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Is A Meat Only Diet Good For A Dog
from: Kyle BesserThere are some dog owners who insist that meat is the only thing a dog should ever be fed. Meat alone is inadequate for a dog diet. The biggest deficiency in a diet of only meat is the lack of calcium. Dog diets consisting exclusively of meats usually do not provide the proper amount of calcium and phosphorus to create healthy bones.
When a dog's diet contains too little calcium, your dog may develop a condition called rickets, which creates soft bones that bend under the weight of your dog. Also, when the meat is trimmed of fat, it decreases as an energy source in the dog's diet. There are other deficiencies as well, but none as dramatic as these two.
Your dog's diet affects every aspect of your dog's health. Learning facts about dog nutrition will help you have a healthier dog. Your dog's coat will look and feel better with a healthy diet and adequate dog food nutrition. Your dog's teeth and nails will be healthier with a healthy diet and adequate dog food nutrition.
Your dog's diet will affect his overall health and energy level. If the dog's diet is lacking adequate dog food nutrition, your dog may be sluggish or unable to rest contently. Your dog requires adequate dog food nutrition to run or walk. If you live an active lifestyle, your dog may need extra dog food nutrition to keep up. You and your dog will not enjoy life to its fullest if your dog's diet doesn't meet dog nutrition needs.
Meat is the single most important source of protein fed to dogs. Thousands of tons of beef, chicken and horse meat are used each year to produce commercial dog foods. Hundreds of tons more are fed as a supplement to commercial foods and in homemade dog foods.
When meat is fed as an addition to a balanced commercial food, it can be added up to 10% of the weight of the mixture. When added in greater amounts, it will dilute the commercial food to the extent that the diet will no longer be balanced or provide adequate dog nutrition. When used as the sole source of protein in a homemade diet, meat should constitute at least 25% but not more than 75% of the total weight of the diet.
All meats except pork can be fed to a dog either cooked or raw, but will usually furnish more dog nutrition value in the raw state. Vitamins are destroyed by the heat of cooking. Fat is driven out of meat during cooking and unless it is put back, it will be lost as an energy source. The only real justification for feeding a dog cooked meat in a homemade diet is because it is pork, or because the dog does not like raw meat. Few dogs have a genuine dislike for raw meat.
The nature of the animal from which the meat comes does not seem to be important where protein is concerned. Nutritionally, most proteins from different animals seem to be about equal. For years it was contended by some dog owners that pork could not be fed to dogs. Feeding experiments do not find this to be true. Pork liver is probably among the most nutritious livers commonly available to dogs. Pork should not be fed raw.
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