Author Topic: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??  (Read 7538 times)

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Offline Shadow

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Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« on: December 16, 2011, 01:46:57 AM »
So in my local paper there was an article on Raw Pet food. A great little business has been operating in town and they were telling their story.  You can read the story here.
http://www.timescolonist.com/business/This+deal+good/5841782/story.html

Then in yesterdays paper this article was posted in the "letters to the editor" anyone can write in to the paper and give their view. Well a Veteranarian has written about the "risk of Raw pet food" I am so going to write to the paper and give my two cents. If you would like to write a letter too, let me know.  We really need to have our voices heard on this.
You can read his letter here.
http://www.timescolonist.com/health/food+without+risk/5858502/story.html

 bangshead bangshead
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Offline Auntie Crazy

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2011, 02:55:25 AM »
So in my local paper there was an article on Raw Pet food. A great little business has been operating in town and they were telling their story.  You can read the story here.
http://www.timescolonist.com/business/This+deal+good/5841782/story.html

Then in yesterdays paper this article was posted in the "letters to the editor" anyone can write in to the paper and give their view. Well a Veteranarian has written about the "risk of Raw pet food" I am so going to write to the paper and give my two cents. If you would like to write a letter too, let me know.  We really need to have our voices heard on this.
You can read his letter here.
http://www.timescolonist.com/health/food+without+risk/5858502/story.html

 bangshead bangshead

Funny, that vet freely admitted that pet foods are made up of all the bacterial-ridden junk left over from the human food system! Who the heck wants to feed that crap to their beloved four-legged family members?

He also completely neglected to actually list any of the dangers associated with raw feeding. It's clear he has no real information on the topic and is only repeating talking points he's heard from somewhere else. Totally lame.

AC
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Offline Shadow

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2011, 02:58:38 AM »
I really want to respond to this letter, can someone help me? its all in my head but I cant articulate it on paper. bangshead
"Education is the key" to make informed decisions about the health of our pets

Offline Auntie Crazy

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2011, 03:44:29 AM »
I really want to respond to this letter, can someone help me? its all in my head but I cant articulate it on paper. bangshead

Write an outline of the arguments you wish to discuss, then fill in the paper by creating a concise paragraph or two on each point, including opening and closing paragraphs.

AC
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Offline Shadow

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2011, 03:47:54 AM »
Write an outline of the arguments you wish to discuss, then fill in the paper by creating a concise paragraph or two on each point, including opening and closing paragraphs.

AC
I just sent you a rough draft
"Education is the key" to make informed decisions about the health of our pets

Offline CarnivorousCritter

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2011, 08:01:51 AM »
FWIW, fired this off to them.   (After over 400 individualised letters from 2007-2008, done with being polite.)

RE: Raw Feeding -- So Chris Collis DVM asked "Who would want this type of risk on their conscience?"

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/health/food+without+risk/5858502/story.html#ixzz1ghQlR5fh

Please explain how, with all your education, you can, in good conscience, advocate people to feed their carnivore companions corn, soy, gluten-laden cereal?
Please don't insult our intelligence when it is becoming common knowledge just who the most generous funding comes from and who teaches "nutrition" at the Veterinary Universities?  
 
SO you've studied and examined  MAMMALS IN THE ORDER CARNIVORA for over two decades and somehow managed to dodge every aspect of basic Biology all these years?  You may want to grab a book and look up "carnivore".

 If not for all the brainwashing, why would a reasonably educated person think any carnivorous mammal should be consuming:
Ground Whole Grain Corn, Powdered Cellulose, Peanut Hulls, Chicken by-product Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Meal, Soybean Mill Run, Dried Egg Product, Soybean Oil, Corn Gluten Meal …  when they lack the Amylase enzyme to effectively break down carbohydrate;
Jaws do not rotate, only up and down;
Carnassial teeth, long canines and incisors;
ALL Felines have Naturally low thirst drive-- designed by nature to get moisture from within its food. See all the facts at catinfo.org or in any library book;
 http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/data/784/Patrick06.html

Enough with the scare tactics of the mainstream vet community!  Practically the whole of the gastrointestinal tract of a carnivore dog and cat is sterile. The hydrochloric acid in the stomach ensures that most bacteria and other micro-organisms in swallowed food are killed. Those that escape the stomach are rarely able to survive the digestive processes - they are, after all, made of protein.
No, not corn, soy and the other cheap fillers which pass AAFCO tests for "protein", but MEAT as we are talking about carnivores!

