Biophilia Guardian cares for the health of cats and dogs (1)
Cats and dogs are playing an increasingly important role in people's lives. In the minds of many people, they are family members, life partners, and owners who need attentive service. Regularly use Biophilia Guardian to check the physical status of cats and dogs...
And what to feed to pets is a real headache. Many shovelers choose regular pet food, snacks, and occasionally cooked meat. But some people believe that raw meat is the most natural and healthiest food for cats and dogs.
However, many research institutes and veterinarians disapprove of feeding raw meat.
Organizations such as the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are all warning pet lovers against feeding cats and dogs raw undercooked meat. Raw meat not only affects the health of cats and dogs, but also poses a threat to the people around the pets.
Some veterinary associations advise against feeding raw meat
Feed only raw meat to dogs because wolves only eat meat?
Some people who insist on feeding only dog meat believe that since dogs are domesticated by wolves, the best food for dogs is what wolves eat in the wild. But is it really so?
As carnivores, wolves will eat many different animals in the wild, mainly ungulates (such as elk, bison, etc.), others include small mammals (such as hares, voles, etc.), fish, birds, insects, etc. Perhaps because of the reference to the dog's ancestor wolf's recipe in the wild, many pet owners believe that dogs should also eat more meat, and it must be raw.
So, do wolves really only eat meat in the wild?
Sadly, this is not the case.
Wolves are also vegetarian. By analyzing the feces and stomach/intestinal contents of wild wolves, many research groups have been able to determine what gray wolves are eating. The study found that wolves' diets also included plants, such as grasses, leaves, or wild berries, although not in modest amounts.
While dogs and wolves share similarities in body structure, they also have many differences.
From an evolutionary perspective, dogs evolved from wolves around 15,000 to 33,000 years ago and were domesticated by humans. Under the dual pressure of natural selection and artificial selection, dogs have produced many genes and physiological structures that are different from those of wolves.
First, although dogs are still like wolves, their saliva does not have the enzyme amylase that breaks down starch. However, dogs are better at digesting and absorbing starch than wolves. This is due to three specific genes in dogs—AMY2B, which synthesizes amylase in the gut, MGAM, which increases maltase activity, and SGLT1, which increases glucose absorption. With these three genes, dogs are better adapted to humans' starchy diets.
Second, dogs and wolves actually like to eat different foods. For example, if dogs and wolves can choose for themselves, the energy supply ratio of "protein:fat:carbohydrate" in the food chosen by the wolf is 54%:45%:1%, and the energy supply ratio of the three nutrients is higher than that of the food selected by the dog. Yes 54%: 45%: 1% 30%: 63%: 7%.
In other words, the long-term evolution and domestication process has given dogs a stronger ability to digest and absorb starch, while also forming their own unique dietary preferences and habits.
Like humans, the normal pH of the stomach of cats and dogs is very low, about 2. Such a low pH can kill Salmonella and many other pathogenic bacteria. However, when we (including cats and dogs) eat (especially protein-rich foods), the pH in the stomach increases (becomes less acidic). If the food happens to be contaminated with salmonella, the elevated pH will help these disease-causing bacteria survive in the stomach. The pH in the gut is higher than in the stomach, which is more suitable for bacteria to grow, so if the bacteria are not killed in the stomach, they have a good chance of multiplying in the gut.
The pathogenic bacteria remaining in the mouth will be spread everywhere when cats and dogs groom themselves or lick people, and pathogenic bacteria in the gut may also be excreted into the surrounding environment by cats and dogs, which may Injuring pet owners themselves, children and the elderly at home, as well as neighbors, visitors and other people with weakened immune systems is a hidden danger that cannot be ignored, and Biophilia Guardian can detect all of these for you, including physical fitness indicators of cats and dogs and bacterial data, etc.
Not finished, to be continued~