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Lynda Montignies
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The BARF Diet
This diet for your dogs and cats is based on feeding your pets fresh whole foods, including raw meaty bones, crushed vegetables, offal and other healthy whole foods. |
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BARF stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, or Bones And Raw Food. The BARF diet is a means of returning pet animals to their evolutionary diet. |
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| Barf Food & Supplements available to purchase |
| What you need to know about the BARF diet |
| How much to feed your pet |
| Barf Suppliers |
BARF Food & Supplements Available to Purchase
I supply the ready made meals for your convenience. All you have to do is serve the required amount out to your dog or cat. Packets are easily stored in your freezer.
Each packet is a complete meal, consisting of the full nutritional needs for your pet,
Below find a list of what I supply:
Feel free to contact me with any queries regarding the above information. REMEMBER THE KEY TO THIS WAY OF FEEDING IS VARIETY OVER A PERIOD OF A MONTH! |
What you need to know about the BARF diet
The BARF diet in it's simplest form consists of 60-75% raw meaty bones, and the balance made up with vegetables, organs and offal. The further an animal diet departs from its evolutionary diet, the more health problems the animal is likely to develop. That is why modern, grain based pet foods, no matter how well researched, cause so many health problems. It is impossible for them to match the health enhancing attributes of the evolutionary diet. Food that is RAW and WHOLE is what you will provide your dogs with by feeding BARF, and for how their body was designed in their natural environment. This diet was introduced in 1993 by Dr Ian Billinghurst from Australia. Research more on the internet if you want, ... just type in BARF. He has been feeding his own dogs all his life this way. Another vet who has written a lot on this way of feeding and done extensive testing is Dr Tom Lonsdale. Because this diet is based on how our animals have eaten for millions of years, it is in no way a radical change. It is in fact returning to the biologically appropriate method of feeding that was abandoned 60 to 70 years ago when processed foods took over from the more traditional methods.
There is a modern belief that modern pets can no longer eat whole natural foods because their physiology has changed by the process of domestication and inter breeding. This is nonsense! Their looks have changed but not their digestive systems. Dr Billinghurst writes "My feeding trials over the last 20 years have demonstrated that all modern pets are entirely capable of digesting and assimilating all the components of an evolutionary diet. This includes raw meaty bones, crushed raw vegetables and offal. Their digestive and immune system has lost none of its ability to use and safely deal with the bones and bacteria in raw foods." "Experts" say that your pet must have starch. This is not true at all. Starch was introduced into our pets' diet as a cheap (and the major) energy source about 70 years ago. This was when we started to feed our pets processed foods. Where in their evolutionary diet do the dogs ever get starch….let alone processed. Dr Billinghurst has proved that from the time of processed foods being introduced, there has been a massive rise in degenerative diseases within our pet population, as this diet is so far removed from how they should be eating. Starch causes a chronic elevation of blood glucose, which in turn causes a rise in insulin known as hyperinsulinemia. This condition contributes to a range of pathological conditions, including: diabetes, obesity, arthritis and numerous diseases involving excessive inflammation. Also proven is that diets high in starch play a major role in promoting cancer. Therefore the bottom line is that continuously high starch levels in your pets' diet are not only unnecessary, they are highly detrimental to their health. You may be concerned about achieving a balanced meal every meal ... even we as humans do not eat a balanced meal, every meal every day. What you will achieve by feeding the BARF diet is balance and nutritional adequacy over a period of time….that is exactly the way our pets have been eating over millions of years. Another quote from Dr Billinghurt's findings: Obviously if we can feed our children and ourselves, we can feed our dogs. This is definitely not rocket science. Secondly, our pets have lived, survived and reproduced eating human food for over ten thousand years. My own experience, as a veterinary surgeon in companion animal practice, tells me that a properly constructed diet based on wholesome human food is a much healthier way to feed pets than a grain based processed product. |
Producing the BARF diet is simple, once the basic principles are understood. The BARF diet consists of the broad range of fresh whole foods that a wild or feral cat, or a wolf or wild dog would consume over the course of a year. This is duplicated and mimicked with food that is easily obtainable from our butchers or local supermarket.