Somebody who not only goes to college, but who specifically STUDIES these species SHOULD be INFORMING cat, dog and ferret owners of all this. Didn't you take an oath?   Just how are they supposed to chew it, let alone digest it?
Oh that's right, A FELINE WILL either swallow it whole, or merely shatter it with their fangs and SCISSOR-like teeth.
And people wonder why their cats vomit, have so many GI issues, blockages and PU surgeries to remove their penis so that "now they can eat anything including their favorite kibble!" and dogs get bloat, hotspots, UTIs, crystals/stones…?  
Look at his teeth -- a dog is MEANT to chew a raw bone. Now people are brainwashed into thinking this is bad for a dog? Now they just put them under anesthesia for regular teeth cleanings.

Nice scare tactics by the way … Quarrantine …death of a toddler … Actually you'd be doing an owner of a companion CARNIVORE a great service in turning them away. Let them find a DVM with no conflict of interest warping their "conscience" and insulting their intellect. A "vet" who favors bacteria-infested, moldy glutens & grains for carnivores as opposed to a species-appropriate diet should be sued for malpractice. Just what makes Aflatoxin & samonilla favorable to something a carnivore is designed to process efficiently, anyway?
?
Would you feel confident trusting the care of your child to a Pediatrician who is allowed to accept funding from a commercial food conglomerate and insisted your child be fed a strict diet of corn chips? Wouldn't you at least be tempted to peek at that ingredient label?
Oh, There would be one bright side:
The child would at least be able to chew it properly.

Offline CarnivorousCritter

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2011, 08:35:26 AM »
I know that these "vets" will counteract with Purina's adage that "pets are living longer....blah blah".

How many can thank Pfizer, and painful surgical procedures, for that?

Offline Auntie Crazy

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2011, 10:09:37 AM »
I know that these "vets" will counteract with Purina's adage that "pets are living longer....blah blah".

How many can thank Pfizer, and painful surgical procedures, for that?

The end of your previous post made me chuckle. Nice!

In truth, cats are NOT living longer. In fact, their longevity has been declining steadily over the last ten years. During the American Veterinarian Medical Association’s July Convention, a press conference was held to discuss the decline in companion pet health (see Banfield’s “State of Pet Health 2011” report). Among other issues noted, diabetes is up 16% in cats, and ear infections and dental disease have both increased. (The AVMA’s tentative conclusion – which won't ring true with any thinking adult – is that these increases can be traced to decreased vet visits.)

AC
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Offline Lola

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2011, 11:02:29 AM »
Original:

Quote
The plan was to do it for the health of their dogs, but Neal and Jo-Anne Cropper have found opening a pet food store that specializes in raw, real food for dogs and cats has had a big impact on their own health.

No commute, no cellphone, no work stress, no boss.

"It's been fantastic. It's all about quality of life," said Neal, who gave up his position as CEO of software firm Comtech Systems to join his wife, who left a bookkeeping job, to open Growlies For Pets in Langford. "Now my day is talking about dogs and cats. Quality-of-life-wise, it's been tremendous."

Added Jo-Anne: "I was coming into town from Metchosin every day. The stress from work was getting to me, and this has been a great change. Being your own boss has made a big difference."

For Neal, one of the biggest transitions was dumping the cellphone.

"That was the big one, getting rid of the phone and not being tied to it 24 hours a day," he said, adding there was also a change in direction at the software firm that no longer lined up with his own goals. "Ultimately, you have to believe in what you're doing, and as a pet lover this is an easy one."

The idea came to the Croppers in 2007 in the aftermath of the largest ever pet food recall in North America. The recall involved more than 100 brands of dog and cat food that had been found to contain contaminated wheat gluten from China. "Trusted names in pet food were coming off the shelves and we didn't know what to feed our dogs," said Neal.

Jo-Anne started looking into raw food for their pets as an alternative.

Driving by an empty store front on Happy Valley Road every day on the way to work the couple saw an opportunity to bring raw healthy pet food to the West Shore.

"It's simple. It just made sense to us. If processed food is bad for us. If we're not supposed to live off processed-food diets, it shouldn't be good for our pets," said Neal. "Often, the advice for pets was processed is better, but that didn't make sense to me."

