RAWPETDIGEST October/November 2015
IN THIS ISSUE: -Nat u r al p u p p y car e -Bo n es an d y o u r cat -Can i n e p an cr eat i t i s -Vacci n at i o n s -Th e n ew n o r m al (an d w h y i t i sn ' t ) -A n d m u ch m o r e! Boomer. Photo credit: Shannon Bowling
Raw Pet Digest Editor-in-chief: Kristin Clark Technical editor: Dr. Jeannie (Jeannette) Thomason
To get an annual subscription (6 issues): -Using PayPal: send $15.00 USD to kristin@rawpetdigest.com -Using Square: go to mkt.com/ rawpetdigest -Email kristin@rawpetdigest.com for alternate forms of payment
All emails and letters become the property of Raw Pet Digest and may be reprinted in future issues.
Our mission at Raw Pet Digest is to share information that supports natural health with a broad audience to help improve the lives of our carnivore pets. We believe that only the body is capable of achieving and maintaining true health, but we also believe that there are many things that we can do to help support the body in its quest to maintain balance (health). Raw Pet Digest aims to help educate and inform you about those things so that you can help your pet live a long life and thrive naturally.
DISCLAIMER: All information contained in Raw Pet Digest is intended for educational purposes only. It is not provided in order to diagnose, prevent, or treat any disease, illness, or injured condition of the body or pets, and the author(s), publisher, and contributors accept no responsibility for such use. Anyone or their pets suffering from any disease, illness, or injury should consult with their physician or veterinarian. The statements herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, all views expressed herein by those being interviewed or featured are their own views and do not necessarily represent the views of Raw Pet Digest. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the author(s) and Editor-in-Chief. The articles herein are for educational purposes only. The decision to use, or not to use, any information is the sole responsibility of the reader.
Merlin, an American Pit Bull Terrier. Photo credit: Bre Altherr
FEATURESAND COLUMNS Letter from the Editor - 4 Feeding and Raising Puppies Naturally - 5 Those Amazing, Awesome Bones - 13 Sunshine and Supplements - 17 Plants and Carnivores - 23 Spotlight on Health: Carole Milligan - 25 Vaccinations and Your Pet - 28
Motley, Elle, Cleo, and Barkley. Photo credit: Kristin Clark
CranioSacral Therapy - 35 My Experiences with Parvo - 38 Canine Pancreatitis: Natural Support and Prevention - 44 The New Normal (and Why it Isn't) - 49 The Infinite Capacity of Our Hearts - 52
Kirin and Barkley on the couch. Photo credit: Peg Clark
Letter fromtheEditor Over the past few days, there has been a hint in the air that summer is coming to a close. The sun, which over the summer had been bright and intense even early in the morning, is starting to take just a bit longer to come up. The heat is loosening its grip, and there is a suggestion? a feeling, really? that the seasons are changing. But it?s not just the seasons that are changing. Other changes, some exciting, and some sad, have also been all around me. On the exciting side, we are planning to move. We are looking for a place with land, to launch a business that will help bring high-quality, affordable raw food to our carnivore pets in a new and convenient way. I can?t wait, because it will be another step in my journey to empower people to help their pets achieve and maintain health naturally. But other changes have also come. Very dear friends of mine just lost their dog, Boomer, at the end of August. Boomer was one of the most loving and gentle dogs I have ever met, and his loss leaves a hole in my heart. He was getting up there in age, but he never failed to welcome me with a gentle wave of his tail and a big smile on his face. My friend was with him when he passed away, brave and loving to the end. I will miss his sweet, smiling face, and I will miss all the times he laid there with us while we shot pool at their house. He was truly one in a million, and I am so grateful that I had the chance to know him and call him my friend. Another friend of mine just lost her boxer, Socks, as well. Socks was an amazing dog, and, although she lived in Canada and I didn?t get to see her in person, stories about her and pictures of her always lightened my heart. She drew people together who otherwise would never have met, and inspired all of us every day to learn more about how to take care of our pets naturally.
