Canine health 03

A Study in Canine Health Hope Turner April 2010

Abstract Achieving a consensus of canine health from an online survey, taking into account all aspects of canine life. Concluding that dogs fed raw food as opposed to cooked food and either vaccinated once or not at all are healthier.

Inspiration My pet cat died of renal failure aged 16 (most common reason for pet death) My pet dog died of cancer aged 5, as did her relation from the same kennels Bought a Bengal kitten raised on raw he was extremely healthy, his litter brother (fed cooked wet food) lost most of his teeth My 5 month old pups’ broken leg healed in half the time expected by the vet, this pup was fed raw food Dr. Ian Billinghurst - BARF Catherine O’Driscoll survey concluded that raw feeding reduced vet visits by 85%

Introduction The premise of this survey is to find out what factors effect the health of a dog, and which are the best practices for Canine Health It took 2.5 million years for the organ humans originally had to digest raw meat to become an appendix, (due to eating cooked meat) i.e. approx 100,000 human generations Pre-packaged cooked dog food has been in the UK since the 1930’s (80 years) i.e. approx 40 canine generations What makes us think that 40 as opposed to 100,000 generations is enough time for our pet carnivores to adjust their digestive systems to cope with cooked food? = 99.8% (Wayne, 1993)

Hypothesis What we put in our carnivores does not make a difference as to health and longevity What we put in our carnivores does make a difference as to health and longevity

Method An in depth survey was hosted on the internet ( www.tiamaat.co.cc ) and completed by dog owners across 3 continents This data was automatically collected in a .csv file online and extracted into an excel database All costs were converted to pounds sterling

Results Food & Veterinary Costs and Visits Table1

Veterinary Visits per regularly vaccinated/non or once vaccinated dog Table 2

Descriptive Statistics Table 3

Other data of interest 85% of non stressed dogs were non/once vaccinated 73% of regularly vaccinated dogs were stressed All regularly vaccinated, raw fed dogs were stressed No non/once vaccinated, cooked fed dogs were stressed 85% of non stressed non/once vaccinated dogs were raw fed 56% of raw fed dogs had never or only once seen a vet (with median visits 1) All cooked fed dogs had seen a vet at least twice (with median visits 10) Earliest onset of Arthritis was 3 yrs old in a cooked fed dog, there were no occurrences of arthritis in raw fed dogs Of the diseases caught: Parvo The dog had either not been vaccinated for 6 years or never been vaccinated Kennel Cough Dogs (4) had never been vaccinated all dogs survived

Discussion As observed in Tables 1 & 3 the cost of feeding cooked food was on average higher than that of feeding raw food Also the veterinary costs and visits were significantly higher in those feed cooked diets

Nutrition is Key Research/experiments performed by Price (1939) & Pottenger (1932-1942), show that the health of an animal is dependent on its nutrition, and the nutritional health down the genetic line Whilst pet food manufacturers promote cooked food for optimum health, carnivorous wild and zoo animals (genetically related to our pets) don’t cook

Pet Food Production Process Pre-packaged food: Dry Food pre-cooked ingredients extrusion cooked (under steam/pressure) formed and baked – then coated in oil Canned Food Pre-cooked ingredients Heat Cooked Sterilised ( Pedigree Pet Foods, 1993 ) Meat & animal derivatives are usually between 4% & 30% of the content (most of the rest is grain) Dogs do not have the structure for lateral jaw movement nor the dentition necessary to masticate plant matter Dogs do not produce enough of the enzyme necessary (amylase) to digest carbohydrates (the main ingredient in commercial pet food) – the resulting difference can be observed in their scat

Pet Food Ingredients In order to retain a hold on this £2 billion a year UK industry, (PFMA, 2010) Pet Food Manufacturers invest heavily in research of how to include all relevant nutrients and improve the health of the consumer ( Pedigree Pet Foods, 1993 ), even so far as identifying a way to estimate the DNA damage of day to day living. (Waltham, 2010) The ingredients (waste from the human food industry) have to be cooked due to the large quantities of bacteria they hold (i.e. salmonella) and how badly they have gone off. The meat is often rancid, and has to be sterilised, this is done by spraying with citronella (a known carcinogen). Animal derivatives are of little to no nutritional value / indigestible (feathers, horns, hooves etc.) but add to protein levels. Vitamins and minerals are added because the cooking process has to continue for so long, that almost no nutrients are left in the initial ingredients, unfortunately these levels are often toxic. Anti-oxidents are added to combat the rancid materials. (O’Driscoll, 2005)

Pottenger’s Cats A Study in Nutrition 900 cats over 10 years Fed 2/3 meat to 1/3 milk and cod liver oil 1 Group raw 1 Group cooked ( This is the only published study comparing a cooked and raw diet, all others compare cooked with cooked.)

Pottenger’s Results Raw diet produced: optimal health good bone structure and density wide palates with plenty of space for teeth shiny fur no parasites or disease reproductive ease gentleness Cooked diet produced: heterogeneous reproduction physical degeneration, increasing with each generation vermin and parasites abounded skin diseases and allergies increased from 5% to over 90% bones became soft and pliable. suffered from: adverse personality changes hypothyroidism most of the degenerative diseases encountered in human medicine They became totally sterile by the fourth generation. (Pottenger, 1983)

