Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Do raw fed dogs live longer?

I have often wondered about that.  I know I am on several yahoo groups that are about Raw Feeding, Natural Care etc, and have come across many dogs who are 13 or 15 who do not look nor act their age.  Most are raw fed from birth or shortly thereafter, limited or no vaccines, no chemicals (flea/hw etc).  This link was shared on one of the groups I am on and I am excited to share it with you, as it PROVES that dogs fed a Natural Appropriate Diet live longer....

Clicky for Lippert-Sapy Study on Canine Longevity 
Click on the link then it is the 3rd section down, click on it to read the study 
"Lippert-Sapy Study on Canine Longevity: The findings of this study present convincing evidence of the importance of an appropriate natural diet on health and longevity. Statistical analysis of data from the study showed that animals eating a more species appropriate diet lived almost 3-years longer than pets eating commercial pet food products."

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Salmon Oil Supplementation

Unless you are feeding meat/food that is entirely grass fed you should be supplementing with Salmon Oil or Fish Oil, as foods are deficient in fatty acids otherwise.  I feed Prey Model Raw and supplement with Nupro & Salmon Oil, & Vitamin E.


http://dogaware.com/diet/supplements.html  An important source of omega-3 essential fatty acids. Omega-3 EFAs are beneficial to the immune system, the nervous system, the heart, and help stop inflammation, such as in arthritis and allergies. They also support brain development of puppies and fetuses. This is probably the most important supplement to give, no matter what you feed, as Omega-3 EFAs are hard to find even in a natural diet, and are highly perishable when exposed to heat, light or air, so they do not survive in commercial foods even if added. Omega-3 EFAs are found in fish body oil, not liver oil. One form of omega-3 fatty acids called ALA is found in flax seed oil, but dogs cannot use ALA unless it is first converted to EPA. At best, dogs convert 15% of ALA to EPA, and some dogs may not be able to make this conversion at all. For this reason, fish oil is a much better source of omega-3 fatty acids for dogs than flaxseed oil.
Recommended dosage is 1000 mg fish oil (containing 300 mg combined EPA/DHA) per 30 pounds (14 kg) of body weight. Maximum dosage for dogs with health problems would be 1000 mg fish oil (300 mg EPA/DHA) per 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of body weight. You can also use sardines in place of fish oil supplements; one small sardine supplies over 100 mg EPA/DHA.
Vitamin E should also be given whenever oils are supplemented (even small amounts are adequate, but highest recommended dosage would be 100 IU per day for small dogs, 200 IU for medium-sized dogs, and 400 IU for large dogs). Note that fish oil is not the same as cod liver oil, which is high in vitamins A and D.