Balance and Its Discontents

My good friend Gil posted these words:

Complete and balanced...there's the mantra. And it makes me want to scream. There is where I completely disagree with you. I will never tell anyone they should feed a balanced diet to their dog, whether it's bagged or prepared with loving hands from scratch.

It took me a while to respond, because at first reading I just didn't know what to say. Who could possibly be against feeding a balanced diet?

Upon reflection I realized she didn't say she was against FEEDING a balanced diet, she was against telling someone they should feed a balanced diet.  She was talking about language (which was actually what my entry that day was about, so I do wonder how I missed it the first time around. Perhaps my critical caffeine serum levels had fallen too low), not about nutrition.

Between the "every single meal - in fact, EVERY MOUTHFUL - you feed your dogs and cats has to be precisely and accurately balanced or they'll die" and the "feeding your dogs and cats isn't rocket science, just do it!" extremes is where I lie. That's no secret. But I think Gil is hitting on something, that when we use terms like "complete and balanced" to describe homemade diets we are using "their" language and, inadvertantly, strengthening their position rather than our own.

What I really believe is that a diet has to provide dogs and cats with neither a deficiency nor an excess of the nutrients they require. I believe that these levels need to be met over an appropriate period of time. That period of time can vary from individual to individual, based on age, environment, health, etc., but typically is a few days to a couple of weeks. I certainly think you can take this concept too far... no one would advocate feeding a dog their complete annual requirement of calcium all in one day and letting that be it until the next year, certainly. However, most nutrients are stored by the body, and those that aren't typically don't need to be consumed every single day. No species has evolved that eats every single day of their lives, and none more so than the predatory carnivores such as cats and dogs.

So, I guess I need a new word for "complete and balanced," so I can get out of linguistic bed with the kibble manufacturers and those who worship in the church of AAFCO.

Comments

[Gil.]

"I certainly think you can take this concept too far... no one would advocate feeding a dog their complete annual requirement of calcium all in one day and letting that be it until the next year, certainly."

I love it! What an idea! Now, where do I find a bone that big?

I wish I could express myself better and had managed it the first time around, but you've got it. "Complete and balanced" falls right into the linguistic trap laid by pet food manufacturers and leads people right back to their way of thinking. In fact, it keeps them from ever fighting their way out of it.

[Diane]

""... when we use terms like "complete and balanced" to describe homemade diets we are using "their" language and, inadvertantly, strengthening their position rather than our own.""

Yes, this has always aggravated me too -- the language. By using their language and trying to 'argue' against it, we fall into their trap rather than forge ahead with our own sensible lexicon.

""However, most nutrients are stored by the body, and those that aren't typically don't need to be consumed every single day. No species has evolved that eats every single day of their lives, and none more so than the predatory carnivores such as cats and dogs.""

It's this concept that people seem to have such a difficult time wrapping their head around, mainly because of the effective brainwashing of that "complete and balanced" mantra of the multi-billion dollar pet food manufacturers, et al.

... Yes, by golly, you've got it.

~Diane

[coturnix]

http://sciencepolitics.blogspot.com/2005/01/next-tangled-bank.html

[Craig Pepoon]

I really have enjoyed the 'discussions' on dog nutrition. We also laughed heartily with the vegetarian kitty.

I am trying to read as much as I can online about nutrition as we are planning to change our dogs' diet. We currently feed a combination of kibble and cooked chicken/fresh veggies, but we want to mix it up a bit and are leaning towards feeding some raw meat. The big thing I'm not sure about now is the (excuse the phrase) "complete and balanced" requirement for a whippet. I'm almost wholly ignorant on this, but I do have plans to read some of the more highly recommended books out there (suggestions welcome - plan to start with Pitcairn). Is there a link amongst the doggedblog that has varied information on raw/homecooked/mixed feeding nutritional facts?

Thank you!
Craig and Nicole

[Christie]

Hi, Craig and Nicole! Thanks for coming by. :)

I think Pitcairn is a fine place to start. I tend to read a lot (probably not too surprising), and what I did is read pretty much everything I could ge tmy hands on, and then decide what made sense to me. Over the last 19 years, I've modified how I fed my dogs a great deal, but have always stayed with fresh, raw, homemade foods.

Have you seen my website? I have a few articles about diet there, although I don't give out feeding plans or recipes. I do think there is a lot of good information in Pitcairn, in Juliette de Bairacli Levy, in Billinghurst, in Lonsdale - although I don't follow any of them slavishly. My website is at www.caberfeidh.com. You can click on "Holistic Care" to see all my articles on diet and other topics there.