Well, no.

Let’s say the average lifespan of a human is 80 years (give or take based on average lifespans of western countries).

We often consider the average lifespan of a dog, again in western countries, as between 10 and 13 years.

If we take the average of that, as 11 and a half years, then one dog year will amount to roughly seven human years.

As a pet nutritionist I would of course pick holes in that. Many holes, in fact, as that average lifespan of a dog is based on most dogs eating a diet which is far from healthy – kibble – and poor quality kibble at that.

That makes me wonder, what would the average lifespan of a dog be if our dogs were fed a truly healthy diet?

Many dogs have lived into their 20s, which would roughly equate to 4 dog years to 1 human year, or in some cases 3 dog years to 1 human year!

Let’s explore this topic a little further, as it may help us realise our dogs could be much healthier if we fed them a better diet!

What are the maximum lifespans of dogs, and why is this important?

Our first consideration is how long can a dog live for?

The reason this is important, is in relation to humans it can be far longer than what we consider “average”.

Let’s prove that by considering the lifespans of these dogs:

• Bluey, an American Cattle Dog. Born in Victoria, America, Bluey reached 29 years and 5 months, having spent 20 of those years working on a farm.
• Taffy, a Welsh Collie in the UK, who reportedly lived to 27 years. We don’t know much about his lifestyle, although his age is well-documented.
• Butch, a Beagle in the United States who made the Guinness Book for living 28 years.
• Bramble, a Border Collie in the UK who lived to 25 years. Bramble is a legend amongst the vegan community who often refer to her as “the oldest dog in the world”, as she had a diet reportedly of rice, lentils, and organic vegetables (not that I recommend you feed this to your dog).
• And finally, Adjutant, a Labrador Retriever born in the UK in 1936 (way before mainstream kibble), who lived 27 years and 3 months.

Let’s take the average lifespan of those dogs, approximately 27 years, and multiply it by seven – that would mean a human could live to 189 years!

We know that’s not true! Not yet, anyway!

The question this leave us is this – what is the real average lifespan of a dog?

Or from my viewpoint, what is the real average lifespan of a dog if we fed them properly?

You know most “dog food” is inappropriate processed junk food, right?

Why did these dogs live so long?

As a pet nutritionist I hope you can forgive me for jumping to the conclusion of diet as the reason the above dogs lived so much longer than the average dog.

However, what I found interesting – and I expect you will to – is the diets of these dogs and other dogs who have lived far longer than expected.

Consider the following:

• Bluey – Combined with the physical exercise of living and working on a farm, Bluey’s diet was reportedly locally sourced meat such as kangaroo and beef, supplemented with farm-based scraps.
• Taffy – With little information of Taffy’s diet, it is expect as a working dog his diet was similar to Bluey’s, likely high-quality meat scraps, scraps, and possibly some vegetables.
• Butch – Given the time period, Butch would’ve likely had a diet of fresh meats and home-prepared table scraps, combined with being a typically energetic Beagle.
• Bramble – I confess Bramble as a surprise outlier for me having been fed a vegan diet, but the important point to note is this was an organic homemade diet.
• Adjutant – Again an active breed, Adjuntant lived during a time when processed dog food wasn’t common. His diet, like many dogs of the time, would’ve likely been fresh game meat, offal, bones, and other table scraps.

You may note two interesting factors here – (1) all were active breeds, who likely lived an active life, and (2) none were fed processed dog foods.

To further reinforce this observation, let’s consider a few more:

• Bobi, a Rafeiro do Alentejo in Portugal, who allegedly became the oldest dog ever at 31 years (although this could not be factually proven). Bobi’s owners credited his longevity to a natural diet of human food – farm-fresh produce, human-grade meat, and no processed pet food whatsoever.
• Maggie, a Kelpie in America, who lived an unverified 30 years, who reportedly ate a diet of fresh, locally source meat, milk, and vegetables. Like some of the other dogs above, Maggie also had an active life on a farm.

Do you find it interesting none of the above dogs were fed processed kibble, or processed dog food in general?

It makes you wonder why processed pet foods are so heavily endorsed by veterinarians, breeders, and all manner of advertising campaigns as being the best and healthiest option for our pets.

What is the average lifespan of a human, and why does it vary per country?

Let’s consider the other aspect which allows us to gauge how many dog years per human year – the average lifespan of us.

Forgive me for ruling out big parts of the world, but for the sake of simplicity here are some average human lifespans within western countries (source: statisticstimes.com):

• America – 84.06 years.
• United Kingdom – 81.45 years.
• United States – 79.46 years.
• Switzerland – 84.09 years.
• France – 83.46 years.
• Monaco – 87.14 years.

From this it’s clear the average person will live to 80+, but it doesn’t take much to realise many factors affect how long we live. Diet and lifestyle are clearly important factors, but also healthcare, infrastructure, environment, sanitation, education, and so much more.

I included Monaco as an interesting one, because I a loose conclusion would be wealthy people have access to better quality foods, better health care, and likely live healthier lives in general.

Healthy food is expensive, right?

Having visited Monaco recently I also discovered local pet shops would stock expensive brands such as ACANA, Orijen, and an ultra-premium German brand Terra Canis which is outstanding despite an eye-watering price tag of $15+ per can based on the price it was selling for!

Without citing scientific journals (I prefer to use common sense rather than the dubious hypotheses which rarely prove what you believe they do), let’s consider the following – Would you think a daily diet of processed food would shorten or lengthen your lifespan compared to a diet of premium healthy foods, meat, and vegetables?

It makes sense, right?

Eat healthy, live longer.

What is the real average lifespan of a dog?

So, what if most dogs are in the “processed food diet” category?

In my experience they generally and undeniably are, and it doesn’t take much in the way of investigation to realise that’s the case.

I watched a movie last week (Canary Black) where a conversation about getting a dog resulted in “they’re easy, they eat kibble”, and another movie (A Man Called Otto) which showed a family feeding their dog birthday cake. These are observations I make all of the time, but can you recall seeing anything on mainstream media where a dog is fed flesh, organs, and bones?

Do you wonder what the average lifespan of dogs would be if they weren’t fed processed pet foods, and were fed real foods made of meat, organs, bones, eggs, fresh veggies, and healthy oils?

Would it still be 10 to 13 years, or would it be much higher?

Keeping in mind most kibble is processed grains, scraping through regulations with the minimum amount of poor quality meat and some powdered form of vitamins and minerals, ask yourself the following:

What if we didn’t have reams of processed kibble concocted from cheap cereal grains and sprinkled with dubious vitamin/mineral powders bought from dubious overseas suppliers?

What is the average lifespan of a dog fed a kibble made mostly of meat compared to one made mostly of artificially preserved and coloured wheat?

What is the average lifespan of a dog fed a nutritious raw food diet of flesh, muscle meat, organs, and bones?

We don’t have clear answers to these questions.

They fall into a grey area as there is little support for “science” such as this. Answers in these areas are often anecdotal and usually observational.

Did you know most research into our pets, and the nutritional needs of dogs and cats, is led and/or funded by pet food companies?

Because of the many unanswered questions, and a scientific black hole because pet food companies have no interest in researching what would negatively impact their profits, I ask you to consider what the real lifespan of a dog could be when fed a truly healthy diet?

10 to 13 years?

15 to 20 years?

Or going by the examples above, perhaps more?

What is a true representation of dog years to human years?

Let’s say we (1) took the average age of a human to be 80 years.

Let’s also say (2) we abolished the pet food aisle and replaced it with whole prey meat, organs, and raw meaty bones (the ultimate wish of my veterinarian friend Dr Tom Lonsdale author of Multi-Billion-Dollar Pet Food Fraud who I have a great deal of respect for).

To offer a different viewpoint on the “7 dog years to 1 human year” assumption, let’s consider the average lifespan of a dog to be higher – 16, 20, or 25 years?

This would give the following dog years to human years conversions:

• 16 years – 5 dog years for every human year.
• 20 years – 4 dog years for every human year.
• 25 years – 3.2 dog years for every human year.

It makes you think, doesn’t it?

Let’s hope true research into feeding our dogs a healthy diet rather than a processed diet can prove what will remain only a theory, but ask yourself – What is the true average lifespan of a dog?, as only then can you determine an accurate calculation of dog years to human years.

Other considerations which affect how we calculate dog years against human years

In this article we’ve looked at dog years to human years as a mere average human lifespan divided by average dog lifespan, but there are factors I purposefully haven’t taken into account.

During the puppy phase, your dog will mature at a faster rate than any human.

To put this simply, a male dog can reach sexual maturity from 6 months. Using the 7 dog years to 1 human years calculation that would mean a male human would be sexually active from 3.5 years. In turn, a female dog can fall pregnant from 6 months as well.

Small dog breeds develop much faster than large dog breeds. Smaller breeds also live longer – a Chihuahua has an average lifespan of 15 to 20 (based on an average kibble diet?), and a Great Dane between 7 to 10 years.

Dogs develop very rapidly in their early years compared to humans who, how do we put this, are a little slower.

That said, dogs reach adulthood earlier, and that rapid initial development tails off. Their aging process slows down.

Humans, on the other hand, have a far more gradual aging process.

Because of these non-linear factors, we often speculate the following timeframes are more accurate:

• First year of a dog’s life = 15 human years.
• Second year = 9 human years.
• Subsequent years = 4-5 human years.

This approach more accurately reflects the life stages of your dog compared to us humans, but let me leave you with the open question – How long could your dog possible live if you feed them a truly healthy diet?

What are your thoughts?

Is a dog a carnivore or omnivore? What do you think?

It’s a debate which has become very muddy over the years, unfortunately in part from corporate-led marketing (aka “science”) with a conflict of interest (or in layman’s terms – driven by profit, not your dog).

When a dog’s digestive system is closer to that of an obligate carnivore cat, and molecular biology proves cats and dogs have a much more recent ancestor than us and them, it makes you wonder why we’re so readily convinced our domestic dogs are omnivores like us.

It certainly serves pet food companies well if we class dogs as omnivores. It allows dog foods to be made of cheaper ingredients, which in turn generates far greater profits.

In this article we’ll look at some fairly simple and logical facts which tell us what the biological make-up of our dogs really is.

As a fun exercise – write down on a piece of paper (or back of your mind) whether you think a dog is a carnivore or omnivore, and let’s see if you’re right.

Carnivore vs omnivore – what is the real question?

I was prompted to write this article having read a message from a person dictating I had no credibility to review pet foods because I refer to dogs as carnivores (or “essentially carnivorous”).

The person, who happened to be a professional in the veterinary industry, stated with utter certainty that a dog was an omnivore in the same manner a flat-earther would say “The Earth is flat”.

So, are dogs carnivores or omnivores?

Let’s discuss…

There’s some very straightforward reasoning to help you decide for yourself whether your pet dog is an omnivore (like us) or a carnivore (like a cat, fox, or wolf). I’ll add some facts in the FAQ at the end, but will skirt over them where necessary as we go along.

