Paleo Pets – Same as us
It is not only us humans who have been put on a corn and processed food diet but of course our pets. Our lab cross bitch is very fat and has a large lipoma – non cancerous fatty tumours. We tried all the “normal” routes – including very expensive vet sold diet kibble. Silly me! As my own body changed as I ate diet that was suited to my evolution, we continued to feed her kibble. It was easy, she liked it and it was cheap. We fed her less and she became ever more hungry – just like a human on a diet. She could not get the weight off and the lipoma grew and grew. She is getting to the pointwhere we may have to think of surgery – but she is old now and will have to endure a general anesthetic.
Then the lightbulb went off. Again silly me!
Source Mercola
She is fat and she has lipoma BECAUSE she is eating kibble. We now feed her real food that we cook for her. It takes a little more time but not much. The pounds are falling away – she has so much more energy and we will see how the lipoma does. We have been doing this only for a week.
Some breeds of dog – labs are one and females are more prone to weight gain and lipoma. This may be true of humans too.
Cats of course should never eat grains – they are “Obligate Carnivores” who are also desert animals who are designed to get most of their water from their food. So feeding your cat kibble may be very bad for it. Here is an excellent resource for cats and their food.
If we can see this issue in pets – then can we see it for ourselves?
Hi, good article – but, why are you feeding your dog cooked food? I’ve not met met too many dog-chefs! Our dog has been on a raw food diet for over six months now. Her coat looks fantastic, wonderfully healthy and she gets a raw egg once a week as a treat. Remember to mix up the diet with some organ meat. Regards, Anthony
Good point Anthony – I feed her cooked food because it is easier to store that way only. She gets lots of organ meat – in fact mainly organ meat – I too eat much of what she has too – though I have passed on the heart
We switched our labradoodle (rescued stray) to:
http://bluebuffalo.com/dog-food/wilderness-duck/
There are several kinds in this (Wilderness)line, all grain free. We chose duck as it is the least industrialized protein offered. There is some chicken and turkey in it.
Very helpful Steve – the market for buffalo meat is booming for people too. Lamb is hard to mess up too
[…] they all seem to befriend us speedily when they realise that our house provides real food. The Missing Human Manual has observed a rapid improvement in the health of their Labrador from a change in diet to real […]
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[…] Update June 2011: Pet Lab’s health improves in just one week on Paleo diet […]
I am making my first attempt at cooking for our chubby lab X. I have a crock pot full of chicken heart, liver and gizzard. I am reading mixed messages on gizzard. Any opinion?
I eat them myself and so do many other people – in France served in Duck fat – in Asia a big snack
Only a week into this and he is already slimming. He seems so…content. He was a happy dog before, but this is different. Thanks for the article that finally got us going on this.
Thrilled to hear that Pat