ForestWind Siberian Cats

Now that you know what not to do for your Siberian during warm weather months, follow these suggestions for keeping your cat cool:

• Provide a Cool and Comfy Living SpaceCool down your house as much as possible before you leave for work. Cover the windows and leave the air conditioning on "low," if you can.
• If you don't have air conditioning, place fans in the windows and run them on "exhaust" to circulate the air without sucking in the hot air from outside, suggests Karen Commings, author of The Cat Lover's Survival Guide.
• Put small plastic containers filled with water in the freezer overnight. During the day, place these containers (now filled with blocks of ice) around your cat's favorite sleeping spot.
• Freeze a bottle of water and place it in your cat's bed, or place a package of frozen peas just under the covering of your cat's bed. You can later eat the defrosted peas for dinner!
• If possible, allow your cat access to your basement, says Commings. This could particularly benefit older cats, which may not be as mobile, or able to locate a cool spot for themselves.
• Consider keeping your cat in the bathroom during the day, says Dr. Cruz. Cats sometimes like to lie on the cool tiles, in the bathtub or in the sink.
• If you have a screened-in patio where your cat likes to hang out, put up shades on the sides that face the sun. Provide plenty of fresh water. Check on the bowl throughout the day to make sure the water hasn't evaporated.

KeepingKittyCool.02.18.2012

4 indications that the pet food you are buying is top quality:

A whole food protein source tops the list of ingredients. The key here is to look for named meat, typically one-word descriptions of the protein in the formula, for example: beef, turkey, lamb, chicken, etc. Avoid any product with non-specific descriptions like 'animal,' 'meat' or 'poultry.'Most commercial pet foods also contain meat meal, which is fine as a secondary ingredient to a whole food protein source. Meal consists of meat with the moisture removed, with or without bones and has the right calcium/phosphorus balance. Like the primary whole food protein source, meal should be from a named, specific meat.

It's grain-free, or at least low-carbohydrate. Your carnivorous pet has no biologic requirement for grains (or potatoes or other carbohydrates). Many grain-free formulas use potatoes instead, but potatoes or other starches should not be added in excess simply to offset meat content.

It has an AAFCO guarantee. AAFCO has established minimum standards for complete and balanced pet nutrition. Most of us concerned with animal health realize there's room for improvement in the AAFCO guidelines. However, you can be reasonably sure a pet food meeting those guidelines will provide all the elements of nutrition your dog needs to sustain life. A formula without AAFCO certification will likely be deficient as a sole source of nutrition for your pet.

It contains human grade (USDA approved) ingredients. This can be a tricky area, because the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) has very effectively prohibited the use of the term 'human grade' on pet food packaging. As a result, very few pet food labels contain the phrase*.

However, if the manufacturer is using ingredients fit for human consumption, you'll know by the information provided on the bag, as well as their marketing materials. The company will want you to know why their food is more expensive.

The better the brand (and higher the cost), the more likely it is the ingredients are human grade. If all else fails, you can visit the manufacturer's website or call their toll free number to get your questions answered.

Bonus? the listed protein source is free-range or pasture-ranged, and hasn't been raised on hormones and antibiotics.

* According to TheBark.com: AAFCO says "human-grade" is false and misleading, and constitutes misbranding, unless every ingredient in the product—and every processing method—meets FDA and USDA requirements for producing, processing and transporting foods suitable for consumption by humans, and every producer of the ingredients is licensed to perform those tasks. Few pet food companies can meet these criteria.

Feline Marking and Spraying

If you are finding urine outside the litter box and have ruled out medical problems, and litter or litterbox aversions, your cat could be displaying urine-marking behavior.

Cats do  this to inscribe a pheromonal message for later passers-by. It's like posting a sign ... “Tigger was here. Keep out.”

Urine-marking can be performed by a cat from a standing or squatting position, on either vertical or horizontal surfaces.

