Thoughts on Raw food diets

Our question this week was:

What are your thoughts on the raw food diet? I have friends who have a dog on it and he is thriving and he is the healthiest dog I've ever known – he is never sick! Any advice you have in this area would be greatly appreciated! Thanks and have a great day!

Sincerely,

Tami Grewenow

Answer

Hi – thanks for your email. Your question was – Do I believe in raw meat diets. This is a very controversial area and people I know stand firmly on one side or the other.

On one side, the raw meat advocates believe that commercial pet foods are over-processed, not as nutritious as raw meat diets and may be tainted.

On the other side, the commercial food advocates believe that their food is safer and balanced in nutrients. They believe that there are inherent dangers of bacteria in raw meat diet that makes it unsafe.

Most veterinarians do not advocate raw meat diets. In fact, I don't know any that do (however there may be a few). The only people that I know that feed raw meat diets are a few breeds and pet owners.

Personally, I'm not a raw meat pet food advocate at this time. I've seen more problems resulting from feeding raw meat diets than premium quality commercial pet foods.

If your friend's dog is "healthy", he is probably healthy innately. It would probably be healthy no matter what he ate. To your friend's credit, if her dog is not having problems, she is probably doing a good job in minimizing the dangers associated with raw meat diets.

An article that might be interesting to you is The Raw Food Debate: Should you Feed it To Your Dog.

Regards,

Dr. Debra

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