Natural food for dogs and cats
As I said before our dogs don’t eat dog (dry) food. They eat natural food. No, it isn’t rice with beef or rest of our food.
Since we adopted Jolie I found the Dra. Sylvia Angélico’s website, Cachorro Verde, where she teaches how to do a balanced natural food for healthy dogs and cats. However, was only when Badoo arrived and the costs increased that we implemented for both of them. In Brazil we used to prepare their food ourselves.
Basically, there are two types of natural diet: BARF and Prey Model (Raw Meat Bones – RMB). Both try to imitate the wolf’s natural diet. The difference is the perception of each idea’s developer about what the wolves naturally ate.
The BARF, developed in 1980 by the Australian veterinary doctor Ian Bilighurst, is “100% raw, mostly carnivorous, with until 20-25% blended raw vegetables. The BARF base are the raw meat bones, like necks, wings, backs and chicken’s heads, ox tail, neck of lamb or piglets and parts of rabbit. Boneless meats, fish, eggs and offal, in addition some natural supplements, are added as sources of minerals, fatty acids and vitamins. Grains, vegetables rich in starch and vegetable oils are regarded as biologically unsuitable for carnivores and banned from BARF.
The main advantages are: “healthy gums and cleaner teeth due to the daily chewing of raw bones, strengthening of immunity and prevention of chronic diseases.” (translated freely from http://www.cachorroverde.com.br/dieta-barf)
To know more about BARF: http://www.barfworld.com
On the other hand, in the Prey Model (Raw Meat Bones – RMB) there isn't addition of vegetables and natural supplements. It was developed by the veterinary doctor Tom Lonsdale. The both veterinaries were friends and studied for a long time together the wolf’s diet. However, Lonsdale used to say that in nature the wolves eat exclusively preys and a diet composed by whole carcasses or at least 70% of raw fleshy bones and other nourishment of animal origin, what would perfectly meet the nutritional requirements of dogs and cats. A staunch defender of dogs like carnivorous, Lonsdale is strictly against to the regular supply of vegetables, fruits, carbohydrates and supplements. […] Despite the differences between the two diets, the benefits associated with RMB are the same as those of BARF.
In Dra. Sylvia’s website she teaches 3 different methods to feed dogs and cats: raw with bones (the one we chose), the boneless raw and the boneless baked.
Both have advantages and disadvantages, but the two mainly advantages are: it is cheaper than a premium dog food and it is substantially healthier.
The diet that we used to follow in Brazil was neither BARF, nor neither Prey Model (Raw Meaty Bones), but a mix of all the diets known and studied by Dra Sylvia (http://www.cachorroverde.com.br/pergunte-ao-cachorro-verde-8/).
Fortunately for us and for our Canadian schedule (even tighter than the Brazilian one), here in Canada there are several brands that sell BARF diet ready to serve, discs/cubes of 1lb (0.453592 kg).
