Raw food diet science?

A lot of raw feeding advice and recommendation is anecdotal, yes. Unfortunately, there are no large recent studies, funded by independent sources (most nutrition studies are in fact funded by pet food companies). And why should there be? If it was to be proven that the best in canine nutrition was not from a bag of kibble, but by a home-prepared diet made from ingredients that humans could obtain easily, at the grocery store right next to their own foods, then the multi-billion dollar industry of commercial pet food would be in a shambles. I don't think pet food companies are inherently evil, but at the end of the day their top priority is their bottom line. They tend to cut corners where they can, and many (most?) use fillers to lessen the cost of the product. Maybe many pets will do just fine over their lifetime on such products, but mine didn't. I saw a great of improvement in both my dogs, as well as in friends' dogs that also tried it out. Many never had problems on kibble before, but are now further convinced that they are doing the right thing by the results they have seen.

I do base my decision on science, and what research I can do. I read everything I can, every study I can, and even every anti-raw article I can. But the literature is still few and far between.

To me, raw works for several reasons. I believe dogs are carnivores, a sub-species of Gray wolf, and I do my best to mimic the diet of that animal for my own dogs. Wolves thrive on the meat, bones, and organs of prey. The typical large ungulate is composed roughly of 80% meat, 10% edible bone, and 10% organ. It varies, but that's the rough guide that the raw diet is also based on. There are no nutrients required by wolves that cannot be found in such prey. Therefore, by logic I assume that as my dogs are a sub-species, then the same sort of diet can apply to them as well. Additionally, it cannot be argued that dogs have lived the vast majority of their evolutionary history on self-obtained or scavenged food, much of which was raw. If this dogs were so ill-adapted to this diet, how have they survived? If a diet of whole prey is so dangerous, why do wolves survive and thrive on it?

I've chosen not to add vegetation to my dogs' diets for several reasons. It is well known, even within the veterinary community, that dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates. That alone should tell you something. Beyond that, I know that dogs do not produce amylase in their saliva, which is a trait of carnivorous animals that don't rely on vegetation as a major dietary component. I also look again to wolves, where studies have shown time and again that they do not ingest the stomach contents or intestinal contents of their large prey. I don't deny my dogs the opportunity to share some fruits or greens with me occasionally that I'm eating, but I don't expect it to offer them anything other than a unique taste sensation either.

I'll be happy to share some of my research literature with you.

Dierenfeld, E. S., Alcorn, H. L., & Jacobsen, K. L. (2002, May 29). Nutrient composition of whole vertebrate prey (excluding fish) fed in zoos. Retrieved from http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/zoo/WholePreyFinal02M...

Mech, L. D., & Boitani, L. (2003). Wolves: behavior, ecology, and conservation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Murie, A. (1944). The wolves of mount mckinley. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office.

Zunna, A., Ozolins, J., & Pupila, A. (2009). Food habits of the wolf canis lupus in latvia based on stomach contents. Estonian Journal of Ecology, 58(2), 141-152.

I also recommend books written by Tom Lonsdale ("Raw Meaty Bones", and "Work Wonders") and Lew Olson ("Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs").

I hope I've given you enough material to look through and find your answers. And again, please realize that there is little research done in this area. I hope you find what you're looking for.

Well, one thing could be that it's closest to the ancestral diet of the dog. It's the basic form of what's IN the dog's kibble, but it's unprocessed, uncooked, and untampered with, so it has more nutritional value.

Have you ever fed a dog (or any other animal) a raw diet? My ferret is fed raw, and within days of switching him from the Marshall crap, he had a lustrous coat, cleaner teeth, and more energy. You can't say that it's unhealthier if you see all of these benefits.

I'm all for feeding a good quality kibble. Some dogs don't do well on raw. While it may be acclaimed as the 'best' diet, it doesn't work for all dogs.

ETA: Feeding raw is also good if your dog has food allergies and you need to limit the ingredients your dog gets. You get to know exactly what your dog is eating, whereas with kibble, there are so many ingredients (except for with limited ingredient foods), it's difficult to rule out exactly what's causing the food allergy sometimes.

Ultimate Raw Food Diet : http://www.rawfoodhappy.com/Service

Kibble isn't evil, nor are the companies, but they are selfish and want money - who isn't/doesn't?

I'm also an aspiring scientist, and I was in the exact same place you are now. I questioned (and still do) everything, and a proper diet is no exception.

Look at what's in kibble, then look in your backyard. Now, let's look at the anatomy of a dog.

