Act 1 - Scene 4
Feeding

When it comes time for feeding it is important that we let our dogs and cats eat as much as they want at the time of feeding.

Many people say, "Oh, I couldn't do this, my dog is like a vacuum and it would just inhale it all."

What can I say, I'm sure you would too if I controlled the amount of nutrition you ate as well.

Remember, nutrition is fuel for the body and if your tanks were always running on empty because the food you ate was low in nutritional fuel, you too would need to fill up more frequently and for a longer time.

Unfortunately, pet guardians have been brainwashed in a way by the feeding directions found on the labels of commercial pet foods. As a result, most people control or measure the amount of food they feed their pet. People are so used to reading directions on how much to feed. The reason why there are suggested feeding amount is, from a holistic point of view, that commercial pet foods provide such a poor source of nutrition that your pet literally needs to eat more, a lot more food, in order to get minimal nutrition. Therefore, unless you control the amount of commercial pet food your pet eats they will continuously eat to the point where they vomit.

When you begin feeding a wholesome raw meat diet then you begin providing maximum nutrition to your pets. This simply happens because a wholesome raw meat diet is just that, wholesome. Commercial pet foods are made using refined and processed foods and thus provide less nutrition than the same amount of wholesome foods.

Think of it like this... you can put regular gas into your car or supercharged high octane fuel. Both make your car move but high octane fuel is known to burn better than regular gas. So it is with food... a wholesome diet provides more nutritional power for the same amount of food. Nothing can replace the wholesomeness of wholesome foods.

Some have a difficult time letting their pets eat all the wholesome raw meat and vegetables that it wants, but if you can then eventually your dog will begin to reduce its food intake. Generally, I have found that it takes about 2 weeks of eating a wholesome raw meat diet before the food intake is reduced. I say generally because sometimes it happens in less than a week and sometimes it takes longer. If your pet never reduces its food intake then that's when you should consult your vet, preferably a holistic vet, as there might be underlying health problems such as a thyroid problem.

Ultimately, a dog or cat is known to eat a lot of food at one time. Consider the following...

Field scientists have noticed that lions can eat up to 60 pounds of food at one feeding which is up to 15% of their total body weight. Some reports have said that this percentage can go up to 25% as a lion has also been known to eat a whole 35 kilogram impala. Two arctic wolves have eaten a whole musk oxen between themselves and their pups. No matter how you slice it, that’s a lot of food. The fact is we don't know how much food your dog or cat will need on any given day at any given moment.

What we do know is that one of the reason why dogs and cats have endless stomachs is because they’re seldom given an opportunity to get optimal nutrition, thus never becoming nutritionally satiated.

This can be a factor in why dogs and cats eat stools, vomit, garbage, dead carcasses and other things we don't want them to eat as they are looking for an alternative source of nutrition. Chances are, if your pet has a habit of eating such stuff, that once on a raw food diet for a while that these habits will disappear!

It is important that you let your dog or cat eat as much of the wholesome raw meat diet as they need at their meal. Once their body becomes nutritionally satiated, they will cut their food intake, sometimes by half the amount, and go on a maintenance diet.

At this point, their daily food intake will vary from day to day depending on their nutritional requirements. It is just as it is with you... I mean, why are you very hungry some days, not too hungry other days and normal other days? Each day your food intake requirements change and so will your dog or cat's food intake.

Most people are not willing to trust their dog or cat when it comes to food intake, but you should. It is hard for people to grasp this idea.

Many people are reluctant to do this and so this is why I am mentioning it twice. If given the opportunity to eat what is required, your pet will cut it’s food intake. Sometimes this amount can be cut by as much as half or more.

Most people are literally shocked when the food intake is cut back and they email me asking if this is normal. It is normal, but this will never happen unless you trust your dog or cat.

Free feeding must go. A carnivore is used to only catching their food every now and then. As a result they are designed to eat as much food as they can, as fast as they can.

Carnivores are not herbivores and as such, a carnivore isn't meant to continually graze on food. A carnivore's intestinal tract is shorter to allow food to come in and leave before any raw meat begins to putrefy in the intestinal tract. Whereas a herbivore has a longer intestinal tract to allow the body to break down and fully digest the grains and vegetation it has eaten. If you continually feed your carnivore friend like a herbivore (regardless of the food - commercial pet food or homemade food), then you are in fact, adding and allowing putrefaction to happen within the intestinal tract which is of course a no no.

Dogs and cats should have been named pigs, because they eat like them. If your dog or cat inhales food without even stopping for air, then this is a true sign of a carnivore.

It is important that you try to get your mature dog or cat down to one or two feedings per day. However, if your dog or cat is unwilling to accept 1 or 2 feedings per day, don’t force it on them. Work with your companion and in time you will most likely notice that the number of meals required will reduce naturally until you get to the 1 or 2 feedings per day...

...if I was able to do this with my cat who ate commercial pet food for the first 15½ years of his life, then you should be able to do this too!

Have you ever noticed in a nature show that a lion can walk right by a zebra without attacking the zebra as long as the lion’s stomach is big and plump?

Not only this, but have you noticed that after eating, the lions play and then sleep before hunting again?

Carnivores are designed to eat a lot, rest and then let the food be fully eliminated before eating again. This is how a carnivore's digestive system is designed to work.

The break between feedings allows the digestive system to fully digest and eliminate the food before the next feeding. It also allows the organs within the body to relax and do their jobs, like detoxifying.

Lions in the wild do not eat every 5 minutes. Lions only eat when they need to.

If you would like an animal that is meant to eat all the time, may I suggest a goat or a cow. These animals are natural grazers, your dog or cat is not.

Editor's Paw Note:

If the food intake never cuts back, then consult your vet because there may be underlying problems such as a thyroid problem.

This method of feeding your pet all that it wants to eat at each meal only works when feeding a wholesome, raw meat diet and should not be used when feeding commercial pet foods or cooked meat diets.

When your dog or cat reduces its food intake, sometimes the reduction in food intake can be so dramatic that people write me and say "My pet is no longer eating" when in fact the pet is eating, just not as much as it no longer requires huge amounts of food. Sometimes the food reduction scares the person into thinking their pet is sick when in fact, it has reached a new level of health.

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Katherine’s Official Gospel

Did you know that... in the United States over 10,000 food and chemicals additives are permitted into the food supply. The average American eats about 14 pounds of additives a year. In addition to colorings, preservatives, flavorings, emulsifiers, humectants, and anti-microbials, Americans consume on average 120 pounds of sugar and 8 pounds of salt. Now you know!

source: a brochure on toxins from the office of Dr. Seliski, N.D., B.E.S., B.N.

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