Spraying is the most common form of urine-marking behavior. When spraying, the cat backs up to a vertical surface, the tip of the tail quivers, and s/he delivers a fine stream of urine onto the surface.

Marking behavior is testosterone-enhanced, so non-neutered males have the greatest motivation to mark. However, both males and females can mark.  Females in heat will urine mark, generally from the squatting position. Males will marksexual availability in the upright position. Neutering and spaying will eliminate 90-95 percent of urine-markingbehaviors in cats.

When cats are stressed, they have a much higher tendency to mark. Stress can come from many sources, but some of the more common sources are:

• Arrival of a new person in the home
  
• Departure of a key caretaker
• Arrival of a new cat
• Inadequate number of litter boxes for the number of cats in the house (the general recommendation is to provideone for each cat, plus one extra box)
• Conflicts with another household cat
• Moving to a new house, or
  
• Renovation of the house

Sometimes cats will urine-mark because they don’t like the location of the litter box, or the size of it. In fact, the place cats mark is often where they would prefer to go - but there is no box there! Of course, you can’t always accommodate such “suggestions,” so kitty will have to be encouraged to a more convenient location.

In cases of spraying/marking, the solution lies in determining what is stressing your kitty and addressing it. Begin by analyzing what might have changed in your cat's world around the time the marking began.

Ways to decrease marking:

• Cats do return to mark areas they have previously marked. Thoroughly clean up all urine-sprayed areas with an odor neutralizer/enzyme product that naturally breaks down the urine molecules completely. You may need to repeat several times. Use a black light in the dark to check and be sure all urine has indeed been removed.
  
• Try using a product called Feliway-  a synthetic pheromone designed to mimic feline cheek gland secretions. Using the feliway plug in diffuser emits a calming scent to your cat with the message "all is safe here."  You can also buy spray Feliway. Spraying it on areas where cats have urine marked encourages them to rub with their cheeks instead of marking with urine. 
  
• Make sure your cat’s environment is not overcrowded. Cat trees are one way to increase kitty’s territory, since cats include vertical space as territory.
• Make sure litter boxes are large enough for your cat. Kitties want some privacy, yet they don’t want to feel vulnerable when inside the litter box. Keep it very clean, since cats are meticulous creatures. Do not place any litter boxes next to their food and water since that is a turn-off for most cats.
• Reassure kitty he is loved by offering extra affection, taking a nap together, grooming him, or playing with him, and you can greatly reduce his level of stress and sense of competitiveness with other members of the family.

Remember to always make changes gradually since cats are creatures of habit. You will only discover what works by changing one thing at a time.

The most common behavioral problem for which cat owners seek Veterinary assistance is house-soiling. In fact, house-soiling is also a leading cause of cats’ relinquishment to shelters.

There are reasons for this behavior, and your kitty is limited in the ways he can communicate with you when something is wrong. If you can view his behavior as a form of communication and not an act of defiance, you and kitty will have a better chance for finding a solution to the problem, instead of entering into a battle of wills, which will only make a behavior problem worse.

Today's detective work will focus on the Litterbox itself.  By getting the latest scoop onlitter, you will be better prepared to prevent and resolve litter- andlitter-box-related toileting problems. Every cat has unique preferences, and the best way to identify an individual cat’s set of toileting preferences is to experiment with a variety of litter choices and box styles.

5 Factors to Consider:

1. Litter or box fragrance

2. Litter cleansliness (or, "how often do you scoop, and how often do you dump your litter boxes?")

3. Litter texture (are you using clumping, sand, clay, recycled newspaper, corn cob, wheat, pine, or other organic pellet material ?)

4. Litter box location and number (how many boxes per cat are appropriate?). 

5. Litter box style (size, height of sides, is there a top? )

Fragrence Problems

Many cats find deodorized or scented litter highly objectionable.The worst culprits are litters such as Tidy Cat's new product "for small spaces." We tried this one time and were choking! It smelled like a bomb of scented candles went off - any cat that used the box smelled like the fragrance for hours afterwards. Needless to say we threw the rest away. We found in the few days it was out that it was the last box of choice for our Siberians...

