One common concern, as voiced by Christine through our YouTube channel, regarding her Field Spaniel, is whether dry food could contribute to conditions such as cystitis. While it's not the sole culprit, dry food is known to possibly exacerbate urinary issues due to its low moisture content, often when eaten on its own there is no moisture. The importance of hydration in either our own bodies or our Pet’s cannot be overstated, just as humans are advised to drink plenty of fluids to support a healthy lifestyle or especially when unwell, the same goes for dogs and cats. A raw pet food diet naturally contains more moisture, most fresh meats naturally sit high above 50% moisture content. It is one of the main factors why a raw pet food diet creates a healthier digestive system as your pet’s Gut maintains a naturally hydrated state.
Transitioning to a raw diet for dogs, as Christine contemplated, introduces a higher moisture content in meals, ensuring pets receive the necessary hydration from their consumption. At Nurturing by Nature we understand how draughting in can feel when you are thinking about making a change to your pet’s daily habits & this is why our stores, our teams and all of our services have been set up to offer our community the highest level of complimentary support and advice that we can.
Raw Dog Food: A Dietary Consideration for Managing Cystitis
It's suggested through various studies that foods high in starch can provoke inflammation in the body, potentially contributing to cystitis. These foods, which include certain vegetables and grains, are often more challenging for dogs to process, thus placing undue stress on their systems. Many commercial pet foods contain many, many ingredients that are mostly used because of a cost factor, grains and cereals are cheaper ingredients than healthy fresh meat. Even some of the more natural pet foods on the market contain high levels of high starch ingredients like sweet potatoes. Now these ingredients are considered healthy in our human diets but they are not a naturally healthy ingredient for your pet. To a manufacture they are low cost & offer good volume in terms of weight. 1kg of Sweet Potato is a lot cheeper than 1kg of Beef….
A raw diet for dogs, we believe is a more natural and easier diet for our cat’s & Dogs to digest, it naturally reduces the strain on the digestive system. It is a more natural diet for their anatomy, digested easier & your pet’s also process more of the ingredients within the diet. If you're considering this dietary route, it’s prudent to maintain a food diary, documenting your pet's daily intake. This strategy is instrumental in pinpointing any food sensitivities or allergies that correlate with cystitis symptoms.
Seasonal Allergies and Their Influence on Cystitis
Consideration is also given to seasonal allergies, which, as experienced by Christine’s dog, can create discomfort though not directly induce cystitis. Nonetheless, they can compromise a dog's overall immunity, rendering them more susceptible to conditions like bladder inflammation.
So why do seasonal allergies happen, much like hayfever in humans our pet too often can suffer allergies at different types of the year and in recent times the allergies witnessed by pet owners has increased. We test more for allergies so naturally we’ll discover more results but also poor breading and poor diets are also factors in why so many pet owners face a greater challenge in understanding why their pets may be suffering.
A raw Pet food diet may not be the answer and it’s true that pets fed a raw pet food diet do still suffer with allergies, however at Nurturing by Nature since 2004 we have found that exclusion diets are easier to support when their is just one ingredient feed. Instead of feeding a mix of a hundred ingredients feeding just a single protein can support eliminating the cause of allergies.
Note; One factor often over looked is the diet that is originally fed to the livestock that eventually support the meat industry. In the summer months animals often graze on pastures & have a diet of mostly grass, in the winter livestock may live in barns where their diets may change to more grain based one. This too is the same for fish, many popular types of fish are farmed & thus fed a grain based diet. If your pet does have a strong reaction that happens a different periods through the year this may be the reason why.
