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. |

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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