Tom Lonsdale Veterinary Surgeon
PO
Box 6096 Phone: +61 2
4574-0537
Windsor
Delivery Centre Fax: +61
2 4574-0538
NSW 2756
E-mail: tom@rawmeatybones.com
Australia Web: www.rawmeatybones.com
August 2001 ©
Diet guide for
domestic dogs and cats
Dingoes and feral
cats keep themselves healthy by eating whole
carcasses of prey
animals. Ideally we should feed our pets in the same
manner. Until a
dependable source of whole carcasses becomes
available, pet
owners need a satisfactory alternative. The following
recommendations,
based on raw meaty bones, have been adopted by
thousands of pet
owners with excellent results.
The diet is easy
to follow and cheap, and pets enjoy it. It’s good
for ferrets too.
- Fresh water constantly
available.
- Raw meaty bones (or carcasses
if available) should form the bulk
of the diet.
- Table scraps both cooked and
raw (grate or liquidise vegetables,
discard cooked bones).
Puppies
and kittens
From about three
weeks of age puppies and kittens start to take an
interest in what
their mother is eating. By six weeks of age they can
eat chicken
carcasses, rabbits and fish.
During the brief
interval between three and six weeks of age it is
advisable to
mince chicken carcasses or similar for the young animals.
The meat and bone
should be minced together. This is akin to the
part-digested
food regurgitated by some wild carnivore mothers.
Large litters
will need more supplementary feeding than small litters.
Between four and
six months of age puppies and kittens cut their
permanent teeth
and grow rapidly. At this time they need a plentiful
supply of
carcasses or raw meaty bones of suitable size.
Puppies and
kittens tend not to overeat natural food. Food can be
continuously
available.
Natural
foods suitable for pet carnivores
Raw meaty bones
Chicken and
turkey carcasses, after the meat has been removed for
human
consumption, are suitable for dogs and cats.
Poultry
by-products include: heads, feet, necks and wings.
Whole fish and
fish heads.
Goat, sheep,
calf, deer and kangaroo carcasses can be sawn into large
pieces of meat
and bone.
Other by-products
include: pigs’ trotters, pigs’ heads, sheep heads,
brisket, tail
bones, rib bones.
Whole carcasses
Rats, mice,
rabbits, fish, chickens, quail, hens.
Offal
Liver, lungs,
trachea, hearts, omasums (stomach of ruminants), tripe.
Quality
— Quantity — Frequency
Healthy animals
living and breeding in the wild depend on the correct
quality of food in the
right quantity at a correct frequency. They thereby
gain an
appropriate nutrient intake plus the correct amount of teeth
cleaning —
animals, unlike humans, ‘brush’ and ‘floss’ as they eat.
Quality
Low-fat game
animals and fish and birds provide the best source of
food for pet
carnivores. If using meat from farm animals (cattle, sheep
and pigs) avoid
excessive fat, or bones that are too large to be eaten.
Dogs are more
likely to break their teeth when eating large knuckle
bones and bones
sawn lengthwise than if eating meat and bone together.
Raw food for cats
should always be fresh. Dogs can consume ‘ripe’
food and will
sometimes bury bones for later consumption.
Quantity
Establishing the
quantity to feed pets is more an art than a science.
Parents, when
feeding a human family, manage this task without the
aid of food
consumption charts. You can achieve the same good
results for your
pet by paying attention to activity levels, appetite and
body condition.
High activity and
big appetite indicate a need for increased food, and
vice versa.
Body condition
depends on a number of factors. The overall body shape
— is it athletic
or rotund — and the lustre of the hair coat provide clues.
Use your finger
tips to assess the elasticity of the skin. Does it have an
elastic feel and
move readily over the muscles? Do the muscles feel well
toned? And how
much coverage of the ribs do you detect? This is the
best place to
check whether your pet is too thin or too fat. By comparing
your own rib cage
with that of your pet you can obtain a good idea of
body condition —
both your own and that of your pet.
