The natural diet based on
raw meat for dogs: LE BARF
The quality of food is one of the most important factors guaranteeing the good health of our dogs, allowing them to have an intact immune system.
With the appearance, in the 1960s, of various industrial foods, including kibble, the majority of dog owners and breeders placed their food responsibility in the hands of the various manufacturers, relying on the various advertising slogans extolling the high quality of the ingredients they contain. It is of course very practical to simply open a bag of croquettes, to put a certain quantity in the bowl without having to worry too much about the composition of the food.
The various consulting veterinarians serving the various brands take care of it. Then, for many, professional life leaves little time to personally take care of the preparation of the food of their beloved dog, and think that such preparation is tedious and requires a university degree to compose his daily rations. .
Many dog owners are naturally aware that, nowadays, different foods intended for human consumption may contain various substances, often synthetic, such as preservatives, flavorings, or colorings. On the other hand, the composition of the ingredients and the different substances contained in the croquettes are often ignored.
They mainly contain cereals, their derivatives and various plant waste produced by the food industry. The consumption of such a diet, based essentially on cereals and plants, has an impact on the general state of health of the canine and feline population. Carcinogenic diseases, various allergies, digestion problems (pancreatitis), kidney ailments (kidney failure), hepatitis, decreased fertility and growth problems are on the rise and fill the waiting rooms of veterinarians and pet clinics.
It takes 10,000 years for the dog's body to adapt to a radical dietary change. The appearance of kibbles, which really took off in the 1960s, is due to James Spratt, who first started making dog biscuits in England in 1860, then later, around 1890, settling in Ohio (USA).
However, the golden age of kibble did not really begin until the end of the Second World War, to the great misfortune of our dogs and cats. Nowadays, more and more dog owners, breeders and veterinarians are of the opinion that the generalized deterioration of the health condition of our dogs and cats is closely linked to industrial food, either in wet form or in the form of croquettes.
Based on this observation, it is not surprising that a movement towards an alternative solution is taking shape under the acronym BARF.
The quality of food is one of the most important factors guaranteeing the good health of our dogs, allowing them to have an intact immune system.
With the appearance, in the 1960s, of various industrial foods, including kibble, the majority of dog owners and breeders placed their food responsibility in the hands of the various manufacturers, relying on the various advertising slogans extolling the high quality of the ingredients they contain. It is of course very practical to simply open a bag of croquettes, to put a certain quantity in the bowl without having to worry too much about the composition of the food.
The various consulting veterinarians serving the various brands take care of it. Then, for many, professional life leaves little time to personally take care of the preparation of the food of their beloved dog, and think that such preparation is tedious and requires a university degree to compose his daily rations. .
Many dog owners are naturally aware that, nowadays, different foods intended for human consumption may contain various substances, often synthetic, such as preservatives, flavorings, or colorings. On the other hand, the composition of the ingredients and the different substances contained in the croquettes are often ignored.
They mainly contain cereals, their derivatives and various plant waste produced by the food industry. The consumption of such a diet, based essentially on cereals and plants, has an impact on the general state of health of the canine and feline population. Carcinogenic diseases, various allergies, digestion problems (pancreatitis), kidney ailments (kidney failure), hepatitis, decreased fertility and growth problems are on the rise and fill the waiting rooms of veterinarians and pet clinics.
It takes 10,000 years for the dog's body to adapt to a radical dietary change. The appearance of kibbles, which really took off in the 1960s, is due to James Spratt, who first started making dog biscuits in England in 1860, then later, around 1890, settling in Ohio (USA).
However, the golden age of kibble did not really begin until the end of the Second World War, to the great misfortune of our dogs and cats. Nowadays, more and more dog owners, breeders and veterinarians are of the opinion that the generalized deterioration of the health condition of our dogs and cats is closely linked to industrial food, either in wet form or in the form of croquettes.
Based on this observation, it is not surprising that a movement towards an alternative solution is taking shape under the acronym BARF.
industrial food
Very few dog owners know what kibbles really contain so appetizing and succulent, touted by very attractive advertising with astronomical budgets. The various factories producing kibble and other food for pets have as their main objective to recover, through financial profits, the various wastes from the entire human agro-food industry.
In this approach of a purely financial nature, the aspect of health becomes antagonistic and therefore no longer has any interest. They are therefore an integral part of the agri-food industry as such. Ingredients that can no longer be used for human consumption thus find their way into the diet of our pets.
The sources of supply are practically inexhaustible and others are yet to be discovered. It is therefore absolutely not surprising that all the major brands are in the hands of large multinational corporations. The meaty part, generally in the form of meat meal, the origin of which is obscured, as well as the animal fats used in the composition of the croquettes are purchased from rendering companies.
