Interesting article on processed pet foods............. - Page 4

hund, I can't define natural other than what canines choose to eat in the wild. and it is often not what nutritionists would consider "balanced".

certainly they do not choose corn, barley, rice, etc. but I stick to my thoughts that the manufacturers have made these ingredients palatable and also able to supply nutritional needs for canines through processing.

I am not aware of any studies that compare long term natural to processed. and right or wrong, I always added what I considered natural choice of canine diet to the processed foods I fed. in the form of raw beef or chicken. never had any issue that some seem to have had.

as far as bacteria, I've had dogs scarf up road kill before I could stop them, all sorts of disgusting stuff when free walking them in cow/horse pastures and no issues. Rabbit pills, however, in my area a high source of giardia. but dogs gonna be dogs.

Rik

I’m not a vegan, but have discovered the noticeable health benefits of the organic, minimally processed plant based diet, and have cut down significantly on animal products over the last several years. The animal products I do purchase usually come from small scale farms. These products are usually leaner and almost always taste better. I suspect some of the same principles might apply to the dog’s diet, albeit primarily animal protein based. Not all bagged dog foods are equal; same for home made/natural/raw etc.. Fortunate to have choices. Just cuz the dog food industry publishes a well-funded study, doesn’t make it so. In some cases, seems more money is invested in packaging graphics, labels and charts than what’s inside.

Ok, consider this: we all spoke on here recently about dogs eating grass, and why that was. What is wheat but an evolved form of grass ? What, also, is barley ? Some dogs kill rabbits, and eat the entirety of them, stomach and intestines included. Some don't. Of those which do, or sometimes do, its inevitable that some of what is still in those guts gets secondarily digested by the hunting dog. Indeed, some have posed the idea that this is a deliberate mechanism to get something into the diet that is otherwise lacking. Even if it doesn't have to be in large quantities.

Humans would not choose to eat some of the regular ingredients we see in our foods - but provided amounts are not excessive, its apparent we can get away with a little palm oil or refined sugar or whatever in our daily diets. Passe what GK1 says about eating more healthily in general, IF we are able to do so. (Money; location; cooking equipment/skills do sometimes mean people cannot manage that.)

Could not agree more that what gets fed to animals is as much (maybe more) down to the packaging & advertising skills as anything else. But that really does not automatically make what they eat either inferior or actually 'bad' for them. As Rik has noted, dogs can do perfectly well on whichever diet suits the owner and seems to sit well with them, given they remain healthy & happy. And scarf up some utter rubbish without problems, though mostly they would not be fed like that on a regular basis !

No doubt Hundmutter the principle of moderation has merit. But consider the debilitating rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other largely preventable diseases afflicting the US - which are at least somewhat reflected in companion dogs. These are not just resource driven health problems, but lack of education/information sharing. Which is why discussions like this are valuable.

Oh, too true GK1. But we can't just make 'rules' (maybe as Billon wants to ?) about what people choose to do. And as I'm at pains to point out, some would want the chance to improve their / their pets diets but aren't in much position to do that, cannot access the best or at least better alternatives. And I don't know that I'd want to be part of any society that ordered me to eat certain things but not others, even though that might be "for my own good".

Better education is one thing, and I'm all for that; but I want the whole picture, not somebody's claims that EITHER  raw or processed are better, more 'natural', the only foods we should use.