our natural common sense? I'll tell you; it's been advertised out of us. We all want to show off by using the newest and self-proclaimed best. We want to have a secret that we can tell others about. And we never seem to think about applying a modicum of common sense to the subject.
|
Well perhaps this is something you could advise your friends at Purina and Euk too! You seem to follow blindly in the path of major pet food companies! Common sense to diet diet comes by learning the simple guidelines of feeding raw - keep as close to nature's model as possible.
|
|
We all seem to loathe the idea of feeding 'grocery store' dog food, but consider this; the grocery store food comes from huge companies with superb quality control and research programs. It flies off the shelves and doesn't get stale. The billions of pets eating these foods come into the vet's office happy, healthy and glowing. And, they only need to come in once a year for their shots.
|
I love this Mary. In your opening sentences you claim "In many cases, we see that the pets are obese - and often morbidly obese." So which is it - are the pets you see healthy or so fat that they are going to die shortly? It appears you can't get your facts straight even within the one article, where you contradict yourself.
In addition, while the aim of this article is not to review the vaccination issue, but why on earth, when there is plenty of evidence to show the dangers of annual vaccinations, would you promote the outdated notion of "annual shots"?
Yet again, Mary, your ideas seem very dated.
In addition not only do we "loathe" the idea of feeding "grocery store" food, but also all those commercial pet foods sold at vets! Who would want to feed their animals those products with all the health issues they cause! Even the pet food companies admit that 95% of dogs will have periodontal disease by the the time they are 3 when fed commercial pet food! And that the periodontal disease is showing up within 4 months of age!
However, when feeding an appropriate raw diet all your ingredients can be found in the "meat" section of your grocery store. It's so easy to feed raw!
|
|
What the grocery store fed dogs generally don't come in with are the perforated intestines, severe bacterial disease from campylobacter or salmonella, exotic parasites, or the way out of wack metabolic changes we see in the dogs being 'cooked for' or being fed 'raw' or 'barf' food.
|
In my experience, neither do the dogs fed appropriate raw foods! The only case I've seen with relation to salmonella poisoning was from a great dane fed a so-called "premium" commercial dog food. I've not heard of campylobacter or salmonella or exotic parasites! Tell me, exactly which "exotic parasites" are you seeing in your clients' dogs? I'd be very interested to hear this!
Given you say in your next paragraph that you'd like to "identify" the people feeding their dogs a raw diet, if you are seeing so many cases of these extremely rare events, either you're confusing yourself, or you are indeed seeing millions of dogs each year in your clinic in addition to all those people who feed their dogs commercial food.
In my experience vets who don't support a raw diet are experts at exaggeration and promotion of myths.
|
|
The people who feed barf, raw, or home-cooked diets are the ones I really want to identify. First their dogs are at severe risk for many many problems. For instance, the dog with a high blood phosphorous level; does it have kidney disease or an owner feeding barf? The bitch that can't become pregnant; is she hormonally challenged, infected, being bred at the wrong time, or is her owner cooking for her and adding estrogen-like compounds to her diet?
|
We're here! How many people exactly do you want to identify with? Give me your email address and I can get them emailing you directly. Alternatively, you can join the plethora of email lists around the world with the tens of thousands of participants who feed a raw diet!
We'd be very willing to talk to you about the problems our dogs have supposedly seen on a raw diet. However, there are thousands of people who can tell you the problems they had feeding commercial foods, and why they then chose to feed raw! Please join us Mary! Click here for one of the larger lists!
Nope, never had a problem with a bitch getting pregnant. Never had a problem with a bitch hormonally challenged, haven't had a problem with infections (in fact we often knock back antibiotics and treat our dogs naturally), never had an issue with a bitch being bred at the wrong time, and never even heard of anyone ever adding "estrogen-like compounds" to the diet!