Kristin with Cleo, Motley, Elle, and Barkley. Photo credit: Adam Gilbert
constant is change.? Some changes we embrace wholeheartedly, and some we resist, but no matter how we feel about them, change comes. That is nature?s way. We spend a lot of time every issue talking about natural feeding and health care for our beloved pets, but we also emphasize the importance of strength of body and spirit. Part of that strength is resilience to the changes that we experience in our lives. And so, I want to ask you to take some time, right now, to feel appreciation for where you are right now, and where you are headed. Feel gratitude for the changes that your life has brought you, and the opportunities that those changes have given you. Hug your loved ones, human and animal, close. Take a moment to remember those that have passed or have moved away. And try, if you can, to feel joy at the gifts that they gave you while they were with you. And, with your heart as open as it can be, greet each new change as an opportunity to grow, and stretch, and learn, a little more. After all, it is the way of our world that we experience change, and through those experiences, we grow and learn. New doors open and new pathways emerge, and we get the chance to learn more about ourselves. In this way we become even better versions of ourselves, and ultimately we can better share our own unique gifts with the world. And that is, at its essence, what life is all about.
As I sit here writing this, thinking of the exciting and the challenging changes all around me, I am Enjoy the issue, reminded that life is all about change. Indeed, as Kristin the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, ?The only
4
FEEDINGANDRAISING PUPPIESNATURALLY
Meshach, a Great Dane. Photo credit: Kim Bloomer
Nutrition is the foundation of optimal health. What we feed our puppies directly affects their health. Without proper nutrition, even the most genetically sound puppies will never reach their full potential, and they could also have health problems as a result. The importance of proper nutrition cannot be overstated. Without proper nutrition, all other efforts at achieving and maintaining good health can be only partially successful at best. Without proper nutrition, there is a much greater need for intervention simply to assist the body in dealing with things the immune system should be capable of dealing with on its own. We have all been led to believe that somehow our puppies need to be fed special diets designed for their unique nutritional needs. Of course, these diets are formulated by humans for monetary gain. The pet food industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. Since our domestic dogs are descendants of wolves, shouldn?t we be observing how and what wolves and other wild carnivores eat? Do their pups eat a special diet just because they are young? What is a SARF diet? The letters in the acronym SARF stand for species-appropriate raw food. Dogs as a species are carnivores. No matter what the pet food and
Cinder, an English Mastiff. Photo credit: Jennifer Lee
veterinary industry would have you believe, all you have to do is look at their anatomy and physiology to see evidence of this. Their teeth are designed to rip, shred, and tear, not chew. They lack the grinding molars necessary for grinding or chewing food. Their saliva lacks the enzymes (such as the amylase found in omnivores and herbivores) necessary to begin the process of digestion. Instead, their saliva is basically comprised of enzymes that render most bacteria harmless; it has a mucousy texture that acts as a lubricant to ease the process of swallowing whole pieces of carcasses, which is important since dogs can only crush and flatten their food, not chew it. Dogs' jaws hinge open widely to allow them to gulp down large chunks of meat and bone. Their jaw is not hinged like an omnivore?s jaw, it only moves up and down (again, making it impossible to actually ?chew? or masticate food). Their stomachs are highly elastic and are designed to hold large quantities of meat, bone, organs, and even hide. The gastric acidity (gastric pH) of a stomach of a dog eating a raw meat, bones, and organ diet has been tested and found to be very acidic, with a pH of 2 or lower. This highly acidic environment is designed to break down raw meat and raw bones into soft digestible material. The low pH is highly effective at killing bacteria, particularly potentially pathogenic bacteria like salmonella, clostridia, campylobacter, and E. coli. NOTE: While I can find no studies to prove this, I want to mention here that if you are switching an adult dog that has been fed a highly processed diet all of its life to a species-appropriate diet, that it may be best to avoid feeding whole raw bone with the meat and organs initially. This is because the stomach is less acidic because of the long-term feeding of processed foods. If this is true, the dog fed processed pet food over a long term may not be able soften and break down raw bone material or be as capable of coping with bacteria. This can result in vomiting or diarrhea until the pH is raised to the natural level of 2. I always recommend a 12?24 hour fast before feeding a raw diet to an adult fed processed pet food, 6
