Recent studies have shown processed foods to be a factor in increasing numbers of pets suffering from cancer, arthritis, obesity, dental disease and heart disease.

A growing number of veterinarians agree that processed pet food is the main cause of illness and premature death in the modern dog and cat. In December 1995, the British Journal of Small Animal Practice published a paper contending that processed pet food suppresses the immune system and leads to liver, kidney, heart and other diseases. This research, initially conducted by Dr. Tom Lonsdale, was researched further by the Australian Veterinary Association and proven to be correct.

If you spend a little time observing the physical condition of animals in the wild, you will find that so-called degenerative or old age diseases are relatively unknown to them. Except for the danger from natural predators, wild animals generally live quite long and healthy lives. Now, what happens when we domesticate animals and make them into house pets? Are you aware that they quickly develop the same diseases as their human “owners”? We must be making the same mistake with them that we’re making with ourselves. Some years ago, Dr. Francis Pottenger tried an experiment on several hundred cats. He divided them into two groups and fed one group their natural diet of raw meat and the other group a man-made diet of cooked pet food. He carried on this experiment through three generations. The cats that were fed their normal uncooked diet thrived. The cats that were fed a cooked diet developed the same diseases, and required the same medical treatment, as we humans. Dr. Kollath of the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm found similar results with respect to animals developing degenerative disease.

Dr. William Pollak D.V.M concurs as he refers to the results of a clinical trial which suggests that 74.7% of common diseases in dogs and 63% of common diseases in cats can be eliminated without medical intervention over a period of one year with proper diet modifications and an understanding of the healing process as exhibited through healing episodes. Approaching disease from the perspective of health is the most powerful means of eliminating disease.

Processed foods and drugs have seriously depleted the natural vitality and immune systems of many pets. Dogs and cats are anatomically very different to humans. For example, their intestinal tract, for example is only about half as long as a human’s, and food is, therefore, processed and assimilated very differently. Whereas large amounts of red meat can cause cancer in humans, a lack of raw red meat in an animal’s diet can lead to serious health problems.

Dr. Donald Ogden D.V.M. writes that commercial pet food (even the best known and most expensive brands) have had their nutrients altered, adulterated, devitalized and destroyed by heat, processing, coloring, preservatives and other chemicals. Feeding your animal such food on a regular basis causes waste-toxins to accumulate in the blood, lymphs and tissue which contributes to a weak immune system and renders our pet susceptible to chronic diseases.

Many skin and coat problems are a direct result of a lack of raw animal fat in the diet - fat which humans often believe is bad for their pets. Animals need at least 30% raw fat, and their systems are not designed to handle cooked meat or cooked fat. In the wild, a panther or jackal does not barbecue, grill or smoke its prey. It definitely does not walk to the local supermarket to buy dry food either. Yet most pet owners recoil at the thought of feeding raw meat to their dogs or cats, concerned about bacteria or parasites. However, dogs and cats don’t get salmonella poisoning, because their digestive system is so acidic (or at least it should be) that it kills everything. This is why a dog can bury a bone and dig it up two weeks later and eat the rotting meat.

Animals, like humans, require enzymes, minerals, trace elements, amino acids and other nutrients in their diet in order to stay healthy. For a return to health, pets require a diet which strengthens the immune system and most closely resembles that which they would get in the wild. It’s really easy to do. Essentially, you feed your pet a combination of raw meats (including organ meats), raw bones, raw eggs, and select from a host of raw vegetables.

When the conventional veterinarian suggested to heathenizing my 2- year- old German Shepherd dog, because “nothing could be done to stop her suffering and to cure her,” I turned to holistic treatments and raw food. Shasta fully recovered and lived 10 more years in excellent health.

By Shirley Lipschutz-Robinson. For more information log onto www.shirleyswellnesscafe.com