Cooked fed kittens varied in size, many of which mutated

Vaccinations As observed in Table 2, the average veterinary visits significantly increased with annual vaccination Of the diseases caught, all dogs bounced back without having had a vaccine within 12 months of the infection, backing the premise that annual vaccination is un-necessary In 1997 Canine Health Concern performed a survey of 3,800 dogs, finding that of illnesses reported: 66% occurred within 3 months of vaccination 49% within 30 days of vaccination 29% within 7 days of vaccination A study at Purdue University, shows that annual vaccination causes a range of Immune-mediated diseases including: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Addison’s Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus, Erythamatosus, Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic purpura, Haemolytic anaemia, Chronic active hepatitis, Diabetes mellitus, Hypofonadism, Myasthenia gravis, Pemhigus vitiligo, Glomerulonephritis, Alopecia, Grave’s disease, Hypoparathyroidism, Seizures & Uveitis (O’Driscoll, 2005)

Personal Learning Canine Health Concern Foundation in Canine Health Care Parvo Virus exposure– 3 rd generation raw fed pups showed no signs of contraction, 2 nd generation raw fed dogs & pups homoeopathically vaccinated got over it in 3 days or did not contract, 1 st generation raw fed, chemically vaccinated adults almost died My current 4th generation raw fed/non chemically vaccinated dogs, have never been ill Oral surveys on raw feeding People were interested but intimidated by the thought of the responsibility of creating a balanced diet for their pet, (while they don’t question their ability to do so for themselves)

The Rise of Veterinary Costs Since 2000 UK consumers have increasingly switched from wet to dry dog food, resulting in an increase of 71% of the market share (PFMA, 2010) 2000 the average UK Veterinary visit cost £62.01 (Bruce, 2001) 2009 the average UK Veterinary visit cost £254 (Petwise, 2009) Veterinary costs on average have risen 410% over the last 9 years The cost of veterinary supplies in this time has risen 154% (Marshall, 2010) The starting salary for a vet has not changed in 5 years (SPVS, 2010) Inflation since 2000 has risen 28% Corporate profits in the services industry are down 18% (ONS, 2010) Therefore this cost increase cannot be all down to the rise in running costs Conclusion : Feeding dried food has increased, average veterinary costs have risen, and average pet health has declined

Quotes Dr. R. L. Wysong ‘‘ 100% complete and balanced’ food may … be literally poisoning the animal with the blessings of the entire academic, professional, scientific, governmental and industrial pet food establishment.’ Dr. D. S. Kronfeld 'Have you ever seen a dog attack a wheat field?' Hope Turner ” Have you ever seen a wolf with a kettle?”

Conclusion Feeding cooked food costs twice that of feeding raw food (average saving £240 per year) Veterinary costs and visits are 10 times higher for cooked fed dogs than raw fed dogs (average saving £1100) Regularly vaccinated dogs require 14 times the number of veterinary visits per year , and are 6 times more likely to be stressed, than non/once vaccinated dogs The healthiest, least stressed dogs on the whole, were fed raw and non/once vaccinated It costs 7 times less to have a healthier, happier dog Therefore the hypothesis “What we put in our carnivores does make a difference as to health and longevity” is valid

References/Bibliography Billinghurst, I., 2001, The BARF Diet , Ian Billinghurst, Australia Bruce, K., 2001, Dog Owners Voice Concern Over High Vet Fees , K9 Online, K9 Media Solutions Ltd, Notts, from: http://www.pressbox.co.uk/detailed/International/Dog_Owners_Voice_Concern_Over_High_Vet_Fees_1064.html (accessed 07/04/2010) Case, L. P., Carey, D. P., Hirakawa, D. A. & Daristotle, L., 2000, Canine & Feline Nutrition , Moseby Inc, Missouri Gough, A. & Thomas, A., 2004, Breed Predispositions to Disease in Dogs and Cats , Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford Kay, W. J., 1990, The Complete Book of Dog Health , Howell Book House, New York Kelly, N. & Wills, J., 1996, Manual of Comparison Animal Nutrition & Feeding , British Small Animal Veterinary Association, Cheltenham Lonsdale, T., 2001, Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health , Rivetco, New South Wales Marshall, B., 2010, Telephone Call – 08/04/10 , Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Surrey (http://www.defra.gov.uk/vla/) Martin, A. N., 2003, Food Pets Die For , NewSage Press, Oregon Mazuri, 1995, Zoo Foods – The Source of Balanced Diets , Mazuri, Witham Essex McDonald, P., Edwards, R. A., Greenhalgh, J. F. D. & Morgan, C. A., 1995, Animal Nutrition , Addison Wesley Longman, Harlow, Essex O’Driscoll, C., 2005, Shock to the System , Abbeywood Publishing (Vaccines) Ltd, London ONS, 2010, Corporate Profitability , Office for National Statistics, from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=196 (accessed 08/04/2010) Pedigree Pet Foods, 1993, Product Information , Waltham, Leicester Petwise, 2009, Why Insure your Pet?, Petwise Health Insurance, from: http://www.petwise-insurance.co.uk/pages/whyinsure.asp (accessed 07/04/2010) PFMA, 2010, Pet Food Manufacturers Association, London (http://www.pfma.org.uk/) Pottenger, F., 1983, Pottenger’s Cats – A Study in Nutrition , Price-Pottenger Foundation Inc, California Price, W. A., 1970, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration , Price-Pottenger Foundation Inc, California SPVS, 2010, Society of Practicing Veterinary Surgeons, Warwick (http://spvs.org.uk) Waltham, 2010, Research Breakthrough , from: http://www.waltham.com/about4.htm (accessed 20/04/2010) Wayne, R. K., 1993, Molecular Evolution of the Dog Family , Trends in Genetics, V-9, I6,(p218-224) 1/6/93, Elsevier Ltd, Oxford Wysong, R. L., 1993, The Truth About Pet Foods , Wysong Corporation, Michigan

Canine health 03

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