What is this "BARF" concept? Explain!
The BARF feeding concept is debated as pineapple on pizza and needs to be explained. In practice, many people think that it's just about serving your dog raw meat and some bones, but that's really just the tip of the iceberg. Let's clear the confusion!
BARF needs a clear definition and this definition is the one that applies to my food plans and whenever I talk about BARF on my webpage or other public media:
BARF is an abbreviation and stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. It is a form of nutrition for dogs in which raw, fresh ingredients are being used. The composition of this diet is based on the structure of potential prey and – by adding other components - imitates the natural food of a carnivore living in the wild as closely as possible.
So, what is on the menu for BARF dogs?
This is where the nutritionist joins the game!
An adult dog gets something between 2 and 4 % of its body weight of food per day. This varies, of course, depending on many different factors like breed, age, activity level and so on.
Generally, this daily food amount consists of 20 % plant components and 80 % animal components.
The plant portion in turn consists of 75 % mixed vegetables (equals 15 % of the total ration) and 25 % fruit (equals 5 %). The animal component consists of 50 % streaky muscle meat (equals 40 %) of various types (fat content 15 to 25 %), 20 % (leaf) tripe (equals 16 %) , 15 % mixed innards (equals 12 %, e.g., liver, kidney, spleen, lung, heart), and 15 % mixed raw, meaty bones, in short “RMB" which consist of 50 % bone and meat each (equals 12 %).
Here is a little visual to please our eyes a bit:
But there's more! If needed and/or desired oils rich in omega-3 fatty acid (e.g. salmon oil, fish oil, flaxseed oil) that are possibly supplemented with natural vitamin E, fresh eggs and other natural additives such as herbs, seaweed (ascophyllum nodosum), nuts/seeds, beer yeast and cod liver oil are added regularly. Dairy products and grains can be added, too, but are not necessary.
The ingredients are fed raw with a few exceptions (e.g. potatoes). Moderate deviations from the basic rules of composition are tolerable.
Important: There need to be rules followed about necessary adjustments if, for example, the meat has a lower than the minimum required fat content, tripe is not being fed, dairy products/grains are added, only certain or no bones can be fed and such other things. Also, the quality of the meat (industrial vs. grazing animal husbandry) influences the compositions...and not to forget the individual´s needs and preferences, health status, age and other important aspects. This is best put into the hands of nutritionists with an adequate educational background (like me ;)).
Where do all these numbers come from?
Well, it's all about mimicking the natural diet of wild canivores.
A prey animal does not consist solely of 30 % muscle meat or 50 % bones. A prey animal always comes with innards and never with a large amount of plant-based parts. Therefore, the distribution of food components is crucial when aiming for imitating the natural diet of a canid. That makes BARF different from other raw feeding concepts (often pseudo-BARF).
The largest edible portion of a prey animal consists of muscle meat and (leaf) tripe. Animals that are not ruminants (like e.g. cows or horses) naturally do not have tripe, but instead offer more muscle meat. Therefore the ratio of muscle meat and (leaf) tripe in a BARF plan is pretty high. These components primarily provide amino acids in optimal or good composition and, of course, a range of valuable nutrients and energy. If the proportion of these components is reduced too much or replaced with low-quality slaughterhouse by-products that are rich in connective tissue, the dog may lack essential amino acids or certain minerals, dietary minerals and vitamins. Additionally, the energy Side note: If the fat content is high enough, you do not have too much protein in the BARF ration.
The ratio of bones also comes from the prey: Small prey animals like rabbits, poultry or mice consist of 4–6 % pure bones, while larger prey animals consist of 8–13 % bones. Small prey animals are entirely consumed, but of larger prey animals (except in extreme times) about half of the bones are left behind. This results in an average of 15 % raw, meaty bones (“RMB”) of the animal components. Bones mainly provide calcium and phosphorus, but also potassium, sodium and magnesium. If the RMB content is excessively increased or decreased, deficiencies may occur. Moreover, high RMB contents often cause to bone faecal (or simply spoken: hard, lighter coloured poo that can possibly lead to constipation).
The same applies to the proportion of innards – the ratio of these components is similar in prey animal. Plus they seem to be extremely popular with canids living in the wild as these parts are consumed first. Innards are valuable nutrient providers. They are the main source of all vitamins the dog needs and additionally supply many minerals and trace minerals. If the proportion of innards is reduced too much, these nutrients are missing. If increased – perhaps for cost reasons – the nutrients are overdosed.
The plant-based portion is also understandable because wild-living canids eat herbs, ripe fruits or the faeces of other animals as well as leftover food in the intestines of the prey. Thus, the plant component in BARF mimics the raw fibre content in the diet of a wild-living canid and also provides secondary plant substances.
High-quality oils, cod liver oil or things like seaweed (ascophyllum nodosum) are fed because our pets are usually not fed with meat from species-appropriate animal farming and/or because they spend the majority of their time in our homes and therefore they are not exposed to sunlight all day such as it is the case with their wild-living relatives. Additionally, it is not the complete prey animal that is being fed. For example, the thyroid gland (in which over 80 % of the iodine in the body is bound) is omitted, because of the hormones. This could lead to certain deficiencies, which are being compensated through additives.
Of course, it doesn't matter whether the dog gets 50 % muscle meat or plus/minus 5 % of it or whether it is exactly 15 % innards or perhaps only 10 %. In nature, there are no exact numbers either and there are no manuals for the canids lying around which part of the prey they should consume. But the approximate adherence to the ratios is important to ensure that all nutrients are covered.
In a nutshell, BARF isn't just a random assortment of raw ingredients, it's a well thought through dietary concept. If you like, read about how BARF ist different from "raw feeding" here.
I hope, this helped!
🐾 Doreen 🐾
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