There are many good reasons why pet owners should question the wholesomeness and goodness of commercial pet foods. The year 2007 marked a time when a large number of dog food brands were discovered to contain several poisonous ingredients which caused a huge pet food recall. Because the problem was so widespread, it’s been suggested that over 10,000 dogs died as a result of the tainted food while others became seriously ill.

In recent months, levels of aflatoxin at a dangerously high level were detected in a number of dog food brands including the so-called premium labels. Liver cancer is known to be a possibility after consumption of fungi like aflatoxin.

Many dog owners are questioning how committed the pet food corporations are to healthy food. Many have searched for food sources that they can trust with some suggesting araw meat diet for dogs.

The commercial pet food corporations do not want dog owners to even consider this type of diet. Billions of dollars are involved for the pet food makers, and reduced profits is the last thing they want. In an attempt to persuade pet owners not to switch their pets’ diets, the giant pet food companies are trying to warn of the “risks” of a raw food diet.

However, pet owners who have switched to feeding a diet closer to what their pet’s ancestors would have eaten are pointing to some major benefits. These benefits for their pets include:

• Fewer visits to the Veterinarian due to decreased health concerns
• Less requirement for water
• Vast improvement in the stool (fecal matter)

These are but a few of the benefits. Of course, the pet food industry want to point out that this is simply anecdotal evidence, and is not proof that feeding your dog a raw meat diet is healthy in the long run. One of the risks, according to them is of bacterial infection and contamination of raw meat.

Perhaps most of the evidence is anecdotal, but for those who are nervous about quality control in commercial feeds, there’s not much else to go by. The commercial pet food companies are certainly not going to fund any studies to “prove” that their foods are better than the natural food that canines have been eating for a millenia.

As well as not being difficult, pet owners are discovering it doesn’t have to be expensive either to feed a raw diet. Those who have gone beyond the hesitation in feeding raw are discovering that they can trust their own food preparation over that of the commercial dog food suppliers.

As well, commercial pet food labels are created in such a way to trick us into believing that the main ingredient is meat. This is not true - it may be the first ingredient listed, but most of the time, the weight of total grains is far higher than the weight of the meat in kibble.

A raw meat diet should also include bones. While some
might balk at the idea of feeding their dogs bones (not heavy bones that they cannot crush with their teeth), canines in the wild do consume bone material. We’ve been told many times that bones are a choking and splintering hazard - but this is only true when the bones are cooked. Bones become more prone to splintering after they go through a cooking process. A dog’s digestive system, just like their counterparts in the wild, are adapted to eating raw bones. Clean white teeth with no tartar is another perk of feeding raw bones.

Despite what the commercial dog food companies say (and the veterninarians that are sponsored by these corporations), while the evidence is anecdotal, there’s a lot of it that indicates a raw meat diet is a healthy diet for dogs.

Click to learn more about feeding raw meat to dogs.

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