and I also suggest that whole bone not be added for a couple of days, just in case. Puppies, however, can be switched easily with very few or no digestive upsets. Dogs have a relatively short foregut and a short, smooth colon. This means food passes through the digestive tract quickly. Carbohydrates, vegetables, and plant matter, however, need time to sit and ferment. This means that animals designed to eat carbohydrates and plant matter have longer colons, larger and longer small intestines, and occasionally a caecum. Dogs have none of these, but have the shorter foregut and hindgut consistent with carnivorous animals. Specific nutritional needs of growing puppies Wolves and even many naturally reared dogs wean their puppies from nursing by regurgitating their recently eaten meals to the puppies. Eventually, the wolf pups share the leftovers from a kill and naturally reared pups eat from their mother?s meals, including more and more whole parts of the animal carcasses found in a SARF diet. You don?t need to give your puppy special ingredients or more ?protein? or calcium then their parents. They require the same ratio of calcium to phosphorus as adult dogs. They do, however, require up to 10% of their body weight of raw meat, bones, and organs compared to adults, who only require 2.5?3% of their body weight. By the time puppies are eight weeks old, they should be getting whole animal parts through eating a prey model diet or a ?franken prey? diet. For instance, depending on the size and breed of the puppy, it might eat a whole chicken thigh or leg quarter (with bone and skin intact) with a little bit of liver and gizzard and heart. Feeding a SARF or prey model diet means including organs, bones, muscle meats, and glands when you can get them. Keep in mind that the organs and bone marrow are highly nutrient-dense. Liver has a vast range of important nutritional qualities. It has the most concentrated source of vitamin A, as well as vitamins D, E, and K in substantial quantities. Liver
is an excellent source of the minerals zinc, manganese, selenium, and iron. It also contains all the B vitamins, particularly B1, B2, B3, B5, B12, biotin, and folacin, and it is also a good source of vitamin C. Liver provides a source of good quality protein and the essential fatty acids, both the omega-3 and omega-6 type. Kidneys supply good quality protein, essential fatty acids, and many vitamins, including all the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). Kidneys are a rich source of iron and all the B vitamins. They also have good levels of zinc. The heart is actually considered a muscle meat, not an organ. It is an excellent source of protein, B vitamins, and iron. It contains some essential fatty acids and a small amount of vitamin A. The heart contains good levels of taurine, which is an important food? for the heart! Raw green tripe has often been called "the finest of natural foods for our dogs". It should be unprocessed and unbleached (basically straight out of the animal). Tripe is the edible lining and accompanying content of a cow or other grass-eating animal's first or second division of the stomach. Paunch tripe comes from the large first stomach division, and honeycomb tripe comes from the second division. Both wild canids and domestic dogs alike benefit from eating tripe as it contains a very diverse profile of living nutrients, including digestive enzymes, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, vitamin B, probiotics, and phytonutrients. Raw tripe is considered to be meat, but it has a very good calcium/ phosphorus ratio. It?s an essential part of my puppies? and adult dogs? diets. Tripe should be from grass-fed (not grain-fed) herbivore animals to get the maximum nutritional benefit. Raw whole eggs with shells (a perfect ratio of phosphorous to calcium) can be fed two or more times per week. You might have heard that raw egg whites contain a protein that binds with biotin, and that is true. However, to avoid deficiencies, feed the entire egg? yolk, whites, and shell? for the perfect balance of its nutrients. 7
Egg yolks are an excellent source of magnesium, calcium, iron, folate, vitamins A, E, and B6, and free-range eggs have lots of beta-carotene. If you buy your eggs commercially, they are likely sprayed with wax and other chemicals to improve their appearance. These chemicals are harmful for your dog, so if you cannot find fresh, pasture raised farm eggs, feed commercial eggs without the shell and count them as a meat meal or purchase ground, organic eggshells to supplement when you are not feeding bones. Food need not be weighed once you get a feel for how much to feed in a day. Every day, observe your puppy and put your hands on them. Does he or she look a little beefier than just a couple of days ago? If so, feed a little less. Does he or she look a tiny bit gaunt? Feed a little more. Becoming attuned to these small changes will not only head off weight problems, but is also an excellent way to keep track of the general health of your dog. Be aware that your puppy may eat the same amount of food for a long time? I have noted that in many cases, a puppy of the age of about three months to a year will often barely increase its intake. That?s because as their bodies increase in size, requiring more food, their growth rate decreases, so they need less. It all evens out. However, as a general rule of thumb, expect males to need more than females and expect ?intact? (unspayed and unneutered) dogs to need more than altered ones.
