June/July2016
RAWPETDIGEST
IN THIS ISSUE: -Her b s f o r p et s -Pr ep ar i n g f o r em er g en ci es -Raw f eed i n g an d h eal t h -co m p r o m i sed cat s -Get t i n g t h e sco o p o n p o o p -A n d m u ch m o r e!
Allen, Tracy Dion's beautiful "golden boy," enjoying his cat tree. Photo credit: Tracy Dion
Raw Pet Digest Editor-in-chief: Kristin Clark Technical editor: Dr. Jeannie (Jeannette) Thomason
To get an annual subscription (6 issues): -Using PayPal: send $20.00 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.
Lycan, Merlin, Midge, and Pansy. Photo credit: Bre Altherr
FEATURESAND COLUMNS Letter from the Editor - 4 Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, Oh My! - 5 Getting the Scoop on the Poop - 8 An Ounce of Prevention - 11 The Importance of Trust - 14 The Greatest of Virtues - 20 Raw Feeding and Health-Compromised Cats - 21 Herbs for Pets - 24 Spotlight on Health: Lorin Grow - 29
Grubat, a Maine Coon, taking a nap. Photo credit: Devin Nelson
Beneficial Nematodes - 36 The Cat We Needed - 41
Motley, a Portuguese Podengo, talking to the camera. Photo credit: Kristin Clark
Letter fromtheEditor Welcome to the June/ July 2016 issue of Raw Pet Digest! This issue was put together in the midst of lots of changes for me. While all the changes are good (excellent, in fact!), it still reminds me that change can cause some stress, at least until we get comfortable in the new routine. That feeling? that the earth is shifting under your feet? is one that I think we?ve all experienced. We talk about it in more detail in The Importance of Trust, starting on page 14 in this issue, because that feeling, and how we respond to it, are vital parts of caring for our beloved animals naturally. This issue has lots of practical information about how to support your pet?s body so that it is as balanced and strong as possible. A strong, balanced body? and all the systems that contribute to that body?s functioning? are of course much of what contributes to a healthy pet. But, as you read this issue and think about the information in it, please take a moment to consider how you are supporting your pet?s mind and spirit as well. As we?ve mentioned before, exercise is one of the most neglected of the eight laws of health. Now that the weather is nicer, think about some of the ways that you can bond with your pet while making sure that both of you get some exercise,
Kristin with Cleo, Motley, Elle, and Barkley. Photo credit: Adam Gilbert
fresh air, and sunshine. Maybe you go and play a game of fetch with your dog, or take them for a bike ride. Maybe you take your cat out (on a harness and leash) and let them chase after bugs and play in the grass. Maybe you are already giving your pet plenty of exercise, and you choose to take some time each day to quietly sit with them, just reveling in the joy that comes with being with something that loves you unconditionally. Perhaps you share the beauty of a sunset with them, or go exploring together, or watch them playing with another dog or cat friend. Whatever it is, take some time to nurture your pet?s (and your!) mind and spirit. You and they will be happier, healthier, and more at peace because of it. Enjoy the issue! Kristin
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SALMONELLA,E.COLI,ANDLISTERIA,OHMY!
Heather the cat, looking out the window. Photo credit: Tracy Dion
The two most common fears that raw feeding neophytes have involve bones and bacteria. In this article, we?re going to focus on the big bad specter of bacteria. Bacteria are everywhere. They are a natural part of our ecosystems and can be found from the depths of the oceans to the heights of the mountains. They are in the soil, in the air, and in the bodies of all animals? including ours. Bacteria are an integral part of the health of this planet and as such, are inescapable. Potentially dangerous bacteria are in our food chain, as evidenced by several recent recalls, in both the produce and meat supplies. Every food we offer our cats has some level of health risk. The question lies not in whether such risks exist, but in the quantification of those risks. Raw meat can be contaminated with bacteria, but kibble can be contaminated with the same pathogens and contains the added dangers of fungus and mold toxins, which have killed and sickened many pets. The Center for Disease Control recommends that pet owners not feed pets in the kitchen or wash their food and water dishes in the kitchen sink or the bathtub, though no such warning has been issued for the daily preparation of the family?s home-cooked chicken or steak dinner.
