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| | From:  taka00381 (Original Message) | Sent: 2/3/2008 4:17 PM |
| Here in a big city many pet dogs are suffering from the metabolic syndrome and allergies (was e.g. today on TV) like people. Of course the experts blame it on lack of exercise, overfeeding and at best on air pollutions or bad genetics in the breeds. This may be true but when I was shopping in the local supermarket and looked at the pet food corner I saw all the dog food packages had big labels like "extra DHA/EPA", "fortified with fish oil", "super brain" etc. Also the cat food packages were full of fish pictures. This makes me wonder ... |
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taka-
you are living in japan, right? |
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My nutritional journey started in part to answer the simple question why do captive wolves fed a diet of deer, (whole carcasses) routinely live to their late teens while my beloved wolf/dog crosses often struggle to live past the age of ten and are often ferried off to the next life on a boat made of cancer.
I've answered a good part of that question in my mind from the resources presented in this forum and many others and hope to soon devote some time to writing a comprehensive essay on the topic.
Moreover, another notch in the belt against ingesting fish oils came to me this weekend while perusing for new wolf books. I happened upon a title chronicling thirty years of field research of the wild wolves inhabiting the rain forests of the pacific northwest. The wolves there are skilled at fishing for salmon as part of their diet as salmon swim to their spawning grounds. I knew that wolves if need be would fish for salmon, but I had not yet come across a detailed account. However, the most mind blowing fact presented it's self when I cracked open the book to feast upon the photography within. About the third plate I turned to depicted no wolves, but rather a pile of salmon carcasses, their brains neatly removed and the rest left for scavengers. Are these zombie wolves morbidly seeking brain matter? The caption below noted that the wolves only eat the brains of the salmon for some "nutritional reason." Anyway, a little brain food to digest. ;) I plan to read it next after I finish the title I'm currently reading.
-Tsume~ |
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| A relative of mine has a dog that has had "autoimmune" type of problems for years now. I've tried to get them to keep dietary omega 6s away from the dog, but with little success. The dog also has bouts with stomach upset. During one bout, it wouldn't eat anything the owners would feed it. Out of curiosity, I offered it a lemon wafer, which was fresh and the fat was almost all saturated. The dog ate it. On another occasion, I offered the dog a lemon cookie that was mostly unsaturated, but it was not interested. I also exposed it to an actual lemon, which it did not like at all (just the smell). The only logical interpretation is that the dog was smelling fresh fat as opposed to fat going rancid. |
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I noticed recently that my two dogs will not eat "vegetables", especially carrots. You'll usually find that babies won't eat vegetables either and that baby foods are generally filled with sugar in order to make it palitable to the baby.
Its funny how we need to "jazz up" foods that are "good" for us. Nutrition information tells you that if you don't like the foods that are "good" for you that you should "jazz them up" or trick yourself into eating them. There is this "healthy" cookbook that tells parents to put pureed spinach into brownie mix for their children so their childrden will get their vegetables.
I hope I am not the only person who sees anything wrong with that. |
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| | | From: cody019 | Sent: 2/9/2008 3:47 PM |
Tsume, did you change what you feed your dog? I am concerned about all the vegetables and PUFA's and fish products found in the dog foods, but I'm not quite sure what to do. Cody |
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| I would feed a dog a lot of boiled eggs and shredded coconut, with small amounts of nutritional yeast. It might be good to add a few bran flakes now and then as well. Even small amounts of "junk food" might be okay (so long as the unsaturated fat and cholesterol content is very low). If the dog seems uninterested, you can melt a little butter and spread it around. This is just my hunch, as I've only "experimented" on myself and only a few studies I've seen were done with dogs. |
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Prozac used to treat pet depression
PETS at risk of self-harm are increasingly being prescribed anti-depressants because they cannot discuss problems in their lives with others, a leading veterinarian says.
Zoo and wildlife medicine specialist with the UK’s Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Romain Pizzi, told the Telegraph that more pets were being prescribed Prozac.
Tropical birds such as parrots seemed to have been the most affected by depression, Mr Pizzi told the newspaper.
But Mr Pizzi said anti-depressants were only used in the most extreme of cases.
“Firstly, we will change the environment of the animal and make sure it has more stimulation and toys,�?Mr Pizzi told the newspaper.
"When we have ruled out underlying medical problems, we try to break the cycle by using Prozac�?(which) is given to the parrots in liquid form.
"It doesn't cure all animals, but around two-thirds respond to the treatment. In a small number of cases things will go well until we wean them off Prozac and the problems return."
Mr Pizzi said the severity of some pet’s depression often put their lives at risk.
"Typically if people go out to work all day their parrot will get very bored and frustrated and eventually develop depression,�?he said.
“Symptoms often include plucking out their feathers or self-harming, which is obviously very dangerous.
“When cockatoos in particular are depressed they can start to self-mutilate and peck their own legs to the bone."
Some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies have also recognised the need for anti-depressants for animals.
Last year, Eli Lilly released a chewable anti-depressant for dogs onto the US market.
The manufacturers even gave the “Reconcile�?drug a beef flavour.
Pfizer has also created a diet drug for dogs, as well as motion-sickness medicine for all pets.
SOURCE: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23271810-5013016,00.html |
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