Knox, an English Mastiff puppy. Photo credit: Jennifer Lee
While overfeeding in adult dogs leads to obesity and can lead to serious health problems such as cardiorespiratory disease, we recognize other problems in puppies that result from the same practice of overfeeding and especially oversupplementing. It is necessary to feed the puppy enough to allow for controlled growth, but it is equally important to avoid overfeeding. The elements of poor nutrition that have been scientifically proven to negatively impact muscular skeletal development in puppies are excessive and ?empty? calories and high or
Meshach enjoying chicken. Photo credit: Kim Bloomer
unbalanced mineral content? specifically supplemental calcium and phosphorus. Feeding whole animal parts with bone and skin intact, green tripe, and whole eggs (shells, whites, and yolks) will ensure your puppy gets the perfect balance of calcium to phosphorus. Excess calcium (specifically calcium from supplementation and/ or synthetic vitamins and minerals) can be very detrimental to the development of a healthy skeleton. The excessive and unbalanced calcium may result in skeletal malformation. Excess calcium from supplementation can also cause deficiencies in other nutrients, especially zinc. Feeding a diet with too little calcium is equally problematic; if you are not feeding a whole prey or prey model diet, then be sure to feed a bone meal or give raw egg shells a few times a week. A raw prey model 8
(parts of animals in appropriate amounts for the size of the puppy) diet has the perfect ratio of vitamins and minerals built right in. The higher the naturally occurring calcium and mineral content of the diet, the greater the level of absorption and assimilation into the developing bone structure of the puppy Key points to remember with a SARF diet: 1. Balance over time: one meal could have more bone content, another more meat or organ. The approximate ratio to aim for overall is: 80% meat, sinew, ligaments, fat; 10% edible bone; 5% liver; and 5% other organ meat. 2. Meats are high in phosphorus, while bones are high in calcium. When meat is fed with 10% bone you have the exact ratios of calcium to phosphorus required by a dog. 3. Organ meat should not exceed 10% of the diet overall and 5% of that should be liver (beef liver has the highest nutrient levels). Feed liver once a week (or several small servings per week), and try to find an organic, free range source if possible because the liver is responsible for filtering toxins out of the body. Healthy muscular and skeletal factors for puppies There are several factors that contribute to the healthy muscular and skeletal development of puppies, including epigenetics, nutrition, and exercise on clean dirt in the sunshine. There are a number of orthopedic disorders, which are problems affecting a dog's bones, joints, tendons, muscles, and nerves, which are cropping up more and more frequently as a result of poor feeding practices and improper exercise during the puppy's growth period. These diseases include osteochondrosis, some forms of hip dysplasia, hypertrophic osteodystrophy, and Wobbler's syndrome. When a puppy grows too fast and gains a lot of weight, it puts stress on the developing
skeleton. Rapid bone growth can result in structural defects of the bones, which makes the skeleton even less able to bear the increasing body weight. Sometimes developing cartilage can't keep up with rapid bone growth, and cartilage defects can occur. We need to feed a diet that encourages healthy growth but not development that is faster than ideal for the puppy?s own body. This can vary, of course, as some breeds mature quickly and some do so more slowly. However, the key is to let the puppy?s own genetics, not the food it is eating, do the talking. The majority of bone disorders begin in puppyhood. Feeding a SARF diet to puppies does two very important things for their health. Firstly, it allows them to grow slowly, which is crucial to avoid bone and joint disorders. Secondly, raw food is biologically appropriate and the levels of nutrients, protein, fat, and calcium are suitable for their growing bones and muscles. Processed pet food and home-cooked meals contain too much fat (plus cooked meals are not easily digested), protein, and synthetic calcium (and other vitamins and minerals added to the food are synthetic as well). This causes fast uneven growth, and too much synthetic calcium interferes with the absorption of other essential vitamins. The raw bone in a species-appropriate diet provides essential calcium, and the good news is that it will not interfere with vitamin absorption if the pup ingests too much bone; excessive amounts of raw bone are simply eliminated in the feces. Raw diets, with their ideal mixture of protein (from the muscle-building flesh meats and organs) and calcium/ phosphorus (from bone-building, raw, soft bones, such as those found in poultry or rabbit), encourage slow, even growth. You are not as likely to see 9
