Feeding Dogs Bones

For decades, images of dogs happily chewing on bones have been promoted on television and in motion pictures. As a result, pet owners have been feeding their dogs both raw and cooked bones, thinking that they are providing a natural form of nutrition for their pets. In reality, they are compromising the dog’s health and unintentionally risking the animal’s life. The consumption of bones by dogs has resulted in vomiting, organ puncture, and cancer. Feeding dogs bones is not a good thing to do!

Dogs are natural and instinctive scavengers. They might not be fed bones by their guardian, but they can find them in trash cans, on unattended plates, and when they find a dead animal, such as a bird or rat. This is very dangerous and must be prevented. One of the more common dangers of bone consumption is bone splinters. Bones from small birds, such as starlings, or medium-sized birds, such as chickens, as well as fish and other meats, can easily splinter when chewed and disperse inside an unsuspecting dog, leading to ripping and tearing of internal organs, and, possibly, death.

In addition to the intestinal danger that results from eating bones, dogs may experience cracking or breaking of teeth. This could result in prolonged periods of pain for the animal because tooth injuries are not as easily noticed as other physical ailments. When the problem is discovered, the dog may have to undergo oral surgery to remove infections, reconstruct a tooth, or extract teeth. This is painful and traumatic for the dog and can be very costly for the dog’s guardian.

If a pet owner is in doubt regarding proper nutrition for a dog, it is recommended that they consult a veterinarian, or, at the very least, perform cursory research on the internet. Food requirements vary, depending on a dog’s breed, weight, and size. If a pet owner can’t bear not to give the dog a treat, use rawhide or chew bones made of dog food purchased at the store or pet shop.

A proper diet for a dog contains a balance of nutrients that are low in fat and are easily digestible. Veterinarians do not recommend that dogs receive ‘table scraps’ or leftovers from the owner’s meals. Eating these foods can result in weight gain and a rejection of food specifically prepared for dogs. In particular, dogs should never be given chocolate, raw meats, or raw organ meats. These foods can cause skeletal problems and toxicity in dogs. They, along with real bones, are a “No, no!”

One of the best, and most easily accessible, sources of information regarding animal nutrition is the internet. A concerned dog owner can search the internet using words such as “feeding dogs,” “dog food,” or “dog nutrition.” The resulting information will include general nutrition information, feeding a specific a breed of dog, and training a dog to eat certain foods. Chew bones and other safe treats are also available on the internet.

Dogs can be fed properly, safely, and consistently when everyone in the home, or family and friends outside the home, are aware of the dog’s dietary needs. This information will help anyone who may be taking care of the dog in an owner’s absence. Dog owners should list the foods that the dog eats and the way in which the food is prepared. Also, there should be a prominent notation stating that feeding bones to the dog is prohibited. Since feeding dogs bones is very dangerous, be sure that no one, family, friend, or dog-sitter ever does!

Obesity in Today’s World

From 1988-1994 the number of Americans who were over weight or obese was 56%. That number rose from 1999-2000 to 64% according to NAASO.org. Oregon is one of the highest with 23% of its population being obese. There are many reasons why people become obese or over weight. Many times it is genetic but that is something you can not change. What you can change is the way you eat, what you eat and how much you eat. If our society as a whole does not change the way we eat, we will be at high risk of diabetes, hypertension and heart attacks. In 2004 obesity related deaths ranked number two, smoking came in first. By 2005 obesity related deaths was expected to pass smoking as the number one cause of death, according to Medscape.com.

Americans lead busy lives and the cost of living is not cheep. In a typical family home, both parents work a forty hour week and arrive home late. Most of those families would rather relax than think about making a well balanced meal for everyone. Usually they will grab what it closest or easiest such as a microwave dinner, take out or the phone to order a pizza.

Often eating out is cheaper than making a home cooked meal. You can go to McDonalds and feed a family of four for fewer than twenty dollars. It is fast, easy and cheap. To feed a family of four a balanced meal, for example chicken with rice and a vegetable, costs more in both time and money. Foster Farms offers three chicken breasts in a package for around $9.00 at a local Fred Meyer here in Oregon. You would have to buy two in order to feed a family of four. One package of Uncle Ben’s instant wild rice only has two to three servings per container for $2.50 which means again you would have to buy two packages. For a bushel of broccoli can range in price from $1.00 per pound. Once you go to the grocery store, come home and make all this food, you evening is gone and so is over twenty dollars.

