What your vets won't tell you. -- LiveWire Teen Forums

This topic is a touchy one. It is true, that some animals benefit from a raw diet. At the same time, as many animals do well on a regular dog/cat food diet. The main reason that animals get sick from pet food bought in a grocery store is that their owners are not educated about how to properly feed their pet. Raw foods are good because they can be digested easier than dry or wet pet food. Raw food also contains more enzymes and nutrients. The problem that can occur with raw foods are that people are buying food for their pets that are intended for human consumption. The meat that we get from the butcher or grocery store is processed and packaged for people. The raw meat that animals were made to eat is the fresh raw meat that is caught in the wild. The animals that we are feeding are domesticated and have "evolved" to handle the food made by man. There is nothing wrong with a raw diet as long as you know what you are doing. The best meat to get is the freshest you can find. In order for your pet to benefit the most from a raw diet is to mix meat and vegetables. The vegetables are necessary to provide the nutrients for their diet that meat lacks. In the wild, carnivores get their plant source from their prey's GI tract. But you need to be careful when feeding vegetables. Carnivores cannot breakdown plant cell walls easily, so vegetables need to be slightly cooked so that they can get as much nutrients out of them as possible. Bones are also, not bad for your carnivorous pet. It's true that raw bones do not splinter or break teeth like cooked bones can. But when you are introducing your pet to raw bones, you must be careful. Dogs especially can get excited and eat bones to quickly, this can cause GI obstruction which in turn can end up in the dog needing surgery to remove the obstruction. Cats are not as likely to suffer from GI obstruction, but it can occur. The biggest thing to be careful of when you are sticking with a raw diet is to watch the fat content. Fat is very dense and is hard for dogs and cats to digest. I have seen several small dogs die because their owners fed them too much fat. One example is hot dogs. Never feed a small dog a whole or even half of a hot dog, this could kill them. What it all comes down to is that all animals are different and have different nutritional needs. Yes, it is a good idea to check with your vet when deciding to change your pets diet or when you are trying to figure out what diet you want to start your young pet on. Personally I feed my animals dry food from my local grocery store. All three of my pets are as healthy as can be. They do catch small wild prey in the summertime, but other than that, they stick with what I provide for them.

I know this is rather long and this isn't mu topic, but I thought it might help some.

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