The health and nutrition of our dogs

This Week in the HSI Forum

First thing every morning, I prepare a concoction including 30 mg CoQ10, an arthritis supplement packed with all the known natural joint protectors, a special homeopathic blend for allergies and a heaping serving of omega-3s – and that’s just for my beagle.

Those of us that consider health and nutrition a priority, more and more, are extending the same practices to our dogs. And now it’s made its way onto the HSI Forum thread titled “Dog & meat question for Vet. Gerry,” in which a member named Patricia calls on one of the Forum regulars (a member and veterinarian named Gerry) to answer this question about feeding meat to dogs:

“Is there something about dogs’ digestive systems that makes them able to handle meat that is too old to be good for us? Or should we never feed a dog meat that we wouldn’t eat ourselves?”

Before Gerry responds, however, a member named Jan posts this response: “Patricia, for the answer to that one just study the dogs in the wild and how they survive. They bury any food not consumed at the time of kill (or find) and will dig it up weeks later, and they are far healthier than most of the pampered pooches in domestic situations.”

Then Gerry posts an entry, agreeing with Jan, that dogs can stand a varied diet, including “rotten” meat. And Gerry adds: “One thing, though: commercial, dry dog foods are not for dogs. But this is another looong debate – what with the big business of pet foods today.”

“Just like most of the junk that people eat, it started the same way with pet food,” says a member named Jeff. “For convenience and ease of preparation, pet food was made ‘user friendly’. And that is where the trouble started and that is where the ‘wize’ men smelled a quick buck and a ready market to dispose of all their garbage.”

Getting more specific about commercial pet food, Gerry says, “Before, E and C were only present as preservatives. Now, they’re there for specific requirements of the dog. Then, we now have omega 3s, glucosamine, taurine, and a host of other nutrients that were not even considered 5 years ago! The latest I heard was carnitine being added. Sheeeesh! If we simply fed meat to our dogs all the while, we would not be worrying about these. Meat and gut and fish would provide taurine, glucosamine, and some of the omegas.”

This informative thread has plenty of additional tips and warnings about the healthiest ways to feed dogs. (And even rabbits! It seems that Jeff knows a thing or two about how to keep a warren of rabbits alive and healthy for several years.) Dog owners will also find two other canine threads on the Forum: “Dog tumor – need advice,” and “Dog Problems.”

Other health topics of interest on the HSI Forum this week:

• In a thread titled “Chiggers and Skeeters” a member named Craig finds some advice about how to naturally relieve the itch of insect bites.
• “Hyaluronic acid (HA) for eye floaters and creaky joints” starts with a suggestion from a member named Lee, leading to a discussion of vision health aids.
• A member named Kim begins a thread titled “Fibromyalgia,” asking for advice about this painful condition, and has received more than 35 responses so far.

To join these discussions, or to start your own discussion topic, log on to our web site at www.hsionline.com and click on “Forum.”