Raw Vs Non Vs Split.....

[Guest chickenpotpie]

when I took Lucky to the vet last, her normal vet wasn't there. The replacement vet gave me a lecture about feeding raw. She didn't particularly like that because she says that raw diets are what gives dogs e-coli, and that eating bones are bad.I told her if she wants to cough up the money to feed my dog "quality bagged dog food" then feel free, I'm feeding her what works for her. I admittedly did not like her attitude which is why I said what I said.

 

For the record, she eats kibble in the morning, these days about 1/2 cup, a few treats throughout the day (usually chicken livers) and in the evening she gets turkey necks and fruits/veggies/fish and/or coconut oil, and at bedtime she has 2 cookies. I sometimes make an icecream out of the fruit/veggies because its been on the hot side lately. She isn't starving, her weight is good, her teeth look amazing, and her coat is gorgeous. She dosen't have the diarreah which is hyoooge for me, she poops firm but not hard iykwim (though she can pop a lot but I blame that on the walks)

 

Kibble twice a day didn't really agree with her tummy but the above particular setup does.

 

Her normal vet dosen't lecture me about it says if it works continue. So whats the deal?

 

I'm sure I could have said something else but that chick peeved me with her nice-nasty tude.

[Remolacha]

A lot of vets will lecture you about raw feeding, and in their defense, many people try it with out taking the trouble to do their research and make sure they have a good balanced diet.They think all they have to do is hand the dog a chicken leg and they are done It sounds like what you are doing works great for your dog, and that is all that matters. Ignore the sub vet!

[Guest chickenpotpie]

I tried the tripe thing and I just couldn't do it. One of my girlfriends has a dog that loves the stuff and shes willing to deal with it. Me, it just turned my tummy....ugh... Far as she's been with me, eating raw has never been a big deal, and it just seems like she prefers it. I've never seen a dog that loved fruits and veggies to this extent tbh.... The other is that shes a petite girl, she seems to know her own limits and dosen't tend to want to eat me out of house and home though she can be VERY food motivated. I do on occassion feed her cooked chicken, beef, or turkey, but tbh, she dosen't tend to prefer it. I did look into going all the way BARF but I'll be honest, I'm not totally confident in making the switch completely because I do want to be sure she's getting all the right stuff.

 

her regular vet asked me what I meant by feeding raw, and when I told him he said ok thats fine... this chick? naw, she went right into lecture mode.

[OwnedBySummer]

If it works, she's healthy and if she's getting all the right amounts of nutrients/vitamins/etc.... why mess with it? She's very pretty and shiny in your siggie!

[JAJ2010]

Fastest way for me to fire a vet ;-) move on and never pay them another dime. You employ their services andshould require them to educate themselves enough to give it sound advice. I finally found a really good greyhound vet and didn't disclose what I fed until 2 years into our relationship! LOL she had to ask me point blank what they ate.

 

She's always complimented their teeth and asked whatI brushed with. Always said we never brush teeth in our house. Every app since then she works the raw feeding comment in there somewhere. It's never judgemental or negative.

 

Vets don't get many hours of nutritional study in school. The education they do get is generally funded by Kibble companies.

 

You keep doing whatever works for your dog. If your encounter a nutritional issue you can adjust then ;-)

[Fruitycake]

I find it ironic that vets are all fired up about raw feeders giving their dogs e.coli and salmonella and other bacteria from raw...and then turn around and tell us we should be feeding bagged kibble that keeps being recalled because of salmonella or e.coli or campylobacter or who knows what else. Not because the dogs are getting sick, but because people aren't handling it right and they are getting sick. If you handle the food properly, and wash your hands, it shouldn't be a problem bacteria-wise.

 

Nutritionally, if your dog is getting the proper nutrients in the right balance, and is healthy, I don't see a problem with it. And if the vet had spoken that way to me, I'd have wanted to tell her that she doesn't have a clue and can't come in all ignorant about me and my dogs and tell me this bunk. Especially since she should have a good relationship with the pet owner and know the dog and the situation before spouting the doom-and-gloom reports that they're fed from pet food companies. Dogs have lived with humans for, oh, a couple thousand years and have had these chemical-filled, grain-based bagged foods for less than one century. And they keep coming up with new and improved forumulations...which means that what is "the best" right now will be revised and tinkered with in the next few years and in 20 the companies will be saying today's "best" is garbage food.

[Guest Giselle]

Dogs in developing countries eat trash. Dogs domesticated themselves BECAUSE they ate trash (at least, that's what the overwhelming genetic and ecological studies have suggested to date). Dogs have the capability to eat an enormous range of foods - cooked, raw, decaying, fresh, you name it - and do extraordinarily well on it. In fact, they are so highly evolved to eat everything that researchers have found that some dogs have a specific gene for digesting carbohydrates. They've evolved to eat carbs! So, can they handle all that we feed them? Pretty much, within reason, of course.

 

That said, dogs are also highly susceptible to communicable and infectious diseases, especially those spread through fecal-oral transmission. So, yeah, there's a huge risk with feeding improperly prepared food of any sort.

 

The reality is the a lot of food is contaminated with low levels of bacteria and viruses and pesticides and herbicides. Heat (cooking) and thorough washing help to decrease the risk of disease. Due to the processing that modern meat must go through, there's a high chance that the raw meat you feed your dog has come into contact with the flesh of other animals, other animals' entrails, etc. It's a huge breeding ground for bacteria. But, then again, so is mass produced kibble. So, really, if you can assume the risk that comes with either, then go for whatever works for you dog and your conscience. As long as you're all aware of the facts, that's fine. Just always keep a critical eye for what is reality and what is anecdote, hyperbole, or ideology.

 

EDIT: As for the "split" diet, I know that some raw feeders caution against feeding kibble and raw at the same time because it will somehow give more time for bacteria to build up in the dog's GI tract. As far as I know, the primary thing that affects digestive kinetics is fiber. So, unless the kibble is WAY low in fiber, I don't see a problem in doing a split diet. But that's just me and the extent of my knowledge at this point in time.

Edited July 11, 2013 by Giselle