About Feeding Fresh Fruits

Mom feeds us with our organic raw pureed plant (seeds, fruits, veg) based foods a couple of hours before our organic raw meants/bones/organs/egg meal everyday. Why? This is a good site as to the reason why... (but we've been fed veg with fruits for years now though... and seen fine with it)

Information about Fruits

About Detoxification (scroll down towards the end for more info!)

About Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)
Regarding this, Mom will blog more about the dangers of feeding fish oil capsules very soon. If you really really believe in feeding fish oils, please only do so in the form of RAW fishes. BUT, also do take into consideration the level of mercury present in today's fishes. For us, Mom would rather feed us organic plant-based oils (in the form of hydrated Organic Chia Seeds) containing both omega 3 & 6 (100% FREE of mercury) rather than raw fishes which contain high mercury levels... & mercury poisoning is no joke when you're talkin about us small dogs (a fraction of an adult human's weight eating fishes OR fish oil capsules their whole life. We will blog more about this later on. Meanwhile, here is a short para taken off the site:

''EFA's help bring oxygen to the body, increase the metabolic rate, strengthen the vital energy of the body, protect nerves and play a crucial role in healing and preventing of disease.
There are two essential fatty acids. They are known as linolenic (omega–3) and linoleic acid (omega–6).
Omega 3 is found in fewer foods than Omega 6. If you were to eat only one food to obtain these EFA's, then the best overall source and choice is hemp seed — although chia seeds are now popular too.''

Here is a list of mercury level in fishes which pregnant women are adviced to AVOID, much less us dogs! Remember, we (small dogs) are only a fraction of your weight... so what would harm humans would definitely have an effect of AT LEAST 10 times MORE on us!

Info abt fruits taken off the website:

Fruits should be fed at least 30 minutes before and at least 2 hours after the feeding of a main meal.

You do not want to feed fruits with meats or vegetables because fruits use different digestive enzymes. Therefore, combining fruits with other foods creates bad digestion. Bad digestion essentially means that the food is not digested and since fruits are high in sugar, the undigested fruit then begins to putrefy leading to the growth of bad bacteria and other related health problems.

Fruit is, for the most part, digested rather quick and so feeding fruit at least 30 minutes before a main meal allows the fruit to be digested enough to not cause any problems. Although I prefer to feed fruits at least 60 minutes before a main meal is fed.

Feeding fruits at least 2 hours after a main meal is fed helps ensure the main meal is digested enough to ensure the fruit doesn't cause any problems.

Fruit is high in sugar. Bananas are exceptionally high in sugar.

When feeding fruit to our pets we must not feed them as if they are human. It is better to feed fruit in small amounts according to their size. For example, a small Chihuahua will be eating too much fruit if you feed it a whole banana. Conversely, a big Rottweiler will laugh if you feed it a small piece of banana.

A Chihuahua should eat maybe only 5 - 10% of the human amount whereas a Rottweiler, due to its size could eat a whole banana or piece of fruit.

So when feeding fruit, feed it responsibly and it proportions that match the size of your pet.

Fruits have many wonderful benefits but these benefits must be balanced by an awareness that excess sugar, regardless of its form, is not good. Fruits contain fruit sugar but it's a still a sugar even though it is naturally occurring and in its natural, whole state.

Some will even tell you that our pets should never have any fruit at all. But myself, having watched dogs (not so much cats) naturally eat strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, fallen apples, etc, I am not as strict about the feeding of fruit. Essentially, some will say that our pets are carnivores and as a result, they are meant to have a high protein and low carbohydrates / low sugar diet. Some will say the carbohydrates should totally be non–existent. While these people raise valid points, I still personally feed fruit but not every day, not even every second day — but maybe once a week or so and when I do feed fruits, I feed in small amounts.

(For the below, Mom will only paste info about those fruits she feeds us with. For more info on other fruits, please head over to the site itself)

Apple:

This ancient fruit is said to help calm the digestive system. Apple is said also to have the ability to help the body absorb calcium and iron from other foods. A tea made by steeping apple peels is said to be excellent for the kidneys. If your dog doesn't like apples then try feeding it with the peel removed. Some dogs won't eat apples unless the peel is removed.

Melons:

Melons are an excellent source of naturally purified water. This in turn is said to help the kidneys and elimination.

Papaya:

A good source of vitamins A, C, and E; calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Papaya is said to be a good source of digestive properties to soothe the stomach. While dehydrated papaya is popular among dogs, it is ultimately high in sugar. In fact, any dehydrated fruit is very high in sugar and so only feed a small amount and better yet, none at all. If you are feeding fresh papaya, don't feed too much as it is a natural bowel cleanser.