Commercially-produced cat foods also contain the risks of inadvertent vitamin deficiency or toxicity (or both!), not to mention the quality control issues inherent in the pet food industry?s processing practices. So what?s a kitty owner to do? Why, we provide our cat the fuel her high-performance gastrointestinal system is designed to run on. As an obligate carnivore, she is uniquely, specifically, and extraordinarily well-designed to thrive on the tissues and bones and organs of prey animals, and that is exactly what we should be feeding her. It is the diet that contains the consistently highest-quality nutritional profile and the lowest risk of contaminants. Ah, but what about those pesky, potentially harmful pathogens? As difficult as it may be to believe, it is a basic premise of natural science that cats, like all animals, are born with the tools and conditions necessary to maintain their health. In this case, they have evolved a natural and effective defense against the bacteria found in their foods and environment. It starts right in their mouths, with a salivary enzyme called lysozyme. This enzyme attacks bacteria and other pathogens, and can even neutralize bacteria on their fur during grooming. Bacteria that make it past the mouth hit an extremely acidic stomach that contains hydrochloric acid and several digestive enzymes, which lends to an environment highly inimical to those pathogens. Once past the stomach and into the small intestine, bacteria encounter additional obstacles, including strong antimicrobial agents in the form of bile salts from the liver. The pancreas secretes more enzymes as well as bicarbonate, which breaks down the cell walls of invading bacteria.
Ollie the cat. Photo credit: Tracy Dion
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After the small intestine, digestive matter passes through the large intestine, where high levels of beneficial bacteria flourish. This natural intestinal flora competes with any surviving pathogens for resources, preventing them from taking hold and forcing them out of the body. Lysozyme, the initial gate-keeper, is also present throughout the digestive tract and is expelled right along with the cat?s waste.
According to Dr. Celeste Yarnall, the cat?s body is so efficient at managing bacteria that it destroys approximately 98% of the pathogens it ingests. 98% ! That?s as effective as America?s most popular cleaning solutions!
All of this happens very quickly, disallowing pathogens time to multiply. Comparatively-speaking, cats have one of the shortest digestive tracts in the animal kingdom. Their body length-to-digestive tract ratio is only 1:4, compared to 1:6 for the dog, and 1:20 for the cow. Animal-based meals take on average only 12 hours to pass completely through.
-By Tracy Dion
Several studies have shown an intimate relationship between the cat?s natural diet and the animal?s intestinal characteristics; what a cat eats affects how that food is digested. The latest edition of The Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats by the National Research Council (U.S.) Ad Hoc Committee on Dog and Cat Nutrition goes into great depth examining the complexities of this relationship. From the amount and composition of saliva secreted during the meal to the activity of stomach and intestinal enzymes and other digestive secretions to the speed at which food is moved through the digestive tract, high protein/ high moisture diets have a salubrious effect. Eating a raw diet is not only good for the cat from a nutritional perspective? it causes a chain reaction of chemical events that actively increases the cat?s natural defenses against pathogens.
From the first lick to their internal chemical reactions to the short transit time, healthy cats truly are well equipped for eating the raw animal diets upon which they are so beautifully designed to thrive.
Tracy Dion is a writer and feline care and behavior consultant, specializing in nutrition and feeding a species-appropriate diet. She has worked with rescue and shelter organizations rescuing and socializing cats, dogs, birds, rats, and reptiles for many years, but her focus for the last decade has been on cats. She is dedicated to improving their health and welfare through owner education, and is passionate about improving the owner/animal bond through increased understanding of natural feline behaviors and needs. She is a professional member of the Cat Writers?Association and past Editor of Raw Instincts Magazine, as well as the mind behind CatCentric.org. Her articles have been published by the Feline Nutrition Education Society, the online magazines Raw Instincts and Catnip Chronicles, the American Council for Animal Naturopathy, and more.