Also be sure not to use plastic box liners since kitties  get their claws stuck in the plastic when digging, leading to urine seeping under the liner and creating an unpleasant scent for you and your cat.

Humans can add to that problem by using strongly scented cleaners when disinfecting and cleaning the litter box. Use plain hot water and low scneted Dawn Dishwashing detergent to clean boxes and scoops. Then spray with white vinegar and leave to dry (this dinsinfects the box and scoops. When fully dry rinse well with hot water to remove as much vinegar scent as possible. Many cleaning products leave a lingering smell, which cats find distasteful.

Scooping problems

How often do you scoop? We are horrified when we hear people saying "every few days" or even "once a week - it's a large box." No, no, and no! Boxes should be scooped a minimum of once a day for one cat and twice a day for two or more cats. The more you scoop the happier your cat (and your nose!) is. Using a "Litter Locker" next to the litter box will encourage you to scoop since it is easy to dump the clumps and seal in yuck and smell with a twist of the handle...

How often do you dump? Dump the entire litter box - and clean and disinfect - no less than once a week. Dump prior to that if more than 1/2 the litter granules now look darker than the original litter. This is from broken off peices of the used clumps - even if you can not smell the old litter left behind, you Siberian can!

Litter Texture Aversion

Cats have lived in the desert for thousands of years, using fine sand for their toileting.

Even though commercial cat litter is generally a pretty fair substitute for desert sand, sometimes cats develop a litter aversion—not liking the odor or feel of the litter -- resulting in urinating or defecating in in appropriate places. Cats especially hate any litter that is sharp (crystal litters being one horrible example of this style); or soggy (think reused newspapers); or sticky (think many of the natural litters like corn pellets or pine). Using one of these litters is begging for a litter box problem.

Other times a  kitty has  learned to associate the litter with something unpleasant, such as lack of privacy, pain, being cornered by another cat, or being caught there in order to administer medications.

Common signs of litter aversion include:

• House-soiling (going outside the litterbox)
• Scratching at the sides of the box,
• Scatching on the floor, or scratching other nearby objects instead of in the litter
• Using the litter but shaking his paws a lot during and after use
• Not digging in the litter before eliminating
• Straddling the box to avoid touching the litter
• Jumping out of the box quickly after finishing
• Meowing at the litter box

Litter box location and number of boxes out.

Litter boxes should be located in  private areas with at least two sides protected by a wall to give you cat the privacy she or he needs to feel safe. This is especially true in multiple pet households or ones with small children or lots of activity. 

The rule of thumb for number of litter boxes out at a time is one box per cat plus one. This is two boxes for one cat, three for two cats, four for three cats and so on.

It is well to remember if you have several cats or a large home, to have the boxes in several locations both for ease of access and so that a bully cat can not block a milder cat from using the box.

Litter Box style and size

Siberians are large cats. The box that fit your Siberian kitten so nicely may be much too small for your Siberian adult. At ForestWind Siberians we use the largest sized litter boxes we can find - the ones with the tallest sides and broadest widths and longest lengths. We never use a top. Siberians are large cats and all cats couch (almost sit up) to use a litter box. A cat can not use a litter box in the proper position if the top is on most boxes - there simply is not enough head room...  Although some of our kitten families find that the automated litterboxes work well, we worry about how to adequately clean them as well as any sudden movement the mechanics make scaring off the cat. Finally, the new litter robot is fully enclosed and by measurement is not technically large enough for an adult Siberian. Unless you have medical reasons for avoiding litter, manage with the old fashion scoop it yourself box to keep kitty happiest.

