Artwork for podcast Fangs & Fur
The Benefits Of A Fresh Food Diet For Your Pet
Episode 426th January 2022 • Fangs & Fur • Fangs & Fur
00:00:00 00:15:09

Share Episode

Shownotes

The benefits of a fresh food diet for your pet are incredible. Some of those benefits include...

  • cleaner and stronger teeth
  • better breath
  • improved digestion
  • fewer allergies
  • increased vitality
  • health skin and coat
  • easier weight management
  • improved energy
  • boosted immune system
  • less stool
  • healthier joints


Join the Wildside for updates and discounts!

Learn more about Steve's Real Foods.

Learn more about Northwest Naturals.

Learn more about Lifetime Pet Wellness Center.


We are a local, independent, and owner-operated shop that is committed to providing the dogs and cats in our hometown of Columbus, Ohio with the best possible foods, supplements, and gear available. 

Also, we're a little different. Our small shop is not your typical pet food store. We don't carry unnecessary pet supplies like a lot of other shops do. We do not saturate our little space with products that we don't believe in and feel are unnecessary. Our goal is to have a place full of positive vibes that you and your pet feel comfortable in.

We answer a "question of the week" in every episode, so send your question. Either DM us at @fangsfurpets or send us an email at danielle@fangsfur.com. 

Find us on Facebook and Instagram.


Music in this episode thanks to...

Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/fuzz-buzz - License code: LXYRDYTBCUZ8NMUC

Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/all-good-folks/habanera-bizet-hip-hop-remix -License code: HGGVZ43LS1MCK8PD

Copyright 2024 Fangs & Fur

Transcripts

Speaker1:

:

We have your attention or else we think we do.

Speaker1:

:

You may know the history, you know, now know why quibble may not be the best option.

Speaker1:

:

Today we share all of the amazing benefits of feeding fresh food or a species appropriate

Speaker1:

:

diet. We both have seen firsthand the effects of feeding a raw diet to our dogs.

Speaker1:

:

So Anthony will go over all of those today.

Speaker2:

:

Yeah, there's so many of them, too.

Speaker2:

:

So I'm going to just go over the important ones, the ones that usually people notice

Speaker2:

:

pretty soon after after transitioning to raw food.

Speaker1:

:

But stay tuned for the end of the episode where we answer someone's question.

Speaker2:

:

So we talked about this before, but cleaner, stronger teeth and better breath.

Speaker2:

:

I mean, that's one of the biggest benefits from raw food is, you know.

Speaker2:

:

I mean, we're talking about Mozzie.

Speaker2:

:

You know, he's he's ten years old and he's got perfect teeth, he's got no tartar.

Speaker2:

:

He's got I mean, he doesn't have like bad breath.

Speaker2:

:

He's got like dog breath.

Speaker2:

:

Like your typical like, Well, I don't want to say typical because your typical dog is

Speaker2:

:

being fed kibble and doesn't have and doesn't have good breath.

Speaker2:

:

But it just it doesn't smell bad.

Speaker2:

:

It just smells like, you know, like dog breath.

Speaker2:

:

You know, he's I don't I don't feed him processed food.

Speaker2:

:

He gets, he eats raw food, right?

Speaker2:

:

So. And why that is this raw food?

Speaker2:

:

Actually, you know, it contains the live enzymes and the healthy bacteria that actually

Speaker2:

:

work with the mouth, work underneath the gum line to to keep those gums and keep those

Speaker2:

:

teeth healthy. Enzymes in the probiotics, too, you know, they help eliminate plaque and

Speaker2:

:

tartar buildup. And it's kind of interesting.

Speaker2:

:

Like if you ever look at like wild dogs, wild wolves, coyotes, like if you look at their

Speaker2:

:

teeth, this is something I remember doing when I was learning about, Oh, this was like

Speaker2:

:

YouTube and all this and looking at videos and they all have like perfect teeth, you

Speaker2:

:

know? And it's it's crazy because I'll see like a two year old three year old dog in the

Speaker2:

:

shop that's been fed kibble since he was born and already has like tartar buildup.

Speaker2:

:

And it's like, Oh my gosh.

Speaker2:

:

So one of the big benefits there, no more bad dog breath in and.

Speaker2:

:

Discussing teeth, you have improved digestion, so this is the big reason why I mean, this

Speaker2:

:

is why it all started, you know, Mozzie was having months of diarrhea as a puppy and as

Speaker2:

:

at wit's end, and it's like, you know what, I'm going to do wrong food.

