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Billinghurst Diet: Food For Thought
by Leanne Bullard
(originally
published in the "Coaching Lines", newsletter of
the Dalmatian Club of Southern New England)
We
introduced our (then 3) Dalmatians to a raw diet just over
2 years ago. "Why?" you might ask. Well, after Dianne
asked me to write something for your newsletter I had to sit
down and think about it. This is what I came up with.
We have owned Dalmatians for going on 11 years now, and I
will always remember the breeder of our first dog, Sabre,
telling us, "Dalmatians have very sensitive skin, wash
him with only Sunlight soap" (this should have been Hint
No. 1 for us). Being good, obedient owners, we did just that.
I don't remember that we ever had any huge problems with him
as far as allergies and skin problems go, just the normal
"summer itch", but everyone gets that, right? Right!!!
(Hint No. 2). Soon after this, Kayla moved in she also suffered
through "summer itch". We lost Sabre early in his
life to liver cancer; he was only 4 (Hint No. 3).
Our
next two dogs, Fluke and Tari, arrived at about the time we
decided to "show", and we bought a dog each to start
our new hobby. All was going well, when suddenly Tari "blew"
coat. Now this was a bit of a shock, but we coped. However,
she then started to completely lose her coat in balding patches.
Her breeder told us, "Oh yes, her mother is the same;
she's allergic to red food olouring"(Hint No. 4). Thus
began our search for a better (colour-free) food for our dogs.
Now
let me also add here, that during these years of owning Dals,
I worked as a qualified Veterinary Technician, so I was fairly
up-to-date with the latest in foods for dogs, and my guys
tried them all. We found that a different food would give
a huge improvement in Tari's coat (which otherwise looked
moth-eaten) for a month or two, and then it would go bad again.
"Why" we asked ourselves? It must just be the breed;
Dals are known for their "skin problems". Well,
unfortunately, I'll never know how our raw diet would have
worked for a dog like Tari as she was spayed and placed in
a new home before our move to Toowoomba in Queensland. That
trip changed the way we feed our dogs; to this day we have
never looked back.
On our move we visited with friends in Tamworth, a country
town in New South Wales, and watched (in horror) as they fed
their dogs (also Dals) a "STRANGE" new diet. At
this time, they had had their dogs on this diet for approximately
eight months. In the days before they started on this "Give
Your Dog a Bone" diet, they lovingly called their Dals
"The Cortisone Kids", as it was back and forth to
the vet for skin problem after skin problem. Looking at these
dogs now (and even back then), you would never have known
all the problems they had had previously. Now, being a Vet
Tech, I must admit I was not completely convinced of this
diet, I so decided to get a copy of the book for myself. We
have not used commercial dog food since!
The
Billinghurst Diet (the book is called "Give Your Dog
a Bone" and is written by Dr Ian Billinghurst, B.V.Sc.(hons),
B.Sc.Agr., Dip. Ed.) advocates the feeding a raw bone-based
diet. A lot of Aussies are following his lead. (Dr. Billinghurst
now has his own web-site where you can learn more about this
diet. I can be found here: http://www.drianbillinghurst.com)
OK,
first off, why feed a raw diet?
All raw foods are abundant in enzymes. Cooking kills all enzymes
and all commercial foods are cooked. Food enzymes are a major
component of an animal"s anti-aging, anti-degeneration
mechanism. Enzymes help to prevent and even reverse some aspects
of joint disease or arthritis. That is part of the reason
fresh fruits and vegetables are important in alleviating arthritis
in older dogs.
A
few facts about commercial processed dog foods:
1.
Most processed commercial dog food is high in cereal - Dogs
are made to eat meat. Cooked cereals have not figured in a
dog's nutritional history, and dogs fed on a predominantly
cereal-based diet develop numerous health problems, including
such things as obesity, pancreatic insufficiency, sugar diabetes,
arthritis, bladder stones, skin and dental problems, cancer,
and so on.
2.
All processed commercial dog foods are COOKED - When foods
are cooked they turn into a product the dogs are not designed
to digest, for the cooking process removes such nutrients
as vitamins, enzymes and anti-oxidants, in effect "killing"
the food.
3.
Processed commercial dog foods have low vitamin levels - The
minimum levels of vitamins the law requires in dog foods are
far less than the amounts required to promote optimum health.
This is particularly true in times of stress i.e.: growth,
lactation and sickness.
4.
Processed commercial dog foods are low in natural and added
anti-oxidants - These nutrients help prevent degeneration
both in foods and living tissues.
5.
Processed commercial foods are low in essential fatty acids.
6.
Most processed commercial foods contain nutrient excesses
- after cancer, kidney disease and heart disease are the leading
causes of death in the modern dog. Excesses of salt, phosphorus
and protein, consumed over a lifetime, are a major cause of
both kidney and heart disease, and excessive levels of calcium
result in problems with growth, as well as with the reproductive
and immune systems.