These companies have as a primary vocation to value all the parts of the animals that are brought to them. Sick farm animals having been treated with various drugs including antibiotics, euthanized for various reasons. By unsold items from different supermarkets. To save time, some rendering companies do not even bother to remove the packaging, often in the form of different plastic materials. In some countries, pets, i.e. dogs and cats euthanized by veterinarians, can be rendered for processing into meat meal, bones and animal fat. As trade is free, imports outside the European Union are entirely possible. With the enlargement of the EU these large transnational companies have started to erect new production facilities in these new member countries whose veterinary controls should respect the directives of Brussels. (Poland). Beaks, feathers, legs, excrement of poultry or hooves, skins, urine, faeces are integral parts of meat flours allowing manufacturers to artificially increase the protein indications which, in this nitrogenous form, are only difficult to assimilate by our dogs or cats.
Overall, the majority of the kibble composition is made up of various cereals and vegetable waste from the various processing plants. By cereals, we must understand batches downgraded for human consumption, either because of poor storage (humidity, mould), or because they do not reach the required weight/hl, therefore too small grains. The different vegetable waste very often found in different brands of kibble are for example: - Beet pulp which is nothing other than a very cumbersome residue from the sugar industry, which the dog, which does not have of a rumen like a cow, is unable to digest glutens in different forms are residues from flour mills. These are particularly indigestible tights. In 2007, gluten from China, doped with melamine to modify protein values upwards, caused the biggest scandal in history affecting industrial food with unfortunately significant consequences on the health of dogs. and cats (USA). Consultation of the official list of recalls (FDA) is explicit. - Soy flour, obtained after extraction of often rancid oils as an interesting source of protein. Much of this waste is imported from countries whose crops are mostly grown from genetically modified (GMO) seeds. - Cellulose, an ingredient according to the manufacturers particularly digestible whose definition according to the Grand Larousse is: "Common designation of chemical paper pulp, which consists essentially of cellulose or simply sawdust, bulky and inexhaustible waste from of sawmills".
The dog is unable to digest cellulose even that of the cell walls of plants, such as vegetables, so according to the manufacturers it is an ideal ingredient for a dog. These ingredients go through the manufacturing process which is done at high temperatures and under pressure, modifying or destroying the vitamins, enzymes and amino acids that these raw materials may contain. Certain chemical substances, including anesthetics, are able to withstand such temperatures and can therefore form residues used in the formulation of kibble, which this report confirms.
These different raw materials from different sectors of the agro-food industry have undergone transformations for which various chemical substances are naturally used, also known by the definition of production agents. The kibble manufacturers remain silent on the consequences of possible reactions between these different substances or do not provide information on the analytical means of control put in place to prevent them from entering the food chain of dogs and cats. Manufacturers compensate for the loss of vitamins and other elements by adding a premix containing inexpensive industrial vitamins and minerals, which our pets absorb less well than in their natural form. The conservation of omega 3 poses a technical problem and some kibbles could therefore simply be devoid of it.
The destruction of enzymes, essential for carnivores, is however not compensated. In other words, kibble is dead, amorphous, lifeless food. By reading the ingredients that must appear on the packaging bags, the vagueness is unfortunately omnipresent and deliberately maintained. Indeed, by a simple and absolutely legal trick, the manufacturers put in first place, for example, poultry flour giving the impression that the composition contains a majority meat part. However, by listing in detail the other cereal or vegetable components, they hide the fact that in reality the poultry flour is only a minority part, often around 20%. It is all the different components that must be taken into account.
Animal fats to prevent it from going rancid need stabilizers known as preservatives. The innocuous annotation on the packaging bags as "Additives according to EU" usually hides the name of preservatives such as BHA, (butylhydroxyanisole), BHT (butylhydroxytoluene) or ethoxyquin. The use of these substances is either severely regulated, or simply prohibited for human consumption. They are suspected of having carcinogenic effects, can slow the formation of white blood cells, cause kidney disease and have a detrimental effect on the immune system. Normally, our dogs, cats and ferrets would not rush on such food without the help of chemistry, providing manufacturers with substances that are often synthetic, modestly declared on the packaging bags as being aromas. To trap these animals, manufacturers have a whole arsenal of different means, including aromas, sugars, salts and flavor enhancers.
The use of monosodium glutamate (MSG), the various side effects of which are highly debated, cannot be ruled out. The appearance, especially for buyers, must of course also be attractive. Everything will therefore be entitled to a make-up session with various dyes to improve the presentation. By a regulation of the European Union, such substances must not appear in the declaration appearing on the packaging bags, and the irony is that these indications are even prohibited from appearing, but yet the foods contain them. Some manufacturers have started to use vitamin E Tocopherol as a preservative. However, all vitamins have the unfortunate tendency to oxidize relatively quickly.
Currently no vitamin can ensure conservation beyond six months while the packaging bags display expiry dates for 12 or even 18 months. Other manufacturers proudly state that their products are free of preservatives. Animal fats, however, must be stabilized with preservatives, otherwise they will simply go rancid. These statements on packaging bags to deceive buyers find their explanation in a directive of an EU regulation allowing manufacturers to legally conceal such substances for components purchased from third parties. As animal fats generally come from rendering companies which naturally use a preservative for the storage of their products, kibble manufacturers logically no longer need to add any.