Now that you have considered the various reasons your cat may simply not like the litter box you have made available, perhaps you'd like to offer your cat a “litter buffet” for a week or two, complete with separate boxes and litter types to see which products your cat prefers. Some cats even prefer to have one box for urine and one for stool. Above all... Make any changes very gradually - always maintain at least one box in "the old way" to be sure that you are indeed dealing with a dislike issue and not a health or emotional issue in your cat.

So, whenever changing type of litter, or anything about a litter box, first use an additional box with the new litter, and gradually take away the old litter once your cat is happy with the new one. The same strategy applies to changing to a new type of box or a new box location.

Our next post will address marking and spraying issues.

Are you Bringing Home a new Baby? Congratulations! This is an exciting and joyous occasion, but remember that things are about to change in  a big way for your first “baby”, your pet Siberian. Your kitty has been the center of attention for the past few years, so this new addition is going to mean lots of changes. Here are some steps to make this transition easier on everyone:

**The most important thing to remember is that no child should ever be left alone with a pet. Even the gentlest pet may hurt a baby accidentally. Close supervision is mandatory

**If any pet has a history of aggression to adults, kids, or other animals, please consider rehoming it for the safety of all concerned. Discuss this in a consult with your veterinarian long before your baby is born.

Before Baby Comes Home:

Try to anticipate schedule and household changes that may occur with the new baby.  Implement these changes before the baby arrives.  This may mean keeping your pet out of certain areas of the house (nursery or playroom), teaching them to stay off the furniture, or even being confined for periods of time.  If you don’t want your dog to sleep in your bed when the baby comes, you need to teach him that now.

Review training.  Go over commands such as sit, stay, and down.  Also work on crate training or confinement.  Your pet needs to be comfortable and relaxed away from the family if needed.

Familiarize your pet with the new sites and sounds.  If you are going to allow your pet access to the nursery, let them investigate before baby comes home.  They need to adapt to new furniture and odors.  Reward calm behavior with praise, treats, or play.  However, do not allow your pet to get into the crib or into other areas where the baby will be sleeping or resting.  Rehearse new activities that will occur with the baby.  Simulate rocking a baby, carrying a doll wrapped in blankets, diapering etc.  Reward your pet for a sit/stay and remaining calm during these actions.  You can also buy a CD recording of a baby crying.  Play on a low volume for a few minutes multiple times a day.  During these sessions, work on basic obedience commands and reward good, calm, and obedient behavior.  Increase the volume gradually over successive sessions  Get your pet used to hair pulling, ear/tail tugging.  Initially tug very gently and reward good behavior.  Gradually increase the intensity until you mimic what a toddler might do. Once the baby is born, bring home some of the clothing or blankets from the hospital for your pets to smell. 

After Baby Comes Home:

Introductions- Try to have another person hold the baby at first so you can greet your pet. Do not start introductions until your pet has calmed down. Then, introduce your pets one at a time. Make sure your pet remains controlled during this time. Use a leash, harness or head halter. One person should hold the baby while sitting in a chair and another person should be monitoring your pet’s behavior.

Any signs of aggression or unacceptable behavior (crawling on top of the baby, etc) should be interrupted. Be careful not to yell or punish your pet. This can result in your pet associating the baby with negative experiences and lead to increased fear or aggression. Aggressive behavior should result in immediate confinement for safety and then contact with your veterinarian.

If your pet does something undesirable, redirect them into a sit/stay and reward only good behavior.Take your pet’s point of view. When you are focused on your baby, your pet may be ignored, disciplined for coming too close or confined, all of which creates anxiety.

Often, your pet will only receive play, attention, affection, food, etc when the baby is asleep. This may teach your pet that the baby is something negative. Make a point of paying attention to your pet when the baby is awake and active. If both parents are present, one can play with the pet while the other attends the baby. Try to pay less attention to your pet when the baby is asleep.

Handle aggression early. Again, at any sign of aggression, you should gently interrupt your pet and immediately isolate it for safety. You should also contact your veterinarian or even a board certified behaviorist. Do not assume that things will get better without intervention. If one parent is home during the first few weeks, your pet should be restrained or confined in the presence of the baby. Use a crate or even a baby gate.

