>From:    John Rich <[log in to unmask]>
>Myself, living in a small, 'controlled', housing park makes it
>impossible to even try to have prey around for food, hell, the owner
>wants $5 per ferret as is!, God forbid a neighbor sees me feeding
>natural!....whereas in Texas, Utah, England(rural), Australia, and all
>the other countries with more open space, & less people per square mile
>than my State of New Jersey, have more 'room' to have "out buildings"
>for what is needed!
 
I feed 3 large (great danes) dogs a "natural" diet and I don't believe
my neighbors know, nor do I need an "out building" to do it in.  Their
food goes in a bowl like any kibble fed dog would use, with a towel
underneath so they may sit and chew, and I feed them in my house, each
one in a different room.  And why should it be so offensive to a neighbor
or anyone to feed an animal the way it was made to eat?  The introduction
of kibble has not changed the digestive system of them, nor their
nutritional needs.  Kibble was conceived for the betterment of humans,
not the animals and has only been around since about 1950, somehow pets
survived and thrived before it :).  The following is a link to give the
history of kibble:
 
    http://www.b-naturals.com/Aug2005.php
 
>AND one more & final thing,...I would love to see the "Absolute
>Groundswell" all over the world of people changing the diets of their
>dogs (and cats) to a more 'natural' one!!!  ...Not at my spca, not with
>my dogs, nor friend`s dogs,..???  What is considered a "more Natural"
>Diet????  I would like to see the truth!...
 
Oh believe me, we are out there. :)  And natural cat feeders too.  It
really irks me that feeding an animal the way it was made to eat is
considered "foreign" yet feeding an animal a different way for human
reasons is considered "normal" .  The discussion should actually be "is
kibble just as good as the animals natural diet?".  Now before anyone
thinks I am a radical natural feeder, my ferrets do eat kibble.  And I
hate it.  But I did try to switch them and they refused and at 8 years
of age I will let them be.  They are free roam in their own room, very
rarely get artificial light, and haven't been vaccinated in about 3
years, so I hope the kibble negativities are lessened by the other
factors.
 
I have come across over zealous natural feeders that believe unless you
put a whole carcass out for your companions to eat at will, you are not
feeding correctly.  Or if you feed ground instead of whole you might as
well feed kibble.  But in my experience their are more radical kibble
feeders that get into rants than the natural feeders.  It seems to be
almost offensive to them that people would dare go against what man has
decided is best.  Best for man, not for the animals, please try and keep
that in mind.
 
~Amy~
[Posted in FML issue 5204]