What is up with rawfed diets?

Question

i am trying to research it before i decide to switch....what are th pro's and con's?

Answer 1

A raw food diet is very controversial, everyone has their own opinion on it. Some swear by it and other hate it. I personally did it with my dogs for a few years but the problem was their Dad wasn't so knowledgeable with and and thought that a pound of raw meat when I wasn't home was sufficent. I am all for it if it is done correctly, but it takes a lot of research and a bit of work until you have it all figured out. I researched it for about a year before I even attempted it. You have to balance their diet as you would your own, but in a situation like this it takes more education than you think. The difference is with our own bodies typically if we are lacking in one area or another or bodies crave it and almost tell us what to do, when your dealing with a pet you can't judge so easily what they need unless you have done your homework. This diet is also known as BARF (Bones And Raw Food) there is a very informative site you can do some research on. http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/barfdiet_faq.shtml


I personally know feed my dogs an all natural holistic diet, which seems to be great for all of us. It's easy, I go to the store and buy a high quality holistic food and all the treats at the same place. There is no messing around with measuring and balancing because it's no different than regular dog food, but it's healthier and more benificial to them. On top of that you don't typically have to worry about all these nasty food recalls and animal testing with their products.

My best advice is do plenty of research and be sure to follow through once you make a change their poor bellies aren't as good with change as ours might be.

Answer 2

Check out B-Naturals (google seek for it). There are recipes within the newsletters. Lew Olson (proprietor of the enterprise) additionally has a uncooked feeding booklet to be had. She's a quality useful resource! There also are uncooked feeding organizations on Yahoo Groups - do a seek and notice if you'll be able to discover on for your state. Yes, you'll be able to get the indispensable stuff at a grocery retailer however I will let you know from revel in that it may be costly. Also, assess out the pages for BRAVO puppy meals - they've quality expertise on their uncooked diets. I have a sixty five pound rottweiler that eats a uncooked vitamin (Bravo) and I must complement the meals with a digestive enzyme, fish oil and professional-biotics. I spend roughly $one hundred per thirty days feeding one puppy, NOT adding the dietary supplements - that's ONLY for the Bravo uncooked puppy meals. Bravo may also be expensive - this is a finely floor mixture of muscle meat, organ meat, bones and a few greens - I pay approximately $20 for a ten pound roll, or chub, of meals - which lasts me 6 a million/two days. Pros - you already know precisely what you're feeding your puppy, your puppy might be so much more fit (however will have to nonetheless quite often see the vet) Cons - it may be costly, a few puppies may not contact uncooked meals, generally is a ache within the butt to retailer and get ready the meals (I have a freezer that mainly involves puppy meals!), can mostly be difficult to discover a store for ready meals (that's what I suggest for inexperienced persons).

Answer 3

The pros are that it makes for clean teeth, it means the dogs piles are not big mushy, stinky piles and the dogs are eating much higher quality protein and no useless additives.
the cons are that most vets will give you a hard time (until they figure out you've done more nutritional research than they have) and it can be more challenging to store the food for long periods of time (unlike canned foods) and can be a pain if you forget to thaw out dinner and wait till the last minute.
People who talk about dogs getting worms or salmonella from food don't know what they're talking about.
I took about 1 year researching diets in dogs before totally switching to a whole prey raw diet and I'm very happy with it. I started by going to aunt jeni's raw (because i was afraid of bones) http://www.auntjeni.com/ and then went to full raw.
I would recommend doing a lot of reading. This is a good place to start: http://www.rawfed.com/ they also have links to other good sites and to the yahoo group on raw feeding which is very helpful.
Keep in mind that all the 'nutritional studies' done are done by the food companies themselves which have a vested interest in you continuing to buy from them. Also keep in mind that most vets' nutritional knowlege is anywhere from a couple of days of study to a couple of weeks and they get all their knowlege from the nutritional studies (remember the ones that were done by the dog food companies?) and the dog food companies provide them with more free info, free food and work hard to convince them that pre-packaged, ground up goo is better for our dogs than real food.
Anyway, do your homework and think for yourself and you'll be able to make better decisions for your pets.
Good luck!

Answer 4

Here ...
I feed my 87# mix Irish Wolfhound, German Wire Hair Pointer 1 cup of the following for breakfast & dinner mixed w/ 1 cup of a dry mix from my vet.
1/3 rice boiled w/ chicken broth
1/3 meat (chicken livers & ground pork)
1/3 veggies
We tried a 'raw' diet & she has horrible nasty poops. We tried dry food only & she had nasty smelling poops. A mixture has proven great for Brenna. I know some breeders of the Wolf Hound do veggies & raw beef, but I've not tried it (& I don't think I will).
Search the net too for some raw diet ideas or ask a vet or breeder.

Answer 5

People used to feed raw because they believed it made dogs more vicious. Now it is because it is more like what they ate naturally. Of course, wild canines’ life spans are quite short. Poor diet has a lot to do with that. Veterinarians say it is unhealthy. It costs a lot. It takes a lot of preparation time. Lots of cons. Pros? Some people believe (without repeatable evidence) that it is good for their dogs and is "natural".

Answer 6

Careful! Raw meat has been known to increase aggression in some breeds. I'd consult a vet before doing it just to be safe.

Answer 7

I would never feed an animal raw food because they could get worms and salmonella and e-coli.

Answer 8

There are no "cons" except getting your hands dirty.

Answer 9

raw meat has a lot of bacteria & could make them really sick