Raw Diet or Commercial Pet Food?
The three main feeding choices for pet owners: raw diet, cooked food, or commercial pet food. In this article we explore the raw diet.
Finding a healthy pet food can be a challenge for pet owners.
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The debate of what to feed pets is a touchy subject among pet lovers. Advocates for raw diets insist that it is the healthiest food, but veterinarians don't always agree.
Scientists who have made a life’s work of studying pet health and nutrition do have answers. Every type of diet has its pros and cons, and raw foods are no exception.
Advocates claim that raw foods are "natural" and are closer to a dog or cat’s natural diet. But our domesticated pets are far removed from wild animals. Wild animals do not live as long as our pets, and they get parasites and bacterial infections from eating raw meat. They suffer and many die when bones get stuck in their throats, intestines, or perforate their stomachs. “Natural” sounds healthy, but there's nothing healthy or good about feeding pets a diet that can cause parasites, bacteria infections and medical problems.
There are pets who cannot handle a raw diet and develop colitis.
Research has shown that commercially available "human grade" meats are often contaminated with bacteria like E. coli that can cause serious illness. Meat sold for pet food surely has the same risk, if not more. Dogs and cats are not immune to Salmonella or other bacteria.
The Delta Society, a non-profit organization that trains volunteers for animal-assisted therapy, issued a statement that they would reject pets fed a raw diet (proteins) because they're likely to shed dangerous levels of bacteria that humans might be exposed to through contact.
On the other hand, commercial pet food contains ingredients that pets are allergic to. There are dogs that cannot tolerate corn or grain in their food, for example.
And of course, the corn or grain-free commercial foods are more expensive. That's another issue in itself!
For more information about raw diets, check out the Food and Drug Administration’s website, www.fda.gov, and search for “raw pet food.” For more information about the Delta Society’s position statement, see www.deltasociety.org and search for “raw food.” For the American Veterinary Medical Association’s information links on food safety, go to http://www.avma.org/public_health/default.asp#food_safety.
What do you feed your pet and why? Do you believe that commercial pet food is safe and healthy? Reply in the Comment Box below.
ethelcalton123
11:45 pm on Saturday, March 5, 2011
I joined this website "123 Get Samples" and i got freestuff from it, it took about a week for me to receive? something i actually wanted so just join them and it is easy and free
N Ceppi
9:04 am on Sunday, March 6, 2011
I am a raw diet feeder and use a high quality commercial raw. So I might not be considered objective. A high quality Raw (like Bravo or natures Variety) is carefully handled during the manufacturing process and tested for the troublesome bacteria. That is not to say that you do not need to be extra cautious in handling the product. YOU DO! The advantages vs. Grain based pry foods are Manu and easy to see. Just look at the dog or cat. No fat, bright shiny coat, healthy gums and teeth, plenty of energy and much more. Your piece while ibformative lacks balance. Why is raw growing in popularity. Dogs and cats who look and ARRe healthier and live longer answers the question
Julia Harris
12:34 pm on Monday, March 7, 2011
Hi N,
I know a breeder who uses a raw diet delivered frozen to her home. Her dogs have always been healthy and their fur shiny.
I feed Shelby a dry commercial dog food with a bit of plain yogurt and warm water mixed in. She's happy with it, and seems healthy. I'm doing research presently to find out what's the healthiest food for pets. I don't like the fillers and grains present in commercial, dry dog food.
A friend feeds her Basset Hound cooked food; rice, chicken and veggies. He has terrible runny stools, sometimes with blood, if he eats commercial dog food.
I tried to feed Shelby her recipe, and Shelby vomited. She got sick. We learned that she can't tolerate chicken.
I guess the answer lies in what the pet can tolerate.
Declan J Stuyvesant
6:16 pm on Tuesday, March 8, 2011
the part I can never get beyond is the tree-hugging/humus-packing individual's mindset of "natural". sounds better; therefore, it MUST be better. of course, arsenic is natural. so are free radicals. so is radiation. heck, even death is natural. and who can refute the role of apoptosis? what the simple-minded folk actually mean is "something free of contaminants, preservatives, adulteration, etc, etc.". but, wait, raw diets have all kinds of crap in them -- ah, but it's natural (so, I guess it's okay --you know, double standard "okay").
the original writer says he/she has proof and reasons for choosing a raw diet over a grain based diet (grains are synthetic right? not natural -- right? therefore, bad -- right?) but where is the documention and proof? you know, where is the data on which one can base one's claims? oh wait, there is none. huh? so, then, the claims of superiority are unsubstantiated, or based on perception. or, bias and ingnorance.
and, all the PhD's and DVM's and other brainiaces working in laboratories across the world are wrong in their conclusions on the nutritional needs/requirements of the canine and feline species. yea, that makes sense. think I'll shoot me a rabbit or two tonight and feed 'em to my kitty.
Joyce Miller
12:28 am on Thursday, March 10, 2011
There is no scientific proof that a raw diet is as bad as this article claims. Absolutely none. Most of the scientific research being done is on commercial foods, not on raw foods. All the claims in this article are the save fears that are so frequently spread about raw diets. Having fed raw for nearly 15 years and having had weaned numerous puppies to a raw diet, I have never had a sick dog. Indeed my dogs live to 15 and older, one lived to two months short of her 20th birthday after having been switched to raw when she was nine years old! I use human grade meats, and I use bones that have worked for dog owners for centuries. We're not talking wild animals when we talk raw food: we are talking the diet that dogs were fed until the emergence of manufactured kibbles developed primarily for use at dog shows in the 1920s.
disgusted
8:06 pm on Saturday, March 19, 2011
Your article is a disgusting attempt at spreading FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) about real food over processed food and I cannot have faith that ANY of the other advice on your site is decent in any way shape or form.
What a load of BS.
Julia Harris
10:41 am on Sunday, March 20, 2011
The article presents facts about different ways of feeding. No advice is meant to be given. It's an open discussion welcoming reader opinions.
Thanks so much for leaving yours.