Is anyone else giving their pets raw meat or have them on a raw diet? A friend of mine was feeding her dogs a raw diet and they got super sick!
Well, we eat a partially raw diet and our pets too...but 'raw' does not mean uncooked. It is just that the food is not cooked over a certain degree of heat which would kill the nutrients. Feeding pets food that is uncooked could be pretty dangerous I feel, especially nowadays with all the stuff they pump into it.
Weird. I've been feeding my dog a primarily "raw" diet (consisting mostly of raw meat, and some fruits and vegetables (hey. While I'm here: grapes and raisins are far more toxic to dogs and cats than chocolate. Beware).) for upwards of 6 years. He's almost 9 now, and is doing great. He's strong and healthy. Sometimes he'll get diarhhea if I'm experimenting with new foods. But, for example, if nowadays I give him just a bowl of dry or wet dogfood, he'll get diarhhea as well. If I give him too much cooked pork: same story. I don't know what you mean by feeding your dog a "raw diet," though. That term describes a health diet for people, right? I don't know how that would apply to dogs. But in general, people think raw meat is bad for dogs. But no, dogs and cats can and should ideally have a diet of mostly raw meat. It's only a problem if the meat is rotten or contaminated. Here's a youtube from a vet who agrees with me: Log In
Dogs and cats are meat-eaters. Giving them uncooked meat should not affect them in any way unless the meat was contaminated with some chemical. I've heard that in the wild [dogs used to wild animals at one point] some animal actually prefer eating decaying meat because it's easier to digest. But getting back to the topic, here's the opinion of an expert:Log In
Yea, I can personally attest to at least these benefits from feeding your dog a raw (meat) diet. I notice that dogs who are eating a primarily dry-food diet have weird stools compared to my boy. His are firm and solid, while, for example, my sister's dog's stools are... I don't want to use the word "loose," because it's not like the stools are "watery." It's difficult to describe. Are photographs called for here? You see how the stool is "puffy," and not firm and solid? Yea, it has this weird, very soft "puffiness," and it's grainy, too, probably from the wheat and soybeans. And also, it STINKS. It smells almost as bad, to me, as rotting meat. When I feed my dogs raw meat, the smell is significantly less rancid, and, like I've described, the consistency looks healthier. My dog's coat is also slick and shiny year round.
My holistic vet advocates a raw diet for all pets, cats and dogs. You can buy commercially prepared raw. I actually went so far as to buy a meat grinder, but am waiting for chicken thighs to go on sale. I don't know as much about dogs but will be using the raw diet recipe onLog In That dog food site linked upthread is a good site to learn about dog food.