With advance planning, training, and attention, most pets can adjust to the newest family member.

When the thermometer shoots skyward during the summer months, your fur-covered feline may be at risk for the same kind of health problems that plague overly hot humans: heart difficulties, heat stroke, breathing issues and more.

"Cats are like people," says Humane Society spokesperson Nancy Peterson. "They can become dehydrated and suffer organ failure and die if they get too hot." Because summer temperatures in general appear to be on the rise, it helps to be aware of the dangers heat poses for your cat and ready to enact measures necessary for keeping kitty cool.

First, here's what not to do:

Do NOT leave your cat in a parked car. Don't do this even for a few minutes. The inside of a car can heat up rapidly, making it much hotter than the outside temperature. Leaving the window open a few inches does not make the car cooler inside.

Don't forget to leave fresh water for your cat. Leave several bowls of water in the house so your cat will be sure to get plenty of it.

Don't shave your cat's fur. Your feline's fur offers some protection against sunburn. Cats that are pale or have light-skinned fur must stay out of the sun. "The ears and tips of noses of light-colored cats can get skin cancer," says Bernadine Cruz, DVM, of Laguna Hills Animal Hospital, a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Applying sunscreen could help, but most cats will find a way to lick off the potentially toxic substance pretty quickly, says Dr. Cruz.

Don't tether your cat outside. Even if you think shade will protect your cat, the sun may shift, exposing the cat to direct sunlight before you realize it.

Don't ignore signs of heat stroke "The signs include panting rapidly, having trouble breathing and increased heart rate," says Peterson. "A cat may act like it's drunk by walking strangely, and its gums will be redder than normal." If you notice any of these symptoms, wrap your cat in a cool, wet towel, and get it to your veterinarian or an animal hospital as quickly as possible.

Next post: How to Keep Kitty Safe

Cats have a nutritional need for meat, bones, liver and heart.

Cats do not have a need for carbohydrates or grains. In the cat's ancestral diet grains and seeds were not consumed unless already pre-digested by their prey.

Carnivores require all the essential amino acids – the building blocks of protein – from their foods, since they can not make their own. Plants and starches don't supply a complete and healthy array of amino acids.

Furthermore, obligate carnivores like Siberian cats, as opposed to herbivores like cows, have relatively short, simple gastrointestinal tracts that do not allow for efficient digestion of carbohydrates.A cat's pancreas is unable to secrete the enzyme needed to split cellulose into glucose molecules.  A cat's body isn't  efficient at digesting, assimilating, and utilizing plant material or grains as high quality protein.

Feeding cats an unnatural diet can cause chronic inflammation and illness, obesity, and other metabolic disorders.

Commercial pet foods are loaded with carbohydrates such as rice, corn, barley, potatoes, and starch as cheap sources of energy and calories.

In the chart below you can see how the traditional ancestral diet – the true nutritional needs of your cat – compares with the nutrient profiles of today's common diets.

Calorie Distribution of Diets for Cats

DWe have ordered Dr Becker's Book of Recipes for HomeMade Diets and will be sharing feedback with you about it.

When examining pet food labels, it's not enough to look at the total protein percentage. This is a little trap pet owners get caught in as they become more aware of the requirement for protein in their dog's or cat's diet.

There are different kinds of protein. Some of them are appropriate for your canine companion; others are not.

A protein's source (animal, vegetable, grain) and quality (muscle meat or feet and feathers, for example) determine how digestible and assimilable they are. The amount of protein in a pet food formula is only as relevant as its level of species-appropriate nutrition.

For cats and dogs, the most nutritious protein they can eat comes not from vegetable or grain sources like corn, but from animal tissue.

The ability of protein to be used by you pet's body, and the amount of usable amino acids it contains = its biological value (BV).

Egg has a BV of 100. Eggs have the highest BV of ANY food.

