Raw meat for dog food?

Who feeds RAW?
someone gave me this article.
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html


I was wondering what you thought about it.
i think i am scared of bacteria and yet all our snakes and even ferrets eat raw meat...so i really don't know what to think.

I'd be nervous to feed my dogs raw meat due to risk of bacteria, but then again they eat feces (excuse the gross comparison) and anything they get their paws on and are typically fine. So, I suppose they can handle it. I wouldn't compare feeding a slab of raw meat to a dog to feeding a mouse/rat to a snake though. The raw meat has been cut and exposed to bacteria for who knows how long, the mice/rats are either freshly killed and eaten or frozen right after being killed, I believe they have much less bacteria than uncooked meat. Then again, this is just my opinion, I have no idea how clean raw meat is compared to mice/rats. :P

Huskies and many alike in sled racing are fed raw meat. Its fine if its not been heated then cooled. If kept chilled your fine while the dogs eat it.

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Originally Posted by Kymberli

I'd be nervous to feed my dogs raw meat due to risk of bacteria, but then again they eat feces (excuse the gross comparison) and anything they get their paws on and are typically fine. So, I suppose they can handle it. I wouldn't compare feeding a slab of raw meat to a dog to feeding a mouse/rat to a snake though. The raw meat has been cut and exposed to bacteria for who knows how long, the mice/rats are either freshly killed and eaten or frozen right after being killed, I believe they have much less bacteria than uncooked meat. Then again, this is just my opinion, I have no idea how clean raw meat is compared to mice/rats. :P

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well you can just kill a rat and give it to your dog to eat...ahaha

Our cats actually eat a raw diet - they eat premade raw (Nature's variety), raw meat (chicken, beef, pork... anything really) and prey-model raw (mice and rats) - they're the healthiest cats I've ever owned.

I wish I could feed the dogs raw, but we don't have a deep freeze or a cheap source of that much meat... so unfortunately they're still on kibble.

RAW is much more like their natural diet, and its perfectly safe if prepared properly and the right amounts of things are given (meat, organ meat, bone, etc).

I would love to get my cats on RAW when I've got more disposable income..for now they're on high quality grain free food.

Yeah there are some good things to be said about feeding a diet that is more natural, ESPECIALLY since almost all kibble most people buy is mostly filler(Check ingredients, it's listed by weight..a lot of them show grains and stuff first which means they are pretty fattening!)

I know some pure bred dogs honestly need a more varied diet of raw meats and other foods to help keep them healthy and prevent health problems associated with their breeds, especially big dogs it seems.

When my family gets a new puppy this summer, we plan to go with as close to a natural diet as possible!

I fed both my Shih Tzu and Texas Blue Lacy raw food for 6 months. Our Sphynx kitten came to me from the breeder's already eating raw. It was amazing. All of them pooped once a day. That was awesome! And my vet was amazed how awesome my dogs' teeth looked. Also, my over weight Shih Tzu only took 2 weeks to get back to her regular weight.

But when we found out that I was pregnant, my OBGYN requested I stop preparing the food. She said as long as I was careful the risk was minimal, but she preferred I stopped. Well, the husband HATES touching raw meat, so we switched to Merrick-Before Grain, for both the dogs and the cat. While I am pleased with the food, as soon as I possibly can, I will going back to raw.

Not as a whole diet, but my dogs do get raw as a treat, they love things like apples, sweet potatoes, pears, even onions. From time to time they get the trimmings from a roast or from a pork loin or something..

Dogs compared to humans have a very short digestive track so the risk from bacteria is very minimal. I knew a breeder years ago that breed bull mastiffs, and like many large breeds they unfortunately have a short life span at least compared to smaller breeds. She feed only a raw organic diet that she prepared herself and she had several mastiffs over the age of 14 that were not only still healthy but behaved like puppies. Now some of that is no doubt due to good genes from responsible breeding but she was sure that the diet was a big part of it, and I tend to agree with her. If done properly a good raw diet that is properly balanced IMO is far superior to any kibble on the market. It is pretty expensive rout to go and it does take allot more time and effort than commercial diet, but if you can afford it and have the time to do it right then I would say go for it. I myself looked into it on the advice of a holistic vet for my 15 year old pit-bull last year when she was diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately with all the extra vet expenses and medication we just couldn’t find room for it in the budget. So I went with a kibble my vet recommended and knock on wood 6 months and counting and she’s still healthy and there has been no return of any tumours.

Well people have been telling me to feed RAW to my Papillon who is very over weight, she is almost 15lbs! Papillons are supposed to be no more then 8lbs.
I was told by many that RAW will help her in her weight along with obvious exercise.

I was talking to breeder and we think my Pap had thyroid problems along with her dry skin. Taking her to a vet of course.
because if she indeed has a hypothyroid then RAW wont change anything and she will just continue to gain weight and break her back.

gahhhh

Depending on the type of dog (a lot of small dogs tend to have issues with being on raw food, but some, especially Boston terriers, are perfectly fine on it) a raw diet, when managed properly, is great.

You have to make sure that they still get their veggies (dogs aren't full carnivores, more omnivorous) and make sure you get good quality meats for the dogs. You can get it in frozen patties at most pet food stores, or you can just get some from a good butcher.

To supplement the meat, you can either make your own mix (which can be a lot of work but if you're up for it at least you can pick and choose what you put in) or you can get some good quality mixes. The two that I recommend are the Urban Wolf or Essex Cottage Farms food base mixes, they're super nice but can be a little pricey. In the end though it's high quality stuff, and I've even tried the Urban Wolf's cat formula (Urban King) for my ferrets because on its own it's already high protein and grain free, and I just added some ground turkey, and they were doing good on it (except the older guy, because he just wasn't used to that kind of protein level, but he's almost 9 so I kind of expected it).

If it's an older dog it might be best to either put a little less meat because very high amounts of protein can sometimes bother them, or keep it on whatever it was on before. Most grain free diets are extremely rich, and this is a grain free diet. Raw will more than likely not help your dog lose weight, but rather gain it as you mentioned.

If you want to try a raw diet with out the hassle of figuring out how to make it. Look at Honest kitchen
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/prod...FQhy5QodthlcDQ

I have 4 small breed dogs on it. I wont feed anything else they all have thined out and skin problems on the one dog has vanished.
They have samples you can try

Raw is the best food you can feed a cat or a dog.. remember, they are made for this..

they are carnivores, their bodies do not digest the way ours does.. Raw has good bacterias that can not be found in kibble.. it is good for the teeth, digestion etc..

definitely look into it.. it is a great thing :D They look, and act a ton better!!! just like we do when we eat healthy!!

Raw's the best way to go. It's just finding a cheap, reliable source of raw food. Freezing the meat eliminates and kills most of the bacteria. So I would worry about your dog getting sick unless you leave the meat out at room temp for a long period of time. And when your dog/cat goes to the bathroom, check it to see what needs to be added or subtracted in it's diet.