drastic growth ?spurts? with a raw diet, but rest assured the growth will happen. Raw-fed puppies end up at exactly their genetic potential, and with a much-decreased risk of skeletal problems. All of this will mean a dog that grows older gracefully and maintains its skeletal vigor well into old age. Slow, steady growth is a necessity while your dog is a puppy. The reason for this is simple: tissue (muscle, tendons, and ligaments) always grows at the same rate, regardless of food sources. Bones, however, are greatly variable in their growth rate depending on the nutrients, especially calories and calcium, present in the diet. A bone that grows faster than the muscle and ligament it is attached to is prone to all sorts of problems, from joint diseases to actual deformation. In addition, bone that grows faster than the genetic ideal for the puppy is also at a greater risk for ailments (such as panosteitis, which is an inflammation of the bone-making cells and connective tissue in the long bones of the legs) and joint problems like OCD (osteochondritis dissecans, which is an inflammatory condition that occurs when the cartilage covering the head of a joint separates from the underlying bone as it cracks and breaks) and HOD (hypertrophic oseodystrophy, a disease brought on by over-consumption of high-calorie, poor nutrition food, which causes fever, knotty joints, and tremendous pain). Canine hip dysplasia: diet makes a difference The first six months of a puppy's life seem to be a critical time of development. The rate of growth can be astonishing. It is during this period that puppies are the most active. There is evidence to suggest that outdoor exercise is necessary to retain the depth of the acetabulum (the socket of the hipbone, into which the head of the femur fits). A healthy puppy is a lean puppy. Studies have proven that puppies kept lean and exercised regularly have a greatly reduced incidence of hip dysplasia when compared to
sibling puppies allowed to get cutely chubby and only walked or allowed a little yard play. An interesting Norwegian study published in England in 1991 concluded that German Wirehaired Pointer, English Setter, Irish Setter, Gordon Setter, and Labrador Retriever puppies growing up during the spring and summer had a lower incidence rate of hip dysplasia than puppies growing up during autumn and winter. I mention this study to show that there are exercise as well as dietary factors at play in hip dysplasia. There have been studies done that prove that hip dysplasia is not genetic, and yet the veterinary industry continues to keep breeders and puppy buyers in fear unless the breeding stock have had their hips X-rayed and evaluated by an expert veterinary radiologist. I strongly recommend reading Dr. Wendell O. Belfield?s writings on this subject (click here)? they are most enlightening, although ignored by many conventional veteranarians. Hip dysplasia is not a ?genetic malformation of the hip socket,? as we have been led to believe; rather, it is the instability created by weak supportive ligaments that keep the body from being able to manufacture a deep, smooth hip socket for the ball to fit snuggly into. The sockets are shallow because of repetitive trauma to the developing bone (micro-fractures), which prevents the weight-bearing surface of the hip joint from forming properly. So what causes this lax and unstable condition in the cartilage and ligaments? These maladies all have been found to be a result of a lack of healthy collagen? the building block of the entire skeletal system, which serves as elastic in the connective tissue. Collagen makes up approximately 30% of the protein in the body and is the protein
