When I was a kid, I fed my dog Kal Kan canned food. It had peas in it.
Yesterday, I put some leftover peas in their food, and they seemed to like
them. Anything to watch for in peas?

Steve

SteveB wrote:
When I was a kid, I fed my dog Kal Kan canned food. It had peas in it.
Yesterday, I put some leftover peas in their food, and they seemed to like
them. Anything to watch for in peas?

Steve

It won't hurt them but dogs don't get any nutrition from vegetables
because of the way their digestive system works. Some people cook
veggies to death in order to make it at least a little nutritionally
available but it is a lot of work for little reward.

This is why most kibble is useless. They all contain some vegetables of
some kind, most often corn. Even the better ones use sweet potato or
another veggie filler.

Personally I don't feed vegetables at all because it is taking up space
that could be used for something that is nutritionally needed.

"Char" wrote in message
m...
SteveB wrote:
When I was a kid, I fed my dog Kal Kan canned food. It had peas in it.
Yesterday, I put some leftover peas in their food, and they seemed to
like them. Anything to watch for in peas?

Steve

It won't hurt them but dogs don't get any nutrition from vegetables
because of the way their digestive system works. Some people cook veggies
to death in order to make it at least a little nutritionally available
but it is a lot of work for little reward.

This is why most kibble is useless. They all contain some vegetables of
some kind, most often corn. Even the better ones use sweet potato or
another veggie filler.

Personally I don't feed vegetables at all because it is taking up space
that could be used for something that is nutritionally needed.

Here is one article (among others) that explains more about carbohydrates
and vegetables in a dog's diet.
http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter...carbohydrates/

And here is what it says about fats:
http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/category/fats/

This web site says veggies are essential, but dogs need an enzyme (which
they sell, of course), to process them: http://www.dog-wa.com/faqs

Some "food for thought":
http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/he...narticle13.htm
http://www.petnutritioninfo.com/dog_...ive_system.htm
http://dog.lifetips.com/cat/61610/do...nts/index.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/carnivore
http://www.dogweight.co.uk/are-carbo...s-weight-loss/

Although I still feed Muttley primarily kibble, I also regularly enhance
his diet with raw beef hearts and marrow bones (which he really enjoys). He
also gets some of my human food. I have noticed that he engages in
coprophagia and also eats some raw plant leaves, which he sometimes vomits
up but not always. Some of the information in the articles above provide
hints about the reasons for this.

Paul and Muttley
www.MuttleyDog.com

Paul E. Schoen wrote:


Here is one article (among others) that explains more about carbohydrates
and vegetables in a dog's diet.
http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter...carbohydrates/

And here is what it says about fats:
http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/category/fats/

The B Naturals website has a lot of good information on it. I don't
always agree with all the articles but it's a good source of information
in general.


This web site says veggies are essential, but dogs need an enzyme (which
they sell, of course), to process them: http://www.dog-wa.com/faqs

If they were really essential they'd have that enzyme already don't you
think?


Some "food for thought":
http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/he...narticle13.htm
http://www.petnutritioninfo.com/dog_...ive_system.htm
http://dog.lifetips.com/cat/61610/do...nts/index.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/carnivore
http://www.dogweight.co.uk/are-carbo...s-weight-loss/

Although I still feed Muttley primarily kibble, I also regularly enhance
his diet with raw beef hearts and marrow bones (which he really enjoys). He
also gets some of my human food. I have noticed that he engages in
coprophagia

Some say that kibble creates that problem.

and also eats some raw plant leaves, which he sometimes vomits
up but not always. Some of the information in the articles above provide
hints about the reasons for this.

Paul and Muttley
www.MuttleyDog.com

Char wrote:

Some say that kibble creates that problem.

"Some" say that the earth is flat, "Some" say that aliens landed
in Roswell, "Some" say that the Apollo moon landings were staged
in Nevada (area 51, to be precise), "Some" say that canines don't
require carbohydrates. Who are these "Some" people? And why
should I listen to them?

FurPaw


--
Don't believe everything that you think.

To reply, unleash the dog.

