Vegetables

Vegetables, especially dark green leafy veg are an important addition to your raw fed dog's diet. They provide important antioxidants eg sulforaphane (from dark leafy greens) which is needed to help the body remove AGEs (advanced glycation end products, which can lead to inflammation and tumours over time).

Some sad carrots

Today I saw this cauliflower (which is for my tea)

and

so set about transforming the cauliflower leaves and the carrots into easily digestible additions for my dog's bowl.

Veg roughly chopped and gently cooking

Dogs have a much shorter digestive tract than humans, so chopping and gently cooking the veg gives them a head start on breaking down the cell walls to release the nutrients within.

Veg ready to open freeze after blitzing in the food processer

Next I tipped the lightly cooked veg into my food processer to make them into much smaller pieces before spreading on a baking tray to open freeze.

Tomorrow I'll pour this into a bag to store in the freezer. Each 1kg block of frozen 80:10:10 I get out will have a generous handful of the veg added to the glass tupperware as it defrosts. I'll add a heaped tablespoonful to the edge of each meal.

I also add small amounts (less than a tsp) of chopped herbs from the garden to some of the meals - this time of year means oregano and mint. Don't stir them in - place NEXT to the food so your dog has the opportunity to eat them, or leave them.

The German chamomile is just coming into flower, so I will be popping a few flower heads next to the food and watch carefully to see if they are consumed or rejected.

With the knowledge I now have of plants as medicine, and how animals will self select the plants their body needs, I would never stir additions in to food, always offer them separately or to the side of the bowl. This is knows as Applied Zoopharmacognosy. Check out the blog I wrote on this here - https://www.holisticvetnorfolk.com/post/applied-zoopharmacognosy

If a dog is given medicinal plants it does not need, then the liver and kidneys have to do unesscessary work to break down and eliminate the powerful chemical constituents within. Don't stir them in - give your animal agency to choose.