Firstly, and most importantly, “omnivore” and “carnivore” aren’t buckets, more a sliding scale of what our anatomy dictates. If you consider us as omnivores, and cats as obligate carnivores (a cat depends entirely on meat for food, nutrition, and survival), where on the scale would you put a dog?

You see, the question isn’t “is a dog a carnivore or omnivore?”. The real question is “where on the omnivore to carnivore scale is a dog?”

I knocked up an illustration in Paint for us to ponder:

It seems clear to me dogs have more similarities with cats than us humans. You only need to look as far as their teeth and shape of their jaws to understand this. Knowledge of their digestive system and ability to absorb nutrients from meat far more efficiently than those from grains simply solidifies this (see the FAQ section on coefficient of fermentation).

Personally, based on my knowledge and reasoning, I consider a dog fundamentally a carnivore. The term “scavenging carnivore” often used with dogs is apt, and they will scavenge and eat foods which aren’t meat. Some of these foods are even beneficial to their health and well-being (so they’re omnivores, right..?).

But, facts are facts, they’re still much closer to cats on the omnivore to carnivore scale than they are to us humans.

So why is it many people so religiously believe dogs are omnivores rather than carnivores? There are many reasons for this, and sadly the pet food industry, pet food marketing, and “scientific research” (yes, those quotes are using irony) has convinced us something which is very dubious if we take the time to consider it for only 5 seconds. These are the same reasons we feed cats (obligate carnivores) corn and wheat, and pay for it in vet bills and heartbreak later.

Using my knowledge of dogs in comparison to humans, cats, wolves, and goats, this is my representation of where I believe dogs lie on the omnivore to carnivore scale, creatively engineered with Paint, Comic Sans, and Emojis:

Were you thinking the same..?

You may have noted the farmyard photo at the top of the page. If you didn’t, scroll up and take a look before coming back down here. Does it strike you as odd why the dogs are ripping apart that meat instead of eating the grass? Nope, probably not – dogs instinctively eat meat and we know it.

So what do you think? There’s still a fair bit more to this article, but if you’re about to head off for a surf then before you go let us know your thoughts in the comments below – Is a dog a carnivore or an omnivore?

Did you know a major factor in the “is a dog a carnivore or omnivore” debate is Mars, Nestle, and Colgate-Palmolive (yep, chocolate bar and shampoo companies)?

Sit tight, things will get a little bit more controversial from now on…

The influence of pet food marketing on the carnivore vs omnivore debate

Do you have a tin foil hat? Put it on…

It can never be underestimated how much influence pet food manufacturers have on a fundamental question such as whether a dog is a carnivore or omnivore. A dog food can be made from meat (expensive) or grains (very cheap), and the profit margin of the latter is the #1 reason almost every pet food on the market is made mostly from grains. If they’re not from grains they’re made from potatoes, tapioca, peas, or some other non-meat ingredient – anything but meat (read our reviews if you don’t believe me).

Most leading brands of pet foods are made by the same three incredibly powerful conglomerates – Mars, Nestle, and Colgate-Palmolive. Pedigree, Optimum, Royal Canin, Hill’s, Purina, My Dog, and so many others are brand names from these three conglomerates. I can stand in a pet food aisle in the supermarket and name every manufacturer, and it reads like “Mars, Nestle, Mars, Mars, Nestle”, and in your local veterinary practice it would be “Mars, Colgate-Palmolive”.

These conglomerates have created a very well oiled and extremely lucrative marketing machine, and they feed consumers whatever information they desire, for profit, and not necessarily your pet. It is, after all, just business…

If you don’t believe pet food manufacturers feed us whatever spin they want us to believe, then here’s a snippet from Google when you search for “Are dogs a carnivore or omnivore?”:

Even the statement “A Balanced Diet For Dogs Includes Grains” in the above image is dubious marketing.

It’s not just Nestle Purina, it’s Colgate-Palmolive Hill’s, Mars Advance, Optimum, My Dog… they’re all well and truly in the “dog is an omnivore” camp, irrespective of their teeth, digestive system, ancestry, or clear-as-day behavioural traits.

How odd is that?

Well, odd, but perhaps not surprising from companies who sell “corn for cats”.

Not only do these conglomerates have a crazy amount of money to influence us as consumers, they likely own your local veterinary practice too.

It’s also likely your vet studied coursework provided to the university by those conglomerates, and learned in their final year of vet studies that Condition X requires a specific diet of Y, and Scientific Brand Z is formulated for this condition. They were possibly even taught by a lecturer on the payroll of one of those conglomerates.

Conflict of interest?

In the case of Mars, there’s even Mars Pet Care University which vets can study from. Universities need money, right, and pet food manufacturers are ready and willing to offer large sums of money in sponsorship. As I mentioned earlier, it’s just business.

Oh, and if your veterinary practice isn’t owned by a pet food manufacturer, it will probably be owned by a pet food retailer.

An infographic for you to share – how to decide if your dog is a carnivore or omnivore?

Right, I have a favour to ask. Putting together the reviews on this website takes me forever and a day. I rely on you guys as readers to get the word out, either by sharing or verbally telling people. In this instance I made something arty for you to share, use on your website (with a reference), or stick on the wall of your pet shop or veterinary practice.

Here you go, “Is Your Dog a Carnivore or Omnivore – The Definitive Test“

A carnivore vs omnivore FAQ

Obviously the carnivore vs omnivore debate is far from simple, and evidence suggests many non-meat ingredients can be of benefit to a dog (we discuss these in all our reviews), but here’s a few frequently asked questions with a no-nonsense answer:

A final summary

Our reviews have a great deal of emphasis on a cat being an obligate carnivore and a dog being, well, pretty much a carnivore as well. This is in stark contrast to pet food companies who decade after decade pump out brand after brand of grain or potato-based dog and cat foods. Unfortunately the big pet food players also control most of the science around pet nutrition, and they’re very reluctant to release any science which hurts their almighty profit margins.

But if you find yourself wondering if pet food manufacturers and their reams of research are right, then ask yourself this – why do they market their grain or potato-based pet foods as meat, with succulent chicken or lamb in mouth-watering imagery on the front of every bag?

The purpose of the reviews on this website are to offer simple undisputable logical facts and hopefully trigger a thought process.

To end this dog carnivore omnivore rambling, I’d like to say thank you for reading, I hope it’s been an interesting read, and if it has…. please tell others, share the infographic, and read our reviews!

If you’re still confused with whether a dog is an omnivore or carnivore, then perhaps consider them a facultative carnivore – an animal which is essentially a carnivore, with a primary focus on a prey diet, but may also eat non-meat foods. Makes sense, right?

:offers:

We hope you’ve enjoyed this article. Are dogs carnivores or omnivores?

And no, I didn’t have that money spare in my bank account.

In this guide to pet insurance in America we’ll take a look at why you may need pet insurance, tips to keep the cost down, and I’ll recommend who I’m insured with and why.

Do I need pet insurance?

It’s a question with no simple answer. We all have our own personal situation, pets of various ages and health, and of course finances play a big part.

Generally speaking, pet insurance is a good idea if you can afford it, especially when you consider the potential cost of veterinary care when things go wrong.

Here are average veterinary costs for some common issues affecting American pets in 2026:

• Snake bite – between $1,000 and $23,000.
• Tick paralysis – between $1,000 and $23,000.
• Lymphoma (a common cancer in America) – between $2,000 and $15,000.
• Skin allergies – between $1,000 and $7,000.

These figures, compiled by Statista, merely highlight the financial costs, not the emotional costs when your pet suffers such an illness or accident.

Pet insurance can help you pay for unexpected vet bills in the event of any of the above. This can be a lifesaver if you’re unable to cover the costs yourself.

Some insurance policies also reimburse some of the costs of routine care, vet visits, and vaccinations.

Ultimately, whether you take out pet insurance depends on your personal situation, but if you can afford it, it’s worth doing.

What percentage of Americans insure their pets?

According to a 2026 survey by Animal Medicines America, we take care of 28.7 million pets in America.

In fact, 6.9 million American households have at least one pet, which is a whopping 68% of American households. That’s a lot of pet-loving Aussies, so well done for being one of them!

When it comes to pet insurance only 30% of dog owners are insured, and 21% of cat owners. That means millions of pets aren’t insured, and won’t benefit from insurance cover if the worst happens.

Is pet insurance in America expensive?

A common gripe with pet insurance is cost. So let’s take at the reasons why:

First off, the cost of pet insurance in America is aligned with the rising cost of veterinary care. In recent years new technologies and treatments have been developed, which despite being very effective also come at a greater cost.

Most pet insurance policies reimburse a large percentage of these costs, so these are factored in to your monthly premiums.

As treatment is so costly for pets who need it, the insurance companies need to divide the cost among all policy holders. That means your premiums may cover the cost of others, but if the worst happens to your pet then you’re covered.

For another perspective, let’s take a look at what most Americans spend on pet insurance, and find out if it’s really as expensive as you may think.

The average cost of pet insurance in America

According to Moneysmart, the average cost of pet insurance in America sits between $20 to $60 per month, which equates to as little as $240 per year, to $720 a year. To put that into perspective, the average yearly cost of veterinary expenses is $450, and that doesn’t include flea, tick, or worming treatments which some policies cover.

When you look at it that way, it makes more sense protecting your pet against health risks by taking out an insurance policy, and some of those policies additionally cover you for routine care.

How to save money on pet insurance

The cost of pet insurance depends on a variety of factors, including the type of pet, your location, and the amount of coverage you need. The amount of coverage you take out directly affects the cost of the policy.

One way to keep the cost of pet insurance down is to choose a policy with a high deductible (excess). This means you’re more out-of-pocket if your pet needs medical care, but your monthly premiums can be much lower.

There are various types of policy available, so do your research and find one which best suits your needs. Some policies offer comprehensive coverage while others may only cover certain types of treatments or illnesses.

Another way to keep the cost of pet insurance down is to enroll in a Wellness Plan. These programs are available from some vets and pet stores and help pay for routine wellness care such as vaccinations and check-ups. By enrolling in one of these programs, you can save money on your pet insurance policy.

Shopping around for the best deal on pet insurance is well worth doing, but make sure you read the small print and know what you’ll be covered for.

UPDATE: ASIC Puts a Stop Order on Hollard Insurance (June 2023) – Around 80% of American Pet Insurers

Please note: On 29th June 2023 ASIC issued 38 DDO stop orders for pet insurance products that relate to 67 pet insurance products issued by The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd and PetSure (America) Pty Ltd.

This is inclusive of some of the insurance policies listed below:

The stop orders relate to pet insurance products issued by the insurers via brands including Woolworths, RSPCA, Petbarn, Guide Dogs, Medibank, Bupa and HCF. 

ASIC

Bow Wow Meow is also a Hollard Insurance Company product.

The reason for the stop orders is because these insurance policies are “pay upfront”, which means you must pay the full amount of medical treatment before submitting a claim for a partial refund. ASIC has stated concerns this type of policy hasn’t considered the financial situations of us as consumers, and how many policy owners may not be aware they will need to pay in full upfront.

Out of the below pet insurance companies, my top recommendation at the current time is PetsOnMe.

