Why are so many vets against RAW? - Page 5

I asked my vet, she said that she had seen too many bone impactions that had to be corrected surgically. And since my girl had gut trouble, I was too scared to start. My dogs looked & acted great, & were free of the itchies, diarrhea, ear infections, etc., while they were on Orijen. But, it's become too expensive. So we feed Canidae ALS now, & mix a little EVO or Canidae grain-free to boost the protien content. I don't want it as high as the Orijen was, but I like it a little higher than most standard dogfoods offer. Mine are all grown up now, so I'm not worried about growing bones at this point. Wish I wasn't so worried about my girl with the plicated bowel, I'd try raw. I did try the meat cooked with pasta & raw veggies. My husband & daughter ate it all before the dogs got any, LOL! jackie harris

Jackie,
The impactions that your vet has seen are from those who do not feed raw correctly. They don't need bones for every meal and mixing the meat sourse is also good.  In fact Nature's Variety has a raw frozen pattie that has all the essentials in it and has the right amount of bone vs meat to keep the intestinal tract moving. For those that are also afraid of the bones themselves this food grinds them small enough that there is no way there are any sharp parts to be a worry at all.  They come in rabbit, chicken, beef, venison and I believe a couple more that I can not think of right now. So feeding raw does not mean ONLY throwing them a raw chicken leg quarter! It's so much more!
Debby

Every vet I've been to (been shopping around since my regular guy quit) has raved about my dogs' condition. Then they ask what I feed and tell me to stop the raw, it's not good for the dogs. Pffft.

My vet loves the condition of my dogs: 12 year old female, SchH 3 retired and 5 year old Police K9.  He is very receptive to my raw diet.  I changed vets till I found one that understood the difference and understood working dogs.


Also, I don't go by his normal vaccination schedule and he completely understands. I also understand his reasons for wanting the vaccines.  We have come to an agreement.
 

Jim

My vet has the same attitude too, Jim.   He has no problem with me feeding my dog raw, thinks my dog is in great condition as are his other clients dogs who are fed raw.  I also know a veterinarian oncologist who feeds her own dogs raw, and she recommends a raw diet for many of her clients. 

Feeding a dog a balanced home made diet is not rocket science, though the dog food manufaturers would like us to believe it is.  It's no more complicated to feed a dog properly  than it is to feed ourselves properly.  Hell, many dogs can thrive eating out of the garbage, or eating Ole Roy (not that there's much difference). that should tell you a lot. 

Kibble and dog food were developed as a convience for ourselves not out of some desire to improve our dogs diets.  Of course there are some great dog kibbles, but that sure doesn't mean it's the only way to go.

While someone else may have stated this, I know of a couple of Veterinarians against raw due to one of two reasons:

1) The Veterinarians aren't certified nutritionists and don't enough about raw diets.

2) The Veterinarians are concerned that individuals feeding their dogs a "raw diet" may not have done all of the research and may not be feeding correctly (aka some individuals thinking "raw" is just throwing a block of meat to a dog without including any organ meats, etc. in the diet as well.)

I am grateful that my Veterinarian stays on top of things and understands raw diets and will also direct her clients to another [highly-respected] Veterinarian in the area that IS a certified canine nutritionist for more information on raw diets. 

Our Veterinarian (and her staff) noticed changes in our dogs once we switched them to a raw diet.  Our dogs also always receive 5-stars for their body condition when they go in for annual checkups.

As flashbang stated; "The Veterinarians are concerned that individuals feeding their dogs a "raw diet" may not have done all of the research and may not be feeding correctly (aka some individuals thinking "raw" is just throwing a block of meat to a dog without including any organ meats, etc. in the diet as well.)"

Many people don't know how much damage they can do to their dogs if they don't know how to properly feed a raw diet.


I think it would be informative to list what those that feed a raw diet are feeding. Do you subscribe to a certain diet backed by scientist or do you just use what you like...

I dont care what anyone says about me feeding a raw diet, I did the research and know what Is best for my dogs. Ive been feeding them this way for the past 5 years. The common misconception I hear is that a raw diet is too protein rich. That is false, I average feeding my dogs about 18% to 25% protein per day with 22% being ideal. Alot of kibbles contain much more than that. All the meat they eat is from the same supermarket I shop at with the exception of the case order of  Beef Hearts, Chicken Backs and turkey necks we order from a restaurant supplier, then green tripe I order from a local person. Everything else is human grade non enhanced meat and bone from the market. If you do NOT feed the diet correctly you can screw your dog up, the way we do it is by feeding a Prey Model diet which includeds Muscle meat, organ and raw meaty bones. Approximately a 80/10/10 formula. I rotate meats as well every week. Just to give an example, this morning my dogs had Beef Liver and beef. Tonite they will have Green Tripe and the rest of the beef roast. Tomorrow it will be whole fish and Friday they will probably have Pork and either a chicken leg quarter or chicken back. Also included weekly is Lamb, Turkey, Sardines, or Salmon. You do have to be careful feeding whole salmon. Salmon caught from th pacific NW can and does carry a nasty parasite that can cause tons of problems for your dog. The fish caught from that region can be frozen for 45 days to kill it or cooked and the problem is solved. I do not feed fish ever from that part so I do not worry about it.

*edit to add*
The only thing I can honestly say I get concerned with is the calcium/Phs in the bone and large breed puppies. You have to be careful to not over feed raw meaty bones because the calcium can sometimes be too much leading to pano, new studies are showing it is the calcium/phos that can contribute to pano not the protein as once thought. On the flip side of that if you feed too little bone you risk diarhea which obviously can dehydrate a dog or puppy. Its a fine line to walk so do your research.

What ever works.
 Hans