THE WESTERN WEEKENDER

Food for health… Local Tom Lonsdale's new book says pet owners can improve their animal's health with natural food.

Local Tom Lonsdale has been creating a stir amongst veterinarians worldwide with his new book "Raw Meaty Bones Promote Health". Dr Lonsdale, who formerly ran a veterinary clinic in the local area, has lost favour in his profession and with pet food manufacturers since publishing his findings that carnivores like pet dogs, cats and ferrets are "ill-suited" to a diet of processed meat and cereal - as provided through manufactured pet food. In fact, Dr Lonsdale says pet food diets are making many animals sick. "I say when you give pets the wrong food it's like having the wrong oil in your car tank - when it's encrusted with foul stuff everything starts to pack up," he said. "They get heart, liver and skin disease and owners incur huge costs. "Vets usually fix the symptoms not the problem, then tell the owner to bring their pet in every six months to get their teeth cleaned but the thing is their teeth should be cleaned every day by the food they eat." And Dr Lonsdale says this is the crux of the problem. According to his research, pet food gets caught in the animals' teeth and causes dental disease, which leads to an array of health problems. Dr Lonsdale says what animals really need is a diet of fresh water, table scraps and raw meaty bones including fish, chicken necks and wings, animal carcasses and offal. "It takes a lot of effort to get through a raw meaty bones," said Tom. "It's hard work so the saliva starts flowing and the bones clean the teeth but the reality for the majority of pets is that their pet food gets slurped down so they get indigestion and debris caught between their teeth." Dr Lonsdale said clean teeth also means no more stinking dog breath and there are other benefits to feeding your pet a diet of raw meaty bones. "Natural food is about one third of the cost of manufactured pet food so you can cheaply bring about good health in your pet," he said. "Without being vulgar, the animal's poo is also about one third of the volume produced when feeding pet food and this turns chalky white in the sun and crumbles away so there is no mess." While Dr Lonsdale hasn't won many friends in the pet food industry with his book, it has been endorsed by a number of leading veterinarians and pet owners who have tried the diet. If you're a pet owner you can find out more about Dr Lonsdale's feeding schedules and book (and order one) at www.rawmeatybones.com. Photo by Peter Veith. By-line: by Leisha-Mae Lang