You can find more information on the ASIC media release, or view the following update from Sky News:

What pet insurance policy do I have, and why?

Note: Please consider the following “on hold” in respect to the above ASIC situation.

After losing my dog Archie to lymphoma a few years ago, I did a lot of research and decided to take out pet insurance with Bow Wow Meow for my other dog and cat. I haven’t looked back, the monthly premiums equate to a few coffees, and as it’s debited from my account just after pay day I barely notice it.

Bow Wow Meow

Here’s why I opted for Bow Wow Meow:

We didn’t know where to start so got a few quotes from major players, the likes of RSPCA and Woolworths. I wasn’t keen on the latter having found out my home insurance policy had risen over $100 year on year for five years despite zero claims (so much for customer loyalty!). RPSCA seem decent enough, but Bow Wow came in cheaper.

I found excellent reviews for Bow Wow Meow, and I found a lot of positivity from those who had needed payouts.

One lady, who’s dog had also been diagnosed with lymphoma, gave a glowing report. Bow Wow Meow had covered 80% of the cost of IV chemotherapy, and thankfully for her the dog was in remission and living a happy life. For most without insurance, the cost of IV chemotherapy is staggering, making the only financially viable option prednisolone as palliative care.

Whatever pet insurance you have, no matter who the policy is with, it would be good to hear what you think and what experience you’ve had. Do you think pet insurance in America is worth the money, or too expensive? Say so in the comments below!

Other pet insurance providers in America

Here are a list of other pet insurance providers in America. If you have experience with any of these please say so in the comments, and over time I will update this list to hopefully benefit others:

Pet Circle Insurance

2026 has seen Pet Circle branch out into pet insurance. As a new option I don’t have much feedback, but I must say Pet Circle have been my go to retailer for pet food for many years – they’re reliable, transparent, and have always been very competitive on price.

If you’ve used Pet Circle Insurance please let me know your experience – I feed this could be a good option.

PetsOnMe

PetsOnMe haven’t been around very long as an American pet insurance provider, but feedback so far has been excellent!

You’ll often find smaller companies provide a better service with more loyalty, and they’re the only pet insurance provider in America to offer 100% payout of eligible vets bills (minus your chosen excess).

If you’re keen PetsOnMe I have a special offer! Using this link you’ll get 2 months free for a pet under 1yr, or 1 month free if they’re older than a year!

RSPCA

We’ve all heard of RSPCA – they’re a pretty big company these days. It therefore comes as no surprise how many American pet owners opt for RSPCA for their pet insurance.

Feedback seems pretty good from most people with RSPCA cover, although it seems a few have hit hurdles when making a claim. In one example birth records were requested which the policy holder didn’t have, but this appears to be the exception rather than the rule.

When comparing pet insurance policies in America I found RSPCA to be slightly higher than others, but you should have some reassurance buying a policy from a fairly reputable company.

Pet Insurance America

Pet Insurance America are another big player and seem to have a good reputation, but from doing some digging it seems most positive feedback comes from the ease of setting up the policy, but there seems to be some negativity from those who’ve ran into complications making a claim. One long term customer mentioned the year on year increases in her premium, which seemed more excessive than her other insurance policies which rose more inline with inflation.

BUPA

I’m sure most of us have heard of BUPA, being a premium private health care insurer. There doesn’t seem to be as much feedback as yet with their pet insurance, but what I did find was fairly negative. One pet owner mentions how BUPA took one vet visit as two separate claims, charging an excess for both. As a result, the reimbursement was a mere $6.56. Another pet owner speaks of how many excuses were made by BUPA for the first claim she made over a 2 year period, which resulted in her switching insurers.

Budget Direct

There’s no denying Budget Direct offer competitive quotes, and this has been the case with their car insurance policies for many years. As yet there’s little consumer feedback, but what I could find was positive feedback about establishing the policy and the price, but again some hurdles in the event of actually making a claim.

Woolworths Pet Insurance

You may’ve read earlier the issue I had with my Woolworths home insurance, which year on year had a $100 price hike – so much for being a loyal customer!

It came as no surprise when I found many had complained about Woolworths pet insurance. Out of all pet insurance policies in America it seems to have the least consumer confidence.

Image: The cute little Border Collie “Maisy” in the image had an accident with a door at the age of 12 weeks. Thankfully she’s well on her way to recovery at the time of writing this. Just one of the reasons to have pet insurance, as accidents happen.

Related: Best Budget Dog Foods

How can you tell if a dog food brand should be avoided?

In this article I’ll give you simple tips to avoid bad dog foods which won’t help your dog be healthy.

While reading this, you may wonder why these dog foods are sold, but the reason is there’s a target market – i.e. the people who haven’t read this article yet!

We’re all very easily fooled by marketing and advertising, and it’s easy to assume a dog food must be (1) safe, and even (2) healthy, even though this may not always be the case.

In America we have some really bad dog foods. They may seem cheap in the short term, but the long term result can be a sick dog and expensive vet bills. Believe me, I’ve spoken to many who’s dogs have suffered from numerous brands of dog food (and treat products) legally sold in America.

If you’re on a tight budget, which most of us are (and isn’t something to feel guilty about), check out these tips on feeding a dog on a budget.

Let’s get started – here’s what you should avoid in a dog food, at the absolute minimum:

Avoid pet foods with cereals, cereal by-products, wheat, and wheat by-products

In America we have many dog foods which are dubbed “agri products” (agriculture products), traditionally targeted at dog owners in rural areas.

These dog foods can be marketed as “American”, “Supporting American Businesses”, appealing to you as a true blue Aussie, with a very attractive price compared to dog foods you buy in swanky pet stores in the city.

The trouble is these dog foods are formulated to make a profit, not so much for the sake of your dog’s health. But dog food is dog food, right? No, not at all – it’s a product, designed for profit. Or in other words, support the people behind those American businesses who want to take your money off you without caring too much about the health of your dog. How American is that?

Most of these products are made mostly of cereals, cereal by-products, wheat, and wheat by-products.

Sometimes they list meat first in the ingredients, then list a whole list of cereals. That tells you there really isn’t much meat in the dog food, it’s mostly garbage which your dog isn’t designed to digest.

It’s not just agri products. Some popular brands by Mars and Nestle are also made in this way, they’re just marketed more efficiently to convince you to buy them. Did you think Nestle Purina Supercoat was any good?

Why are cereals (and wheat) used in many dog foods?

We’ve established wheat and cereal grains aren’t great for our meat-loving dogs, so why are they used in so many dog foods?

You’ll even find these ingredients in cat foods, for obligate carnivore cats, so don’t go accepting any excuse from a pet food manufacturer that these ingredients are beneficial.

Grains in pet food solve what once was a costly problem.

Once upon a time, the best parts of a grain were used to make stuff like bread, for us. The rest of the grain had to be disposed, at cost.

Pet food offered a way to turn that cost into a profit – make pet food out of it.

Did you know America has a number of dog foods made by companies which aren’t traditionally pet food companies, but milling companies?

I find dog foods made of wheat and cereal by-products the most problematic. If I had a dollar every time someone came to me with an itchy dog with rashes and hotspots which completely recovered in a couple of short weeks simply by changing food…

It’s not only these grains are high-carbohydrate and harder for your dog to digest, they pose another problem too – wheat mites.

Avoid!

Oh, and many vegetable based dog foods use the same method of turning wastage into pet food. Sweet potato may sound great, but how do you know it’s not sweet potato skins. Carrot or carrot tops?

Avoid pet foods with food colourings

Your dog doesn’t care about the colour of their food, and neither should you.

I have a 3 year old, and she’s attracted to colourful foods – lollies – because she knows they’re tasty. We learn from a young age to be attracted to colourful food, and coloured pet food is no different. We want our dogs to be healthy, so why not feed them an attractive dog food?

Another reason for adding food colourings to pet food is to make them look like meat, when they don’t have much meat at all.

Ask yourself this – would you assume a can of dog food was as good if it look like mashed corn and cereal grains? No, of course not. But if it looked like meat, and we assumed it was meaty…

In my experience only the nastier foods use food colourings.

Avoid them – you already know food colourings in our foods can be unhealthy.

Avoid pet foods with low protein and fat

I mentioned earlier about pet foods being designed for profit, usually over the health of your pet.

A pet food can be made from meat (expensive), or starch/carbohydrates (cheap). It’s therefore obvious which makes the most profit from you as a consumer.

Using cheap ingredients allows some pet foods to be very cheap – which appeals to many pet owners – and still turn profits in the millions.

The problem is this – your dog, or carnivorous cat, depend on nutrition from animal protein and animal fats, and not starches, carbohydrates, sugars.

The lower the protein and fat, the higher the carbohydrates.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell from the ingredients that a dog food is high in carbohydrates. It’s not required to list a carbohydrate percentage on the label. A dog shouldn’t have too many carbs in their diet, and if they don’t burn them off they’ll turn to sugars and body fat, and we all know that doesn’t lead to optimum health.

Even when meat is the first ingredient it could be backed up by a whole load of grain ingredients which significantly outweigh the meat in the food. For example, ingredients could be listed as “Chicken By-Products, Wheat, Wheat By-Products, Corn, Corn Gluten Meal”, when all ingredients are in the same proportion. Very deceiving.

Average pet foods have a protein percentage of around 22%, and fat of around 12%. That’s not ideal, but anything less than that is best to avoid.

Decent dog foods can be found with upwards of 30% protein (from meat), and around 20% fat. This ensures far less carbs than other brands.

Avoid cheap pet foods

Yes, I know, we can’t afford swanky premium pet foods. I understand, but unfortunately we’ve been led to believe supermarket brands of pet foods – those made from cereals coloured with food dye – are the expectation when it comes to price, making us view more appropriate pet foods as expensive.

The truth is feeding our dogs and cats costs more than we could’ve believed when we took home our puppies.

Even if budget pet foods are all you can afford, try and feed your pet some fresh foods as well – meats, organs, raw meaty bones, eggs, etc.

Read more about feeding a dog or cat on a budget here.

A list of dog food brands to avoid

Above are really quick hacks to tell if a dog food is poor quality, but there are many others. If you have any thoughts on how to determine which dog food brands to avoid then leave a comment below!

Ok, if you really want that list, then these are our Worst-Rated Dog Foods in America.

But why?

It’s common for raw fed dogs to burn the lawn more than kibble fed dogs, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing other than causing frustration for us. Hydration, age, breed, health, and sex also affect how much a dog will burn the grass, and by sex I mean M or F.

In this article we’ll cover why dog’s burn the lawn and cause brown patches with their urine, and simple ways we can prevent it happening (or at least reduce the impact!)

What causes a dog’s urine to “burn” grass?

Urine burns on the lawn are caused by nitrogen in the urine of your dog. The more nitrogen in the urine, the more it will burn and kill your grass.