Fancy that! And if you added up the people I've liaised with, the number of dogs they own would total over 100,000 and I've not seen these issues. For some reason Mary are these people with these issues magically attracted to your clinic? I don't think so.
|
These home-made diets may follow a recipe in a book. And of course, if it's printed in a book it's automatically true, correct, authentic, well researched and intelligent - isn't it? If we assume that there is even the slightest provable merit to these diets, we'd next have to ask if the owner has a lab-quality balance to measure every ingredient on, and every other piece of equipment to finish the nutritional analysis of each meal.
|
I can only speak for appropriate raw diets which don't come from a book. There merely attempt to mimic the model nature created as closely and logically as possible.
On the raw feeding lists we expect, if not demand, people think with the brain they have got. We do not encourage people to follow blindly.
And by goodness, what's this with the "lab-quality balance" thing? Does nature make sure every dog, wolf, or dingo gets a balanced meal every time? "Balance" is a concept put out by pet food companies to discourage people from thinking for themselves. Why, by goodnesss, would we need to do a nutritional analysis of each meal?
Would you do this for your children?
|
|
Thankfully, most of us (dog owners) recognize that a lot of those books are full of bovine excreta. And nearly all of us (Veterinarians) are laughing all the way to the bank after we fix - if possible - the problems caused by some of the alternative diets to the tune of $5,000.00, more or less, per dog. Many of the problems can't be fixed, and the pet dies. So instead of the extra two years of life Purina has shown us we can achieve, we're opting for illness, pain and early death for our dogs by refusing to feed them appropriately.
|
Charming comment Mary! What a lovely representation you give of the so called educated veterinary community!
In the studies we have done ourselves in the raw feeding world, in terms of perforations, these are most commonly caused by foreign objects just as sticks or cooked bones. In the extremely rare instance where raw bones have caused a perforation, in every single case, the human has fed an inappropriate raw diet to the dog. When you feed an appropriate raw diet, you do not see perforations.
And, if you indeed are charging $5k for this sort of surgery, this is indeed highway robbery, and you should be ashamed of yourself for ripping off your clients. This is exhorbitant!
In terms of life expectancy, those people feeding their dogs an appropriate raw diet, are getting greater length of life from their dogs compared with those feeding any sort of artificial foods - canned or dried.
|
|
As the veterinarians of these patients, all of our thought processes must be altered. We cannot assume that we are looking at a dog that's starting from the same basic husbandry conditions we are used to. They aren't being fed a commercial kibble diet, so we now have to factor in all of the multitude of variables these raw, barf and home-cooked diets may cause. It makes diagnosis and treatment difficult.
|
I agree, your thought process does need to be altered. And you do need to increase your education. When you move away from the model that nature intended, ie: an appropriate raw diet, you increase the variables considerably. Those within the raw feeding circles would say when people feed raw it makes diagnosis and treatment easier.
Perhaps if you are having trouble with the basics of diagnosis and treatment, we can recommend some mentors for you.
|
The most frustrating problem with these patients, however, is the cult-like belief of their owners. The worst thing I have found about those who answer the questions about diet as raw, barf or home-cooked on my admission sheet, is that they to be somewhat uneducable. I spend great amounts of time supplying my clients with information that I have, and that I think will be of assistance to them and benefit to their dog. I know however, that with this group, my efforts will fall on deaf ears. I ask them a simple question; 'Are you a nutritionist'? They stand there, their eyes moving and their lips clenched - verging on saying something, but never getting it out. It seems that they feel they are nutritionists by virtue of reading alternative diet books and Internet articles. They want to say they are. But they know I can call their bluff if they do. It's a fascinating look at human behavior. It results, pretty often, in visible hostility to me. A simple question. Perhaps I should change it to 'Do you have a university degree in nutrition?' - that would make it easier for them to answer, or would it? Actually, there's a hotel ad something like that, isn't there -- "no I'm not really an animal nutritionist, but I did stay at a H-- Inn last night"?
|
I would suggest that you Mary, rather than your patients are blinkered in your learning. Many people seek help on their dogs' problems when vets like you cannot find the solution to their problems. I've heard of vets recommending euthanasia for dogs with long treated skin conditions, that are subsequently cleared up within weeks on simply moving to a raw diet. And this is after thousands of dollars being spent on so called "prescription food" and a multitude of drugs.
Perhaps if you adjusted your personal consulting style a little and came across as less confrontational, and more of a "partner" in the healing process you'd get more progress. Come on Mary, come and try and call my bluff!
