DOG
Raw Food For Dogs - An Ideal Diet Or A Dangerous Fad?
Raw food for dogs is controversial. But the popularities of the diets , which emphasizes raw meat, bones, fruits and vegetables is rising.
Racing greyhounds and sled dogs have long had a raw diet. Extending these feeding practices to the family pet is a more recent idea, proposed by Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst in 1993. He called his feeding suggestion the BARF diets, an acronym that stands for Bones and Raw Food, or Biological Appropriate Raw Foods.
Billinghurst suggested that adult dogs would thrive on an evolutionary diet based on what dogs ate before they were domesticated: raw, meaty bones and vegetable scraps. Commercial grain-based pet food is said to be harmful to a dog's health.
Many mainstream vets disagree, as does the FDA.
Potential benefits of the raw dog food diet touted by proponents include:
Shinier coats
healthier skin
Cleaner Teeth
Higher Energy Levels
Smaller stools
Possible risks are:
An unbalanced diet that can be harmful to dogs' health if administered for long periods of time
Whole bones can choke animals, crack teeth, or cause internal punctures
Since the publication of Billinghurst's book, Give Your Dog a Bone, several other types of raw dog foods have emerged, including commercially processed raw foods that are frozen or freeze-dried, and combo diets that use mixtures of grains, vegetables, and vitamins from mixed raw meats that the owner bought at the grocery store.
Raw dog food recipes and meal suggestions are easy to find online and in books. Interest from pet owners continues to grow, with the widespread recall of melamine-contaminated pet food in 2007 attracting new supporters.
Raw food for dogs: what it is
A raw dog diet typically consists of:
Muscle meat, often still on the bone
Bones, whole or ground
offal such as livers and kidneys
raw eggs
Vegetables like broccoli, spinach and celery
apples or other fruits
Some dairy products, like yogurt.
Muscle meat, often still on the bone
Bones, whole or ground
offal such as livers and kidneys
raw eggs
Vegetables like broccoli, spinach and celery
apples or other fruits
Some dairy products, like yogurt.