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Today, many studies are being conducted on the connection between our ancestral and
contemporary diets. As it turns out, most of us have deviated
far from what our ancestors ate. In this respect, the same
goes for cats and dogs. Just like us, most of our pets are not
eating the diets that are meant for them.
So, it is possible
that we are unknowingly sabotaging our pets’ health?
If you want
to know the truth about cats and dogs, read on.
Dogs . . .
This may not come as a surprise, but dogs are historically
scavengers and are primarily meat eaters. In fact, a natural
diet included bones, chunks of carcass, fish guts, animal guts
and heads, rotten greens and fruits, and eventually discarded
human food.
Sounds appetizing, doesn’t it? That explains why your dog will
eat any and everything in your garbage can if given the chance.
In fact, the major contributing factor in the domestication of
dogs was their attraction—way back to the beginning of civilized
mankind—to whatever food was available at human garbage dumps.
Eventually, the tamer wolves that were the least threatened by
human beings, over tens of thousands of years, became our
companions and evolved into doghood.
Dogs truly function better as
carnivores and should have plenty of meat protein, which
provides the building blocks of good health. While a small to
moderate amount of carbohydrates can play a secondary role in a
dog’s diet, Dr. Jane suggests feeding only highly digestible
carbohydrates such as brown rice. Excessive and/or poorly
digestible carbohydrates as in cereal based dog foods with only
hints of meat are not recommended. |
Cats ...
If you have watched
a National Geographic episode and witnessed how
large cats eat in the wild, you know everything you need
to know about a cat’s most basic needs. All cats chase and
devour different kinds of prey, which supplies them with
abundant protein, fat, some pre-digested flora or grasses and
moisture contained in the meats.
Though cats became domestic much the same way dogs did and have
also been subjected to omnivorous diets, they’ve managed to
retain their original need for protein even more than dogs.
This
explains their relatively short intestine, requirement for
specific animal protein constituents such as taurine and their
inexorable craving to jump on moving prey. The hunter is still
in them. Cats unequivocally require meat in their diets and we
as owners shouldn’t compromise this need. |