Some dogs have a higher concentration of nitrogen in their urine than others, for various reasons:

• Diet – If your dog is fed a high-protein diet, such as those on a high protein kibble or full raw diet, they will likely have a higher concentration of nitrogen in the urine. Protein is broken down into various components, one of which is nitrogen, and this will eventually be excreted in the urine.
• Hydration – If your dog spends more time out in the hot Aussie sun, or doesn’t drink as much as they should, this will lead to an increase in nitrogen in the urine. Encouraging your dog to drink more, and making sure they have fresh clean water at all times will help remedy this.
• Age and size – Puppies and smaller breeds tend to have a higher concentration of nitrogen in the urine simply because they produce less urine, and the waste in the urine tends to be more concentrated.
• Health conditions – Urinary tract infections and kidney problems can affect the composition of your dog’s urine, and this should always be considered.
• Sex – Male dogs can have a higher concentration of nitrogen in the urine, but this doesn’t mean a male dog will cause brown patches more than a female dog. Usually it’s the opposite.

Why does female dog urine kill grass more than a male dog?

The nitrogen concentration in a male dog’s urine tends to be greater than that of a female, but usually we find a female dog’s urine will cause more brown patches.

The simple reason for this is a male dog will often spray, usually cocking their leg all around the garden, whereas a female dog will usually empty her entire bladder in one location.

Because of this reason, it is easier to prevent a female dog burning the grass with her urine than a male dog, simply by training her to use a more appropriate spot as a toilet.

With the above out of the way, let’s take a look at solutions to help prevent urine burns on the lawn.

How to prevent dog urine burns on the lawn

There are various ways we can prevent our dogs burning the lawn with their urine. Thankfully most are easy to do.

It depends on some of the above factors about why your dog may have a higher concentration of urine, and if it’s health related (urine tract or kidney related) then a trip to your vet is the first step of a solution.

Take care of hydration

I’ll cover this first, but I’m guessing your dog already has access to fresh clean water, in a clean water bowl, at all times?

It’s very important for a dog to remain hydrated. In the summer, or hotter American climates, dogs are more prone to dehydration, especially if they’re out in the sun more than other dogs.

Keeping your dog cool, investing in a cheap-as-chips clam shell pool for the hotter months, and making sure they don’t have any underlying issues are steps you can take.

Diet can be a factor in hydration. Have you noticed your dog may drink more on one type of dog food compared to another?

Diet

Diet can affect how much your dog drinks, so can affect their hydration. It can also lead to more or less nitrogen in their urine, but that doesn’t mean you should switch your dog from a raw diet to a kibble diet – not at all.

If you feed your dog kibble, they won’t get any moisture from their main food, and this can affect the concentration of their urine.

Raw or BARF patties will inherently offer your dog more moisture from their food, but this can lead to more brown patches on the lawn due to a higher concentration of nitrogen.

Given raw dog food and more meat-based premium dog foods have so many benefits for our dogs, we may want to try one of the below solutions to prevent urine burns on the lawn.

Dog Urine Rocks or “Dog Rocks”

“Dog Rocks” have become a popular option to help reduce urine burns in the lawn.

You can buy Dog Rocks at most retailers these days, and most people claim they work really well – a friend of mine who loves his lawn swears by them.

You simply add a rock to your dog’s water bowl, and they perform some clever stuff drawing out the impurities in the water, including the nitrates which cause urine burns on the lawn.

Dog Rocks are natural and non-invasive, so worth a try.

Training!

Training your dog to urinate in an appropriate place in the garden is a sure fire way to prevent brown patches of grass, so if you can do this – problem solved.

If you have a female dog you’ll find this solution much easier, as females tend to empty their bladder habitually in one place. All you need to do is encourage her to use a better spot.

Some people have had success with spraying citronella over the lawn which discourages dogs, but likely only an option if you have a small lawn.

Persistence is your best bet. Keep encouraging your dog to urinate in appropriate places, and positively enforce the behaviour with a treat or cuddle when they use the right spot.

Never shout at your dog for urinating where they usually go. This can be counterproductive, and likely leave you with a browner lawn than you started with. It’s better to coerce them to an appropriate place.

Water the lawn!

The sooner you water your lawn after your dog has urinated on it the better.

If your lawn is covered in brown patches it may take some time to reverse the damage caused by urine. Investing in irrigation can help keep your lawn healthier over time.

Tackling urine burns on grass may take a few of the above solutions, and you may find some more effective than others.

How have you prevented urine burns on your lawn?

But are the two related?

Does teething cause diarrhea?

Teething doesn’t directly cause diarrhea, but the behaviour of our dogs while teething can cause diarrhea to occur.

So how can we prevent diarrhea, and how can we help our puppies through the gruesome teething phase?

Let’s take a look, as there are important factors to consider:

Why does teething coincide with diarrhea?

Face it, your puppy will go through a lot of ups and downs in their first year of life. Teething is inevitable. Diarrhea is to be expected. Our limits will be tested – guaranteed!

If your dog has the occasional bout of diarrhea or runny poo then don’t worry too much. Most puppies get the runs at some stage.

Usually, and unfortunately, on our prized handwoven Egyptian knock-off rug.

Persistent or excessive diarrhea is something you should be more concerned about, so more on this later.

Before we consider why diarrhea is more likely during the teething phase, let’s consider a few reasons why our puppies get diarrhea:

• Your puppy’s digestive system is developing and adapting to new foods.
• Your puppy’s immune system is developing, which makes them more prone to bouts of illness, and bouts of illness cause diarrhea.
• The food we feed them, quite often, isn’t ideal for them – do you know if the brand of puppy kibble you’re feeding is ideal for your pup as basically a meat-eating animal?
• Puppies are still learning what’s food, and what isn’t. This means they consume stuff they shouldn’t.
• Some medications and vaccines can cause vomiting and diarrhea.

With the main causes of diarrhea in puppies out of the way, lets take a look at how teething can cause diarrhea.

How can teething cause diarrhea?

Teething doesn’t directly cause diarrhea, but the changes in behaviour of our puppies can make diarrhea more likely.

The problem we face with teething puppies is their ability to hunt down, chew, and digest things they shouldn’t eat.

This can be food they’re not used to, household objects, stuff in the garden, or even from licking floors cleaned with chemicals.

Granted, this is a problem with puppies in general, but much more prevalent when they’re teething. It’s during this phase – the most challenging phase in puppyhood – when your dog will ingest anything they can chomp on.

Chair legs. Slippers. Threads of carpet. Your toenails. What else?

None of these are easy for your puppy to digest, and can easily trigger diarrhea. It’s not just diarrhea, as ingesting inappropriate items can cause discomfort, illness, or sometimes an emergency trip to the vets.

Thankfully there are easy solutions to help your puppy (and yourself) through both the teething phase and puppy phase in general.

We’ll get to those solutions shortly, but first lets address when we should take diarrhea more seriously.

Why should we be concerned about our puppies having diarrhea?

Although you shouldn’t be too concerned if your puppy has the occasional bout of diarrhea, if it’s happening excessively or continuously then treat this as a much more concerning issue.

In my experience, the food we feed our puppies can be the #1 cause of diarrhea.

This could be the result of a dietary sensitivity. Often misrepresented as “allergy” or “intolerance”, the simple fact is if you feed your puppy a kibble made of inappropriate or poor quality ingredients – wheat, cereal grains or cereal by-products, colours, preservatives to name a few – then the result isn’t an allergy, it’s a result of feeding your dog stuff they shouldn’t be eating anyway.

Have you read the ingredients of your puppy food?

What are they?

(Post them in the comments if you want my thoughts)

Some dogs, such as Pugs, Boxers, Staffies, Labs, Retrievers, and Dachshunds, seem to be more affected by dietary sensitivities, although any breed can be affected.

Prolonged or excessive diarrhea can be a sign of an underlying or developing illness.

This means you should take your puppy to your vets and have them assessed. Your vet may recommend an expensive brand of dog food, likely made of cereal grains as well, but you should definitely seek their advice.

Always consider the quality and appropriateness of the puppy food you were feeding first, when the issue occurred, as this will give you the best insight into addressing future diet-related problems with your pup.

With all the above out of the way, let’s take a look at easy solutions to help your puppy through the teething phase, and addressing issues with diarrhea…

What you should do when your puppy is teething with diarrhea?

These two problems should be tackled as separate issues, as technically they are even through they’re related.

Teething is inevitable, but there are numerous ways you can help your puppy through it. This should include giving them safe things to chew on, with my recommendations being raw meaty bones or 100% dried meat-based chews (such as jerky or bully sticks). There are other great (and cheap) options too, such as coffee wood, frozen carrots, or frozen cubes of bone broth – you can find great teething solutions here.

Tackling diarrhea when your puppy is teething should start at preventing them eating anything they shouldn’t.

This includes poor quality puppy food.

The suggestions above for teething are a great start, but you should make sure your puppy (1) doesn’t have access to anything else, and (2) you keep an eye on them as much as you possibly can.

If your puppy has a crate, this can be a very good way to keep them safe while you’re sleeping.

You must pay close attention to what you’re feeding your puppy.

We assume all pet food is safe and healthy, but if you read the reviews you’ll find this is rarely the case.

In America there are barely any regulations, and we don’t have nutritional standards like they do in the US with the AAFCO standard. The problem with this is pet food companies can often say what they like, sell what they like, and as a pet owner you won’t have any course of action if any pet food makes your dog sick.

That sounds bleak, but you should keep that in mind.

The last issue I was aware of which caused mass-sickness and diarrhea in American dogs occurred this very month, from mould in many batches of a popular and somewhat reputable brand of American pet food.

It’s not just manufacturing issues or “bad batches”. Most dog foods are marketed as meat-based, because dog’s are meat-eaters, right, but in reality these dog foods are mostly cereal grains or cereal by-products (filler if you will), and not as nutritious as you may think. This inappropriateness is often the cause of digestive upset.

Hopefully, with any luck, the information above about teething and diarrhea has helped?

Final thoughts and a checklist for when your teething puppy has diarrhea

If you skipped most of the above because of TLDR, then here’s a quick recap of what you can do when your puppy is teething, or worse – teething with diarrhea:

• Give your puppy appropriate items to chew – simple teething solutions here.
• Prevent your puppy having access to anything else, including cat food, household items, or anything in the garden. Vigilance is key.
• Consider the dog food you’re feeding – is it really as healthy as you think? Is it the cause of diarrhea?
• Speak with your veterinarian if you are concerned about illness or digestive issues, especially if your puppy has excessive or persistent diarrhea.

Better yet, when they’re frozen!

I offered a whole host of simple teething solutions here, which you should definitely read for the health and wellbeing of your pup, but frozen carrots are one of those magical, cheap, and simple solutions.

Here’s why:

Natural & safe

When so many teething toys are cheaply made and hazardous, and many dog treats contain additives and preservatives, frozen carrots are natural and safe. Even organic carrots are cheaper than most dog treats!

Cold, frozen carrots relieve tooth and gum pain

The cold temperature of frozen carrots will help numb your puppy’s gums, which is the root cause of teething pain.

That means chewing on a frozen carrot is not only satisfying and fun, it will be a soothing experience for your puppy. It will ease the irritation caused by emerging teeth.