"FurPaw" wrote in message
...
Char wrote:

Some say that kibble creates that problem.

"Some" say that the earth is flat, "Some" say that aliens landed in
Roswell, "Some" say that the Apollo moon landings were staged in Nevada
(area 51, to be precise), "Some" say that canines don't require
carbohydrates. Who are these "Some" people? And why should I listen to
them?

Well, "some" of the above statements can be easily disproven, and others
are harmless phantasies.

I could try to eliminate all carbs from Muttley's diet, but that *might*
cause illness, so unless he is having major health problems now, I won't
risk that. But I could replace the kibble with a brand that has higher meat
content, or try a raw diet for a while, and at least I could see if the
coprophagia is eliminated.

Mt philosophy is "if it ain't broke don't fix it". But for nutrition, the
evidence of a problem may be subtle and damage can occur over a long period
of time, so reasonable attempts at being proactive are prudent. So, off to
the store for a few pounds of beef hearts for Muttley!

Paul and Muttley
www.MuttleyDog.com

Paul E. Schoen wrote:
"FurPaw" wrote in message
...
Char wrote:

Some say that kibble creates that problem.
"Some" say that the earth is flat, "Some" say that aliens landed in
Roswell, "Some" say that the Apollo moon landings were staged in Nevada
(area 51, to be precise), "Some" say that canines don't require
carbohydrates. Who are these "Some" people?

By some I meant people who have studied dog nutrition which leaves out
anyone associated with kibble and most definitely you Paw. Canines do
not need carbs at all.

And why should I listen to
them?

I dunno, why should you? I'd never say that you in particular has to
listen to them but I'd bet your dogs would love it since they'd be a lot
healthier.


Well, "some" of the above statements can be easily disproven, and others
are harmless phantasies.

I could try to eliminate all carbs from Muttley's diet, but that *might*
cause illness,

More likely it will prevent illness. I've yet to hear of eliminating
carbs causing illness. Indeed, many people are now going grainless
themselves.
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/carbs.html
"carbohydrates themselves are not actually necessary; glucose is
necessary, and that can be obtained from sources other than carbohydrates."

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...ts-grains.aspx
"The natural diet of both species includes high levels of protein, fats
and water, and very little carbohydrates. The "recommended" diet of dry
foods, which is the diet of most cats and dogs, is the complete opposite
of this natural diet: High in carbohydrate, low in protein, fat, and
with almost no water.
A highly processed, grain-based diet fed to an animal designed to thrive
on a meat-based, fresh food diet is very likely to produce symptoms of
ill health over time. Diets to address disease most frequently deal with
the symptoms that are the result of a lifetime of inappropriate food,
not the true cause of their symptoms. The optimum diet for a dog or a
cat should closely resemble their natural diet.

A diet balanced heavily toward grain promotes insulin production and the
production of inflammatory chemicals. Over-production of insulin makes
it hard for the body to maintain its correct weight, and can lead to
diabetes and other problems. An overabundance of inflammatory chemicals
means more aches and pains."

so unless he is having major health problems now, I won't
risk that.

I don't understand what you think could happen. My dogs haven't had
carbs in many years and nothing bad happened. Indeed, the rate of
diabetes and other disease would dramatically drop if kibble were to
disappear off the face of the earth.

But I could replace the kibble with a brand that has higher meat
content, or try a raw diet for a while, and at least I could see if the
coprophagia is eliminated.

Mt philosophy is "if it ain't broke don't fix it". But for nutrition, the
evidence of a problem may be subtle and damage can occur over a long period
of time, so reasonable attempts at being proactive are prudent. So, off to
the store for a few pounds of beef hearts for Muttley!

Paul and Muttley
www.MuttleyDog.com


Well, beef heart is a great food but you have to balance it out with
some sort of bone (phosphorus vs calcium). Easiest and cheapest is
chicken necks but I feed beef ribs and other things as well.

And as for "if it ain't broke don't fix it", the problem there is that
you may not see a problem that I might see with my experience, or at
least I'd see it earlier than you would.

Other cheap and healthy foods would be beef kidneys and liver, pork
feet, etc.