The Best Food for Chihuahua Puppy

Best Food for Chihuahua Puppy: the breed

The Chihuahua is undoubtedly an engineering masterpiece: a dog which, as an adult, can weigh less than two pounds and yet present itself as harmonious, elegant and even psychologically balanced, is a heritage to be preserved. One of the best ways to achieve this is to provide the Chihuahua puppy with adequate nutrition.

But what does "adequate" mean?

Unfortunately, the chemical and pharmacological pollution of all food sources, due to certain frequent allergies and food intolerances that affect humans and animals, renders the dietary balance (understood as the correct relationship between carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals) less important than the choice of raw materials to be used. In fact, only by selecting "clean" food (sea fish and non-intensively farmed meat) and a correct Omega3 and Omega6 balance is one able to harmoniously also but not only develop Chihuahua puppies, avoiding food intolerance derived pathologies and the exaggerated growth patterns that see puppies, already at 6 months, with the weight of an adult. Unbalanced growth is the leading cause of musculoskeletal disorders, also affecting dysplasia severity levels.

Omega3 and Omega6, not just for Chihuahua Puppies

A crucial component in the development of numerous food-borne diseases is an unbalanced Ώ3: Ώ6 ratio in today’s dog foods. Please note that Omega3 offers anti-inflammatory abilities, while Omega6 is pro-inflammatory. But where do our dogs and cats find their Omega3?

Best Food for Chihuahua Puppy: the role of grass

Grass has a 1:1 fatty acids ratio and all animals that consume it as "normal fodder" consume fatty acids in this ratio. Even considering a partial destruction in the stomach, this equivalates in their meat, milk, eggs and cheese providing fatty acids in a minimum proportion of 1:4. Carnivores who feed on herbivores (humans included) will thus receive the necessary share of Omega3. In the absence of this grass cycle, animals will suffer an unbalanced supply of essential fatty acids. In this case, only consuming fish and fish oil, very rich in Omega3, will guarantee the necessary contribution of these essential fatty acids.

Best Food for Chihuahua Puppy: the problem with corn

The constant use of corn silage in intensive farming, which began around 40 years ago, has dramatically destabilized the essential fatty acids ratio. Corn has a Ώ3 / Ώ6 ratio of about 1:54 (but grain, at 1:10, is also highly unbalanced). Consequently, every living being that feeds on products deriving from intensively bred animals, and products based on wheat or corn, gradually unbalances its Ώ3 / Ώ6 ratio, opening the path to the most varied chronic inflammatory processes. After careful evaluation, it’s easy to see why animals and humans are forced to suffer chronic or recurrent inflammatory process (gastritis, diverticulitis, ulcers, dermatitis, vaginitis, thyroiditis, pancreatitis) on a daily basis: everyone can identify their own or that of their little friend.

What is an inflammatory process?

An inflammatory process, commonly classified as a pathology to be SYSTEMATICALLY treated with specific anti-inflammatory drugs, is, on the contrary, a positive process (just consult a medical text to see it classified for what it really is: THE PROCESS OF HEALING). It represents, to all intents and purposes, the organism’s "incinerator", destroying toxins and those substances foreign to the organism (xenobiotics). The role is similar to that of the city incinerator, an indispensable (if unwelcome) structure which destructs all waste produced.

The correct strategy in the presence of inflammation

Pharmacologically "turning off" an ongoing inflammatory process causes a progressive accumulation of toxins and undesirable substances, just as switching off the city incinerator increases the accumulation of garbage. In the presence of an inflammatory process, the only truly functional therapy is to eliminate the cause that provokes it.

The obvious cause of increasing inflammatory pathologies and tumors

Since most “industrial” feeds for chihuahua puppies and dogs in general contain corn or wheat in abundance, with a Ώ3 / Ώ6 ratio between 1:6 and 1:10, it’s easy to define the other fundamental cause of increased inflammatory pathologies and / or tumors.

A correct Omega3 / Omega6 ratio

Recent studies confirm that a ratio between 1:1 and 1:4 is natural. A 1:4 ratio is considered fully acceptable as the majority of animals enjoy good health with this ratio. The market’s leading companies basically use a carbohydrate comprised of wheat, corn or soy, one or more meat proteins and animal fats; basically, a diet without Omega3, in fact, none of these foods contains significant quantities of such acids. Consequently, they are forced to present a much higher Omega3 / 6 ratio. We have instead seen that this relationship must be as close to parity as possible.

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) and dysplasia

One of the most striking effects caused by the Omega3 / 6 imbalance’s pro-inflammatory effect and the pharmacological residues of meat deriving from intensive rearing is the impressive increase in dysplasia and osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) in dogs. Those who have had the opportunity to compare the reality of the 70's with today’s, have a clear picture of the disproportionate increase in the incidence of these two previously mentioned phenomena. To this regard, please note that, especially for German Shepherds, a precise protocol for radiographic and clinical diagnosis of dysplasia in puppies was foreseen and implemented. This underlines that the exponential increase in the diagnoses of dysplasia depends on the increase in the disease and not on a previous lack of diagnosis. One of this pathology’s fundamental causes seems to be the progressive introduction of industrial food, containing pharmacologically active residues (deriving from intensively farmed meat) and a plethora of Omega6, into the kibbles. Residues and Omega6, both pro-inflammatory, have greatly increased the incidence of OCD, hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia.

Omega6, an imperative stimulus to cell growth

One of the peculiar characteristics of Omega6 is to stimulate cell growth. In puppies, these fatty acids’ overabundance inevitably determines an unbalanced development, leading many breeds to reach their growth targets within as early as 6 months. The obvious consequence of this is an overloaded skeletal system, with an anticipated closure of the growth cartilages, the appearance of OCD and / or evident aggravation of dysplasia.

The Italian Ministry of Defense has recently commissioned a research on the role of essential fatty acids in the development of dysplasia. This research, conducted at the Military Center in Grosseto, showed how puppies fed with a feed based on fish and fish oil (naturally rich in Omega3), and with a 1:1 Omega3 / Omega6 ratio, grow in a balanced and progressive manner, reaching the height and weight defined in recent breed standards at both the six-month and one-year stage.