Ancestral Diet for Dogs and Cats: Exploring The Evolutionary Diet's Ingredients

More and more pet professionals (breeders, veterinarians, and pet nutritionists) are advocating a second look at what we feed our dogs and cats. This is because there is a growing belief that our animals need a raw, natural diet in order to be healthy.

Simply, commercial pet foods do not supply the nutrients that are necessary for optimal health and longevity.

What is the Ancestral Diet for Dogs?

Steve Brown, a renowned dog nutrition expert, Furchild's raw dog food formulator, and top-selling author of “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” and “See Spot Live Longer” says it best…

You may have heard of the popular “Caveman Diet”, as it applies to humans, the theory being that unprocessed fresh foods high in protein and low in carbohydrates are best for people who evolved successfully over thousands and thousands of years consuming just such a diet. The concept of the Ancestral Diet for Dogs is similar in nature.

Dogs and other canines evolved successfully through hunting and scavenging; consuming foods that were not at all like the kibble so many are fed today. Recent nutritional science increasingly supports an ancestral-type diet, i.e., high protein, balanced fats, and at least some fresh foods; as the healthiest approach to feeding most dogs.

Also, there is a huge difference between Canine Ancestral Diet ingredients and any typical, modern dry dog food.

Furchild Raw Meals are formulated to provide complete balance and the Canine Ancestral Diet benefits while ensuring the advances made in veterinary nutritional science are included.

What are the important components of the Canine Ancestral Diet Ingredients?

1. High-quality proteins

49% of the calories in the Ancestral Diet were from protein, primarily from fresh animal sources. Protein from animals, unlike protein from most plants, contains balanced amino acids and a complete range of protein-type nutrients, including taurine and carnitine.

Protein is arguably the most important nutrient in your pet’s diet. It's responsible for building and repairing muscles and tissues. It's also responsible for providing the structure for skin, hair, nails, bones, joints, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and muscle fibres.

But it isn’t just the amount of protein that’s important – it’s the quality. Much has been written in the past about protein quality.

There are many factors that can turn high-quality protein into an unhealthy food that contributes to inflammation and chronic disease.

Pet owners need to be aware that the meat used in most modern commercial dog foods is usually of low quality and low in quantities in comparison to what is considered optimal.

For more information on this topic, read Comparing Types of Pet Foods.

2. Balanced fats

Both the amount of fat and the balance of fats are very important.

Fats represent a broad category of nutrients, just as vitamins and minerals are broad categories. We all know that dogs need to consume the proper amounts of vitamins and minerals, all in a proper balance. Similarly, it is very important that dogs consume a variety of fatty acids – the basic components of fat – in proper amounts and balance.

In the Ancestral Diet of dogs or the Evolutionary Diet, the ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s was between 2:1 and 6:1, within the range now considered optimum by most pet nutritionists.

But dogs today normally do not get access to such a wide range of balanced fats. In fact, ­­­­at times, they get rancid fats. Read Comparing Types of Pet Foods for more information on this topic.

Poorly balanced fats are one of the major problems almost all commercial and most homemade dog foods experience.

The scientific evidence is overwhelming – dogs who eat the proper amounts of balanced fats, with a complete range of fatty acids, are healthier and happier. These dogs…

• learn faster,
• remember more,
• see and hear better,
• are more coordinated,
• are less likely to be obese,
• experience less skin and coat, other inflammatory problems,
• will probably live longer than dogs who do not consume a proper balance of fats.

3. Low carbohydrates

Because of the predominance of meat in the Canine Ancestral Diet and its benefits, carbohydrates provided only 6% of the calories consumed by dogs.

And this was primarily from fruits, grass, and vegetables. This is substantially below what the typical modern dog consumes, which can be as high as 60-80%!

Feeding your pet a diet high in carbs has many negative long-term health implications. Read more about them on The Carbohydrate Problem.

4. Fresh ingredients

The large majority of foods in the Evolutionary Diet or the Ancestral Diet for dogs were fresh whole foods. And modern dogs, just like people, need some fresh whole foods too.

Many studies have indicated that vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants from whole foods are more nutritious than the synthesized or refined forms found in most dog foods. Refined nutrients (as opposed to fresh foods) have a role in preventing deficiency diseases but are not sufficient for the best health.

They lack the cancer-fighting nutrients found in fruits and vegetables.

While the Ancestral Diet itself did not contain high amounts of fibre (defined as a carbohydrate), it did contain small amounts of fur and other indigestible parts of the dog’s prey, serving a similar purpose.

5. High moisture levels

The Ancestral Diet for dogs consisted of live prey which was made up of 78% moisture. That’s a lot of moisture!

In today's world, most pets consume dry foods. And even if they drink frequently from their water bowl, they aren’t getting adequate levels of water. Furthermore, the moisture content found in the Ancestral Diet contains many dissolved vitamins and minerals that are not found in plain H2O.

Talking about the basics, hydration is very important for your pet as it…

• Maintains a stable, normal body temperature.
• Aids in digestion – to get food through the body and help absorb the nutrition within the food.
• Lubricates healthy joints – especially important for large breeds and senior dogs.
• Maintains healthy functioning organs and quite literally prevents them from shutting down.

From saliva to gastric juices, our pet’s digestion is a moisture-intensive process. And if necessary, our pet’s body will pull this moisture from other tissues and organs. This temporarily leaves less moisture available for flushing toxins and general hydration.

We do understand that modern-day pet owners have busy schedules and preparing diets similar to an Ancestral Diet can prove to be quite difficult.

Well, Furchild has changed that! Our Starter Kit has made it simple and convenient to feed your beloved animals the fresh, raw food they need to live full, vital, and longer lives.