Raw & home-cooked: why we pet health pros advocate for fresh pet food
Been eating healthier this last month? Give your dog some nutritional love with raw or home-cooked food + "fresh whole food benefits" from Dr. Jason + 3 easy ways to get your dog on balanced fresh food
OK- full disclosure: we all eat fast food from time to time, and Dr. Jason's secret favourite meal is a greasy hamburger. But what would happen if we just ate processed food from a plastic wrapper every day? We could survive on meal replacement bars, but would we thrive?
It's obvious that a lack of fresh and whole ingredients would have an impact on our human health. Logically, the same goes for our beloved best furry friends: balanced, whole food raw and home-cooked diets are simply better for our beloved pooch's health! (see our article on best kitty food here!)
Dr. Jason explains why:
"Balanced, fresh, whole food diets have huge benefits for your pet's health. Dogs and cats benefit from the antioxidants and natural enzymes in fresh food. Fresh and frozen meat and vegetables also contain natural moisture, important for organ health and digestion. Unprocessed, whole foods without all the fillers are more bioavailable... you can see they actually digest more of the food when their feces on whole foods is a third of the size on kibble. The benefits of whole fresh foods go on and on..."
Balance is key! 3 Easy ways to ensure your dog gets their vit & min
Don't just go throw a steak on the barby for your dog and call it a day, however. Nutrition needs to be balanced, and the calcium/phorphourous ratio (meat/bone), protein / fat balances and micro nutrients are essential to have right, or you'll end up with a sick pet
We recommend three easy ways to access a balanced, whole food diet for your dog:
#1: Choose an AAFCO-certified, balanced raw diet like our Pounce & Hound Raw Food Nutrition (shown above.) Thanks to a lack of marketing laws, anyone can slap the label "balanced" on pet food. So ensure the brand you choose is AAFCO certified, like our ouse brand, to ensure it meets nutritional standards and has undergone food trials to ensure it is safe.
#2: Book a nutritional consultation with Dr. Jason, who will formulate a balanced recipe specific for your dog, which includes exact supplementing and balancing of ingredients. This is our top recommendation for pets not currently in optimum health.
#3: Pick up a copy of the Hillary's Blend cookbook in our Pounce & Hound shop, and get cookin'! The cookbook, formulated by a Canadian veterinary technician, works with Hillary's Blend supplements and gives you hundreds of already balanced recipes you can make for your beloved pooch
On a prescribed kibble diet?
There are some medical conditions that require food with particular balances, commercially available only in kibble form. Before changing a prescription diet, get some vet advice, ok?
If you would like to explore whole food options for your pet that is currently on an rx kibble diet, simply book a comprehensive nutritional consultation with Dr. Jason. He will walk you through the whole food options available for your pet's specific condition, recommend the correct suppplements, and even prepare a balanced recipe for your pooch if you want to cook at home.
Refinements: when cooked is better than raw
In traditional Chinese medicine, different foods and the way they are prepared have either warm or cool energetics. Obviously, cooking food and drying it out "warms it up." If we have a pet with a warm condition, such as allergy hot spots, we try to balance the condition with a raw food with "cool" ingredients such as white fish, rabbit or turkey. However, cool conditions such as a stagnant liver or fatigue benefit from the "warmth" and easier digestibility of a cooked food.
Not sure which approach is the best for you? We can recommend appropriate proteins over the counter, and if your dog has a particular condition, Dr. Jason's comprehensive nutritional consultations that include recommendations specific to your pet's health and disposition, as well as your lifestyle.
Nutrition is our passion!
We love chatting nutrition at Pandosy Village Vet. Hannah has taken her advanced nutrition course from the College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies, Dr. Jason is doing continual research on specific conditions and learning at American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association conferences, and all of us continually learn with staff seminars from trusted, impartial sources. Best of all, we are all pet parents that have real life experience preparing and feeding whole foods to our furry family members.
Feel free to talk to us if you would like some more nutritional advice for your dog.
Yours in holistic pet health,
Dr. Jason, Dr. Pam, Arnica, Hannah, Amanda, Amelia, Sadia (and Jackie!)
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