Red meat

[EmilyS]

I feed my 5 year old chihuahua terrier sweet potato, spinach, and boiled chicken. Sometimes broccoli instead of spinach. I have not been giving her red meet. I’m wondering if this is sufficient or do I need to begin feeding her red meet sometimes or other carbs too.
please advice.

 

[Dr. Christina]

The short answer is YES! Feed a larger variety. For a small dog, just feed the wide variety of organic, or locally raised foods you (I hope) are eating.

Since dogs are omnivores, they often survive on a limited diet. After all, though often not glowing with health, even dogs on processed foods do live, and some a long life.

Since each food source, meat and vegetable, has a different amino acid profile as well as different amounts of vitamins and minerals, the more variety you feed, the better.

Another reason to feed a very wide variety of food is that when a dog or cat becomes ill, you will know their very favorite foods and ones not to even try to feed as you know they do not like them.

Meat, fish and organ meat is probably better raw. Cooking destroys enzymes and denatures the proteins rendering them less digestible to cats and dogs, though some animals need warmed or even cooked foods, especially from a Chinese perspective, or just for variety. Feeding chunks of meat lets your pet exercise jaw muscles, form saliva and enzymes in the stomach (most animals swallow their food relatively whole) needed to digest food properly. Ground meat is passable for most animals occasionally. An excellent meat is heart meat (good price, too). Other organ meats are great. Liver must be organic since it processes toxins.

We rarely see Salmonella, E. coli, and toxoplasmosis due to the intestinal flora and short transit time of dogs and cats. Raw bones, yes bones, are great on a regular basis. If the animal is eating the bones, you need not supplement with calcium.

Fruit & vegetables are great, cooked and raw, but must be pureed in a blender, food processor or a juicer so the short intestinal tracts can fully digest them. Milk products are fine. Only a few animals get diarrhea from milk. Eggs are fine raw or cooked. If carbohydrates are fed they need to be overcooked due to the short digestive tracts. In the wild, the intestinal contents of the prey are seeds, which are high fat and protein. While some animals will tolerate carbohydrates, others cannot.

As with people, some animals do not thrive on specific food items, so individually adjust your companion’s diet.

If there are appetite problems - finicky or ravenous - these are signs of energy imbalance and the animal needs holistic medical treatment. A healthy animal will eat any good foods presented.

And Have Fun Feeding and Eating Together!
Dr. Christina

 

[Dr. Sue]

I love your question and I second Dr. Christina! Variety is the key to vitality. Feeding a variety of meats and a variety of colored vegetables is important as each color of vegetable has it's own unique contribution of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Make sure that the diet has calcium either from bone meal or egg shells or a calcium supplement. Rule of thumb is 1/2 tsp of ground egg shell per pound of meat or 600mg of calcium per pound of meat. Ratios of meat to veg to grain is also a consideration. I love the advice that Dr. Judy Morgan gives on recipes and supplements in her book - Yin Yang Nutrition for Dogs.

Add foods that contain Vitamin D. I do Vitamin D testing on many of my pet patients and most are insufficient in that important immune system vitamin. Dogs get their D from food, and very very little from sunlight. Egg yolks, liver, wild-caught salmon, sardines are great sources to add to your dog's diet.

It's my experience that dogs that eat homeprepared foods are either the healthiest dogs in my practice or the unhealthiest if their food is too limited and imbalanced.

Dr. Sue

 

[Dr. Christina]

Thanks so much Dr. Sue!
Dr. Christina

 

[Dr. Sue]

One additional comment on red meat - the color red invigorates the Blood and life force (Qi) in Chinese Medicine. It's a great body balancer as it's neutral in it's energy. Red meat helps when your dog is low in energy, or when they have dry skin, dry paw pads and nose. Grass fed beef is best.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Fantastic, thanks so much for asking this great question Emily! Drs. Christina and Sue, thanks so much for your replies.

Emily, freshness, variety and moderation are the 3 keys to a healthful diet IMHO.