matrix for ligaments, tendons, cartilage, bones, organs, and even blood vessels. Failure of collagen to form properly can have catastrophic results, including skeletal abnormalities, polycystic organ syndromes (e.g. liver, kidneys), and severe vascular syndromes (e.g. aortic aneurysm). This is much more about epigenetics than genetics? puppies from parents who have been vaccinated and fed processed pet food diets are more likely to have weak collagen levels. An interesting study done on families with so-called food allergies revealed that 40% of first-degree relatives born to a celiac would develop the condition themselves. Just as interesting is that veterinary students are taught that if two OFA certified, hip dysplasia-free dogs were bred together, up to 40% of their litter? this exact same percentage? could be born with dysplasia. While celiac is a human disorder, we know that dogs, being carnivores, are not designed to eat and digest grains (or vegetables, dairy, or soy either) in the first place. Because generations of dogs have been eating processed pet food, which is void of nutrients and contains things that they are not designed to eat, could it be that their villi are so damaged that many are not able to properly absorb enough vitamin C from their diet? Also, remember that the vitamins and minerals added to the processed food are synthetic? any nutrition that may have been there prior to processing the original ingredients is destroyed by the processing. The body does not recognize synthetic vitamins, so they are treated as toxins. There is experimental evidence that vitamin C may play a role in bone mineralization by stimulating bone resorption. One researcher has shown that a form of vitamin C called polyascorbate may be efficacious in treating the physical manifestations of canine hip dysplasia (CHD). Remember, though, that when fed a prey model
WolfBear, a German Shepherd. Photo credit: Cheryl Olmstead
diet, puppies and/ or dogs do not require supplemental vitamin C. Dogs produce an enzyme called L-gulonolactone oxidase, which allows them to synthesize vitamin C from glucose. More importantly, vitamin C naturally occurs in organ meats, especially liver. Feeding the species-appropriate diet that nature intended will support natural health and help provide the essential building blocks of a strong immune system and structure for your growing puppy! Importance of exercise for the growing puppy Long-time dog breeders, especially breeders of large or giant breeds, believe that the majority of growth problems, such as poor conformation, incorrect movement, slipped hocks, being down in the pasterns, and general lack of soundness, are normally due to the puppy having poor nutrition and a lack of free exercise during the early stages of their development (under eight months of age). Muscle development through proper nutrition and exercise is very important for the bones and joints to properly develop. At the same time, fast development in bone structure without the proper muscle development leads to straight angles and unsound structure. Without a good amount of running and playing 11
throughout the course of each day in a puppy?s life, the muscle development necessary for good movement and soundness will not be there. Proper exercise as the puppies are growing will affect the overall condition and structure (conformation) of an animal, just like optimal nutrition has the ability to alter the structure of an animal. Puppies should be given as much free exercise throughout the day as possible. The muscle development necessary for a sound structure will never be there if the breeder does not lay that foundation and then encourage the new owner to continue. While crates are considered an important part of the care and training of a puppy, if the puppy is sitting and laying in the same position over and over on a daily basis, this unnatural routine will affect the growing joints. Puppies should have a large area in which they can move around and play. Movement is all part of what a puppy needs, and natural play is what all puppies crave. Just walking a puppy around the block or in a park once or twice a day is not enough. ?Continued free will? movement is needed. A puppy with another dog to play with or lots of toys and a large area to be in outside is preferred to walking until they are at least four or five months old. If the puppy can't stretch out and run at full speed at least daily, their movement, soundness, and form can be greatly compromised. Many of the muscle, joint, and skeletal issues seen in dogs today are due to the fact that as a puppy they spent more time sitting in a small space than playing in a large area where they could move around freely. As puppies grow, they need even more exercise. If you work long hours and have to leave your puppy home alone, they are much better off in a roomy area, such as a gated-off kitchen or a fenced-in outdoor kennel with access to both sun and shade, than in a crate that they can barely move around in and have no access to fresh air and sunlight. Many
