Raw Feeding, Can It Help To Prevent Cancer/promote Health/longevity?
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Oct 19th, 2009 |
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Can a raw food diet help to prevent cancer in dogs?
Do dogs fed a raw diet live a longer & healthier life than kibble fed dogs?
{I was informed by a dog trainer that kibble fed dogs are more likely to develop cancer}
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Cancer is like Hip Dysplasia, part genetics, part lifestyle. Dog food in my opinion is a carcinogen! We know that overly cooked meat is a carcinogen, what is dog food? Meat cooked to the point it’s crunchy! Boiled at high temps to kill the stench and then ground and baked into kibble which means it was effectively cooked twice at high temps (which not only made it a carcinogen, it also left it depleted of many vitamins and minerals and literally cooked off several of the essential amino acids which are replaced later with bags full of vitamins powders being dumped into the dog food mix). Also carbohydrates are a carcinogen. Carbs break down into sugar, cancer thrives off of sugar. Cancer feeds off of sugars and can not thrive in an oxygenated environment. Now that said, you can double check what I’ve just said just by using Google, it’s become pretty much common knowledge now that cancer cells are acidic whereas healthy cells are alkaline and that they thrive off of sugars. Dogs would have NO access to carbs/sugars in a natural setting so when we introduce them unnaturally into their diet we get cancer and diabetes! The same for people, the cases of diabetes has gone up as the level of sugar consumption a year has gone up. Diabetes was rare back when the average person consumed only 10 pounds of sugar a year, now we’re nearly averaging a quarter ton a year and diabetes cases have skyrocketed (as have cancer cases). Lastly and most “out there”…I think carbs are bad for even us as humans! Carbs via breads pastas and crackers are unnatural and must be manufactured. I believe if we all cut out sugar and sodium, ate a diet of medium rare meats, fresh fish, and dark leafy greens we’d cut the diabetes and cancer rates to ribbons! But that’s a whole ‘nother argument…I hope this makes sense to all.
CHAOS: Too much COOKED protein causes kidney and liver damage in dogs and humans BUT, dogs and humans can both live off of raw animal protein their whole lives if they eat every part of the animal with no kidney or liver damage. Raw, whole fish (organs and eyes included) is widely accepted as the only 1 food a human could live their whole life on. Different parts contain vitamin A and C, and every other nutrient we require.
There are many cancerous substances in kibble, especially in lower end kibble like Bil’jac, or Iams, Beneful, Purina, etc. Anything you find in the grocery or big pet store.
Raw food is natural. You feed dogs human-grade foods. We eat the same stuff, except the bones. We stay away from processed foods too. If you want to be a purest, and have the resources, go organic. Many people do.
I don’t know about preventing cancer, but you are feeding the best, healthiest food a dog can possibly have. That keeps cancer at bay. The same for humans. But if a dog is predisposed to cancer, if it is in the genes, I don’t know if you can do anything about it.
There have not been any long-term studies on the effects of feeding raw, so no data on cancer rates and such for dogs fed raw vs fed kibble. However, in my personal experience, the number of vet visits I make was reduced substantially when I began to feed raw. On kibble, my dogs had (on various quality brands), vomiting, diarrhea, allergic reactions, eye infections and urinary tract infections on a regular basis. I was in the vet’s office almost every week for a while, and the poor dogs were on a succession of medications, allergy testing, elimination diets, etc. Finally, the vet advised to try raw. All medical problems disappeared within a week and stayed gone. Best thing I ever did for my dogs (and my carpets!).
I’m not aware of any studies that have been done for raw diets versus kibble diets. If there is one (double blind) I’d be interested in it – especially with regard to promoting or decreasing instances of cancer. Many people love raw diets and so do their dogs, but others (like mine) WILL NOT eat it. I recently switched to Taste of the Wild dog food which contains absolutely no grains. However, there are lots of other processed dog food formulas out there that are very good for dog. I saw fee whatever your dogs will eat which is also nutritious. Do the research and if your dogs are doing well on RAW or other, stick with that.
I compete in the sport of dog agility and feed all my competitive dogs on raw. Not only are you benefitting from not having any type of grain or preservative in your pets food but, you have naturally occuring glucloseamine and condroitin for joints. You will have to suppliment a little for omega 3’s – coat and skin. Just as humans due better on a healthy diet so will your pet.
I worked in a raw food place before and the easiest way to answer that question was….
“Any doubts you may have will be eased by reading the side of ANY regular pet food bag or can. Simply read the list of chemicals, additives and unnecessary grains they put in.”
It’s no different then how it’s healthier for humans to eat organic, whole foods but it’s up to you whether you have the patience and extra $$ for it. Raw IS an expensive diet for your loved little one but worth it. My senior cat is bouncy and thin again
I don’t think that there is any evidence to say that kibble fed dogs are more prone to cancer.. But considering the amount of cr@p that kibble contains, I personally don’t believe it does the dog any good. I for one would never feed my own dogs kibble rather I would make them miss a meal if I had run out of raw meat for them.
It has been shown that raw fed dogs statistically need less veterinary care, but I often wonder if that is because to feed a dog a BARF or raw diet takes some research, and along the way you learn a lot about dogs. A good deal of that knowledge is what you get from a vet, so you recognise for what and when your dog really needs a vet.