Promotes healthy teeth and gums

In our world of corporations telling us their products are healthy and worth the money, we miss one major aspect of keeping our dogs healthy – maintenance of teeth and gums.

No matter what the packets say, kibble won’t do much for your dog’s teeth (do you brush your own teeth with processed food?). Wet mush is worse, and will leave plaque and tartar to attack at leisure.

What that means for your dog is early periodontal disease and nasty bacteria going through your dog’s body attacking their organs.

That’s a serious health concern which most dog owners never consider.

The act of gnawing on a frozen carrot helps promote good dental health. Chewing on the firm texture of a carrot will assist in removing plaque and tartar, contributing to the overall wellbeing of your puppy’s teeth and gums.

“Assist” is the key word though, and I highly recommend you address healthy teeth and gums with raw meaty bones or tough meaty chews – more info and suggestions can be found on the puppy teething guide as well as the treat recommendations page.

Carrots are rich in nutrients

I consider dogs carnivores, and you should too. Although some non-animal foods are fine for a dog as a facultative or scavenging carnivore, it’s much easier for us to choose a healthy diet for our dogs if we view them as essentially a meat eater.

That said, we already know carrots are a nutritious vegetable for us, and our puppies can benefit too.

Carrots contain essential vitamins and minerals. They’re also a good source of beta-carotene which converts into vitamin A, crucial for maintaining healthy skin, vision, and a strong immune system.

As a bonus, carrots are low in calories, and very likely a much healthier treat than most of the “dog treats” you’ll find in the supermarkets.

Carrots are super cheap

When you compare the price of carrots to commercial teething toys, they’re a much more cost effective solution.

Raw meaty bones are also surprisingly cheap in comparison to teething toys and commercial dog treats, yet are more natural and arguably far better for dental health and wellbeing.

Who said feeding our dogs was expensive?

Carrots are easy to get hold of, easy to freeze (assuming your freezer isn’t rammed with BARF), and it’s so easy to whip out a frozen carrot twice a day when your puppy is manically trying to chew everything in sight.

Carrots are fun!

Puppies are naturally curious and playful. Chewing on a frozen carrot not only serves a practical purpose but also gives them a way to entertainment themselves.

Giving your puppy appropriate things to chew on helps relieve boredom and anxiety as well, which makes frozen carrots a win win in preventing destructive behaviour.

By now I’m sure you’re convinced you should give your puppy frozen carrots for teething, but there is a flaw.

Only 50% of the dogs I’ve had the pleasure of living with have like carrots, so it’s definitely hit or miss. One dog will happily crunch on a tasty carrot, the other dog will look at me as if I’m offering her a durian fruit.

That said, what have you got to lose? Carrots are so cheap – much cheaper than what your teething puppy may otherwise destroy – and if you find carrots aren’t their thing, boil them for your dinner!

You may doubt me and say “no mate, they’re made of pizzle”, but pizzle is simply the more marketable term. It’s much easier for people to buy “pizzle” than “bull penis”, and you definitely don’t want your dog chewing on bull penis when your friends come over for dinner. Pizzle sounds much better.

Bully sticks happen to be a very beneficial long-lasting natural treat for your dog.

In fact, the benefits can help keep your dog healthy for many years to come.

I urge you to read the benefits of bully sticks below. Even if you’re put off by the penis thing, the information below will be useful – and you have alternatives.

What are the benefits of bully sticks?

If, like most people, you feed your dog dry food, wet food, or a combination of both, there’s something very important you’re missing:

• Bully sticks are great for keeping your dog’s teeth clean and free of plaque, tartar, and the dreaded gingivitis. The reason this is so important is poor dental health is just the first step towards drastically ill health. Raw meaty bones are another good option, but if you don’t want bits of animal on your loungeroom floor then bully sticks are a more pleasant alternative.

The above point alone is a reason to go and buy a bully stick right now.

To elaborate a little further as it’s such an important point, chewing a bully stick not only scrapes off plaque and tartar, it stimulates saliva production, and saliva contains enzymes which break down and neutralise bad bacteria in the mouth.

Chewing on a bully stick will also massage and help improve blood circulation to the gums, and the all round dental health benefits should reduce the dog breath you get blasted with first thing every morning.

Sound good?

If the benefits to dental health haven’t won you over, consider the following:

• Our dogs get bored easily. Can you blame them? A tasty bully stick will keep them happy and occupied for hours. Less anxiety for your dog, and less for you too.
• Bully sticks may cost more than rawhide, but they’re a much better, more natural alternative, and they’re long lasting (unless your dog has the jaws of Godzilla).
• It’s much better to give your dog meat-based treats than other alternatives made from cheaper or nastier ingredients.
• Bully sticks (assuming they’re of a good, honest quality) should be hypoallergenic, single ingredient. They’re very high in protein which is great for your dog, low in fat, and low in completely unnecessary carbohydrates.

When you compare the benefits above to the almost zero benefit of the trash treat rawhide, they simply do not compare. Bully sticks cost more, but they win hands down.

Where can you buy bully sticks in America?

Bully sticks are available from many retailers, pet stores, or online.

A great option if you simply what a tendon-based chew from American grass fed cows are the Bully Sticks from The Bugsy Shop (a great company to deal with!)

Here’s a few options from retailers:

Ok, fill me in, how are bully sticks made?

You probably wouldn’t be interested to know, which is why this section is so far down the page, but bully sticks are made by [gruesome content]cleaning, stretching, and twisting the penis before either baking or smoking it[/gruesome content].

Dogs go wild for that stuff, don’t they?

Are bully sticks safe?

Bully sticks are safer than the other good option of raw meaty bones. Bones splinter, bully sticks don’t.

If you have any concerns whatsoever, take precautions and monitor your dog until you know he/she will chew responsibly. You know your dog more than anyone, and if they’re the kind of dog who destroys anything in sight with their terrible Gruffalo jaws then your dog is most at risk – be careful.

If your dog is like mine, you’ll have the confidence to leave them chewing while you catch up on MAFS.

How can you tell a good bully stick from a bad one?

Firstly, make sure the bully stick you buy is 100% beef pizzle. There is no reason other than cost cutting to add anything else. There should be no artificial additives or preservatives.

If you can find out, your best option is to opt for a bully stick which has undergone minimal processing – this should mean the natural goodness has been retained as much as possible.

In America we don’t have much in terms of standards, so it is unlikely a bully stick will be certified in any way. For this reason it is worth buying bully sticks of a reputable brand, from a reputable retailer. If you find a cheaper one on a website you’ve never heard of (or eBay for that matter), then don’t buy it – simple.

Already feed your dog bully sticks? Add your experiences to the comments section below!

But what’s the deal with this new trend in chew toys?

Let’s take a look:

What are the benefits of coffee wood for dogs?

Dogs love to chew. Especially puppies.

If you don’t direct their chewing antics to something like raw meaty bones, meat-based chews, or coffee wood chews, then they’ll turn to chair legs, sofas, and slippers.

It may sound crazy forking out hard earned dollars on what is basically a stick of wood, but it’s actually money very well spent.

These chew toys are long lasting and give your dog a great way to fight tartar and plaque, and also boredom. If your dog likes chewing, coffee wood can keep them occupied for ages.

They’re also natural, being, well, wood.

What is coffee wood?

Despite the name, coffee wood doesn’t contain any caffeine – something your hyperactive dog doesn’t need (or any dog for that matter)

Before you ask, they don’t contain sugar or artificial ingredients either.

I did some digging and found the coffee wood chews in America tend to come from the highlands of Vietnam (nice place to hike if you get the chance!). The wood is sourced from trees over 20 years old to ensure the chews are solid.

Are coffee wood chews safe for your dog?

A key benefit of coffee wood (or Java wood) is it’s very hard, and it won’t splinter like the sticks your dog finds in the park. It won’t splinter, and won’t pose the same risks of regular sticks, but they still seem to be as appealing for our stick-loving dogs.

According to some marketing spiel I read, the fibres in coffee wood are digestible in small amounts, and act as a natural source of fibre.

Whether that’s true or not, we’ll probably have to wait for a scientific study to be conducted, and we might have a long wait.

Thankfully, in my experience the coffee wood chews really are very robust, and can be chewed for ages.

Unless your dog is a super aggressive chewer who could chew through steel, you should be okay. If you have any doubts at all, I highly recommend monitoring your dog until you know they can chew sensibly and responsibly!

Why do dogs love coffee wood?

Most of us dog owners know how much our dogs love sticks, and I expect this is more to do for their natural love of bones.

Or maybe it’s the natural aroma of the coffee?

Being a coffee lover myself, I would fully understand if my dog was drawn to that very same aroma.

In our society many pet owners turn their noses up at feeding their dogs raw meaty bones. Some vets proactively advise against it. There are risks of feeding raw meaty bones, but I feel it’s a shame we’re so against it. Coffee wood might prove an appealing alternative, also with dental health benefits.

If you’re not keen on feeding bones, and you want something to help your dog keep their teeth clean, then coffee wood could be a great choice for you.

Where to buy coffee wood chews in America

Below are some options for coffee wood chews in America:

Cats are carnivore. I believe dogs are more carnivore than the pet food industry tells us. Are we more carnivore than the human food industry tells us?

In my experience as a pet nutritionist I very much expect this is the case, even if health stars on sugary cereals tell us otherwise.

Ironically most pet owners worldwide feed their carnivorous pets high-carbohydrate processed foods, and veterinarians recommend them, even for sick pets.

I’m sure these diets are the real cause of the many diet-related illnesses our pets die from, and it’s logical to believe the same is the case for us.

I hope by undertaking the carnivore diet experiment on myself it can raise awareness that most of us live off processed food, and most of us feed our pets convenience junk foods.

If you’re middle-aged and overweight the thought of a tasty diet of steak and salt may sound really appealing. It did to me.

When you’re my age the thought of 3 hours a day in the gym doesn’t sound appealing at all. Even the thought of walking to the gym to pick up a membership form feels like a chore (assuming they still have paper-based membership forms, which I’m sure they don’t).

Trouble is, as a nutritionist of pet carnivores I know what’s really involved in a carnivore diet, and it definitely isn’t steak and salt.

In fact, if you’re reading this thinking steak and salt is a good idea for a diet, then I strongly urge you to think long and hard, even if you find yourself convinced by memes such as this:

I remember when raw feeding pets became a very popular thing, and off the back of that many well-meaning pet owners ended up with very sick pets. Why? From believing muscle meats like chicken and beef mince were the best diet for their pet carnivores.

Any raw feeders will know the importance of organ meats (liver, kidney, heart, even brains and tripe) and (raw) bones. Without these nutrient-rich foodstuffs your pet carnivore will very likely suffer in the long run. It won’t be this week or next, but likely in a few years from now when they start showing symptoms.

I strongly suspect the same is very much the case for us.

In my experience numerous issues can arise from a restricted diet, or a diet which doesn’t offer all required nutrients. This could be anything from a build-up of intolerances or dietary sensitivities, to a failing heart or other deteriorating organ disease.

