Discriminating against raw foods is it fair? A survey of raw pet food Manufacturers By Meg Smart DVM PhD

Raw  Pet Foods

AVMA and AAHA Partnership
On July 18, 2012 the and American Veterinary Medical Association  (AVMA) announced the formation  of  partnerships o in preventive health care  for pets in order to address the declining health of the nation's pets. Members of the partnership include the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), Association of the American Veterinary Medical Colleges, and health industry leaders including Abbott Animal Health ,Banfield Pet Hospital, their healthcare LLC animal health division, Boehringer-Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc, ButlerSchein Animal Health, Elanco Animal Health, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Merek Animal Health, Merial,MVVI Veterinary Supply, Novartis Animal Health US Inc., Pfizer Animal Health and Veterinary Pet Insurance all sponsoring initiative at various levels. This partnership was formed because of a decrease in regular veterinary visits and an increase in preventable illnesses in dogs and cats.

A task force assembled by the American Animal Hospital Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association  developed and approved concise easy to understand  comprehensive preventive health care guidelines for dogs and cats. For more information visit the website www.PetHealthPartnership

At the AVMA 2012regular annual session  passed resolution five, that the AVMA discourages the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal based protein source that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs as well as humans.

AAHA has come out with a similar statement indicating raw protein diets are now demonstrated to be a health risk for several groups:

·         the pets consuming the diet

·         Other animals in contact with those pets

·         humans, and family members

·         The  public

Puppy Diets Part A Kibble: Part B Raw and Homemade. by Meg Smart Sept 12,2012

Part A: Kibble

 Introduction

Growth is a complex process involving metabolic changes, environmental influences, genetics, nutrition and unknown factors. The eventual size of the dog is determined by its genetics, but  the age it reaches its adult size can be in part controlled by nutrition. The only nutritional trial to follow Labs from weaning to death was done by Purina. Although flawed,  this trial gave us insight into in the role that nutrition plays in growth. They took two groups of puppies and fed one group all the food they could eat in a 15-minute period per day, over their lifetime. The second group was fed 25% less. The initial diet was Purina Puppy Chow; the adult diet was Purina Dog Chow. The onset of hip dysplasia and arthritis was delayed in the second group; the second group lived significantly longer.