1) Starting at the head, open up the dog's mouth. What do you see? Sharp teeth. Do you see any flat molars? NO. Dogs cannot chew or grind their food, which is what is needed to break the cell wall for plants. Their teeth are designed to rip, tear, shred, and crunch meat and bones.

2) Before we look at the dog's digestive system, let's look at a herbivore's digestive system. Most plant-eaters have more than one stomach. This is because the process of digesting plants, fruits, and veggies is very difficult. There is a cell wall around vegetation cells, which obviously is used to protect the plant and such. This is why even people have a hard time eating fruits and veggies sometimes. Also, even our (we are omnivores) digestive systems are longer than that of a carnivore's (which is what a dog is). Have you ever noticed that if you don't chew corn right, you can see it when you, er... defecate? That's because even we omnivores have to chew our food to actually digest it properly. As said before, dogs CAN'T chew, even IF they had flat molars.

3) NOW let's look at their digestive systems. They have a relatively short digestive system. This is because meat, bone, and organ are relatively easy to digest. Mammals don't have any cell walls(simple biology tells us this) so there's not even a need to really chew. Just make it small enough to slide down your throat, and you're all good. Even humans could do this.

4) Dogs are only 2% away from wolves, and this is entirely appearance. Yes, some wolves do live on a (at most) 40% vegetation diet. These wolves are very small, though. This is because they do not NEED those carbs, and the carbs have no nutritional value. Does it necessarily hurt them? No. Does it help them? Maybe keeps them full and not starve to death, but that's it. Dogs are more closely related to the Timber (or Grey) Wolf, whose entire diet is meat. Timbers have been recorded to munch on berries, but only if their prey source is running low. And the after-effects of the berries are NOT pretty.

5) Myth: "Wolves eat the stomach content of prey." No, they do not. In fact, it's been researched again, and again, and again, and recoreded again and again and again, that when they have a large enough prey (deer, moose, buffalo, etc) the stomach and intestines are left behind. They rip open the stomach and eat the lining, but leave behind the plant matter.

I hope I have convinced you. I believe solely that dogs are carnivores and should not eat anything but a species-appropriate diet.

<3 Vie

EDIT;;

@Munchkin: I am sort of interested in your article now. It's a shame you lost it. Not that I would have believed a word of it, but it's nice to pass boredom, isn't it?

I agree with most people here: RAW is best. However, you need to do your research so that you know how much to feed your dog, and how much bone to include in with the meat. YES, I said BONE. The pup needs calcium too. The down side to the RAW/BARF/Prey-Model diet is that it can get expensive, depending on the size of the dog. A miniScnauzer will still be somewhat expensive, but nowhere near the cost of, say, my black lab x pit bull mix. There is one major thing about the raw diet that you have to think about, though: the word "RAW" means uncooked. Bones, even chicken bones, are fine to feed your dog, as long as they have plenty of meat on them and have not been cooked. You'll even notice a decrease in the amount of stool produced by your dog, which means your baby is digesting more of her food! Which means she eats less in the end.... Still, do your research.

120 Raw Diet Food Recipes : http://go.stayeatingraw.com/?GiYT

My dog didn't do good on raw diet so stop giving him that (he is a Pom Mix). But I do make my own dog food at home and he is doing great on that:)

I don't like kibbles when I start reading about all the by product and the chemicals that make the food stay "fresh" in the store for almost a year or two month in your garage.

My dog had problems with his Anal glands and I had to go the vet all the time with him but when I change his diet he stop having problem with his anal glands.

Even my vet said that his coat is shiny and all his teeth are good and then she ask me what I gave him for his diet. When I told her she was happy for me but before she always told me to buy Scients Diet.He is 5 years old:)

I don't know if you've visited this web site - http://www.rawmeatybones.com/VetResearch.html

but I heard about it 7 years ago tried my dogs on it for a short time but they were quite old and used to cooked food so it didn't work for my dogs or I just didn't persevere. The person that gave it to me was a Medical Doctor and he had his 4 dogs on it.

I would recommend that you contact some of the links given on this page, and ask for the transcript of the lecture:

"New information about raw pet foods unveiled at AVMA convention"

by Dr. Sherry L. Sanderson, a veterinarian expert in pet nutrition

http://www.avma.org/press/releases/100726_2010conv...

Or, you could ask directly from Dr. Sanderson's website:

http://secure.aahanet.org/eWeb/dynamicpage.aspx?si...

Dogs are without question meat eaters. Although dry dog food is convenience a dog especially working dogs ie: huskeys are pack and raw food only to keep their wild side present. good luck with your Research.