https://www.nahudson.com/2022/03/04/392227/how-pets-benefit-from-a-raw-food-diet
“Let thy food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,” Hippocrates
A quote we take seriously at Holistic Pet Care as one of our principles of providing your pet with optimum care. A healthy and balanced diet can be all the difference between a living a long life or struggling at middle age to combat chronic diseases. Allow us to go over why raw food is the ideal diet.
- Better Hydration: A raw food diet consists of fresh meat, vegetables and fruits, all of which contain more moisture than dry food. Food with high moisture content improves skin and coat health, maintains muscle and joint health, and keeps your pet hydrated longer, so they have less desire to drink water. This is especially beneficial for domestic cats as they often do not drink enough water throughout the day.
- Dental Care: Raw food does not stick to teeth as much as dry food does. Big dry food companies will promote that dry food cleans teeth, when dry food actually sticks to the teeth more; causing plaque and tartar to form over time. Raw food’s high moisture allows the meat to slide off the teeth, allowing the teeth to stay cleaner longer. With less residue food in the teeth, your pets’ breath won’t be as stinky either.
- Weight Management: Raw food cannot be left out, similar to how we should not eat meat left out for too long. Scheduled feedings mean your can quantify your pets’ caloric intake and manage their weight better.
- Better Ingredients: High-quality ingredients allows your pet more nutrition with each meal. Because pets’ bodies are not designed for artificial ingredients, the body struggles breaking it down over time. This poor breakdown of nutrition eventually leads to chronic disease by middle age. Better ingredients mean your pet will stay healthier longer. Some ingredients help your pet combat chronic disease; like how shiitake mushrooms reduce the risk of cancer and food allergies.
- Less Waste: When your pet has natural ingredients, they absorb more of their meal; which means less waste to come out. Dry food has a lot of excess components which your pet will poop out; but raw food is absorbed easier into the system. This means smaller or less poops on walks or in the litter box.
- Naturally Designed: Raw food is made with fresh meat consisting of several organs, muscle, vegetables, and fruit; all of which would mimic what your pet’s ancestors used to eat in the wild. Unlike humans, a dog and cat’s digestive system has not changed to handle artificial ingredients. Raw food is closer to what they would have eaten in the wild, as that is what their body is designed to eat.
- Creative Feedings: Owners can be more creative feeding raw food than dry food. Dry food can be soaked in water or broken down into smaller pieces, but it still remains hard food. With some creative thinking, raw food can be turned into: a tasty ice pop on a hot summer day or a lovely chilled soup if your pet really likes to drink their meals.