Speaker2:

:

We did it within 24 to 48 hours.

Speaker2:

:

He had perfect stool and and why that is how that works is, again, raw food, because it

Speaker2:

:

has these has the enzymes already there.

Speaker2:

:

So it's really helped.

Speaker2:

:

It's like it's like it helps break itself down for the dog.

Speaker2:

:

So the dog doesn't have to do as much work.

Speaker2:

:

And it's also just it's not as inflammatory.

Speaker2:

:

So, you know, it's it's stuff that's really easy to digest as it's a high bar, high

Speaker2:

:

biological value kibble was just really inflammatory, right?

Speaker2:

:

So a lot of dogs, you know, a lot of people that come into shop be like, Well, we've

Speaker2:

:

tried this kibble despicable and this kibble, but none of them seem to work.

Speaker2:

:

So we're looking to try a different kibble.

Speaker2:

:

I'm like, Well, why do we keep trying?

Speaker2:

:

Like, obviously that's not working.

Speaker2:

:

At the end of the day, kibble is kibble as kibble.

Speaker2:

:

It's all. It's all the same to to a certain point to a certain point, but it's just it's

Speaker2:

:

really inflammatory in the gut, and raw and raw food is like an anti-inflammatory, and

Speaker2:

:

it's really it really helps benefit the gut, which I'll talk about a little bit.

Speaker2:

:

But you will get improved digestion from that from from feeding raw food allergies is a

Speaker2:

:

big one. So fewer allergies on the raw food diet when processed food or when, when, when

Speaker2:

:

proteins are cooked at such high temperatures, it actually there's something called a

Speaker2:

:

process of denatured or denatured in the protein.

Speaker2:

:

And what happens is, is the protein actually changes.

Speaker2:

:

It's on a on a molecular level.

Speaker2:

:

The protein actually completely changes in the body doesn't recognize it.

Speaker2:

:

And then what happens is the body rejects it, and then it shows up as an allergy, but

Speaker2:

:

it's not an allergy, it's just it's just pure protein.

Speaker2:

:

So all these dogs that have these allergies, it's not.

Speaker2:

:

I've had dogs that were like, say, allergic to chicken, chicken kibble, and then

Speaker2:

:

eventually we transition the raw food and six, six or seven months goes by and we we say,

Speaker2:

:

Hey, let's try chicken and we do it, and there's no problem with it.

Speaker2:

:

So it wasn't really an issue with the protein itself.

Speaker2:

:

It was just the way it was processed.

Speaker2:

:

But there's also, you know, just with with allergies in general, just raw food.

Speaker2:

:

It's just it's it's so good for the gut and that's that's where these allergies stem

Speaker2:

:

from. And so just making sure that there's a healthy gut flora, healthy bacteria in the

Speaker2:

:

gut and making sure that the gut is not inflamed, leaky gut is really common in dogs in

Speaker2:

:

the U.S. because of the inflammatory, dry pet food.

Speaker2:

:

So. And this can be it can be the culprit for a lot of dogs that have allergies or

Speaker2:

:

so-called allergies, but it's really just leaky gut, which is a curable thing.

Speaker2:

:

You have increased vitality.

Speaker2:

:

I mean, on a raw diet, your pet is not only meeting AFCO requirements, a lot of these pet

Speaker2:

:

foods, raw pet foods are trying to meet the NRC standards, which are a lot higher than it

Speaker2:

:

goes. And you're just going to have.

Speaker2:

:

You're going to have whole food, vitamins, minerals, nutrients and there's going to be

Speaker2:

:

way more. I don't want to talk too much about this.

Speaker2:

:

I'm talking about a couple points here, but your dog's going to have a healthier energy.

Speaker2:

:

At raw food consist of a balanced omega three to omega six fatty acid ratio, which just

Speaker2:

:

kind of helps regulate inflammation in general because it's mostly moisture, right?

Speaker2:

:

It's a lot of moisture. So it's going to help keep the skin, keep the body hydrated,

Speaker2:

:

which is so important for for the skin and keeping those hair follicle molecules

Speaker2:

:

moisturized from the inside out keep them nourished.

Speaker2:

:

So a lot of raw pet foods will put in some kind of like oil, like cod liver oil or salmon

Speaker2:

:

oil or something like that, which is in a way more stable because it's frozen, it's way

Speaker2:

:

more stable than like these.

