Vintage Dog Food
From a pamphlet given out in 1915 from the Angel Memorial Animal Hospital and Dispensary for Animals, Boston, Massachusetts, titled Feeding the Dog and Cat:
"The evening meal should consist of either raw beef, heart or lamb, to which a little minced raw vegetable may be mixed, such as lettuce, spinach, cabbage, tomato. Liver and kidney should be fed two or three times a week in lieu of the raw meat and vegetables. A certain amount of fat is also necessary in the diet. There is no objection to an occasional feeding of roast or boiled beef or lamb or vegetables left over from the table, although cooked foods as regular diet are to be avoided. Some dogs demand cooked foods as they have never known any different. Such animals should be coaxed into eating the raw food by being fed very rarely cooked meats, either merely searing or scalded. If the vegetables are disagreeable the dog will get along very well upon a ration of milk, raw beef or lamb with fat and raw glandular organs."
Source: B-Naturals
In the long history of man's relationship with dogs, a canine diet probably closely resembled this - scraps, leftovers -an extension of its owners diet. If the ingredients weren't the choicest cuts from its master's table it at least still came from his table meaning it at least enjoyed a similar level of quality - a quality now described as "human grade".
In the much shorter history of commercially manufactured pet food, there has evolved an entirely new world of ingredients-meat by products, fat from unidentified sources, brewers rice, all unfit for human consumption-a quality of food desribed as "pet grade". How and why and why it continues to happen is a matter to be considered further at another time, what I want to dwell on here is the notion of a more halcyon time when the quality of what our pets ate echoed what we did and how much more sense this makes to me.
It makes enough sense to me to want to emulate it. Regardless of whether it is raw or cooked, or more suited for a carnivore than an omnivore or any of the other hot topics of the raw debate, what I feed Eti is at the very least of a comparable quality to what I eat and quite often the same as what I eat.
"The evening meal should consist of either raw beef, heart or lamb, to which a little minced raw vegetable may be mixed, such as lettuce, spinach, cabbage, tomato. Liver and kidney should be fed two or three times a week in lieu of the raw meat and vegetables. A certain amount of fat is also necessary in the diet. There is no objection to an occasional feeding of roast or boiled beef or lamb or vegetables left over from the table, although cooked foods as regular diet are to be avoided. Some dogs demand cooked foods as they have never known any different. Such animals should be coaxed into eating the raw food by being fed very rarely cooked meats, either merely searing or scalded. If the vegetables are disagreeable the dog will get along very well upon a ration of milk, raw beef or lamb with fat and raw glandular organs."
Source: B-Naturals
In the long history of man's relationship with dogs, a canine diet probably closely resembled this - scraps, leftovers -an extension of its owners diet. If the ingredients weren't the choicest cuts from its master's table it at least still came from his table meaning it at least enjoyed a similar level of quality - a quality now described as "human grade".
In the much shorter history of commercially manufactured pet food, there has evolved an entirely new world of ingredients-meat by products, fat from unidentified sources, brewers rice, all unfit for human consumption-a quality of food desribed as "pet grade". How and why and why it continues to happen is a matter to be considered further at another time, what I want to dwell on here is the notion of a more halcyon time when the quality of what our pets ate echoed what we did and how much more sense this makes to me.
It makes enough sense to me to want to emulate it. Regardless of whether it is raw or cooked, or more suited for a carnivore than an omnivore or any of the other hot topics of the raw debate, what I feed Eti is at the very least of a comparable quality to what I eat and quite often the same as what I eat.
Labels: Nutrition
posted by Le Pack Leader | 21.9.06
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