>So unless you are going to fine the loin for killing the antelope,
>chastise the wolf for killing the rabbit, or even flame the pelican for
>killing its fish and save every creature on this planet forcing them
>all to eat kibble, I think it's a moot point...
 
Well put!
 
>Just a little note here, not all BARF diets are ground, it just depends
>on your convenience level and what you buy to feed.  BARF is actually
>an acronym meaning Bones And Raw Foods so it can be just about anything
>that you want to throw in there.
 
BARF also stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods.
 
The trouble is that the BARF Diet is a registered Trademark AND a generic
term for a variety of differing diets.
 
The Trademarked BARF Diet includes some whole meat and bone, but also
includes premade, ground-up slop patties.
 
>The reasoning for some vegetables in the BARF diet is to mimic the
>"whole prey" experience.  It sounds odd but logically it makes sense.
>The reason for some vegetables in the diet is because most carnivores
>eat herbivores and the vegetables are there to mimic the natural enzymes
>and food source that would normally be found in the stomach contents
>when an animal is killed and eaten in its entirety.
 
Dr. David Mech (a research/author on wolves) has written about the eating
habits of wolves in two of his books, and notes that they shake out the
stomach contents, not consume it.
 
I've also seen cats and ferrets shake it out.
 
Even if the stomach contents were an important part of the diet, why do
BARF patties & recipes contain pears, broccoli, flax seeds and celery?
Last time I checked, wild herbivores ate grasses and the like, not pears!
 
Whole foods (prey or meaty bones) are just as convenient as pre-made
slop.  Buy it, freeze it, put it in the fridge a few hours before it's
needed, put it on the plate :)
 
shona
[Posted in FML issue 5199]