Corn has a BV of 45.  Corn's BV is fairly low. It is also a grain. Grains are not which species-appropriate nutrition for dogs and cats who evolved to eat meat (carnivores).

An ingredient's digestibility and assimilability are not measured for pet food. That's how pet food manufacturers can get away with using types of protein that have no biological value to the animals eating it. In plain English, pet food manufacturers can use ingredients in making pet food that the pet can't get any nutrition from at all!!

Eager to learn more about how to read a pet food label? This excellent - and detailed - article explains why that premium commercial pet food may not be so good for your Siberian cat or your dogs after all!  Although written focussed on dogs, the infomation is as accurate for understanding the ingredients on the cat food label as on the dog food label.

Saying No to Poor Quality Pet Food...

Even When It's Recommended by Your Vet

Recently the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) added a fifth 'vital health assessment' for veterinarians in determining the health status of their cat and dog patients: Nutrition. It joins the  four existing assessments of temperature, cardiofunction, respiratory health, and pain.

Per Michael Cavanaugh, DVM, and executor director of the AAHA: "Incorporating nutritional assessment into the routineexamination protocol for every patient is important for maintaining optimalhealth, as well as their response to disease and injury.

The goal of the new guidelines is to provide a framework for the veterinary practice team to help make nutritional assessments and recommendations for their patients."

Meanwhile, wpecies-appropriate nutrition has always been as the first and most influential of the three pillars of health - the other two pillars being a sound, resilient body and a balanced, functional immune system.

Here is how the AAHA introduced their new "5th Vital Assessment" initiative in October 20102:

 DENVER -- Nutrition is integral to optimal pet care. However, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) found through its Compliance Study that only seven percent of pets that could benefit from a therapeutic food were actually on such a regimen. The compliance discrepancy along with the many factors considered in assessing the nutritional needs of a healthy dog or cat, as well as the pet with one or more medical conditions, led to the development the AAHA Nutritional Assessment Guidelines.

The phrase 'therapeutic food' gives pause, especially when a major manufacturer of this 'therapeutic pet food' has provided the funding to print the AAHA Nutritional Assessment Guidelines for Dogs and Cats in several languages.

 
Where does this lead? It leads to sales pitches from commerical pet food vendors that will encourage Vets to push clients to buy and feed their pets this very same 'therapeutic pet food.'  In fact, a January 2012 PetfoodIndustry.com article states that pet food vendors "... will make regular visits tomore than 22,000 veterinary hospitals and clinics to help build support for and implement nutritional recommendations as the '5th Vital Assessment' in pet health care.

'Therapeutic' Pet Food Ingredients The following is a list of the first five ingredients in some of the therapeutic pet foods you may hear a sales pitch for the next time you take your pet to the vet for a wellness exam.

 A can of cat food marketed as capable of improving feline bladder health:

1. Pork By-Products
2. Water
3. Pork Liver
4. Chicken
5. Rice

A bag of kibble advertised as good for feline gastrointestinal health:

1. Chicken By-Product Meal
2. Brewers Rice
3. Corn Gluten Meal
4. Whole Grain Corn
5. Pork Fat

A can of dog food to improve cardiac health in senior dogs:

1. Water
2. Corn Flour
3. Pork Liver
4. Rice Flour
5. Beef By-Products

Dry dog food marketed for canine renal health:

1. Brewers Rice
2. Pork Fat
3. Dried Egg Product
4. Flaxseed
5. Corn Gluten Meal

These ingredients are inferior, and species inappropriate.

By-products are what are left after all the good stuff is harvested for the human food industry: Beaks, feet, feathers, wattles and combsare chicken by-products. There could be something beneficial thrown in, like the heart or gizzard, but because there's such potential for undesirable pieces and parts in 'by-products' it's better to avoid them altogether.

Corn in any form (including corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, corn flour, etc.) is an extremely allergenic food and very difficult for cats and dogs to digest. It's also one of the three crops most highly contaminated with aflatoxins.

