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I found Thor, or he found me in a rural Mississippi area. I was volunteering at an university equestrian cleaning barns and feeding horses. Thor showed up with two other dogs, all strays, a chow mix, a pit bull mix, and Thor (still not quite sure but terrier/schnauzer mix it seems). Thor was the sickest and most fearful of the pack.
The other two dogs were more social and easily adopted. Thor was sick and afraid of humans.
We growled when people came close and we left food and water in the barn for him daily.
A veterinarian friend of mine asked me if I might adopt him if she took him home and brought him back to health. The chances were slim as he'd been beaten (or hit by a vehicle or both) was a big mat of fur, and not much energy. I hesitantly said I would, thinking the dog probably wouldn't make it anyway, but, if she would go to the trouble to take him to her home and care for him, shave his totally matted hair and try to socialize him, I would take over. He lived. That was 1997 and she estimated him to be about 10 years old based on his teeth. (I think that is how they estimate a dog's age).
Oddly enough, and it was a slow process, Thor not only came back to life, but became “man's best friend”. I was then working at home so he was with me all day, and the neighbor's kids all loved him as he looked just like Benji when his hair grew back. He was a true “movie star dog” with a
phenomenal lovable personality; dramatically different than when we appeared into my life.
A few years later Thor became despondent and stared at the wall for hours not responding to
my calls. I took him to the vet who named a lot of diseases it probably was, old age, juvenile
seizures among other things. He said we should put him on barbiturates (for the rest of his life)
which probably would not be long, to prevent the seizures. I told him I would have to think
about it.
I spent the next few months studying canine diseases, talking to different vets, studying
animal diets, and gathering all the information I could.
I finally ran into Dr. Ian Billinghurst of Australia who led me to his website and I read
his book “Give Your Dog A Bone”.
Of course I was very skeptical. He was suggesting that a dog's digestive system had not
evolved so far from a wolves and needed only raw foods, veggies, fruits, and raw bones and
meat.
I was to ease into this diet. All at once could cause a shock to the system. Thor didn't have
much life left in him so I was at my wit's end.
I decided to start with raw hamburger and blended in some raw broccoli, squash etc. all
in a blender.
For a month, I would just give him a little, and eventually weaned him off his regular processed
dog food.
I can remember the horrendous fear I had giving him his first raw chicken wing. Like everyone
else, I grew up with the same caveat “never feed a dog chicken bones” which fell into the
same category “don't put a stick in your eye!” Serious warnings. Thor ate the chicken wing with glee and it remains one of his favorites, yet ten years later.
By the way, not one vet visit since that time.
I know that the pet food industry has a powerful lobby and will dispute my own findings
saying “where's the beef? What documentation do you have?” etc. etc. And that's good that
they have that defense, or offense.
I have read what is in pet food, even the finest, and I'm not impressed. Though veterinarians
get very little nutritional training in vet school (most comes from pet-food salespeople) even the
veterinarian textbooks admit there is no minimal nutritional requirements for grains for any dogs,
yet look at even the top quality dog foods. They contain a lot of grains.
They also contained cooked food which contain NO live enzymes. Dogs need live enzymes for
a high quality of life.
Can dogs or cats live a long life on processed dog food? Well of course. Many have lived to
ripe old ages.
I've owned dogs (and cats) all my life and the truth be told most of them lived past the age of
ten, but did they live a high quality of life? Heavens no. Vet visits for various ailments were
commonplace.
Thor has walked 3-4 miles a day with me all the way up to 18 years of age. Do you know of
many dogs that can do that who are on a processed food diet? Perhaps they exist. I have never
seen one.
Recently Thor has slowed down. Twenty is very old for any domestic pet. But he still
plays ball with me, fetches it, barks when he hears noises outside, has perfect hearing, etc.
I am educated. I generally require a lot of research before I draw a conclusion. Not a lot of
research has been done on the b.a.r.f diet though the testimonials throughout the net are
definitely there, and they are many, and many of the stories are similar to mine.
If you are at the end of your rope, and like my early vet said “There's really not much hope,
let's just keep him comfortable, might I suggest to investigate this diet. I am no vet and I
make no claims that it will cure anything.
I can only purvey what it has done for Thor and it is nothing short of a miracle. I highly
recommend to pursue more information on shirleys-wellness-cafe.com or drianbillinghurst.com
and many many other sites that are loaded with information on the raw food diet for pets.
Rick London is an E-entrepreneur owing numerous websites such as [http://www.sosflowers.us], the Internet's only 24/7 365 same-day delivery florist and Londons Times Cartoons Superstore with over 65,000 of his licensed cartoon products http://www.londonstimessuperstore.com. He is also an avid animal-lover constantly taking in strays, and is often called "The Dog-Man Of Hot Springs (Ar).
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