With such food, many dogs (sur)live in apparent good health, but unfortunately a large number in marked increase suffer the blow from various diseases. Dog food manufacturers are well aware that our pets are increasingly affected by various diseases. They did not hesitate to react in a purely commercial logic. Rightly sensing a very promising market, they began to market dietary kibbles for different ailments worth billions of Euros. How ironic. Our pets have more and more various conditions related to kibble.
What are manufacturers doing to improve the general state of health of our pets in the long term, which is currently deplorable? They respond by offering dietary kibble that veterinarians will be happy to sell at exorbitant prices.
Dogs like cats or ferrets are still carnivores
To be convinced of this, university studies are not essential. To start, just look into the mouth of a dog or the mouth of a cat and a ferret. Their teeth and jaws are unmistakably those of a carnivore.
The ancestor of the dog, the wolf, certainly feeds mainly on prey made up of big game, but failing that, a hare will do just fine. Meat, skins, stomach contents, guts but also berries, fruits, herbs, roots give it a balanced diet containing all the vitamins, minerals and fiber it needs.
For cats or ferrets living in freedom feeding mainly on small prey such as mice, birds, small reptiles, they find the different nutrients by also eating meat, skin, small bones and unlike however wolf, also eat the stomach with its contents.
What is BARF?
BARF stands for Biologically Adapted Raw Food. (Or biologically appropriate raw foods)
That is to say, raw food, just like the dog has eaten throughout time, from when he started to become a dog until he became the dog we have today. today. (A little curious - dry foods first appeared in the 60s.)
Many people rightly ask the question "But what does the acronym BARF stand for?" which finds only with difficulty a rational explanation in the various Latin languages. At first, this acronym was linked to different interpretations, including that of the American Debbie Tripp who was the first person to use BARF, a word which at that time meant Born Again Raw Feeders or also Bones And Raw Foods. But the two people who really gave the final form to the interpretation of this acronym are undoubtedly two Australian veterinarians: Dr. vet. Ian Billinghurst followed Dr. vet. Tom Lonsdale.
Through their commitment to a natural diet based on raw meat, the acronym BARF has taken on its true dimension and now means in a unanimously accepted way: Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, but also Bones And Raw Food. Swanie Simon interprets it by: Biologisch Artgerechtes Rohes Futter in German and in Spanish the acronym changes squarely to ACBA. Clearly, all these different interpretations mean nothing more than: a natural diet based on raw meat respecting the digestive system of canines and felines which are still carnivores, while imitating, as far as possible, the best food conditions offered, those of Mother Nature!
Their digestive systems are those of carnivores!
They have acid gastric juices, which are therefore relatively aggressive, allowing them to digest meat food, often with bones and the skin of the various prey that they could find living in the wild. This juice contains 10 times more citric acids than that of humans, for example. During the digestion phase, the pH of a healthy dog drops below 1. pH is a figure based on logarithmic tables and those experienced in its use will easily understand the huge difference There is between the pH of canines and that of humans, for example, the latter being around 2-3 during digestion. The neutral point is 7.
A dog's production of gastric juices is “triggered” in the presence of meat, or food that makes it salivate. No doubt also for tasteless croquettes. The stomach of carnivores is generally large and their intestine relatively short. For a dog, the length is about 3-5 meters while that of a ruminant, like the cow, is about 12-15 m where the digestion of a mainly vegetable food can take 60 hours. Unless you reinvent the dog, cat or ferret, these specimens are indeed carnivores. A food composed mainly of cereals or other plants does not correspond to these animals.
Current state In recent years, the number of dog owners, breeders or veterinarians becoming aware of the nutritional aspect of their animals is constantly increasing, which is encouraging. After this awareness, the clear majority of them turned to a natural diet based on raw BARF meat. They were able to observe sometimes spectacular changes. Their dogs are more awake and often less nervous, no more bad odors, untimely gas, so to speak non-existent, teeth of brilliant whiteness and no tartar, a coat that is often beautifully shiny, the puppies grow "slower" allowing them to properly form their bones as well as the ligaments and musculature. Large dog breeders have seen an improvement in longevity. The droppings, what a godsend, much smaller, more compact and above all less nauseous.
In short, a small contribution for our environment. How to do ? There is absolutely nothing complicated. Meat, meaty bones, offal, a little vegetables, a little oil and possibly a mixture of herbs and seaweed and you are already on the right track. The addition of vegetables, or even the herb/algae mixture, compensates for the lack of vitamins and other nutrients that free-living canids, felines or ferrets find by feeding on prey. There are very few people who have access to such prey or for financial reasons cannot afford to feed their pets in such a way.