So with a few left-over freezers from what had been an ice cream store, the couple opened Growlies four years ago, selling frozen raw food designed specifically for cats and dogs.

"Demand has been growing steadily, but it was a slow take-up," said Jo-Anne.

The couple, who have since upgraded their freezers and installed glass-front standing freezers for ease of shopping, boast 1,200 members of their loyalty program and have a nextday delivery service that has found an audience all over the region.

The popularity of it seems to have grown, mirroring the movement to slow food and the 100-mile diet for humans. "That's become really important. We get a lot of people asking where the food comes from," said Jo-Anne.

The answer is as local as possible. Growlies is supplied by three Island producers, one on the mainland and another in Alberta. There are a few products imported from Australia and New Zealand.

"If we can, we bring in only Canadian brands, and it's all human quality food," said Neal, though he quickly added few humans would actually eat it given there is no spicing. It often contains some organ meat that humans tend to stay away from and the odd bit of bone. "But we try to offer the variety that would be required in a real-food diet."

The store's offerings include stuffed (with sweet potato) Cornish hen, whole tripe, whole herring, elk bones, lamb necks and pretty much any kind of protein you can imagine. It's also available online (www.growlies.ca) and can be delivered for a charge of $5.

"It's real food, it's live food, it has enzymes and nutrients that haven't been cooked away as kibble," said Jo-Anne.

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/life/This+deal+good/5841782/story.html#ixzz1giWmwHDP
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Offline Lola

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #9 on: December 16, 2011, 11:02:35 AM »
Response:
Quote
Re: "This raw deal is a good one," Dec. 10.

I have been a veterinarian for 22 years. The article on the pet food venture has me profoundly concerned. I'm a big advocate of small business, but the raw pet food business is fraught with substantial risk.

The article neglected the dangers associated with feeding raw meat to our pets. A nutritionally balanced, consistent quality and biologically safe food requires an understanding of biology, nutrition, biochemistry, disease and quality control. There is no routine standard testing of pet food by government agencies.

All pet foods are made from the discarded waste of the human food industry, including those contaminated with salmonella, e.coli and campylobacter. Commercial diet "cooking" destroys the infectious diseases and additional testing ensures the freedom of foreign material, mould and chemical toxins.

An ill pet fed a raw diet entering our hospitals would be handled as a potentially infectious communicable disease risk and a quarantine protocol would likely be instituted for the protection of our staff.

The use of commercial diets are the safest, most complete and balanced way to feed 99 per cent of our pets. I wait in anticipation to see the end of this fad and can only hope that the catalyst for its inevitable demise is not the death of a toddler from a raw food feeding pet owner who thought they were doing the right thing.

Who would want this type of risk on their conscience?

Chris Collis B.Sc.(Agr.), DVM



Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/health/food+without+risk/5858502/story.html#ixzz1giWaBRDG

In my opinion, Mr. Collis wrote the PERFECT  BSbaloney response for ANY subject.  
He knows all the "keywords" to use and reaches all the emotions of the reader.  
What he said doesn't have to be the truth, or even remotely accurate.  It is all in the wording...  
« Last Edit: December 16, 2011, 11:04:33 AM by Lola »
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Offline FurMonster Mom

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #10 on: December 16, 2011, 11:46:23 AM »
Okay... so, uhmmm... where do I send my response?
(part 1)


Quote
I have been a veterinarian for 22 years.
Translation: I have been educated and brainwashed by the pet food and pharmaceutical industries for 22 years.
Quote
The article neglected the dangers associated with feeding raw meat to our pets
.
It is no more dangerous than handling the meat for our own Christmas dinner.
Quote
A nutritionally balanced, consistent quality and biologically safe food requires an understanding of biology, nutrition, biochemistry, disease and quality control.
Wow! How in the world have thousands of wolves survived without such a high education?  My goodness, how have any of us been able to feed ourselves all these years?  By this logic, I’m amazed that so many non-biologists, non-nutritionists, and non-biochemists have survived for so many millennia.
Quote
There is no routine standard testing of pet food by government agencies.
So what you’re saying, is that the AAFCO is not a government agency, and that their standard of testing would not qualify as sufficient.  Good to know (and yes, that was rheutorical).
Quote
All pet foods are made from the discarded waste of the human food industry, including those contaminated with salmonella, e.coli and campylobacter.
Most raw feeders feed human grade products.  And in fact, I believe the Croppers stated that their products are local and human grade.  But good to know what kibble and canned food contains.  Thanks for the heads up there. 
And by the way, you may want to read up on campylobacter, it’s so common that we probably come in contact with it on a daily basis, pets or no pets, meat or no meat.  Our bodies, and our carnivorous pets’ bodies, handle it just fine.  It is only a serious risk when encountered in extremely high levels, or to those with compromised immune systems.  No need for the Henny Penny Hyperbole.
Quote
Commercial diet "cooking" destroys the infectious diseases and additional testing ensures the freedom of foreign material, mould and chemical toxins.
Have you kept up with the pet food recalls?  The FDA keeps a list on their website.  I believe there was a rather large recall of a well known popular brand recently due to aflatoxin. 

