Word: dieting
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Lonsdale suggested to some of his clients that they change their pet's diet - from canned and dry food to such items as raw chicken carcases, kangaroo tails and whole rabbits. Within weeks, he says, the clients were reporting that "these near dead things had become sprightly again. They were gaining weight and their coats were developing a luster. All those non-specific ailments that we'd previously been puzzling over were disappearing. Animals no longer needed their arthritis pills, their corticosteroids for skin disorders, their flea treatments. We were destroying our client base. All the animals were getting better...
...tragedy of the Lonsdale story is that his dietary message could be spot on. Periodontal disease is rife in cats and dogs, affecting 85% of those over three years old. Further, the A.V.A. acknowledges that a diet of mainly "soft foods" could "favor development" of periodontal disease and recommends giving bones at least once a week. A.V.A. national president Dr. Norm Blackman says that while Lonsdale's e-mail was "mischievous in the extreme . . . Tom has contributed quite a lot to veterinary science." Others go further. "I believe he's a visionary," says Dr. Richard Malik, the veterinary specialist...
...urging, western Sydney breeder Leah Ryan switched her 10 to 20 collies from processed food to mainly meaty bones 17 years ago. The change, she says, slashed her vet bills from $A1,000 a month to zip: "I've not had a sick dog since." Lonsdale says a natural diet slightly increases the life span of most breeds of cat and dog, but more significant is the improvement to their quality of life. "Instead of being miserable they'll be healthy, then fall off the perch abruptly...
...argues it's the A.V.A.'s alliance with pet food manufacturers that's stopping it from coming clean. Blackman dismisses this as "nonsense": only 0.4% of the A.V.A.'s annual income comes from manufacturers, he says, "and it's certainly not a driver of the recommendations we make about diet." Animals fed a pure Lonsdale diet, he adds, risk missing out on key nutrients and becoming constipated...
...Meaty Bones, gives the impression he could discuss pet food all day. "He's obsessive because he's been made a figure of fun," says a friend and former vet. "Being tiresome doesn't make him wrong." Lonsdale believes his ideas could have implications for human medicine: if this diet can reverse illness in animals, he says, "we should be finding out what the factors are" and seeing if they can be applied to people. No one expects the A.V.A. expulsion to do anything but embolden him. "He's on a crusade," says Sydney University's Malik, "which will...