breeders are afraid to exercise their puppies and even their adult dogs for fear of injury, but what needs to be realized is that most injuries are due to the fact that there is no strength of muscle to support the large bone and fast development on a growing dog. It is important to let appropriate size/ age dogs exercise together to help prevent seriously pulled muscles, cartilage, or disc damage. Littermates are ideal, if you are a breeder. The best combination is two puppies to a space where they can have free exercise in a fenced area. In younger puppies, several in a litter are fine to play together, but in older puppies, two is best, and three can cause problems, leaving one being picked on all the time and more apt to be injured. Give your puppy access to sunshine, fresh air, and exercise on chemical-free grass and dirt. Take short walks with your puppy and make a habit of playing outdoors a lot, as this will help your puppy mature into a dog with a sound mind and body. A puppy that has plenty of free exercise is easier to train, because they have drained their excess energy and can concentrate much more easily. By Dr. Jeannie Thomason Taken with permission from the upcoming book Your New NR Puppy. Dr. Thomason's book Natural Rearing: Breeding and Raising Dogs The Way Nature Intended is being edited at this time and will be released soon.
Jeannie with her Standard Poodle, Connor. Photo credit: Jeannie Thomason
12
THOSEAMAZING,AWESOMEBONES Commercial or home-prepared, canned or raw, all balanced feline diets must contain whole bone or a substitute supplement. Unfortunately, the pet food industry began a highly successful campaign of misinformation in the 1980s that was critical of feeding ?people food? in general and bones in particular. Today, just the thought of bones makes pet owners shudder, and many neophyte raw feeders shy away from offering bone-in meals to their beloved kitties for fear of harming them. Supplements are a poor substitute for the real thing, however, and every effort should be made to overcome these fears and allow cats the full natural expression of their carnivorous natures. Why is whole bone important? Nutrients Bone is composed of a handful of elements, but about 65?70% is comprised of the minerals calcium and phosphorus, which together form a calcium phosphate microcrystalline structure. Collagen, a fibrous protein, and small amounts of chondroitin sulfate, keratin sulfate, and phospholipids, make up the remaining 30?35% . Calcium and phosphorus are critical for the health of a cat?s bones and teeth. Of all the minerals, however, calcium is required in the greatest amount, especially in growing kittens. In addition to bones and teeth, it is essential for many functions, including blood clotting, muscle contraction? such as the heart?s pumping? and strength, and nerve impulse transmission. In addition, calcium is used to help blood vessels move blood and to release hormones and enzymes that affect almost every function in the body. Nursing females need it to produce sufficient levels of milk.
Ralph the cat, yawning. Photo credit: Tracy Dion
Phosphorus is also very important, but is found in fairly high concentrations in meat. Phosphorus deficiencies are rarely noted in cats offered high-protein diets. Bone marrow is mostly a fat and blood mixture full of amino acids and other high-quality nutrients, and the cartilage that clings to bone is about 50% collagen. Collagen is important for a number of bodily processes and is the main component of skin, ligaments, and tendons. Adequate collagen in the diet inhibits joint pain, improves skin elasticity, and promotes quicker healing of bone fractures and skin wounds. Feeding these elements in their natural form is the most effective and easiest way to ensure optimal digestion and absorption of the full nutrient profile. And, raw bone-in meals offer much more than just their basic nutrients. Dental Health Eating whole bone offers unparalleled oral health benefits. Dental disease is at near-epidemic levels in the feline population? it?s estimated that more 13