Brewers rice is a low quality ingredient that also happens to be a by-product. In addition, it's a grain. Grains are not species-appropriate nutrition for carnivores.

Read here for the secret to cracking the code on your dog's(or cat's) pet food label.

Just Say No to 'Therapeutic' Pet Foods

Unfortunately, veterinary students don't learn much about nutrition in their coursework. They graduate, go into practice, and become easy targets for pet food companies eager to fill your Vet's reception areas and storage closets with inferior quality 'prescription' diets for dogs and cats.

Now that the AAHA has added nutrition as the 5th vital assessment of a pet's health, I think many pet owners will be hearing more about diets during vet visits. I also suspect many of these conversations will end with a recommendation to buy a 'prescription' (therapeutic) pet food.

We do not recommend the extremely low quality, species-inappropriate pet food formulas being sold through many vet practices as 'therapeutic.' Instead,  learn everything you can about the vital importance of biologically appropriate, high quality nutrition for the health and longevity of your pet.

Dr Karen Becker March 9, 2012

References:

1 Nutrition, the 5th Vital Assessment

2 Nutrition Can Positively Impact Pet Wellness: AAHA Nutritional Assessment Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

3 AAHA Nutritional Assessment Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Source: PetfoodIndustry.com January 13, 2012

Source:  PetfoodIndustry.comJanuary 12, 2012

Cats can, and should, eat raw meat. Pet owners often get an argument from their veterinarians when they mention raw feeding their cats or dogs.

The debate about raw food doesn't make a lot of sense. Dogs and cats have consumed living, raw meats for thousands of years.

To this day barn cats catch and kill mice, and no one calls poison control saying, "Oh my gosh! My cats just ate raw meat, how do I induce vomiting?'

The truth is both cats and dogs are designed specifically to consume raw meat. Their bodies are adapted to process raw, living foods.

Fast Food is Bad for Pets, Too.

The first bags of commercial pet food entered the market about a hundred years ago. From a historical perspective, processed dog and cat food is a relatively new phenomenon, and your cat's GI tract has not evolved in those hundred years to make good use of an entirely kibble-based diet – and it never will.

Fortunately, the bodies of cats are resilient and are capable of extracting some butrition from foods like kibble or canned that aren't biologically appropriate. Unfortunately, this adaptability has led to a situation of 'dietary abuse' among the veterinary community.

Commercial pet food has been successfully marketed to Veterinarians and pet owners alike because it's easy, inexpensive and owners think they are doing the right thing by recommending or using it.

Most veterinary students don't learn about species-appropriate pet diets in vet school. The only foods discussed are the processed, commercial pet formulas in bags and cans.

Feeding a living food diet is foreign to many vets. If a client mentions he feeds raw, the vet may ask, 'Aren't you worried about parasites and all the vitamins your pet needs?'

Eliminating Parasites Many  people open to raw feeding are concerned about parasites. Parasites – roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms – are passed up the food chain and end up in the intestines of animals.

We don't feed guts to our pets! If you buy a commercially available raw food diet, you will not find guts in the formula because guts contain parasites.

If you prepare a homemade raw diet for your dog or cat, you don't include guts. Do not feed the stomach and small and large intestines. Those are the parts of the prey we get rid of, because those are the parts that harbor parasites.

Muscle meat – the part of the prey used to prepare raw food diets – is sterile except in rare instances when parasites escape the GI tract (guts) and travel there.

Certain parasites that get into muscle meat (like toxoplasmosis), can make your pet sick. This is why you should freeze raw meat for three days before feeding to your dog or cat.

By freezing meats three days before serving (a lot like how human grade fish is handled for safer sushi making), and by leaving out the intestines of prey species, one successfully avoids exposing your raw fed pet to most parasites.

Salmonella The most important thing to understand about salmonella -or any other potentially pathogenic bacteria - is that contamination absolutely does occur. It's a fact of life.