If you want some insight, you could investigate one of the following:

• The nutrient requirements of dog or cat food set out by AAFCO, the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Because most people feed their pets the same commercial junk food for the entire life of their pets, a standard such as AAFCO is to ensure every meal contains all required nutrients we currently know are required by that animal. There isn’t the same emphasis in the human space as we’re not gullible enough to believe we should eat processed nuggets from Mars or Nestle for the sake of our health.
• Visit the local vet and pick up a bag of one of their endorsed kibbles. The first ingredients will likely be grains, which may strike you as odd ingredients in a food for carnivorous animals, but it’s the ingredients further down the list which are relevant here. If vitamins and macrominerals are listed, start researching where those nutrients are sourced naturally. You’ll find for almost all of them the richest source is animal meats, organs, and bone.

I bet a diet of steak and salt, liver, kidney, heart, and sheep brains doesn’t sound as appealing to you as steak and salt. It definitely doesn’t to me, yet these are foods I see essential for the health of real carnivorous animals.

Even this isn’t a real carnivore diet.

Nevertheless, while stuffing my face with pain aux chocolat on my recent holiday to France, I decided to embark on a carnivore diet on my return.

This is my carnivore diet diary.

Medical Disclaimer

Please note I am not trained in human nutrition in any way, so must add the following disclaimer.

The content of this article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to substitute professional medical advice.

I must request you use common sense and seek the guidance of your doctor or a qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or medical conditions before starting any diet change.

Never disregard the advice of a medical professional, or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. If you choose to rely on any information you do so solely at your own risk.

Why I decided to go full carnivore

I’d love to say “for research purposes” but that wouldn’t be true.

I’m 3 years into Dad Bod territory. 45 years old. And my diet has always been far from great.

I have a sweet tooth, and I confess to drinking too much alcohol. The last time I had a gym membership was 10 years ago, and even then I probably averaged 1hr per month.

At the start of my carnivore diet I weigh 95kg with a height of 178cm. According to an ideal weight calculator from the NHS this is where I’m at:

Those results shocked me as I don’t consider myself that overweight. In my early 20s I went through an intense gym phase, mostly cardio, and hit 70kg at one stage. I know anything less than that wouldn’t have been “ideal”, and realistically I should be 80kg.

That means I’m 15kg overweight. That’s the weight of a medium-sized dog.

The reason I’m overweight is very clear. It’s not a lack of exercise – I have a Border Collie which means I walk a fair bit each day, with a long walk at 7am, another at 5pm, and despite working at a desk do move around a lot each day.

My weight is a direct result of diet choices. My main meals are mostly healthy, but I doubt many days pass when I don’t eat biscuits, cake, or drink alcohol (wine or beer). I have very little willpower.

Even before my amazing daughter came into the world I was failing, and since then my weight has gone to pot. If you’ve had a kid you’ll know how time consuming they are, and how restrictive they can be. Once upon a time I would go for a walk or jog in my free time. Since having a child I often have to dedicate my free time to having a nap for the sake of my sanity.

So that’s my real reason – I want to get back in shape.

I also want to know for myself what a carnivore diet can do.

Will a carnivore diet make me feel great, or make me feel rubbish. Will it help me sleep better? Will it help with my lower back pain and other inflammatory aches and pains we all tend to suffer at middle age?

Will I get acne like I did trying the Atkins diet in my younger years, or get dizzy spells?

Will I lose my gut and feel great about myself again? Find a better version of myself, and be less depressed about my weight?

Will I manage to stomach liver, kidney, heart, and maybe brains?

Will it be a complete failure – I’ve already said I lack willpower.

Hopefully, at the very least, I’ll understand the carnivore diet a little more.

Considerations, Planning & Preparation

Any diet should be well considered and properly prepared for. The problem is I’m terrible at planning, and my intentions of getting everything ready went out of the window on my return from holiday. You’ll see this as you start reading my carnivore diet diary below, but nevertheless the below is some of my “considerations, planning, and preparation”.

Carnivore Diet Meal Plan Week #1

You’ll laugh, but while in France eating pain aux chocolat, I asked Chat GTP to devise a Week #1 Carnivore Diet Meal Plan.

First draft Carnivore Diet Meal Plan Week #1

This is the first draft meal plan Chat GPT came back with:

As a meal plan for a diet I was surprised how good that sounded. Very varied with lots of tasty meals, but it didn’t strike me as a real carnivore diet.

The meal plan was also absent of organ meats.

Thankfully Chat GPT added a disclaimer to consult with a healthcare professional, which I should probably add too.

Disclaimer: Remember to consult a healthcare professional before starting any new diet, especially one that eliminates entire food groups. Also, make sure to listen to your body’s signals and adjust portion sizes as needed. Stay hydrated and consider incorporating nutrient-rich organ mats if you’re following a strict carnivore diet.

I’ll add to that by saying I’m well aware I could be risking my health undertaking a carnivore diet, but if you decide to follow my diary, or follow my Chat GPT generated carnivore diet meal plans, then the risks (or benefits) are on you.

Revised Carnivore Diet Meal Plan Week #1

I wasn’t happy with the vegetables Chat GPT suggested in the first draft meal plan, and wasn’t happy with the lack of organ meats either.

I asked Chat GPT to revise the meal plan with “No sausage, processed foods, or vegetables”, and as an afterthought added “Please include bone broth. Dairy is acceptable.”

The reason for my last request was I believe bone broth is an excellent addition to any diet, and something I would encourage anyone on a carnivore diet to consider.

At this stage my goal isn’t to become a die hard carnivore, but to reset my diet and break my addiction to sugars and processed foods. I have no real issue with dairy or vegetables, even starchy vegetables, and plan to add them back into my diet in moderation after an initial 2 weeks carnivore.

Below is the revised meal plan. What do you think?

It may not be die hard carnivore, and I’ll likely adapt as I go along, but as a meal plan at least it offers variety and I can use it as a base to work off.

But knowing me, I’ll probably make it up as I go along.

A Great Tip for Sourcing Ingredients

A few weeks ago I listened to a podcast with James Delingpole and Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride (The Delingpod), and I highly recommend you listen to it. It’s a great insight into the human body, the influences of the food industry, and nutrition in general. It may have real benefits with your diet, carnivore or not, or make you think about your pet’s diet in a much better way.

I picked up a great tip from Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride on how to source really good real foods, and it’s how I sourced the meat for my first week on a carnivore diet.

Her advice was to visit a local farmers market and speak with the people running a stall. Do they have a local farm, with a local farm shop? Is there a possibility of visiting the farm, which allows you to see it for yourself to see how ethical they are. She offers more tips in the podcast, but I’ll leave you to find those out.

I used this exact method to find two local farms, both with a shop, and that’s how I stocked up on meat.

Is a carnivore diet expensive?

One last point I want to cover is how expensive a carnivore diet may be.

I’ll skip back to my experience with pet diets for a minute, because this is really important. Some of the pet foods I recommend are considered expensive (and I admit they are), and I often have emails from disgruntled readers complaining they cost so much more than their current dog food.

What those people don’t consider, is why their current pet food is cheap. The answer is by-products of wheat baked into hard nuggets of indigestible kibble allows the product to be cheap, and sets the benchmark for the price of pet food. It’s a fallacy, and it’s far from healthy.

Expect to pay more for healthy food, because healthy food costs more than the rubbish used in processed foods.

In our current decade most of the supermarket shelves are filled with convenience food, processed food, or junk food. Keep in mind most of those foods are made from cheap ingredients – grains, sugar, or whatever can be used to increase profit margin.

However, I was really surprised how little I spent for my first week on a carnivore diet.

When you go to the supermarket you buy a whole range of products – for one meal you might buy meat, potatoes, vegetables, or even stuff like chips, condiments, drinks.

If you’re like me you’ll also stumble on other things which weren’t on your shopping list, which might be olives, biscuits, or some fancy looking packet food.

Then you check out the reduced section and buy stuff you probably wouldn’t have bought anyway. My good friend Architect Russell would say “It’s not a bargain if you weren’t going to buy it anyway”.

When you buy meat that’s all you buy. You don’t waste money on anything unnecessary.

I walked away from the farm shop with two bags of meat, and I found myself thinking how much weight I had bought for such a reasonable amount of money.

Less than what I would spend on a usual weekly shop.

My Carnivore Diet Diary Week #1

Weigh In: 93kg

I mentioned earlier my weight of 95kg, which I’m sure has been the case earlier this year. At the time of starting my carnivore diet I weighed in at 93kg. Perhaps I’ve lost some weight in the past few months from trying to be healthier, or perhaps the last 3 weeks in France have been beneficial.

Carnivore Diet Day #1

I started my carnivore diet a couple of days earlier than planned, on the same day I went back to work after a 3 week holiday. It just happened. I thought starting a diet would really make my first day back at the desk suck – who likes diets, and who likes going back to work?

For breakfast I had 3 eggs, scrambled, and 2 slices of really tasty bacon (farm shop bacon). I decided to skip my usual toast.

I got stuck into work, and come lunchtime I realised I hadn’t been hungry all morning. No mid-morning munchies.

I’ve noticed this before when only eating protein for breakfast. You feel satiated.

A friend of mine has scrambled eggs every morning, and doesn’t crave food all morning. His office colleagues on the other hand, after their breakfast of carbohydrates, can’t help gorging on mid-morning biscuits.

I’m usually one of those people.

The same friend used to live off bread and peanut butter, and couldn’t stop. Bread is carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are sugars. Combined with the peanut butter become super addictive, and you’re probably aware of this already?

How often do you have a snack when you’re not really hungry, and all of a sudden you’re ravenous? You can’t stop.

For lunch I had grilled chicken breast with a sprinkling of salt and seaweed I bought at a farmer’s market in France, and that was it. I didn’t have the cheese as stated on my Chat GPT meal plan, for no real reason.

At dinner I had my first surprise. I cooked my ribeye steak in the Air Fryer (they’re great, aren’t they), and stuck it on my plate.

It looked like a sorry state of affairs, a lonely steak. I felt I hadn’t eaten much over the day, and thought I was going to be starving that evening.

But that didn’t happen.

Surprisingly I couldn’t finish the steak. I ate about 80% and realised I was done.

I can’t remember the last time I felt so satiated by a meal.

My dog and cat had the remaining piece.

Carnivore Diet Day #2

I expected to feel hungry when I woke up on Day 2, but I didn’t. I looked forward to, then enjoyed another breakfast of 3 scrambled eggs and 2 slices of bacon.

Mid-morning I found myself thinking of chocolate cake, or a nice biscuit. I think my mind was telling me I was hungry when I really wasn’t. I felt my cravings were more withdrawal symptoms – from an addiction to sugar, and most of us are addicted to sugar.

Did you know sugar is one of the most addictive substances, but we rarely consider it as almost everyone eats sugar?

Sugar is in almost everything, and when it comes to products given to us by the food industry it’s very likely for that reason. If you know how to read ingredients labels like I do, you’ll see most products have far more sugar than most people would think.