Looks like there have been plenty of answers that beat me to it!
As far as I’m concerned, there are a laundry list of things in kibbled food that are potentially cancer causing (Curtis and others have mentioned some of them). So, simply by logic, NOT feeding that food would then eliminate the possibility of them causing cancer.
So, in my eyes, it’s really quite simple – of course it makes a difference!
Years ago my foundation b*tch died of a small cancerous tumor in her small intestine. At that time, the veterinary oncologist at the veterinary teaching hospital told me that he was seeing a huge upswing in intestinal cancers with the advent of “low residue” dog foods. His belief was that the change in diet that he’d seen over his nearly 40 years of practice was responsible for the upswing.
It was at that point that I started REALLY looking at changing my dog’s diets.
I started feeding my dogs following a basic feeding plan my grandparents had used in the 1940’s-60’s when they were breeding my same breed – a primarily raw diet (they lived on a farm) supplemented with household scraps that my grandmother didn’t deem “good enough” for the hogs. My grandparents dogs regularly lived 15-17 years… and the breed now generally lives 12-15 years, with many more dying at 12…
What I saw immediately after switching to raw:
1) No more tooth tartar issues
2) No bad breath
3) No more ear infections
4) Tear stains cleared up
5) No more anal gland issues
6) Less expense than a high quality kibble
One of my Samoyeds WON a Best in Specialty Show over 100 younger Sams at the age of 11 + years of age. I attribute her excellent condition to raw feeding.
8 years ago I started looking at getting a Bernese Mtn Dog (I got my first 6 years ago) – in talking with breeders of longer-lived Bernese in Europe I found that it was their belief that the reason their dogs were living longer was the fact that they raw feed.
I now work as an office assistant in a genetics laboratory. Lunch-time discussions with the scientists often revolve around genetics and outside influences on DNA/RNA. Recent studies have shown tremendous changes in DNA/RNA due to environmental causes… including nutrition and vaccination. These compounded changes effect each subsequent generation.
I feel it is my duty to do my best to keep my dogs as healthy as possible. I have not yet had a dog who has been raised from birth on raw so I don’t have a definitive answer. All I know is that I like what I see… and I’m sticking with what my European friends have said about their dogs.
There are some really good points here but I think the major one is that we are constantly bombarded with unnecessary chemicals in our daily lives. These are added to our food as preservatives, flavour enhancers and colours, we clean our house with a cocktail of chemicals, we live surrounded by car exhaust and pesticides. Is there any wonder that our bodies are reacting to this?
)
As humans we are told by ‘independent’ doctors and nutritionists to eat as close to the source as possible. For us this means unprocessed foods, whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables (although ‘fresh’ is a loaded word in our society – to me it means buying seasonally if possible) and a wide variety of protein sources.
‘Independent’ vets will tell you the same thing for your pets – feed as close to the source as you can. For my dogs and cats this means frankenprey raw with the occasional piece of fruit or vegetable as a treat, the blue tongue lizard gets snails, worms and some leafy greens, the rabbits gets fresh greens, vegetables and chaff, the cockateils get fresh green seeds and stalks whenever I can source them, the turtles get live worms and cockroaches.
To me this is part of pet ownership – researching the individual needs of your animals and trying your best to provide it. This means diet, exercise, stimulation and heaps of love and affection (I don’t cuddle the turtles though
I also have an almost cleaning chemical free home. I use fibre cleaning cloths that require only water to clean with – this way we are not breathing in or absorbing the chemicals through our skin. there are many different brands available now and many studies have shown that these methods are just as hygenic or even superior to chemical household cleaners.
While I did discuss more than just the feeding of processed foods, I believe that all of these factors contribute to good health and (hopefully) prolonged life with great quality.
Not neccesarily do dogs that are fed kibble are less likely to live longer then raw fed dogs. I had a dog on nutros, a dalmatian that lived to be the old age of 14 years old he could have live longer but was suffering from severe arthritis which had nothing to do with food. My french bulldog didnt do to well on raw feeding it didnt help her with her habit of chewing on her feet, plus it got way to expensive. We did feed her chicken necks and other stuff with greens.
Its a misconception that dogs that are fed kibble have a higher chance of getting cancer. Lots of cancers are genetic not food based just like in humans.
Personally i have nothing against raw feeding when handled correctly. But really dogs are not wild animals they dont need to be fed all protein its bad for their health if they are. High protein diets cause kidney failure and liver failure and kidney stones along with other problems.
Even wild carnivores eat cellulose, wether on their own from berries and grass and other substances, or from the herbivores they eat and does it kill them no, they actually eat it to help digestion
A dog is the same way grains/fruits/vegetables are essential in their diet to be a well rounded dog.
I know i will get tons of thumbs down but i dont care. I believe this and nothing can change that fact.
All my dogs are healthy on purina pro plan. I have won numerous BOB’s at shows and have gotten plenty of compliments on how well my dogs look from not only my competition but my judges. I havent won anything higher because i just recently aged out of juniors, its hard for a junior to win in the big ring.
Note: I won BOB with a ***** that was maybe 10 months old over two top ten specials. She has been fed purina pro plan. She continues to win over big competition