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Today, many studies are being conducted on the connection between our
ancestral and contemporary diets. As it turns out, most of us have
deviated far from what our ancestors ate. In this respect, the same goes for cats
and dogs. Just like us, most of our pets are not eating the diets that
are meant for them. So, it is possible that we are unknowingly sabotaging our
pets’ health?
If you want to know the truth about cats and dogs, read on.
Dogs . . .
This may not come as a surprise, but dogs are historically scavengers and
are primarily meat eaters. In fact, a natural diet included bones, chunks of
carcass, fish guts, animal guts and heads, rotten greens and fruits, and
eventually discarded human food. Sounds appetizing, doesn’t it? That
explains why your dog will eat any and everything in your garbage can if given
the chance. In fact, the major contributing factor in the domestication of dogs
was their attraction—way back to the beginning of civilized mankind—to whatever
food was available at human garbage dumps. Eventually, the tamer wolves that
were the least threatened by human beings, over tens of thousands of years,
became our companions and evolved into doghood.
Dogs truly function better as carnivores and should have plenty of meat protein,
which provides the building blocks of good health. While a small to moderate
amount of carbohydrates can play a secondary role in a dog’s diet, Dr. Jane
suggests feeding only highly digestible carbohydrates such as brown rice.
Excessive and/or poorly digestible carbohydrates as in cereal based dog foods
with only hints of meat are not recommended.
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Cats ...
If you have watched a National Geographic episode and witnessed how large
cats eat in the wild, you know everything you need to know about a cat’s most
basic needs. All cats chase and devour different kinds of prey, which supplies
them with abundant protein, fat, some pre-digested flora or grasses and
moisture contained in the meats.
Though cats became domestic much the same way dogs did and have also been
subjected to omnivorous diets, they’ve managed to retain their original need
for protein even more than dogs.
This explains their relatively short intestine, requirement for specific animal
protein constituents such as taurine and their inexorable craving to jump on
moving prey. The hunter is still in them. Cats unequivocally require meat in
their diets and we as owners shouldn’t compromise this need.
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