Salmonella is the reason for most recalls of dry pet foods (and human foods as well). When a salmonella outbreak occurs, there is contamination in the food chain.

The word salmonella is used to describe over 1,800 serovars (species) of gram-negative bacteria. This bacteria lives in many species of mammals. The most common bacteria riding around in your dog or cat is Salmonella typhimurium.

Quoting from an article titled Campylobacter and Salmonella-Associated Diarrhea in Dogs and Cats: When Do I Treat? written by Stanley L. Marks, BVSc, PhD, DACVIM (Internal Medicine, Oncology), DACVN, Davis, CA, for the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), we learn,

"The clinical significance of bacteria such as clostridium and salmonella causing diarrhea or illness in dogs and cats is clouded by the existence of many of these organisms as normal constituents of the indigenous intestinal flora. The primary enteropathogenic bacteria most commonly incriminating in canine and feline diarrhea is Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium difficile, Campylobacter, and Salmonella.

Veterinarians are faced with a quandary when attempting to diagnose small animals with suspected bacterial-associated diarrhea because the isolation rates of these pathogenic bacteria are similar in diarrheic and non-diarrheic animals, and because the incidence of bacterial-associated diarrhea is extremely variable.  Salmonella species are commonly isolated from both healthy and hospitalized dogs and cats."

What this article is saying, is that dogs and cats naturallyalready have some Salmonella (and other bacetrium), in their GI tracts much of the time – it's not some unknown foreign invader but rather one their bodies are familiar with.

In an article written by Rhea V. Morgan DVM, DACVIM, DACVO for the VIN, the doctor asserts the following about illness resulting from salmonella:

"Factors that increase the likelihood of clinical disease from Salmonella include the age of the animal, poor nutrition, the presence of cancer or neoplasia, and other concurrent diseases and stress, as well as the administration of antibiotics, chemotherapy or glucocorticoids [which are steroids]."

The bottom line is potentially harmful bacteria reside in your pet's GI tract whether you feed raw foods or the commercial foods.  In other words, your pet is already 'contaminated' with Salmonella.

Dogs and cats are built to handle bacterial loads from food that would cause significant illness in you or me. Your pet's body is well equipped to deal with heavy doses of familiar and strange bacteria because nature built him to catch, kill and immediately consume his (raw) prey.

Your dog's or cat's stomach is highly acidic, with a pH range of 1-2.5. Nothing much can survive that acidic environment – it exists to keep your pet safe from potentially contaminated raw meat and other consumables.

In addition to the acid, dogs and cats also naturally produce a tremendous amount of bile. Bile is both anti-parasitic and anti-pathogenic. So if something potentially harmful isn't entirely neutralized by stomach acid, the bile is a secondary defense. And your pet's powerful pancreatic enzymes also help break down and digest food.

Keeping Your Pet's GI Tract in Good Shape  To help your pet's digestive system remain strong and resilient enough to handle a heavy bacterial load and to support overall immune function, there are several things you can do.

* minimize stress by feeding a species-appropriate diet, the kind your dog or cat is meant to eat. It's important to feed vegetarian food to vegetarian animals, and meat-based food to your carnivorous dog or cat.

* minimize drugs, such as antibiotics.

* use Probiotics. Reseed the gut during and after antibiotic therapy with a probiotic. It's also a good idea to maintain your dog or cat on a daily probiotic to balance the ratio of good to bad bacteria (gut flora).

* consider using a good-quality digestive enzyme. Enzymes help your pet's body get the most out of its food.

* Avoid commercial diets when possible, when not, be sure to read labels to select the healthiest food available.

Providing your favorite pooch or feline with a balanced, biologically sound diet, a healthy lifestyle, digestive enzymes and probiotics, will nourish your pet, support healthy immunologic function, and bring overall vibrancy to her body.

Keeping your Siberiant on the kind of diet she was designed to eat, helps support her vibrant good health.

Dr. Karen Becker