An approximate
food consumption guide, based on raw meaty bones,
for the average
pet cat or dog is 15 to 20 percent of body weight in
one week or 2 to
3 percent per day. On that basis a 25 kilo dog
requires up to
five kilos of carcasses or raw meaty bones weekly. Cats
weighing five
kilos require about one kilo of chicken necks or similar
each week. Table
scraps should be fed as an extra component of the
diet. Please note
that these figures are only a guide and relate to adult
pets in a
domestic environment.
Pregnant or
lactating females and growing puppies and kittens may
need much more
food than adult animals of similar body weight.
Wherever
possible, feed the meat and bone ration in one large piece
requiring much
ripping, tearing and gnawing. This makes for contented
pets with clean teeth.
Frequency
Wild carnivores
feed at irregular intervals. In a domestic setting,
regularity works
best and accordingly I suggest that you feed adult dogs
and cats once
daily. If you live in a hot climate I would recommend
that you feed
pets in the evening to avoid attracting flies.
I suggest that on
one or two days each week your dog may be fasted —
just like animals
in the wild.
On occasions you
may run out of natural food. Don’t be tempted to
buy artificial
food, fast your dog and stock up with natural food the
next day.
Puppies, cats, ferrets, sick or underweight dogs should not be fasted
(unless on
veterinary advice).
Table
scraps
Wild carnivores
eat small amounts of omnivore food, part-digested in
liquid form, when
they eat the intestines of their prey. Our table scraps,
and some fruit
and vegetable peelings, are omnivore food which has
not been
ingested. Providing scraps do not form too great a proportion
of the diet they
appear to do no harm and may do some good. I advise
an upper limit of
one-third scraps for dogs and rather less for cats.
Liquidising
scraps, both cooked and raw, in the kitchen mixer may
help to increase
their digestibility.
Things
to avoid
•Excessive meat
off the bone — not balanced.
•Excessive
vegetables — not balanced.
•Small pieces of
bone — can be swallowed whole and get stuck.
•Cooked bones —
get stuck.
•Mineral and
vitamin additives — create imbalance.
•Processed food —
leads to dental and other diseases.
•Excessive
starchy food — associated with bloat.
•Onions and chocolate
— toxic to pets.
•Fruit stones
(pits) and corn cobs — get stuck.
•Milk —
associated with diarrhoea. Animals drink it whether thirsty
or not and consequently get
fat. Milk sludge sticks to teeth and gums.
Take
care
- Old dogs and cats addicted to a
processed diet may experience
initial difficulty when changed on to a natural diet.
- Pets with misshapen jaws and
dental disease may experience
difficulties with a natural diet.
- Create variety. Any nutrients
fed to excess can be harmful.
- Liver is an excellent foodstuff
but should not be fed more than
once weekly.
- Other offal, e.g. ox stomachs,
should not exceed 50 percent of the
diet.
- Whole fish are an excellent
source of food for carnivores, but
avoid feeding one species of fish constantly. Some
species, e.g.
carp, contain an enzyme which destroys thiamine
(vitamin B1).
- There are no prizes for the
fattest dog on the block, nor for
the fastest. Feed pets for a lifetime of health.
Prevention is better
than cure.
Miscellaneous
tips
Domestic dogs and
cats are carnivores. Feeding them the appropriate
carnivore diet
represents the single most important contribution to
their welfare.
Establish early
contact with a dependable supplier of foodstuffs for
pet carnivores.
Buy food in bulk
in order to avoid shortages.
Package the daily
rations separately for ease of feeding.
Refrigerated
storage space, preferably a freezer, is essential.
Raw meaty bones
can be fed frozen just like ice cream. Some pets eat
the frozen
article, others wait for it to thaw.
Small carcasses,
for example rats, mice and small birds, can be fed
frozen and
complete with entrails. Larger carcasses should have the
entrails removed
before freezing.
Take care that pets do not fight over their food.
Protect children
by ensuring that they do not disturb feeding pets.
Feeding bowls are
unnecessary — the food will be dragged across the
floor — so feed
pets outside by preference, or on an easily cleaned
floor.
Ferrets are small
carnivores which can be fed in the same way as cats.
For an expanded
description of dietary requirements, including the
potential
hazards, please consult the book Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health.
Further
information is available and the book may be ordered from:
IMPORTANT: Note
that individual animals and circumstances may vary.
You may need to
discuss your pet’s needs with your veterinarian.