Rather than being fascinated with human behaviour (oh, and I do have a Masters degree in this), I'm somewhat appalled at your behaviour and attitude.
Let's stop the crap - you do not, and you will never need a degree in nutrition to feed a dog.
Do you need a degree in human nutrition to feed yourself or your children?
|
|
With the exception of the few who are doing this because their puppy's breeder insisted on it, and who aren't themselves totally converted to this cult, all I succeed in doing is frustrating and exhausting myself. That's hard for me to take. I feel that education is by far the most important of the services I offer. That's why I have put things on these Internet pages for the use of the general public. I've always felt that the application of common sense will result in my clients perceiving what I am trying to explain.
|
Perhaps I can recommend some reading for you. Try Tom Lonsdale's "Raw Meaty Bones". It's available from Amazon.
In fact, you see in his book a plethora of information from reports from the pet food industry talking about the problems their products create in dogs, that you never seem to hear from vets such as yourself. His book indeed has a lot of common sense.
As a breeder, I will not place puppies with people who will not feed a raw diet, regardless of how much money is offered, because of the many health issues associated with feeding artificial food. And I am not alone. There are a substantial number of breeders who now have this as a clause for the placement of puppies. This is particularly important because many of us have health guarantees for our puppies of up to several years. We do not want to be replacing puppies we have carefully bred and raised because their owners have mistakenly chosen to feed them artificial food which has led to health issues. We already know from our own breeding practices, that our puppies are of excellent condition when raised on an appropriate raw diet.
Oh, and please when you find out, let me know the secret handshake of the "cult" - I've been dying to find out what it is!
|
|
All three of these diets aren't the same. They each may cause some or all of the problems listed:
- Unbalanced nutrition
- Changes in blood chemistry and metabolism
- Detrimental affects to the skeleton
- Bacterial disease
- Parasites of many kinds
- Pancreatitis
- Cystitis and kidney disease
- Perforations of the esophagus, stomach and intestines
- Peritonitis
- Septicemia, shock and death.
|
Crikey, what an amazing list this is. However, even my 7 year old child can see the problems with your argument. I see those parasites are back though. How fascinating! Which parasites were they again?
However, in the interest of furthering our own education, please post the links to the articles you've found reporting these.
|
|
Another type of nonsensical dog diet comes from the veggie lovers. If you look at a dog's teeth, then at your own, you will see lots of differences. The teeth of a dog are closer to those of carnivores than to ours, the ultimate omnivore. While dogs are classified as omnivores, so are bears. We never think of these animals as herbivores. Some humans carefully manage their own nutrition so that they can maintain health as vegetarians. You can't do this with dogs. They are not vegetarians. Don't try to burden your dog with your own emotional responses. They have no moral and ethical objection to good red meat. They also don't suffer from the cholesterol/cardiac artery connection we do. Because you, a Homo sapiens, wish to eat in a certain way, and your metabolism is flexible enough to accommodate it, doesn't mean that you can change the diet in the same way for Canis familiaris.
|
Ha Ha Ha! I love it when vets (you know, those really educated people who know it all about dog nutrition, because they have a vet degree!) say dogs are omnivores!
This is invariably the first clue that the vet is clueless.
Dogs are carnivores. Pure and simple. This is not an opinion. This is fact!
Dogs need a diet based on whole carcasses.
People who feed an appropriate raw diet will never advocate a vegetarian diet. How ludicrous is this!
But I love your last sentence there! Ain't that the truth! So explain again why are you attempting to justify an artificial diet for dogs? (Furthermore I would also argue that most humans do not eat a diet which is the best for their health.)
|
|
Another note about a wonderful food like the Eukanuba Premium Performance; it is a perfectly balanced food, and it is that precise balance, even more than specific ingredients, that makes it a better dog food. If you are feeding a nutritionally balanced commercial dog food, and you start adding table scraps, raw or cooked meat, chunks of broccoli or carrots, cottage cheese or yogurt, you are unbalancing it. Don't do that, at least don't do it very much.
|
Fabulous, that would be Eukanuba who do all that amazing animal testing leading to the deaths of a plethora of lab animals including lots of dogs? Maybe you could share with everyone how those big companies develop those pet food formulas for kidney disease, for example.