Spencer playing in his cat tree. Photo credit: Tracy Dion
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GETTINGTHESCOOPONTHEPOOP Ask anyone who feeds their dog or cat a species-appropriate diet what one of their favorite things about the diet is, and chances are high they?ll mention their pet?s, um, waste products. While it might not be dinner-party appropriate, the fact remains that it is a subject worthy of discussion. I have had many people ask me about this topic, and I know that it is something that my colleagues also get asked about, so I wanted to take some time to talk about it here. If you already feed a species-appropriate raw food (or SARF, for short) diet to your carnivore pet, you are most likely very familiar with what their droppings look like. But if you don?t, this is one more reason to switch them to a SARF diet. So, is there really a noticeable difference between the droppings of a dog or cat fed a SARF diet, and one on a processed-food (kibble or canned) diet? In short, yes, there is a huge difference. Processed food diets? no matter how much the brand purports to be ?high quality?? contain lots of material that dogs and cats simply cannot use. Furthermore, because processed foods are cooked, the protein is denatured, which in essence means that the body cannot use the amino acids in the protein, but instead views it as something toxic. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, so without them, none of the processes performed by proteins can be carried out. Our carnivores take in amino acids through the protein in their food. However, as I mentioned above, when that protein is cooked (and therefore denatured), the body
Midge, a raw-fed Redbone Coonhound, proudly posing next to her poop. Photo credit: Bre Altherr
cannot use it. Imagine that you are planning to build a wall, and you have all the blocks laid out, ready to stack up and form the wall. Then, imagine that someone comes along and smashes the blocks with a sledgehammer. The blocks are still there, but not in any form that will allow you to build the wall, and even if you manage to 8
piece the blocks back together, they are weak and won?t provide any real strength or support to the structure. Because the blocks are broken and smashed, you isolate them and put them aside, and eventually you throw them away. The same thing happens with amino acids that have had their bonds destroyed in the cooking process (which is essentially what we?re referring to when we talk about denatured protein). The body can?t use them to form strong proteins, so it isolates them and sets them aside. However, if they just sit in the body they become a source of toxicity, so they must be dealt with: the body must eliminate them. The problem comes when we continually flood our pets? bodies with these toxic and fundamentally unusable proteins (and this is part of the reason why, no matter what the brand?s marketing department tells you, no processed food will ever be a source of health for your pet). Their systems go into overdrive to shed out the toxins that their bodies are encountering on an almost-constant basis. We often see this shedding of toxins present as skin issues (hot spots, itching, eruptions), but it also shows up in the volume, consistency, and smell of our pets?feces.
Fresh droppings from Barkley (there were a few more just like this out of range of the camera). You can see that it is lighter in color, firmly packed, and small. Photo credit: Kristin Clark
I was at the Living Desert in Palm Desert, CA recently, and I was talking with one of the reptile handlers about how they feed the animals at the Living Desert. We realized that both of us (the Living Desert and me) buy food for our animals from Layne Labs (for more information about Layne Labs, see the April/ May 2016 issue of Raw Pet Digest). When she realized that we have dogs and a cat, and feed them a SARF diet, her first comment was, ?Their poop must be amazing!?. It made me laugh, but she was exactly right. By feeding a SARF diet, our animals? bodies can use a profound amount of the nutrients and amino acids in their food? they can take advantage of almost everything. Because they are fed the right balance of bones, meat, and organs/ glands (and the bones, meat, organs, and glands of course contain calcium, phosphorous, and various other vitamins and nutrients), they can take advantage of almost everything that they eat. Subsequently, when they defecate, their droppings are quite small, relatively speaking (there just isn?t much waste material that they need to get rid of). The droppings are also a different consistency? generally speaking, they are fairly hard, and dry quite quickly, so that if you inadvertently step on one (not that we try to, but it has happened on occasion), it just crumbles away instead of sticking to the bottom of your shoe. Their droppings also don?t smell nearly as much as a carnivore fed a processed-food diet, and they don?t attract nearly as many flies. Animals fed a species-appropriate raw food diet also defecate much less frequently than their kibble-fed counterparts (again, they just don?t have as much waste to get rid of). A dog or cat fed a processed-food diet, however, has a significant amount of waste that it has to eliminate from each meal. Their droppings are often immense, compared to the size of a SARF-fed animal, and 9
tend to be soft and smelly (again, compared to a SARF-fed animal). Our dogs in particular were designed to have to strain just a little bit when taking a bowel movement, which helps to keep their anal glands nice and clear. Nowadays, cleaning out anal glands is an almost-routine service offered by many groomers and vets, because so many dogs have issues with this, but when everything is working properly, the very act of going to the bathroom takes care of that for our dogs.
