SEE what happens when you stay up late and watch these strange movies, Mama? Anyway, I tell you, she was up till 2 am watching a psycho B-film about a screwed-up guy who's a cannibal, who meets a kindred soul who WANTS to die by being chopped up and eaten...sheesh, people. Then Mama remembered how Tita Marga (Carpio, that's my vet, Vets in Practice, tel.no 533-7965) once texted Mama that she was feeding me banana chips while I was waiting to be picked up at her clinic after a check-up. "Di ba cannibalism 'yon?" she said. Yes, because I love bananas.
I also love apples, pears, papaya, sayote, cucumber, lettuce (with hard-boiled eggs and tomatoes! Yum!), carrots (grated by mama for easy consumption), grapefruit....in short, I pretty much have a healthier diet than most humans I know, and a lot of dogs. Mama mixes any of the above with 50 grams of dog food kibble (Canidae, an excellent brand that's good for all ages of dogs, from pups to seniors -- must be really good then), a drizzle of coconut oil, and occasional add-ons like yogurt or cottage cheese and kelp vitamins. Here's the clincher: she throws in raw chicken, beef, gizzard, or heart and liver.
The general reaction of the uninformed is "Eeeeewww! Raw? Won't the bones kill her? Won't she get salmonella, bacteria, etc?"
Well, Mama and her friends have adopted a localized variation of the BARF Diet by Australian vet Dr. Ian Billinghurst, which is heartily endorsed by Tita Marga and her fellow docs (that's her with daughter Roxie in bottom pic at my third b-day party). BARF stands for either Bones and Raw Food or the more politically-correct Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. What exactly does "biologically appropriate" mean? Simply that my ancestors, those grand old lupine sirs and dames, didn't eat out of a bag, and they didn't eat stuff that was processed literally within an inch of its life. The early dogs hunted and lived off game, smaller animals that included a lot of birds. They didn't sit around a fire and saute the things while knitting beanies for their pups, either. Fact is, the calcium in animal bones is the best we can get—better than any wussy supplement, really. Any excess, we excrete. And the bones are surprisingly pliant and easy to digest—it's when they're cooked that they become brittle and lethal. I know—i know dogs who have died from punctured stomachs because of chewing on cooked bones.
So early dogs ate that, and a lot of the plants around them, making for a really natural diet. Why do you think your dog still eats grass once in a while? It's our ancient memory of a remedy for an upset stomach—chomp on some grass, and throw up whatever's bugging us! So you see, we're a lot more durable than you think, you just baby us with all these store-bought goodies and, heavens, mineral water! My ancestors hunted raccoons and ducks, and you're giving me mineral water? How screwed is that?!
Anyway, there are companies in the west making a killing from prepared BARF meals, so of course, Pinoy parents have adapted. Tita Popi, mother of my honey Una, dumps about three kinds of veggies, tons of offal and raw stuff, and a wee bit of dog food in a bowl for Una's once-a-day meal. Mama thinks I would benefit from two meals for better digestion, so she feeds me twice a day, sticks to one veggie for the morning and one fruit for the pm, and picks either a quarter chicken breast or 2-3 chicken necks per meal or about 15 grams of raw ground beef or a few pieces of liver or gizzard.
Now, she doesn't just take the stuff out of the pack and throw it to me, though. To play it safe, she soaks the meat in water withs some vinegar for a few minutes to kill anything evil. Then it's thawed as needed (pre-packed in individual sandwich bags), thrown into my bowl (or a quick microwave defrost), and I'm soooo happy. Plus, although it takes more effort for Mama to shop for fresh vegetables every week, it comes out cheaper than buying tons of imported dog food in sacks. Sayote is only about P12 a kilo, she says, and nobody really knows what to do with chicken necks—a gourmet feast for me!
So far, what has it done for me? I'm healthier, my dysplasia has been kept under control, and my operated kneecap has healed beautifully. My blood values are excellent (so says Tita Marga), and to top it all, my poo doesn't stink so much, and neither do I! I think it's a great alternative to dog food made by companies that have been discovered to be actually TESTING their products on animals (PETA found a video of dog food maker IAMS doing unspeakable things to beagles in their lab—talk about ironic!). I have also never snacked on a piece of processed meat in my life—Mama leaps like a stuntwoman when some moronic friends or relatives attempt to hand me a slice of Spam or canned vienna sausage. The things that usually come my way from the table are lettuce leaves, beans, carrots, and the occasional (but already borderline) piece of bread. Mama would rather dollop some oatmeal on the floor than put me anywhere near a pork chop, as well. My Mom really looks out for me, sigh. Check out these photos of a typical two banana-kibble-and-chicken neck dinner, dressed with virgin coconut oil for flavor and good skin and hair; me wolfing it down (notice how the bowl is on a low stool, another Tita Marga nugget of wisdom—big dogs get food down their throats easier if they don't have to bend all the way down to the floor to get it); and me looking morose after I've cleaned out my bowl. As in, THAT'S IT?!!!! Oh, but Mama has her reasons—she's leaving room for late night snacks like charcoal treats or pieces of fruit. And to think there was a time I didn't have an appetite because of a lousy misdiagnosis, but that's another long story. Now I love meal time—and people, I really do get enough; don't believe your Lab when he or she gives you a really sad look. We'll try anything—and we're really good at looking cute and sad, hehe.
If you're feeling weird about getting on BARF, check out websites like www.barfworld.com (but don't get conned into buying anything), www.drianbillinghurst.com (or grab his book, "Give Your Dog A Bone," available in better bookstores), or the helpful www.njboxers.com, which has an excellent Q and A for the interested. With all that good stuff in me, Mama is praying I live a long and happy life. Hey, knowing I've got Mama, Lola, and my ninangs (more on them in the future) looking out for me, I'm already the happiest dog in the world.
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