Lack of health choice at restaurants makes eating right difficult. According to Foodfacts.info, in 2005 fast food chain, Wendy’s, pulled their fruit salad option after only ten months on the menu, sighting low sales. Many fast food chains have started to offer healthier choices such as Subway which offers raisins and yogurt, and Wendy’s offers mandarin orange fruit cups in place of fries. Some sit down restaurants have followed suit such as Red Robin which will allow you to order either a petite hamburger patty or a Boca Burger substitute for any of their burgers. Unfortunately other places do not offer alternatives or the alternatives are not well advertised by the prospective restaurant. Red Robin might offer a Boca patty substitution but it is in fine print which is barley visible at the very bottom of their menu.

When eating out, often you do not have control over the serving sizes. For instance at McDonalds, e medium fry package now has nutritional facts listed on the side. It shows how many calories are in that amount of fries along with the sodium content. What they are not taking into account is the amount of salt added to the fries after cooking, and the person filling the container usually over fills. Therefore the nutritional facts and serving size information provided is inaccurate.

Gastric bypass surgery is the second only to breast augmentation, as the most common surgery among young adults. The time is now for us to start setting a good example for all people and start making smarter choices of food, make the effort to cook healthy meals, and rethink what a serving size is. Sure it might require more effort and more time and sacrifice but when you look at the health risks and concerns associated with obesity, it just makes sense to spend a few extra dollars, a little more time and make a few better choices in order to make a better future for you and your family.

How to Close Down The Fat Factory

One of the most frustrating aspects of being what mainstream society calls overweight (I like to call it OVERFAT) is the your body becomes more inclined to convert the carbohydrate calories that you eat, into fat; and then stores that fat in your fat cells. Thus, the fatter we become the easier it is to gain even more weight; and harder to lose it. To understand this, we must first understand the role of the hormone, insulin in the body.

Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas. It helps the body utilize blood glucose (blood sugar). Think of insulin as a key. Every cell has a ‘lock’ (receptor) on it that opens a door that allows glucose to pass from the bloodstream into the cell. Once the glucose has entered the cell, it is used for energy. Glucose can be stored for future use by the liver or muscles in the form of glycogen.

The muscles and liver are the main storehouses of glycogen. Talk about efficiency of design. The very mechanicals that motivate us are also storage units! The power source is located right where the muscle needs it. Low-latency power on-demand! Which is great, but the most important thing to remember here is that once the muscle storage units and liver are full of glycogen; the remaining glucose in the bloodstream that is not being used by the brain or other vital organs usually gets stored as fat.

As a person gains body fat, the cells of their body become less sensitive to insulin. Insulin resistance occurs when the normal amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas is unable to ‘unlock’ the doorway of the cells. As a result, the pancreas must secrete higher and higher levels of insulin in order to overcome this widespread insulin resistance as it tries to maintain normal blood glucose levels. High levels of insulin signal the liver to convert carbohydrates into fat, following a meal or snack containing carbohydrates. In turn, these fats are shipped to your fat cells, contributing to weight gain and increased body fat.

What can cause the body to become insulin resistant? Genetics can obviously play a role, but I believe it has a LOT to do with the typical American’s poor diet consisting of mainly mid-to-high glycemic carbs, irregularly spaced feedings and lack of regular exercise that are mainly to blame. So it really becomes a Catch-22 situation for a mostly sedentary overweight person. Popular low-fat diets alone don’t get results because your body is conditioned to convert carbohydrates into fat, due to high levels of circulating insulin. The other negative effect increased fat storage and no exercise is the increasingly lower BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) that occurs because of this lifestyle. And that’s a death sentence for the typically weak and half-stepping fat-loss efforts; A.K.A. “diet” that most sedentary types try.

But the really sad thing is that these folks won’t exercise or exercise correctly even it they do. You hear them talking like diet is the only part of the equation, but that type of thinking doesn’t apply here. Remember it was not just the diet, but also the lack of exercise that got them into this state.