Things you will notice that change with your dogs once on this diet:
There are 2 fears that most people have with this diet
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Many modern pet owners and their vets regard bones as dangerous, not necessarily from having experienced this danger but simply because of their perceived potential as dangerous. The concern is the possibility that whole bones may physically damage the dog due to a blockage or damage to the gastrointestinal tract.
absolute NO for dogs. A raw chicken wing will bend when raw but will snap and splinter when cooked! This is the danger to your dogs. The size of the bone is critical, the bigger the better. These are the most common mistakes that owners make: Dog should have to work at the bone to bite it into pieces small enough to swallow. This also ensures jaw, neck and teeth all get a good workout. The only raw bones to keep away from are small rib bones and turkey necks & legs. The best bones to supply your pet are from young animals as these bones have more nutrients and vitamins. The poops of dogs that eat whole bones regularly contain small fragments of bones. This is normal and how the body is meant to digest. In fact if you had to touch those fragments (gross I know), you would find that they are spongy in texture. That just goes to show how strong your dogs stomach enzymes are to deal with bones and reduce them to a spongy texture. If you are still unhappy about feeding bones, then the way to go is to get the bones finely ground together with the meat by a butcher and fed in this manner, this way your dog is still getting the bone content, however he will miss out on the joy of cleaning his teeth and having a good work out of the jaw and neck area. Many BARFERS choose this way of feeding initially. This is also the way to feed older dogs who have lost many of their teeth. Bacteria. Dogs immune systems are such that the bacteria present in most things they eat and scavenge is normally dealt with without bad side effects. It is normal behaviour for dogs to eat cat and human faeces (coprophagy), bury bones then dig them up again full of maggots and lick one another's mouths, anal and genital areas. They consume masses of bacteria in the process and experience no problems. Certain bacteria are good for your dog such as the microbes in faeces which contribute to the normal gut flora. The absence of normal bacteria in processed dry foods is now seen as an important cause of auto-immune diseases. This is when the immune system attacks its own body. Hopefully now you feel more confident about using BARF despite the presence of Bones and Bugs. Your dogs faeces will change dramatically, from large sloppy, smelly brown mounds to small dry poops that are inoffensive to pick up. This is because the body is absorbing most of what it is fed. In fact the faeces will turn white in a day or so. Also if you watch your dog now pooping you will see the anal sacs discharge/empty as they are meant to, as his poops are harder. This enables the stool to pass easier. In processed fed dogs this doesn't happen as the faeces are sloppy and the anal sacs never have to work. That is why there are so many dogs with anal sac problems. You will see that the brown patches on your grass are no longer so bad, as the urine is no longer so unbalanced. Right lets talk actual diet now:
Dogs: The food should consist of approximately 60-75% raw meaty bones, 10-20% fruit and vegetables, 10-15% offal, together with 5% human scraps and/or supplements.
My rotti Tosca weighs 48kgs and I feed him 2% of his body weight. This amounts to 960grams per day.
A typical day for him is: Breakfast: 2 whole raw chicken carcasses, or 1 lamb shank, or 1 large pork shoulder bone, or 1 turkey carcass, quails, eisbeins, or large rack of beef ribs, chicken necks, chicken wings…. whatever I have in stock. Midday: 3x per week he gets a large lamb or pork leg to chew on with very little meat. I do this to help with the cleaning of the teeth. Believe me all of the bone is eaten! Supper: Vege/fruit mix (the consistency of almost a smoothie), added to that every day is a tablespoon of plain Bulgarian yoghurt. Then sometimes I will add some sardines, or some tuna or a raw egg, or table scraps if any left over. Other things I add on occasion are: molasses, honey, nuts, blood of any meat that has defrosted. Vegetables to avoid are onions and raisins and green potato skins as well as sweetcorn and peas. Your mix of vege and fruit glop (as I call it), should be as large a variety as possible! The consistency must be almost liquidized. Don't use too many of the cabbage/cauliflower family as it leads to a lot of wind in the dog. Your large leafy green veges are your best e.g. lettuce, spinach, parsley, celery etc. Over ripe fruit and veges are perfect. Additives/supplements Added to the vege mix is kelp and garlic. If your dog tends to have skin problems, then add a little apple cider vinegar to the mix as well. Also give your dogs 2x Omega 3 tablets once a day. Small dogs under 15kg need only take 1 tablet once a day. If your dog or cat has skin problems or itchy skins then up the dosage of the omega 3 tablets. Their bodies will naturally get rid of any excess not needed. Well hope that this has helped give you a better understanding of the BARF diet. There is loads of information on the internet as well. For many people this may seem a heck of a lot of work. Once you get the hang of it, it really is simple. You do not even have to measure after the 1st month as you get to know what amount to feed. To make it easier I sell the BARF diet food already mixed. You will need to just scoop out the right amount for your dog, based on it's weight. I supply in 1kg packets and you would just have to scoop out the amount your dog requires. You can freeze the food so you can buy on a weekly or monthly basis. I will also be supplying pork bones, chicken carcasses and Omega 3 tablets. Please feel free to chat to me about any concerns you may have. I have been feeding my dogs this way for 9 years now. I would never consider any other way. The long term benefits are endless….and believe me your vet bills will come down as you really won't have all the common ailments that you get presently |
How much food to feed your Pet
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Dogs On this diet you feed between 1%-8% of the weight the dog should be!
Cats
On this diet you feed between 5%-8% of the weight the cat should be!
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