Oh, that's the guys.... ok, so tell me again - who came up with the concept of "balance" and how did dogs survive before pet food companies came along?
The greater public is aghast when they find out about the trials of pets that go on by pet food companies. And this is just one of many reasons why they move towards a raw diet.
Oh, and you do know that some pet food companies use dogs and cats which have been killed in shelters as a base for their pet foods? Or is this a piece of information you have missed?
And why would you be advocating cooked meat, broccoli, carrots, cottage cheese or yoghurt to a carnivores?
And if people can do this to a degree, exactly how much is "not very much"? Wouldn't this upset the "balance"?
Please stand clear on your position Mary!
|
|
We see a lot of cystitis today, associated with various crystals in the bladder. It is often a moot point as to whether the crystals came first and caused the pH (acid/base balance) of the urine to change, or bacteria caused the pH to change and thus started crystals to precipitate out. I have checked urines on many dogs with high vegetable content diets and found the pH of the urine in an undesirable range. My sample isn't large, but is intuitively correct as well as observable in the lab. One of the pet supply catalogs I have looked at recently is selling a substance that's supposed to neutralize the pH of your dog's urine so it won't burn grass. Never mind that you could kill your dog by causing bladder and kidney stones by changing urine pH.
|
Well given I don't recommend vegetables at all, I'm not sure I can comment on that statement. How large is your sample? I've got a pretty good background in statistical analysis and have had to write theses in the past, so I'd be very interested in reviewing any research you've done yourself. No point in making claims, for example, if you're sample size is too small. I know for vets statistical analysis tends not to be their strong point, but since myself and many of my raw feeding colleagues are very educated in this area, we are certainly more than happy (and qualified) to review any statistical data.
Perhaps if you recommended people feed their dogs an appropriate raw diet you wouldn't see the burnt grass issue.
|
|
We just have to stop thinking of dogs as either an extension of ourselves and our preferences, or as experimental systems, where we try new things on them just to see what will happen. If your dog has been thriving on grocery store dog food - as most do - the old adage 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' should leap to mind. Marketing is difficult to resist, but I think we look at most of the ads on TV with a grain of skepticism these days. So please, apply that skepticism to claims of new dog food products. Use your computer and Google-out the information you need to become fully informed.
|
My goodness, how trued this first statement is! Yes, so if this is the case, why would you promote the creation of artificial foods for dogs when there is the perfect natural system that nature created?
Absolutely - if it ain't broke don't fix it? So why are you moving completely away from nature's model?
You're right - marketing is difficult to resist. However, I bet if I went into your vet practice today I'd find marketing of pet food products and pharaceutical products all over your surgery. You'll be using pens and pads supplied by them, you'll attend vet conferences sponsored by them, you'll have walls in your surgery plastered with posters coming from them promoting their products.
Oh, and of course, your vet association will have these companies as their major sponsors?
Sure Mary, tell me more about this whole marketing concept? Oh that's right - you own the showdog supersite - what seems like a complete marketing ploy. I guess you know a lot about marketing
You might want to check out the medical profession's view on this: http://www.nofreelunch.org. In the medical profession there is plenty of evidence to show that sponsorship and supplying of freebies to doctors as well as the standard kickbacks, has led a plethora of doctors to prescribe the wrong medication to doctors. I can see no reason why this wouldn't apply to vets.
|
|
A BIT ABOUT BONES:
While I am totally against the barf, raw, and most home-cooked diets, I am totally for giving dogs and puppies appropriate bones for their entertainment, teeth and muscles of mastication. The best way to remove puppy teeth is with a good bone. Just remember, the most important thing is, don't give your dog any bone he can eat as opposed to gnaw on and play with.
|
Right, so in addition to promoting artificial diets, you are now encouraging people to feed an inappropriate raw diet?