No matter what size of carnivore pet you have, you will see a noticeable difference in its feces? for the better!? when it is fed a SARF diet. Just for fun, take a look at the pictures (we have both SARF-fed and kibble-fed examples) to see what a SARF-fed dog?s droppings look like compared to a kibble-fed dog?s. -By Kristin Clark
Droppings from a raw-fed, 270-pound male Mastiff. Notice that the poop is compact and relatively small, especially for that size of dog. Fresh droppings from a kibble-fed, 60-pound, German Photo credit: Jennifer Lee Shepherd/ Chow/ Labrador mix. The owner said that he is two years old, fed Blue Buffalo, and defecates this much or more 3-4x/ day. She commented that this was a "small pile." Photo credit: Kristin Clark For comparison purposes, here are droppings from a 75-pound kibble-fed German Shepherd (top) compared to a raw-fed 100-pound German Shepherd (bottom). Notice that the raw-fed dog, although he weighs more, has smaller, denser droppings. Photo credit: Bre Altherr
Droppings from a kibble-fed 18-pound dog. Notice the softer consistency so common in kibble-fed dogs. The owner stated that the dog defecates multiple times per day. Photo credit: Kristin Clark
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ANOUNCEOFPREVENTION I live in Southern California. While it?s beautiful here? sunny skies, a great climate, mountains, beaches, and forests? there are some things that aren?t so great. Earthquakes are very common, the heat can be intense, and we sometimes get hot, dry, and incredibly powerful winds that can wreak havoc on homes and powerlines. And, while the earthquakes and other events we experience here might not be the same as what you experience where you live, I?m willing to bet there are other types of natural disasters that you might experience or have to deal with. When it comes to any sort of disaster, it?s best to be prepared? and that preparation extends to your pet(s), too. That?s why we?ve put together a list of things to include in your disaster-preparedness kit for your dog or cat. If you keep a kit in an easy-to-reach, accessible location at home, along with one in your car, you?ll go a long way towards being ready if anything should ever happen. The April/ May 2016 issue of Raw Pet Digest had an article about a homeopathic first-aid kit for pets. It?s a good idea to keep those items on hand in your disaster-preparedness kit in case they?re needed? and you may also want to print the article out so you have a guide of what remedy to use when, and how to give it. And, in addition to the homeopathic remedies discussed in that article, we recommend that you keep some other items in your disaster preparedness kit? we?ll list those items in a bit.
Dog with a first-aid kit. Copyright Sergey Rusalov
As you?re putting your kit together, you should also think about where you will take your pets if there is an emergency and you have to evacuate your home. Call around before anything happens to find out where animals can be safely taken and kept in the event of an emergency. If you have family members or friends that you think might be able and willing to take them, make sure you ask them first. If they are willing, write down their contact information (including name, address, email(s), and phone number(s)) and put it in each of your kits. 11