On the subject of refined sugar, the white stuff we know and love, some argue it comes from a natural source – sugar cane or sugar beet. We also know fruit is good for us, and fruit is high in sugar. But there’s a big difference – fruit sugar comes with everything you need to digest it, but refined sugar doesn’t. That stuff’s been removed in the process, and that’s the reason we get energy spikes, ups and downs, and dietary illnesses like diabetes.

If you want to understand that from a more scientific perspective, listen to the James Delingpole podcast I mentioned in the Considerations, Planning & Preparation section.

Day 2 I found myself craving starchy, sugary foods, without a doubt. My daily bad habits.

But I had a big win. Day 2 coincided with a visit to my parents, and my parents love to have a cupboard full of biscuits, chocolate, and cake. I’m happy to say I stood my guns, and made it through the day full carnivore.

Surprisingly, having eaten a load of beef for lunch, it wasn’t too hard to avoid snacks. Even sitting and watching my wife and daughter have a big slice of cherry pie.

Carnivore Diet Day #3

I woke up on Day 3 with my first noticeable change.

Dry mouth.

From Googling I found out ketosis can kick in after 1 or 2 days, although sometimes longer. Dry mouth is one of the signs of ketosis, as is lethargy, change of sleeping patterns, and the effect most people aim for – fat burning.

I believe ketosis can occur if you consume less than 20g or 30g of carbohydrates a day, and until this point I haven’t consumed any.

Dry mouth often coincides with bad breath, but as yet nobody has complained, and through the course of Day 3 it hasn’t been too bad, and I’ve stayed as hydrated as possible.

I confess I’ve had another side effect of being on a carnivore diet, and that’s really bad sleep.

For the last two nights I’ve found myself waking up a lot at night, and also found myself getting up to go to the loo a few times. I’ve also had some weird dreams.

For now it’s merely an observation, and it’s possible my sleeping patterns are disrupted from returning to work after a holiday, and I’ve probably drank more water than usual which has affected my bladder. The weird dreams might be a result of watching WW2 In Colour on Netflix before going to bed (a fascinating documentary, especially having visited northern France recently). I woke up at 3am having dreamt I was an American general and my battle plans were starting to fail…

My second noticeable change on Day 3 really came out of the blue.

I felt like going for a jog!

I used to jog in my mid-thirties, but haven’t been recently. I’m not the type of person who feels like going jogging, but I really did today. Maybe it’s excitement from actually doing something about my gut, or maybe I had a little more energy than I normally would early afternoon (normally the time I can’t be bothered to do anything).

I created a playlist called “Run!” on Apple Music years ago. Every now and then I listen to a song which I feel might motivate me on a jog. Today was the first time I stuck on my headphones and kicked off that playlist.

So there I was, a slightly overweight 45 year old, jogging away from my house listening to Eye of the Tiger, the most inspirational workout song there is (assuming you’ve seen Rocky).

It wasn’t a bad jog either. I admit it was just shy of 20 minutes, probably 7 min kms, but to think I actually enjoyed a jog. I was on my way home listening to Rogue Traders, and when I heard the words “Here Come the Drums, Here Come the Drums” I found myself veering off the long way home.

I haven’t weighed myself yet, but at least I feel I’ve been productive with exercise as well as the carnivore diet, so that’s a positive way to reflect on Day 3.

Offal Dinner #1: Kidney fried in butter

According to my Chat GPT meal plan I should’ve had a lunch of liver cooked in butter. Liver is one of the most nutritious organs we can eat, and it’s a shame most people rarely eat offal these days.

I grew up in the UK, and historically liver and onions or steak and kidney pie were popular meals. These dishes aren’t as popular these days, and it’s become harder to buy these ingredients in the supermarket.

I confess I really struggle eating offal. My parents never fed any offal to me as a kid, and I’ve grown up being wary of it. It’s ironic considering my role advising pet nutrition, of which I consider offal hugely beneficial.

I deviated from my meal plan slightly by having a meal of kidney fried in butter with salt:

It was tasty.

My brain kicked in trying to tell me it was disgusting, but if it wasn’t for my brain it was definitely tasty.

Vital point: One of the main reasons I’ve undertaken the carnivore diet is to stress how important organs are as part of a carnivore diet, both for us and our pets.

If you think a diet of beef and salt is sufficient, think again.

Weigh In: 88.45kg

Weighing myself during the evening of Day 3 I found my weight has dropped. It’s a positive start, but I won’t look much more into it than that.

Looking better though:

Carnivore Diet Day #4

I woke up early and took the dog for a long walk. I felt great!

Usually in the mornings I’m in a sleep haze for a couple of hours, but that was noticeably not the case today. Encountering other dog walkers at 7am pre-coffee is usually something I avoid, but this morning I had a great chat with the owner of a bouncy Golden Retriever.

An hour later I found myself with a plate of scrambled eggs and felt a weird sense of guilt.

Was I destroying my body with this diet?

I grew up in an era (80s/90s) when too many eggs would kill you, too much animal fat would kill you, and we were encouraged to eat breakfast cereals like Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain (The Iron Man Food) because those sugary cereals were the spattered with health star rating stars.

Despite spending so many years advising people to feed their pet carnivores carnivore foods instead of baked hard nuggets of grain, I still find it hard to shrug off the marketing influences of my youth.

I found myself thinking of our distant ancestors, who lived on a diet of the animals they hunted, fish they caught, wild berries and other fruits. They didn’t have a diet of sugary cereals, corn, wheat, rice, or “healthy” high-fibre brown bread.

And you know what?

They survived!

Otherwise the human race wouldn’t exist.

I’ve seen how the [pet] food industry uses very cunning marketing to damage the reputation of diets which threaten their profits. It’s a technique which works very well. More so in these days of social media.

To offer an example, many pet owners are scared to feed pet foods from smaller manufacturers, now acronymised as BEG Diets (Boutique manufacturer, Exotic proteins, or Grain-free). The reason is a fear they may cause heart failure.

I speak at length about this in my article heart disease in dogs, but to quickly summarise a certain Dr. Lisa Freeman DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Nutrition), on the payroll of multiple corporate pet food manufacturers, hypothesised these foods may cause diet-associated canine cardiomyopathy. Without any real evidence, an investigation was kicked off by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration of America) which also found no evidence despite naming and shaming a range of BEG brands.

Ironically, one of the key pet food manufacturers, Champion Petfoods (makers of whole-prey dog food Orijen), have since been acquired by Mars, one of the companies Dr Lisa Freeman has been paid by.

According to PubMed, Dr. Lisa Freeman has produced scientific work funded by Hill’s (Colgate Palmolive) and Mars since 2002. Also Purina (Nestle) since 2004.

The belief that BEG foods cause heart-disease is now widely taken as fact worldwide, and many veterinarians warn their clients against these foods.

The real issue, as I see it, is neither grain or grain-based foods meet the real requirements of pet carnivores. Almost all pet foods keep animal products to a minimum, and fill the rest with whatever they can to maximise profit.

That’s the real problem with pet food products. Not enough whole prey ingredients, which means it’s no surprise diet-related health conditions are much more common in our pets today than they ever have been.

Pet foods are products, with the primary aim to make the business money. Always keep that in mind.

Nevertheless, I can’t shrug off what I’ve been told throughout my childhood about what’s healthy and what will kill me.

Yet I still feel great after 4 days of 0 carbohydrates, having eaten nothing but meat, meat fat, and offal.

Poo Observation

As much as I don’t like talking about my stools, this is an important observation.

I have a condition called diverticulosis, a bowel condition linked to genetics and a low fibre diet. My grandfather died of diverticulosis, so it is something I should treat seriously.

Since having a colonoscopy at the age of 39 I have regularly taken psyllium husk + water before bed to ensure I can pass stools efficiently the next morning.

I haven’t taken psyllium husk since I started the carnivore diet 4 days ago, or any source of fibre, but it has to be said my poo for the last two days has been the best, most easy to pass poo in a very long time.

Go figure.

For your benefit, I’ve decided not to add a photo of my stools.

Carnivore Diet Day #5

I have to admit I woke up feeling really tired in the morning of Day 5. This isn’t a new thing, and I’m sure we all have days where we fail to start?

Perhaps it was a result of being Friday, and having been back at my day job for 5 days straight (yes I have a day job). Nevertheless it’s an observation worth mentioning.

I found myself craving butter.

True story:

About 5 years ago we were given health evaluations from a visiting doctor, and had to answer a number of questions.

The doc told me off on two counts. One count was too much alcohol, obviously, and the other was too much butter putting me at risk of high cholesterol and heart problems.

The multiple choice question I answered was “How thickly do you butter your toast?”, and I checked the box for “Thickly”.

Having been advised on heart health I told the doctor I usually had 1 or 2 slices of toast a week. I wasn’t a big toast or butter eater. Surely if I had two slices of toast per day thinly buttered I would consume far more butter over the week. How could the question be a valid gauge of my health.

The doctor’s response is that was how he’d been taught, and that was the advice which should be given to people like me who occasionally have thickly buttered toast.

Let’s consider this further.

A friend is a prominent professor in nutrition, predominantly a researcher in Vitamin D. She often speaks of an experiment where rats were fed sugar and fat.

It went like this:

3 groups of rats were fed a different combination of sugar and fat – (1) Only Sugar, (2) Only Fat, (3) Combined Sugar and Fat.

Can you guess what happened?

Groups 1 and 2 turned their noses up. There was no interest in sugar on it’s own or fat on it’s own.

Group 3, however, went crazy for the sugar and fat combo.

Butter is fat. Toast is carbohydrates, so sugar. It’s a great sugar and fat combo, and a reason why one slice of toast and butter is never enough. It’s moreish.

A friend of mine grew up on bread and peanut butter believing this wasn’t overly unhealthy. Bread is healthy, right? It can have those health rating stars? Peanut butter is healthy as well, assuming it really is peanuts and not a load of sugar like many brands these days.

He speaks in hindsight of how he couldn’t stop eating the stuff throughout the evening. He never felt full.

It was only when he twigged it was a sugar fat combo that he realised the reason why he couldn’t stop. It was addictive.

He switched to eating more meat, and more eggs, and surprised himself how satiated he felt. No more cravings.

Offal Dinner #2: Beef & Bone Marrow

Farm shops are amazing. They offer foods which you can’t buy in the supermarket. For Day 4 I stocked up from the other farm shop I found, which although a bit more expensive, had some great choices on offer.

I bought beef and bone marrow burgers:

Bone marrow, being offal, is very nutritious.

It’s packed with collagen which has numerous health benefits – bone formation, heart health, joint health, organ health, and commonly used in the hope it wards off signs of ageing.

For those who’s dogs have joint issues or arthritis, you’ll be well aware of the benefits of glucosamine to reduce inflammation in joints. Bone marrow is a really good source of glucosamine as well.

Having been brought up in a new world of convenience foods I admit to the thought of bone marrow as “yucky”, even though it really isn’t. For me it makes eating this type of food harder, but thankfully bone marrow as part of a burger made life much easier!

The farm shop also sold beef and bone marrow mince, so that’s what my dog and cat had for dinner – raw of course.

