I just have to get in on this conversation as well.
To the person who is asking about scientific studies regarding raw. No, currently there are no real published scientific studies with the exception of the work done by Dr. Tom Lonsdale of NZ, and by L. David Mech, PhD of California.
I'd like to point out that all the scientific studies done on kibble didn't about to much either. Look at what kibble has done to dogs.
What is important is that you understand the nature of your pet and not humanize it but over applying human values.
Your dog is not a human being. It's nutritional needs are different.
To the person who claims to have left their meat out too long so their dog got sick;
- sorry, that's absolute poppycock. A dog's stomach is 50% hydrochlorlic acid. Your dog could easily eat 3 week old, sunbaked road kill and STILL wouldn't get sick.
There is a good chance that your dog was ill to begin with and would have gotten sick anyways.
This is another caveat that many people have to understand is that, they come to Raw BECAUSE their dog is stick. Many come to raw as their last resort to try and solve pre-existing problems, so naturally they often do not get the results they are looking for, because in fact their dogs are sick to begin with.
To the person who suggested trying pre-made raw food.
- that is exactly the same mentality that led people to feed their dogs poor quality kibble in the first place. If you think that kibble is poorly regulated by our government, not fit for human consumption raw meat is even less regulated. Don't you want to know what you are putting into your dog's mouth? You certainly don't with premade raw. You think you do , but you don.t. - also it's more expensive than regular meat , and contains additives- many that are unwanted.
Feeding a dog raw food means going to a store, buying a variety of fresh meats and feeding it to your dog.
In many areas there are now organized groups who group purchase whole rabbits and chicks and other types of meats.
If we stick to Mother Nature's mentality, rarely do we go wrong. You dog needs 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% offal in their diet. It's really that simple. They may not need these ratios in every single meal, but they need a generalized version of that rule.
Tomorrow if your dog caught a rabbit, it would only have two kidneys, one heart, one liver and a bunch of meat.
The next day if your dog caught a cow or a chicken or a fish, it would STILL only have one heart, one liver and a bunch of meat and some bone... so to properly raw feed you have to start thinking in those terms. We never ever use supplements, but we do ensure appropriate EFA's (Essential Fatty acids), by serving fatty fish several times a week (sardines/herring/salmon/smelts or anchovies)
To the person who said that wolves eat the stomachs of rumens, as observed for more than 25 years by world renowned reasearcher L . David Mech, wolves shakeout the stomachs contents before consuming them, so in fact, they do not eat alot of vegetables, this is not a true statement at all, and whatever vegetable matter is still in the stomach is pre-digested. That is why green tripe has become a relatively important component for raw feeders.
We are a rescue here and have been feeding raw to every rescue that comes in here. We've been doing this for over 10 years. We have kidney dogs here, liver dogs here, FSF dogs here, Amyloid dogs here, IBD dogs here, we have demodex dogs here, candidae alibans dogs here, and not once, not once have we regretted feeding them raw, or have seen any detrimental effect due to raw.
Our vet, is observing our feeding techniques, because this year alone we've brought him over 72 dogs in varying health conditions, from good to downright near death, and he gets to see them achieve wellness with virtually no drugs and other chemical intervention.
We have to feed a lot of dogs here. Shopping for our meat takes time, just like shopping for our families. It means you follow the specials, develop liason with butchers, hunters, taxidermists, and more.
A few weeks ago, I put an ad on freecycle.ca asking for freezer-burn or freezer aged meat and in less than 1 week we picked up over 300 lbs of meat.
The only time I've seen dogs not profit from a raw diet, is when it is entirely mis-applied or completely mis-understood by the feeder - or worse a feeder who consistently buys cheap, bony types of meats, tries to cut corners. I can't tell you how many people think that a raw diet means chicken necks and hamburger meat.
I think the bottom line with entry level raw feeders is that they have to make a conscious decision as to whether they ARE going to feed raw or not, but if they don't, don't come up with bizarre and weird excuses to try to exhonorate their feelings. You either DO want to feed raw or you don't . And if you don't.. fine, but then seek out as much as possible, quality commercial foods that hopefully add to your dog's wellness rather than take away from your dog's wellness.
You will find in the long run however, that a quality bag of dog food costs just as much, or more, than an appropriate raw regime.
So the moral of that story is GOOD NUTRITION is NOT CHEAP.
It has been my personal observation that people who complain about the cost of a raw regime do not purchase quality kibble either.
and that's just my personal observation to date.
OK off my soapbox now.
Cheers
MM
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