We’ve long known that raw meaty bones are the essential toothbrush, dental floss, food and medicine for carnivores, whether wild, feral or domestic. Basic definitions tell us that; observation tells us that; experimental evidence tells us that.
No one who switches their dog/cat/ferret’s diet from junk food to raw meaty bones ever switches back. Well, almost no one. Due to the absence of information on the rapidity with which calculus builds up on the teeth of dogs previously fed raw meaty bones, we decided to conduct a short trial.
The experiment involved taking four of our own dogs and abruptly stopping their raw meaty bones diet and switching them over to a diet exclusively of commercial pet food. Simultaneously we took blood samples before and after the trial.
We were looking for correlations between blood parameters including white cell counts, C-reactive protein (CRP) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and the clinical assessments of the participants.
Unfortunately, in the small sample population, the blood readings were random and failed to provide clues. However, there was no mistaking the behavioural changes, the changes in faecal output and the accumulation of dental tartar after just 17 days.
Given the strong clinical correlations, it seems highly probable that with bigger sample populations and a bigger research budget important information can be discovered for the benefit of pets and people the world over.
