Monday, August 27, 2007

Raw Food Myth

This is a preview of the weeks topic, Nutritional myths. This is a biggie so I'll have to give a teaser for now until I can devote proper attention to one of the most important areas of health.
I had a nice couple come into the hospital last week who were preparing for the arrival of a new puppy. They're very smart and thoughtful so they were interviewing me and the hospital to make sure they were comfortable with us as their puppy's Doctor. Two of the major questions they had were about things that were "toxic" to dog's and what diet would be best. This is where I have to undo much of the mis-information that my clients get from personnel at pet stores and the double edged internet. The information that will follow will come mostly from lectures and information from board certified veterinary nutritionists and veterinary toxicologists. My favorite nutrition website, petdiets.com site is run by a board certified veterinarian who is amongst the world's premier experts in the field of pet nutrition.(please view this in contrast to the counter sales people and local pet boutique owners.)
Directly from Petdiets.com website; Myth "Pets should be fed bones and raw foods as they ate in the “wild.”
The belief that dogs and cats “need” bones to chew on has been sadly demonstrated as false throughout the veterinary clinics and hospitals in this country. Feeding bones (raw or cooked) should be discouraged—they have caused intestinal obstruction, perforation, septic peritonitis, and death. Intensive medical and surgical therapies are needed to survive a bowel obstruction. There is no nutritional value in feeding bones, whereas the risk of illness and death is very real.
In the “wild,” the dog and cat had very short life spans. If you would like your pet to live a long and healthy life, always cook the meat and eggs you feed him or her. There is no nutritional advantage to feeding raw foods over a commercially prepared pet food product, but there is the very real risk of illness and death.
Dogs and cats are just as susceptible to food borne illnesses as people. Animals that roam freely or are fed raw foods are at risk for suffering from food borne illness. Bacteria and bacterial toxins, fungal mycotoxins, and other contaminants all can cause food borne illnesses. The most common signs of food borne illnesses are vomiting and diarrhea; however, disorders of the liver, blood and nervous systems, kidney damage, and skin sores may also result. Please realize that dogs and cats do die of food borne illnesses.
Feeding washed raw vegetables is relatively safe. However, a few such as onions and garlic, can be dangerous. Onions and garlic are from a family of plants that contain an alkaloid disulfide compound that is toxic to red blood cell membranes and irreversibly denatures hemoglobin. This compound is toxic to several species including dogs and cats. Plants such as rhubarb, spinach and beets contain high levels of oxalates and glycosides, which can seriously irritate the gastrointestinal tract in some pets. Other strong-flavored, sulfur-containing vegetables (beans, brussels sprouts) may cause excessive gas production in the large bowel and flatus, which is usually not harmful but quite annoying. Some pets eventually develop a tolerance for these vegetables, but others do not, and these vegetables must simply be eliminated from the diet.
Federally regulated, commercially prepared foods have processing methods and quality assurance programs that limit potential food borne illnesses in pets.




Dr. Tenzer

Wednesday, August 22, 2007


Maiden Voyage

All who read this forum are welcome to call me, Dr. Tenzer, at South Beach Animal Hospital to discuss any info presented in my blog. 305-534-8404


This is a forum created from the need to get my proverbial panties unwadded after reading an email sent to a coworker espousing the dangers of commonly prescribed veterinary flea control preparations. I don't have the email in front of me but I know the type well. A few years ago it was about the toxicity of Febreze to pets. This was a gem. The author had suffered through the horrible illness of a beloved pet all caused by exposure to Febreze. The illness, the visits to the vet, expenses , heartbreak and tragic loss ensued. There was a strange statement in the email that was circulating amongst pet owners saying that febreze's composition was "one molecule away from antifreeze" Antifreeze is a well known kidney toxic household chemical. The veterinary community is really good at mobilizing thoughtfully and as I investigated my veterinary community website for real time responses from experts someone pointed out that the affected dog didn't suffer from renal (kidney) toxicity, but had liver failure. Why would a kidney toxin analogue not cause kidney failure? There were many inconsistencies in the story and eventually it was debunked as either a hoax or misguided accusation. The ASPCA eventually chimed in deeming the product safe.
This brings me to my original point which was a recent email about the veterinary distributed flea products. Some of the products named were advantage, capstar, and frontline. The email made the statement; I'm paraphrasing, "My vet said that using these products is like feeding your pet a teaspoon of Raid pesticide" This got me in the gut. This could hardly be further from the truth. The products listed have a very high margin of safety and are relatively non-toxic. They work on chemical and metabolic processes that, although deadly to insects, are completely absent in mammalian systems. If your pet had to form a chitinous exoskeleton, it would then be highly toxic.
I gave the explanation to my co-worker and will pass it on to my client.
My hope is that this forum will be a safe haven of medically correct information directly responding to pet myths that my clients and the pet loving public everywhere may access, and hopefully participate in. I'd love it if readers would share the stories they've read, or supply any new emails to us here before passing them on to "infect " other's if there is no basis in fact. Of course it's important to advise folks of the actual dangers such as the recent pet food recalls. We can point folks in the direction of valuable information and reduce casualties from real risks just as effectively as debunking myths and rumors.
Thanks for listening. My panties are sufficiently unwadded!
Dr Mike Tenzer, Pet Myth Buster