Lhasa Apsos are first and foremost dogs and
dogs need good, natural nutritious dog food, not processed, cooked,
dried or 'humanised' foods! It seems that many people are
afraid to feed their dogs on natural dog food and many veterinarians
promote processed products, but DIET is NOT part of Veterinary training!
Anyone who will not take the time to study and learn about what
they are feeding their dog and research the veterinarian facts about
illnesses in dogs that are increasing, is neglecting their dog.
Processed and dried foods that claim they are "scientifically"
made are expensive - why is that? For the "usual reasons"...
if you claim something is the "best" then you have to
back that up by putting a high price on it and in this case to also
make owners feel as if they care for their dog so much that they
will pay anything! GOOD FOOD IS NOT ABOUT MONEY - it is about
using our common sense and studying, researching and learning.
Did you know that since the 1960s when processed dog foods became
been available (in Australia and much ealier in the USA and UK),
there has been a massive rise in degenerative disease within our
pet population?
Three girls from one litter were raised from puppies on BARF and
all three are the healthiest, brightest Lhasa puppies we have had!
Our other dogs have responded superbly too and will refuse anything
but raw foods now, however, I can see the difference in those that
were raised totally on a BARF diet and only wish that I had never
cooked the meat. I did not do so years ago and the cooked meat only
became part of my dog's diet when I got my first Apso - why, I do
not know, save to say that she was small and so much a part of the
household that I made the mistake of treating her too much that
way and of course that included her diet.
WHAT DO WE FEED OUR PUPPY AND ADULT APSOS?
Puppies get finely mushed up ground beef and BONES with meat on
them.
From 8 weeks of age they are fed a variety of raw minced meats:
lamb and beef mainly. Plus they get a raw egg three times weekly,
sardines in oil at least once weekly and a 1/4 of a BARF pattie
which we mix in with their meat.
Around 14 weeks of age we introduce chicken mince (with ground bones)
into their diet as well.
Basically, this becomes their diet for life!
Paul's Zymel's LACTOSE FREE milk can be fed up to around 6 months if you prefer that to a calcium supplement such as GOOD, OLD FASHIONED "DCP" POWDER, sprinkled liberally on their food.
Things are not "difficult" for us - we live in an affluent
society and can choose whatever we wish to eat, so it is our DUTY
to feed our dogs correctly and not believe advertising blurb about
processed foods being good for our dogs. The proof of our
NEGLECT is there - dogs are becoming increasingly ill with lifespans shortening all the time.
There is no point in me writing all about this healthy, natural
method of diet, as Dr. Billinghurst has written it all and he is
a revolutionary expert in this field, so please look up the internet and read everything Dr. Ian Billinghurst, NSW, Australia has to say or buy his books.
"... smaller pets have a larger body surface area in proportion
to their weight than large pets." Dr. Ian Billinghurst, B.
Vet. Sc.
ABC INTERVIEW WITH DR. BILLINGHURST...
The world is in the grip of fad diet mania. There's the Cabbage
Soup diet, The South Beach diet and perhaps most infamous of them
all is the Atkins diet. Hollywood celebrities swear by the regime
and pet owners are now being told their overweight companion could
benefit from it as well.
New South Wales veterinarian and author Dr Ian Billinghurst says that high carb and low protein dog foods on the market are increasing obesity and related disease in our pets, much the same as in humans. So what is wrong with the high carbohydrate pet food we're feeding our cats and dogs?
Dr Billinghurst explains that when humans and animals eat the wrong foods, high carb foods, the body produces a greater level of insulin, which works to store sugar as fat without burning it off. High insulin levels are also responsible for producing high levels of cholesterol. So not only are pets obtaining cholesterol from food, they're making a heap of it also. The pet food around today is poor in animal derived protein; it's high in chemicals and low in protective nutrients, he adds.
What does this all mean for our pet? Dr Billinghurst believes it's
this poor quality of food that's responsible for the massive levels
of arthritis, diabetes, coronary heart disease, renal disease and
liver disease. And, says Dr Billinghurst, it could be the cause
of our pets bad breath. "The conditions just go on and on."
"This is great for the vets and great for the drug companies
but not so great for the pets and not so great for the animal owners."
The problem he says is that vets and pet food companies don't know and don't believe that the products are bad. Nobody is looking at the evolutionary diet of the pet and therefore nobody is making the connection between what animals eat and the onset of obesity and disease.
So as the Atkins diet recommends for humans, it's time for pets to go back to the hunter and gatherer days of only eating meat, veggies and leafy greens. "All we have to do is leave out the processed carbohydrates.
Dr Ian Billinghurst
