- In nature, cats and dogs typically eat whole small-animal prey. In doing so, they benefit from the variety of eating muscle and organ meat, bone, and the prey's stomach contents, which includes digestive enzymes.
- Advocates of raw food or BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) diets promote providing pets with the food that their digestive systems were designed to handle. They point out that the nutrients in food are reduced when cooked, and that bones are dangerous to animals when cooked but not when raw.
- Unlike humans, our canine and feline companions do not secrete amylase, the digestive enzyme that breaks down sugars and starches. Because they are not built to digest starch, natural health proponents seek to exclude grain from pets' diets. Grain-free commercial foods are now available for both cats and dogs.
- We tend to think of dry kibble as appropriate for regular meals and canned food as a treat, perhaps because of the higher cost of canned food. Yet canned food more closely resembles our pets' natural diet, particularly in moisture content. Frozen or dehydrated raw food is even closer to what nature provides.
- In nature animals typically do not consume multiple types of meat in a meal, so foods with a single protein source more closely resemble the natural diet. Natural food purists may also want to consider whether feeding commercial foods based on beef or alternative meats such as venison or buffalo meets their requirements for providing a natural diet, since cats and dogs in the wild rarely eat large animals.
- The information in this article should not be considered medical advice. The information in this article is not meant to treat, diagnose, prescribe or cure any ailment. Always consult your animal health practitioner before you start, stop or change anything that has been previously prescribed.