Dog
foods are not required (by LAW) to provide optimum or ideal
levels of nutrients; so long as the product contains nutrients
in excess of a legal minimum, there is no limit to the amount
the food can contain. This is one of the most insidious and
dangerous aspects of commercial dog food. Vets and owners
often worry about deficiencies, but we rarely worry about
excesses.Unfortunately too much can be just as bad as too
little. At the moment in Australia commercial dog foods contain
approximately 5-9 times the required levels of phosphorus,
10-20 times the required levels of salt and anywhere from
3-11 times the required levels of calcium.
7.
Most commercial processed dog foods contain "meat by-products"-
ask yourself what exactly these are? The Billinghurst diet
advocates feeding dogs the way THEY are best able to cope,
the way they would probably eat in the wild (with a few of
the comforts of home). This diet is based on 60-70% RAW meaty
bones, of that 60% would be chicken. We feed backs (carcasses)
which have a good mix of meat, skin and bone. In the backs
they also get small amounts of liver, kidney and other offal.
The other percentage of meat/bone is lamb which is cheap over
here but I know of people over in the States who find that
beef, turkey and other meats are cheaper.
All
the bones are given RAW. When you cook bones they splinter,
because cooking changes the physiology of the bones. Before
bones are cooked, they are very soft and, as such, cause no
problems. We have had no problems with salmonella, but I believe
that some people in the States who feed the diet wash their
meat in GSE (grapefruit seed extract) which is a natural anti-bacterial
agent. I'm not sure how to use it as we never have had a need,
but you can use it.
Our
dogs get a bone meal 7-8 nights out of 10; the other nights
they get a meal of veggies and fruits which are pulped and
fed in a mushy mess. I put in any vegetables (mainly the green
leafy kind) that I have left over, as well any fruits laying
around.
They fast about once a week (although less often in winter).
Mornings
they get what we call a milk drink which consists of Acidophilus
yogurt, raw egg, brewers yeast, kelp, Vit E, Vit C, wheatgerm
and garlic. To that, we add anything extra we have, like leftover
rice, pasta, vegetables and fruit plus things like honey,
cheese, cottage cheese, milk, sardines etc. We mix a bit of
warm water with the mixture to make it drinkable. Puppies
and bitches in whelp or lactating get this drink each day
(puppies till 12 months). The other adults have it about 3
times a week. Occasionally they get a meal of beans and pasta.
They get a balanced diet over a two week period, the same
as we do. Each meal follows the concept of separating predominantly
starchy meals from predominantly protein meals. No meal attempts
to be complete and balanced, which gives the body a chance
to absorb just what it needs from each meal.
We
find feeding this diet as easy as feeding dry food, except
the nights I pulp vegetables, that takes about 20 minutes
to do in either a juicer (best) or a food processor.
The last time I worked out the cost of this diet, it was around
$3.00-$4.00 (Aust) per dog per week, though now I get my meat
cheaper since moving back to Canberra cost would be much less.
Our
dogs are healthier and happier on this diet. In the two and
a half years they have been fed this diet, they have not been
to the vet once (not even one of them, and we now have four
Dals). So, if nothing else, this diet has saved me money on
vet fees. We have no fleas (and we use no chemicals), no flea
allergies, no skin problems, no dental problems, no anal sacs
that need to be expressed.
On this diet our Dals are livelier than they were before (is
this a good thing for Dalmatians!!!) even to the point that
Kayla, who was starting to slow a bit at age 8 and is now
10, races around lure coursing livelier than she was at 8
with no hint of any arthritis or other problems.
I
love this diet, and so do the dogs. So far the only downfall
has been that I now have a dog who is a chicken killer. She
started the diet as a baby, so I don't know if she would have
been a chicken killer anyway. It's hard to say, as none of
the others care about the live chooks* at all.
We
are about to have our first litter in 3 years, and we have
been planning our natural diet for whelping mother, lactating
mother and weaning pups with much excitement. The bitch is
in excellent health; time will tell how it goes, but during
the whelping period she has been in glorious condition, coat,
mind, and body. She is not as ravenously hungry as during
previous litters. We can only put it down to better quality
food.
Well,
this has been our experience with diet, and for us there is
no looking back. I still do a lot of reading, and just as
the evolution of what we feed came about over a period of
time, so to anyone who is interested in making the switch
I suggest doing a bit of reading and be prepared for the unconventional.
Below are some books I recommend as a good read and which
helped us in our diet choices.
Many of you will say, "Oh, my dog is just fine on ******
", but I challenge you to add some raw fruits and veggies
to your dog's diet (and, to the brave, some chicken wings,
RAW of course), and see what a difference real food makes
to your dog's condition.
Some
dogs live a long and happy life on processed dog foods, but
then again some people live a long and happy life on an exclusive
diet of McDonalds....
Thank you, Dianne, for asking me to write this bit. I hope,
if nothing else, it gives you something to think about!
Books we have found helpful:
1.
"Give Your Dog a Bone" "Grow Your Pups with
Bones" Dr Ian Billinghurst
2. "The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog" Wendy
Volhard & Kerry Brown, DVM
3. "The Complete Herbal Handbook For the Dog and Cat"
Juliette de Bairacli Levy
*chook means chicken Down Under
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