plesae read

[Gina Heitz <brier@oregonsbest.com>]

This is an excerpt from a raw list post.  Paula who is a vet just lost her 
second dog to Osteosarcoma at 6.5 and there is a discussion going on 
genetic verses environmental factors...  This is exactly why I feed a raw 
diet...

Gina

Paula wrote:
 > My dog's oncologist told me the current thought is that environmental
 > factors are causing more cancer than diet, vaccinations, medicines, etc. 
She
 > said dogs spend so much time with their noses on the ground that they 
breath
 > this stuff in all of the time.

Paula, I'm not a vet as you are, and oncologists have years & years
of specific training on treating and understanding cancer.
I have visited many oncologists, sorry to say, and they always
say that if they knew what caused cancer, they'd have won
the Nobel prize.

Why on earth are we all slaving making our dogs' food
when we could just feed them junk-in-a-bag like everyone else?
I mean, I HATE handling raw meat!!! Why are we questioning
vaccine protocols?

I can tell you why I personally am ... My Loofie and Brownie died
at 8-9 years old; Loofie was actively competing in Open/Utility and
had eight legs on his UDX when hemangiosarcoma struck. He was
actually in the Open B ring competing when he almost collapsed.
He continued on, with his great heart, and qualified that one
last time, although I knew that something was seriously wrong.
After they died, I believed the problem was genetic and Goldens
were a doomed species. Their grandfather died of it (Gunnar);
their father died of it (Murphy). They were doomed.

Then, I met my breeder who introduced me to another way.
My mom & I brought home Samantha and a bag of frozen turkey necks!
I did a lot of reading, including the Pottenger Cat Study. What I
believe has happened is that 60 years of lousy nutrition has
finally caught up with our canine companions. Bad nutrition
affects many, many generations of animals (and people), until
they show all the diseases that we're seeing.

Without adequate nutrition, the immune system NEVER functions
adequately, and the dogs cannot defend themselves against the
chemicals and other toxins in the environment. Only generations
and generations of species-appropriately-fed dogs will prove
the case. And Pottenger did that study in the 30's.
He proved that the difference between raw and cooked is night & day.
The toxins might be the trigger, but they are not the real
underlying cause. Poor health, caused by generations of poor
nutrition, is the cause.

I cannot fix the toxins in the environment, try as I might.
I could stand back, say the problem is toxins, and give up.
But I won't give up. I can change their diets and reduce vaccines
to a reasonable effective level. I have seen great improvements
in their immune responses -- clearer eyes, better skin, clean ears,
higher energy levels, and fantastic muscle tone. I have seen
the parasite population diminish to almost zero -- thus I don't
need any flea control methods, nor tapeworm medications.
I'm not expecting miracles, but I do expect that several
generations of BARF-fed dogs will be much healthier and more
able to combat the toxins in the environment.

Debi