Speaker2:

:

We don't even sell shelf stable fish oil because it's most of it's rancid before it even

Speaker2:

:

would get to us. Weight management So like, we see a lot of dogs that come in and I can

Speaker2:

:

usually tell when they come in the door if they're fed kibble or not, because they're

Speaker2:

:

usually extremely bloated, if they're on dry pet food.

Speaker2:

:

So usually with the raw diet, you'll see a dog because you have these, you know, it's a

Speaker2:

:

it's a very low amount of carbohydrates in the diet, and so you'll see them hit their

Speaker2:

:

optimal weight. Not like it incredibly fast, but eventually they will meet their their

Speaker2:

:

optimal weight, which is where they should be, which is incredibly important for their

Speaker2:

:

longevity, proved energy.

Speaker2:

:

So I always make this analogy that when you feed your dog dry pet food, it's like

Speaker2:

:

throwing. It's like throwing kindling on a fire and just watching it explode.

Speaker2:

:

You know, you're kind of spiking.

Speaker2:

:

They're spiking and crashing all day as a as a sugar levels are dropping or increasing

Speaker2:

:

and dropping all day, and it causes so many behavioral issues.

Speaker2:

:

We work with a lot of trainers that really push raw food on their on their clients

Speaker2:

:

because they know that the dogs have a much healthier energy when they're federal diet.

Speaker2:

:

I always tell people I imagine eating like three donuts for breakfast, a donut for lunch

Speaker2:

:

and a donut for dinner. Like you're going to you're going to be irritated.

Speaker2:

:

You know, you're going to be tired, eventually anxious, like it's going to cost some

Speaker2:

:

behavioral issues. So raw food is it's like throwing a big oak log on a fire and just

Speaker2:

:

having a nice, healthy energy.

Speaker2:

:

A boosted immune system is another really awesome benefit of eating raw food.

Speaker2:

:

You're feeding the microbiome, you're feeding that healthy bacteria, the good bacteria in

Speaker2:

:

their gut. 80 percent of the immune system is in the gut.

Speaker2:

:

So if you have a healthy gut, you have a healthy immune system.

Speaker2:

:

Let's poop and not as smelly, too.

Speaker2:

:

I mean, you have you have a better.

Speaker2:

:

It's it's yeah, it's crazy, which is it's good on so many different levels.

Speaker2:

:

I get sent pictures of people's dogs poop all the time.

Speaker2:

:

I never thought at this age I'd be getting any

Speaker1:

:

Age you really do. Sometimes I'm like, Who's you know, looking at?

Speaker1:

:

And he's like,

Speaker2:

:

You know, it's exciting.

Speaker2:

:

You know, it's exciting. Dogs group, you know, a dog will, you know, have, you know,

Speaker2:

:

months of diarrhea, and all a sudden they want to.

Speaker2:

:

I don't know what to do anymore, like, well, let's put them on some raw food.

Speaker2:

:

And all of a sudden, the dog is completely changed and a lot of different ways and better

Speaker2:

:

ways. But one of the big ones is just improved stool, which makes sense because you're

Speaker2:

:

feeding a diet that's got everything that they need and nothing that they don't.

Speaker2:

:

So they don't have all these fillers in there and all this crap and all this inflammatory

Speaker2:

:

food. It's just it's way more digestible.

Speaker2:

:

So they're just absorbing more of the food and utilizing it.

Speaker2:

:

Which will help, like a lot of people's dogs have like I don't know if I don't know this,

Speaker2:

:

but like a lot of people will have to take their dogs into, like get their get their anal

Speaker2:

:

glands expressed.

Speaker1:

:

I had to do that for Foxy several times.

Speaker1:

:

Yeah, but they didn't knock her out.

Speaker2:

:

Yeah, when she was on kibble.

Speaker2:

:

Yes. Yeah. Which we got lucky because usually, I mean, once that happens a few times,

Speaker2:

:

like it's a slippery slope.

Speaker2:

:

You know, with with with these stools, when they're eating raw food, their stools are a

Speaker2:

:

lot more solid. So it actually slowly secretes those glands every time they go.

Speaker2:

:

So it's they don't build up and then you're just going to have healthier joints.

Speaker2:

:

I mean, you're just again because you're not feeding this inflammatory food.

Speaker2:

:

You know, you have you have really sustainable omega 3s in their diet.