I thought vets had a code of ethics that included a statement something like "first do no harm".
|
Cooking bones will cause even large and otherwise harmless bones to become likely to splinter into shards. The alternative dog food recipes feed bones that are much too small, as well as cooking them in some cases. The bones of chickens are the best example. Primitive human populations use the leg and wing bones of birds and fowl for sewing awls. They are always sharp and potentially lethal, raw or cooked. Slightly larger bones will splinter in such a way as to produce sharp pointed fragments.
|
Two good points Mary. Firstly I agree - don't feed cooked bones! Secondly, don't let dogs using any implements to sew. I'd advise sewing is best left to humans.
However, you might want to have a bit of a chat to the multitude of people feeding a raw diet who have never even seen the issue of "too small a bone!" Fancy that. I'd never even heard of that!
Quick, my toy poodle is chewing on a chicken foot - better remove it before he kills himself! NOT!
|
|
For 27 years I've counseled people to give their dogs and puppies marrow bones. Poke out the marrow - there's too much fat there, and give a nice fresh bone to your dog. Puppies will chew that instead of your belongings, and loosen baby teeth. Once the puppy's finished with it, unless it's polished clean, pick it up and get rid of it. The only problems with marrow bones are the fat content of the marrow and the bacteria that will begin to grow on it if it is left around with tissue still adhering to it. If the puppy hasn't finished his bone, you can pick it up and put it in the freezer, as long as it hasn't been at room temperature too long. Teething puppies may not pick a bone clean in one try. If in doubt, toss it and get a fresh one. Always freeze any extra bones you have rather than keeping them at refrigerator temperature.
|
Right, well this advice is completely wrong! Please people - if you're vet recommends this claptrap, please find another vet quickly.
sigh.
As a behavioural specialist (and yes qualified - I know this is important to you Mary), I'd suggest that given the length of time you've been giving advice to feed artificial diets which in all likelihood have led to a number of health issues in the pets of your clients, you would suffer such a level of cognitive dissonance which would prevent you from ever recognising this damage and consequence, and so you will never take on board the real nutrition requirements of the canine.
"Blocked learners" are everywhere, and seem to be concentrated in the veterinary profession.
|
The best bone you can get is from a beef thigh (femur), not including the ends. There are two kinds of bone in the femur. One is the extremely hard and dense cylindrical bone forming the shaft. The other is the kind of bone found near the joints (sometimes called knuckle bones). This kind of bone is often sawed in half lengthwise by your butcher. You will be able to see the trabeculae (cross-hatching) in the interior of this bone if it is cut lengthwise. These parts of the bone can be consumed by most dogs. Along with other problems we've discussed, there's one more big problem from consuming bones. We gave a knuckle bone to our first born, a superior mutt named Dudley. He consumed some of the trabecular bone, and several days later, after being constipated for some time, he produced a stool that was pure white and hard as concrete. With the stool he also produced a scream such as I haven't heard since. I'm one of those people that doesn't need to be shown twice. I would never again do something to cause such agony to one of my dogs.
|
Sorry, again this is incorrect information.
To actually learn how to feed an appropriate raw diet, please browse this site further, and join the main raw feeding email list. Mary hasn't been able to find it, which has nothing to do with her very high qualifications!
And Mary, I'll never recommend you feed Dudley a mix of raw food and kibble. And I would never feed knuckle unless attached to the whole carcass. I'm not surprised Dudley had issues. Unfortunately Dudley has been fed the wrong diet.
Are you really so niaive about appropriate diets that you could make this very basic mistake? What about your degree?
Please, if only for Dudley's sake, please refrain from making such basic errors again.
|
|
The only good bone is one that cannot be consumed or fractured, is not full of fatty marrow, and is not harboring bacteria by virtue of lying around at room temperature while still having tissue remaining on it.
|
Again more mis-information.
But for the sake of further learning, please tell us how you came to these conclusions.
In addition, exactly what bacteria is this, why is it dangerous, and do you really believe that artificial foods have no issues with bacteria?
|
|
The best way to clean and loosen puppy teeth, as well as to entertain, is to give your dog an appropriate bone.
|
Again, this is wrong. Puppy teeth fall out an appropriate age, not rushed, when fed an appropriate raw diet.
|