Also, the extreme high heat of the extrusion process kills practically all nutrients in pet foods, which is why they have to add them back in after the fact.  And even there, the pet food companies are playing a guessing game to get the correct balances…
That sort of goes back to your argument that proper nutritional balance requires all kinds of higher education.  The only reason one would need to understand all the intricacies of nutrition, is if one is not getting a naturally balanced meal in the first place.  When one is consuming a healthy, natural, non-processed diet, only a bare minimum of supplementation should be necessary.  This logic can be applied to all biological species on this here planet earth.

« Last Edit: December 16, 2011, 11:51:47 AM by FurMonster Mom »
meow meow meow meow meow meow? -woof!
Translation: "I can has my raw food? -please!"

Offline FurMonster Mom

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #11 on: December 16, 2011, 11:49:34 AM »
(part 2)

Quote
An ill pet fed a raw diet entering our hospitals would be handled as a potentially infectious communicable disease risk and a quarantine protocol would likely be instituted for the protection of our staff.
So glad I do not live in your area.  My vet loves my pets.  When I recently brought my raw-fed 7 year old cat in for a tooth extraction (neck lesion), they were very accommodating and willing to have an intelligent discussion regarding my concerns (drugs and such).  After the procedure, I asked how the other teeth looked; the answer was a very delighted “Oh they looked great!  Hardly any tarter at all!  It was a breeze.”
Since most of the pets who come to you would be “ill” by definition, I’d be really curious what the ratio of raw-fed to kibble-fed is.  My guess would be that most of them are kibble fed, and that you don’t actually see your raw-fed clients all that often (there’s a reason for that).
Quote
The use of commercial diets are the safest, most complete and balanced way to feed 99 per cent of our pets.

Wait… didn’t you just say…. Hang on, lemme scroll up…. Yep, there it is;
Quote
All pet foods are made from the discarded waste of the human food industry, including those contaminated with salmonella, e.coli and campylobacter.
So… you’re saying that’s safe? Or not?  You seem confused.
Quote
I wait in anticipation to see the end of this fad and can only hope that the catalyst for its inevitable demise is not the death of a toddler from a raw food feeding pet owner who thought they were doing the right thing.
Okay Henny Penny.  Enough with the hyperbole.
Of course everyone should use common sense when handling any human grade raw meat, whether for humans or pets.  Wash your hands, and don’t eat the poop.
Quote
Who would want this type of risk on their conscience?
My conscience has never been more clear when it comes to this subject.
Quote
Chris Collis B.Sc.(Agr.), DVM
Writes a note to Santa.

-   Proud raw feeder of 4 cats and a dog.
meow meow meow meow meow meow? -woof!
Translation: "I can has my raw food? -please!"

Offline Shadow

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #12 on: December 16, 2011, 12:26:21 PM »
I sure wish I was as articulate as all of you. :-[
If you would like to send in a letter the letter should not be longer than 250 words and may be edited for length.
Include your "name" address and ph# They wont publish any anonymous letters.
mail to    letters@timescolonist.com

 ;D
"Education is the key" to make informed decisions about the health of our pets

Offline AK49BWL

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #13 on: December 16, 2011, 12:38:31 PM »
I'm just loving the responses here funny2

When I finally bring a cat of my own home, I'm gonna be visiting here a lot I'm sure :D --The more you know!!
Brandon

Offline FurMonster Mom

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Re: Raw feeders would you like a challenge??
« Reply #14 on: December 16, 2011, 12:47:46 PM »
... the letter should not be longer than 250 words and may be edited for length....

carp...
831 words...
carp.

.
meow meow meow meow meow meow? -woof!
Translation: "I can has my raw food? -please!"