Gluten is the sticky protein that is found in wheat, oats, rye and barley. Hence the word "glutinous", meaning something sticky. It is the ingredient in the above mentioned grains that Coeliac's are allergic to, they cannot digest it, and have to then eat gluten-free bread, cake, biscuits etc. made from rice flour, potato flour, corn flour or whatever.

It isn't always the gluten in these grains that we and other animals can be allergic to. I have a wheat sensitivity, and have to avoid it if at all possible. I personally would never give a dog any grain at all, not even rice, because it is far too high in carbohydrate. Dogs should only have approx 3% carb in their daily diet, and they will get this from organ meat, lean meat, bone and particularly from liver. It is totally unnatural for a dog to eat large quantities of grain, although in the wild they will eat pre-digested grain from the stomach of their herbivorous prey, but this will be in much smaller quantities of course.

Hence of course the BARF diet, or raw food diet, low in carb. I personally consider kibble to be poison for dogs, and would never ever feed it.

I read that tomatoes are bad for dogs that have existing joint problems (eg arthritis) as are potatoes.

Thanks for that info Gnasher.
I personally do not consider kibble to be poison for dogs, there is to much science behind it. And if it were true, consider the lawsuit to follow - every dead dog who ate kibble within the statute of limitation.

I think of it as military K-rations. Survivable, but not to live of.

So why do so many feed kibble? They are the victims of clever marketing.

Nav

Thanks. I'm not trying to hijack this thread, so my apologies to the thread owner, but could you expand on your answer please. Are tomatos OK for dogs without arthritis?

Nav

I just found this on http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dtreat.html. It's apparently written by a vet (but then again, we know they don't get much training on dog nutrition. There again there is a difference in something being toxic and something that will make an existing condition worse.

I really wish I could remember where I read it, but I'm pretty sure it was that dogs who have arthritis shoudn't have tomato. Then again, it's probably the same as everythin - it's fine in moderation.

Sorry I can't be more help.

RE kibble: I agree with Nav, dog can survive on kibble but it's not the best food for it to be eating. Many dogs do eat commercial food all their lives, but most owners will never see the difference feeding a prey model diet makes (mostly because of clever marketing).

If only it were that simple Nav ! But it's proving it. How can you prove that the such and such a disease or condition was caused by kibble? And it would never be that clear cut or simple either.

The way I look at it is that Nature is never wrong. If wolves ate kibble, then I would give my dog kibble. Wolves and wild dogs eat raw food, end of story as far as I am concerned ! Hundreds of thousands of years of evolution cannot be wrong. Dogs can indeed survive on kibble, and survive for many years. "Survive" not "thrive". Man can survive on Macdonalds, never ever eating a piece of fresh fruit or veg, but we would be appallingly unhealthy if we did ... fat, spotty, bad breath, rotten teeth, to mention just a few problems.

Clever marketing indeed has a lot to answer for !!