Everyone wants to do the best thing by their dog, whether it’s exercise, enrichment, food, or healthcare.
With so many fads popping up every day and the internet ready and willing to proliferate them in the name of the almighty dollar, though, it can be hard to know what the “best thing” really is.
Raw meat diets are popular these days, but are they good for your dog?
Let’s find out.
The diet is known as the BARF diet – “Bones And Raw Food” – and is being marketed as “biologically appropriate” for dogs.
The diet includes uncooked ingredient that come from wild animals or livestock, and can be purchased or made from scratch at home.
You know, depending on what kind of “mom” you are!
In 2016, 3% of dog owners were buying raw pet food, while 17% were feeding raw or cooked human food to their dogs.
Experts say that while a dog can get all of their nutritional needs met by a raw diet, there’s no clear evidence that it’s better (or worse) than a traditional dry dog food diet.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) opposes feeding dogs and cats uncooked or unpasteurized foods because, as with humans, consuming raw meat comes with potential health risks.
Animal-sourced proteins can be contaminated with things like Enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp, Campylobacter spp, and Clostridium spp, all of which lead to foodborne illnesses.
There is some risk of passing those pathogens off to their owners, too, while they’re handling the meat or from the dog’s mouth and saliva.
This is a bigger cause for concern if the human in question is in any way immunocompromised.
At least one study also found that feeding dogs raw food could contribute to the growing issue of antibiotic resistance.
People who feed their dogs a BARF diet claim that their pet’ teeth are cleaner, it’s more natural, there are fewer contaminants, and it tastes better.
There is no doubt more research will come along that could sway vets and owners one way or the other.
Until then, I probably wouldn’t feed my dog anything I wouldn’t eat myself.
At least, not on the regular.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.