John Rich <[log in to unmask]> wrote on 4/8/2006, 4:00 AM:
>I`d still 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", as was posted last night!  How about just the earthmovement
>right here in the good ole USA??
 
I have avoided making any further comments in the great food debate,
largely because I felt I had said my piece.  But, since some new turns
in the debate have come about, I find cause to jump back into the
discussion.
 
First and foremost let me clarify - I live in Alexandria, VA, right
outside of Washington DC.  This is very much an east coast city area.
There are no farms.  People are not allowed to keep farm animals like
chickens and pot belly pigs, even as pets.  Any out buildings people
have are sheds for storing their lawnmowers.  We are very similar to NJ
in that way.
 
And, I have a number of friends in the area who have dogs and feed a
raw diet to their dogs.  I actually was first introduced to the idea
of feeding raw by my friends with dogs about 7 years ago.  And, in one
case, the friend started feeding her dogs a raw diet at the vet's
recommendation.
 
Within the last week someone made a rather ridiculous comment indicating
that ferrets had been domesticated in the US for over a thousand years,
and while I am sure that the person did not mean it the way it was
written, it got me wondering - how were ferrets fed in the past?
 
In the FML archives, we can find posts from Bob Church about how ferrets
were fed in England and Europe, and while the milk and bread diet is one
he mentions, they were also fed raw meats, and any prey (rodents) they
could catch.
 
In the US it is only in the past 20 to 30 years that ferrets have been
popular as pets.  For the most part, before the 1970s, ferrets were
raised for fur.  I did some Internet searching, trying to find
information, but did not have much luck finding specifics on ferret
diets.
 
So, I tried a different search.  I was sure that early settlers crossing
the plains of the US did not carry bags of kibble to feed their dogs, so
I tried to find out when the first dry dog food was available.
 
I found the Pet Food Institute's website - an organization with
headquarters in Washington, DC, USA.
                http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/
 
According to their website, the first dry dog food was manufactured
in England in 1860, and it was a biscuit made mostly of grains and
vegetables with some meat.  This biscuit was not available in the US
until a firm here bought the formula and started manufacturing it in
the 1890s.  The formula was in no way based on any scientific evaluation
of a dogs nutritional needs, though.
 
After WWI, canned horse meat became available as a dog food.  In the
1930s, canned cat food was introduced, as well as a dry meat/meal kibble
for dogs.  And, in the 1950s there was an expansion of the dry kibbles
that were available for dogs and cats.
 
>Interesting - our pets haven't been eating kibble all that long a time.
 
So what were pets fed before kibble and canned foods were available?
 
>Both my parents grew up on small family farms - the type that used to be
>prevalent across the US.  And, like most farms, they had dogs and cats.
 
So, I asked them what they fed these animals.
 
The cats were kept for rodent control, and each morning a bowl of milk
was put out for them as a supplement to the prey they caught.  If a
female was carrying a litter, or nursing, they would supplement her with
scrape raw meat.  Even cats that were brought into the house and kept as
a house pet were fed the same way.
 
The dogs were fed table scrapes and also raw meat.  When an animal was
butchered, after all the meat for the family was taken care of, any
remains were ground up - including the bones - and wrapped in freezer
paper and put in the freezer.  They were marked that it was dog food,
and as needed the packages were thawed and fed to the dogs.  The dogs
were also given milk.
 
When I was asking my mother about how they fed the dogs and cats, she
reminded me that when I was young, we didn't feed our dog manufactured
dog food.  I didn't remember, but she claims we didn't start feeding
kibble or canned foods until after we had moved - so sometime in the
early 1960s.  Up to that point, our dog was fed table scrapes and raw
scrap meat she bought from the local butcher.  I grew up in the DC
area - so this was the city.
 
It is really only the last 50 or 60 years that the majority of dogs and
cats have been fed kibble and canned food.  Not a very long history of
this.  It is only a little over 100 years that manufactured dog food has
even been available, and less for cats.
 
But, back to ferrets.  I have a neighbor who is older then I am, who
also grew up on a farm.  There was a fur ranch near him, and he worked
there while he was in high school to earn some money.  They had both
mink and ferrets.  He had told me about this when he say me scrubbing
my ferret cages outside one day, and wanted to know what kind of animal
I was keeping.
 
So, I went and asked im if he remembered what the minks and ferrets were
fed.  Guess what - raw scrape meat and ground up bones.  There were no
processed foods available.  This was in the late 1950s.
 
So, there really isn't the long history of animals being fed kibble that
we think there is, even here in the US.  And just like many people are
now trying to get away from eating so much processed food, for health
reasons, maybe our pets would do better with a natural diet.
 
I currently feed kibble.  Several years ago, I would never have even
considered feeding a raw diet.  But today, I am exploring it, and may
give it a try.  I will never dis someone who chooses to feed a high
quality kibble.  I respect each individual's right to make up their own
mind on the issue.  But, I am seeing advantages to a natural (raw) diet.
 
Lets leave ferrets again for a moment, and look at recent trends in human
nutrition.  while we are consuming a greater percentage of processed
foods then we did 50 years ago, we are also seeing an increase in food
allergies, problems like ADD and ADHD, and a myriad of other problems
that we are learning may be connected to our diets.  Doctors advise us
to eat fewer processed foods.  We are seeing more health food stores,
and some people are making a real effort to eat only organic foods.
 
If processed foods are not good for us, why do we think they are good
for our pets?
 
Now, I will admit that there is a lot of controversy among researchers
on just how bad processed foods are, but even the side that says they
aren't as bad as some make them out to be admit that they are not good,
and making dietary changes to avoid the most obvious ones are advised.
 
And, just for the record, I am not a health food nut.  I eat more then
my share of processed foods, but I am trying to cut back.  I am not going
to go organic in the near future, but instead of buying junk food, I am
trying to eat meals I prepare.  I am also avoiding the prepared "just
heat em in the microwave" foods.  They are certainly more convenient in
today's hectic world, but they may be less nutritious and contain things
I would prefer to avoid.
 
The above is meant as food for thought.
--
Danee DeVore
International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator
http://www.ferretcongress.org
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com
You can help fight ADV!
Visit: http://help4adv.terrabox.com/
[Posted in FML issue 5207]