Carnivore Diet Day #6

My sleep has been really bad all week, for whatever reason, but on the flipside I haven’t felt as lethargic during the days. It’s marginal, but at times I’ve felt a little more energetic, and the thought of taking the dog for a longer walk than usual has come with less resistance from the lazy part of my brain.

I had a Day 6 weigh-in which wasn’t what I expected, and I’ll get to that shortly.

After my weigh-in I faced one of the toughest challenges of the week – my wife wanted us to try the new Tapas menu at a nice restaurant nearby. My first reaction was not a chance, but the restaurant has a great sun-terrace and the weather was perfect. I reluctantly agreed, not knowing how I’d cope.

We picked 6 plates, doing our best to avoid carbohydrates. 2 of the 6 were potato and paella, so they were out. The other four were good choices – anchovies, beef, gambas (prawns), and chorizo.

I had all the anchovies bar one, most of the beef, and half the gambas. The chorizo was in a glazed honey sauce, so I limited myself to two small pieces. That was it.

Surprisingly, even though I hadn’t eaten much (you know how tiny Tapas dishes are?) I felt really full. That’s what’s been most surprising this week – I’ve eaten less, had barely any cravings for raiding the snack cupboard. I’ve pretty much had three carnivore meals a day and no snacks. And I’ve felt far more satiated than I can remember.

Cats as obligate carnivores eat to satiate. The only reason they get fat is because we feed them foods packed with carbohydrates, which they’re forced to eat to satiate on the insignificant animal proteins and fats.

Dogs aren’t much different, which you’ll know if you’ve fed your dog a big tasty piece of meat. That’s when they chill out completely it utter happiness.

And it’s clearly the same for us.

Carnivore Diet Day #7

I was going to write about how hard it is to get real foods in the supermarket, but we probably already know that? When you’re on a carnivore diet you really notice it – almost everything is processed, and even most meats are marinated in sugar.

I wanted to buy some beef jerky, and found some advertised as using “100% premium cuts”. On closer inspection sugar as the second ingredient was also more significant than you would imagine with twice the amount of carbohydrates from sugar than beef fat.

I left the supermarket with cooked prawns instead.

Anyway, Day 7! A whole week with zero carbohydrates! And I’m still alive and feeling absolutely fine.

My sleep has been terrible over the week, but other than that I’ve felt great. Hardly any munchies, and I’ve found myself feeling like I’m onto something! Will this diet really work? Will the same diet our cats and dogs thrive off really work on my omnivore self?

Time for a weigh in….

End of Week Weigh In: 90.5kg

F*ck.

Was it the few glasses of wine I forgot to mention?

Was it the fact my only real exercise for the week was a 20 minute jog?

My ex-bandmate Fireman and body builder friend brought me up on “calories in, calories out”, saying no diet will work without physical effort. So there I was thinking the carnivore diet would be an easy ride to looking good and feeling great.

Nevertheless, it’s still clear progress – I lost 2.5kg in a week!

I didn’t get scurvy either.

Carnivore Diet Week 1 Total Cost: $140

It’s amazing how much money you save when you don’t fill your trolley with biscuits, snacks, ever-expensive fruit and vegetables, juice, nuts, or whatever else.

On a carnivore diet most of a supermarket is a no go zone, and it makes shopping for food really simple and seemingly cheaper. $140 for the week seems pretty good considering how many kilos of meat and eggs I bought.

I visited two farm shops. The first cost me $60, and I was very surprised the weight of the carrier bag as I walked back to my car. The second farm shop was a little more at $80, but I still have a rib eye steak, unopened pack of streaky bacon, and 20 eggs left over!

My Carnivore Diet Diary Week #2

Weigh In: 88.8kg

Good news to start Week 2!

It’s a reminder I must weigh myself consistently, at regular intervals and times of day.

When I weighed myself the night before at 90.5kg I confess my heart sank a little, and I thought “All this dieting and no chocolate, and still over 90kg :/”.

In reality I’d just eaten half a kilo of pork, and drank a few pints of water over the afternoon. My bladder also seems to stay locked up until after I fall asleep, then wakes me up on the hour for the next three hours.

Maybe it’s the salt?

This is something I should monitor, but the result of my first week on a carnivore diet was a loss of 4.2kg give or take, or about 4.5% of my weight.

Carnivore Diet Day #8

I woke up not feeling hungry. I had a coffee instead, with milk. I know coffee isn’t an animal product, but it’s not an addiction I care to tackle. Besides, coffee is good for you, isn’t it?

It’s also a Monday morning, a work day, and that makes coffee a necessity.

After 2 hours of conference calls I went for Jog #2. It didn’t take much effort either. I felt like it.

The first half of the jog was even enjoyable – something I rarely say about exercise. Helped along with some ambient drum and bass I felt “zen”.

The second half of the jog I had to spur myself on with the “gallop” style of bass playing by Steve Harris and his Iron Maiden pals. I’m sure that shows my age, but Iron Maiden always proves to be the perfect motivational soundtrack for exercise I wish I wasn’t doing. I found myself thinking “I’d rather be eating cake”, but I’m sure that will always be true.

Usually after a jog I don’t feel great, but today I did. It felt much easier, and felt like more of an achievement.

Rib eye steak for lunch, and I should probably get Chat GPT to crank out a Week 2 Meal Plan, not that I religiously followed the previous meal plan.

Carnivore Diet Day #9, 10, & 11

I’m bunching these days together because (1) I’m surprised you’re still reading, and (2) I spent 3 whole days in an office for our quarterly “planning”. My day job, not Pet Food Judge.

I knew this would be the hardest challenge so far, and challenges on a diet are unavoidable.

My work colleagues see this quarterly get together to bring in homemade and home baked food. The trouble for me is two of my work colleagues are very good cooks. Much better than a fancy restaurant.

Not only that, but three days in a boardroom with all this food right in front of me.

Amazingly, I made it.

Without carbs that is. I confess I consumed some protein of the plant kind.

Even when sandwiches came around at lunchtime I picked out some prawns, and some tuna, and threw the bread in the bin. I don’t like to waste food, and I love bread, but surprisingly on this diet I have zero cravings for bread – for gluten – so it’s been easy to throw it away.

Carnivore Diet Day #12

Bone broth breakfast. Delicious.

Fried liver for lunch. Delicious.

(Well, not as bad as my mind was telling me).

I cheated slightly today, but it was pre-mediated. It was Friday, and my wife and I agreed we would get Korean fried chicken (homecooked by a friend who runs a home business). Some carbs were consumed, but only the thin coating, but we need to treat ourselves occasionally, don’t we?

For the sake of completeness, the morning after I had the biggest poos of the fortnight.

Carnivore Diet Day #13

For a diet it’s been surprisingly easy having (almost) zero carbs. Not like other diets I’ve failed at in the past.

Let me explain why I think this is.

Firstly, diets usually suck. I enjoy food, so cutting out something I enjoy gets me all sad and depressed. What do you want to do when you’re sad and depressed? Yes, eat!

For a while I used a technique which worked. If I felt like a snack or cake, I wouldn’t deny myself. Instead I’d walk the 1km to the shop or bakery, have the treat, then walk back home. 2km walking somewhat balanced out the calories, and it was always an enjoyable walk.

Consider this – a regular diet may limit foods. Just say for lunch you have 2 crackers and a chunk of cheese. If you read about the rat experiment, you’ll note this is a combination of carbohydrates (sugar) and fat. The perfect combination to get you hankering for more, which is your worst nightmare on a diet.

Not with the carnivore diet though. You eat meat, you feel full. Simple.

Carnivore Diet Day #14

I made it two weeks!

I didn’t die, didn’t have ill effects, didn’t get scurvy, and didn’t have to poo through the head of a needle.

Apart from some disrupted sleep it went well. I lost weight, had more energy, better focus, less back pain, and generally felt far better than I have done for a long time.

Of course, having posted about my carnivore diet on social media I had a number of people tell me I’ll get scurvy or I’ll die if I don’t eat carbohydrates or plants.

It was these people who caused me to try the carnivore diet in the first place, and I’ll tell you why. On Quora I answered the question What would happen if you only ate meat?

I wrote about a friend who has been on a diet of mostly eggs and steak for a year. He has other foods too, including carbs, but his diet has become routine. His health and fitness, for a 45 year old office worker, has been astounding.

I didn’t expect the answer to go viral, but it did, with nearly 800 comments, over 6,000 upvotes, and 1.2 million viewers.

I read all the comments, and made a surprising observation:

A few people spoke of their turnaround in health on a carnivore diet, from illnesses such as diabetes to common aches and pains. Real stories, real positive feedback.

Lots of other people said he would die of scurvy.

I realised none of those people actually knew that. It’s merely what they had been told, and believed.

In a world where we feed our carnivorous pets grains baked into really hard nuggets which some veterinarians have found still whole when spewed up over 24 hours later, you have to wonder if the science is biased or funded by the food industry.

After all, many veterinarians – trusted professionals in the field – tell their clients they absolutely must feed those hard nuggets of grain to their pet carnivores, even when those animals have developed a diet-related health condition, very likely from the hard nuggets of grain they have been fed since puppyhood.

Two weeks on a carnivore diet – A summary

Thank you for reading my carnivore diet diary. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it, have learned something, or it has inspired you in some form or other.

I want you to consider my key takeaway points:

• If I can feel so much better on a carnivore diet, as an omnivore, then imagine how your carnivorous pets really feel on the high-carbohydrate food you currently feed them, and how much better they would feel on a real species-appropriate diet? What would they say if they could speak?
• Processed food is everywhere, and it’s not good for us. Nevertheless, switching to real foods is still possible, and you can do it with only a little bit of effort.
• If you’re currently on a carnivore diet and believe beef and salt would do the trick. Think again. As a nutritionist of real carnivores, I strongly suggest you start adding organ meats, bone broth, cartilage, brains, and other real carnivore foods into your diet. If you can’t do that, you’ll likely risk your long term health.

Where to next? I want to flip the health food triangle, not restrict my diet to only animal

At the start of my carnivore diet I knew I wanted to reset my eating habits. Break free of any addictions to the processed junk which dominated 80%+ of the supermarkets.

In that respect, I’m succeeding.

But I never wanted to be full carnivore, and I expect it’s not the optimal diet for us as omnivores.

However, I expect food industry-led science and marketing has pulled so much wool over our eyes we completely overlook the importance of meat and natural foods. This is detrimental to our health, and we only need to look at the rapidly rising cases of diet-related disease to realise this.

For us individuals we can make a choice, and start bringing our diets back to more natural and healthy foods.

For me, 2 weeks on a carnivore diet proved cheaper because it was simpler. Simply cutting out all the unnecessary groceries and snacks saved $$$s.

Next week I will start reintroducing some vegetables, some fruit, and I see no issue with that. At this stage I have no issues with keeping carbs to an absolute minimum – and after these past two weeks I have no cravings for carbohydrates whatsoever.

I’m flipping the health food triangle on it’s head. That triangle we learned about as kids, with majority carbohydrates, moderate vegetables, and a tiny portion of meat.

Meat first, fruit and veg in moderation, carbs minimal.