Speaker2:

:

It's not. It's reducing inflammation in their bodies.

Speaker2:

:

You're also naturally find things like glucosamine.

Speaker2:

:

You can draw in and collagen that are just naturally found in raw pet food, which are

Speaker2:

:

extremely, extremely beneficial to their to their joint health and skeletal health.

Speaker2:

:

So well, and it's wild to me.

Speaker2:

:

Those are my top benefits. But there's more.

Speaker1:

:

No, I know. But even as I hear and you've been saying this to me for years now, but just

Speaker1:

:

hearing it like. It's every single one of those you can apply to, you know, yourself as

Speaker1:

:

well, so it's like all of the things, you know, if you just make those little shifts in

Speaker1:

:

in your everyday diet.

Speaker2:

:

Yeah, we see this, we see this a lot.

Speaker2:

:

People like it

Speaker1:

:

Works both ways.

Speaker2:

:

People will they see they see the results in their dog when they're when they like all of

Speaker2:

:

a sudden, like two weeks passes and their dog's a whole different dog.

Speaker2:

:

And they're like, Oh my gosh, like we.

Speaker2:

:

This happens with just just by changing their diet.

Speaker2:

:

And then I'm like, Yeah, yeah.

Speaker2:

:

And then and then they start doing the same thing.

Speaker2:

:

They start trying to eat more fresh food and less processed, less processed food.

Speaker2:

:

And it gosh, I mean, it's it makes a huge difference.

Speaker1:

:

So I know for me personally, it's the energy.

Speaker1:

:

I mean, I already have a lot of energy after I work out, but then removing and eating

Speaker1:

:

clean, it's it's wild to see.

Speaker2:

:

Yeah, it's amazing what happens when you feed a species, but they've evolved to eat.

Speaker2:

:

You know what we call a species appropriate diet.

Speaker2:

:

Everything just kind of comes together.

Speaker1:

:

Well, thank you so much for listening.

Speaker1:

:

We do have one question that has come in.

Speaker1:

:

So what are you saying that treats are a no go?

Speaker1:

:

And if so, what can I give my dog as a treat if we're going out to the park or.

Speaker2:

:

Yeah, no. I think treats are fine.

Speaker2:

:

I I like to stay on brand.

Speaker2:

:

You know what I mean? Like, you know, I we do a lot of freeze dried.

Speaker2:

:

I think the simpler the treats, the better.

Speaker2:

:

I think, you know, we have these things like like milk bones and these other treats,

Speaker2:

:

which are just a bunch of garbage like.

Speaker2:

:

Dental, choose all these dental chews out here, you know, as you go to target.

Speaker2:

:

I had to like put my blinders on as I go past the pet food section.

Speaker2:

:

They're just they have so much crap in them.

Speaker2:

:

There's so much, just carbohydrates and sugar and synthetics and just a lot of

Speaker2:

:

preservatives, just a lot of bad stuff.

Speaker2:

:

And you know, I just think, you know, dogs and I see it all the time in the shop we sell

Speaker2:

:

like Girls Gone Raw Pet Health.

Speaker2:

:

If we sell a lot of just like single ingredient treats and chews which are so beneficial

Speaker2:

:

to them, they provide so much good nutrients.

Speaker2:

:

And then also they love it.

Speaker2:

:

It's like the simplest thing just to have.

Speaker2:

:

She's got these like pork and apple bites and all it is.

Speaker2:

:

It's just like pork in apple.

Speaker2:

:

That's all it is. And dogs go.

Speaker2:

:

It's like, it's like crack for dogs, like they love it.

Speaker2:

:

And it's like, Why can't we just like, stick to this kind, you know?

Speaker2:

:

Or like she does like a pork loin bacon, which is just pork?

Speaker2:

:

Dogs like simple things.

Speaker2:

:

I would just say, keep it simple.

Speaker2:

:

Like, I like this.

Speaker2:

:

I treats are fine, but like we sell like dehydrated duck or, yeah, dehydrated duck hearts

Speaker2:

:

and turkey hearts and beef hearts that are like cut up beef, liver and spleen and all

Speaker2:

:

this stuff that it just looks like jerky.

Speaker2:

:

It's not intimidating, just like a little piece of beef jerky or whatever, and it

Speaker2:

:

provides a lot of good nutrients to your dog and they go absolutely crazy for it.

Chapters