Anyone ever given a dog a "raw food" diet?

[Delarage]

My lab had pneumonia and also has asthma. So I took her to a holistic, homeopathic vet. who recommended a raw food diet. I'm supposed to give her raw meat (chicken bones and all) with vegetables and fruit. Being a vegetarian, I am appalled at the prospect of chopping up corpses on my kitchen counter and then watching my "baby" chow down. I do realize that her dry dog food has animal stuff in it, but at least I'm not directly involved. So I bought a giant package of ground beef, dripping bloood all over my shopping cart, and took it home to her. But I ended up cooking it because I really am not ready to see that scene go down.

I'd be interested in other peoples' experiences with a raw diet for a dog or cat. Did you notice any health benefits from it for them?

It makes sense if you look at the world from a dog's perspective--they eat raw animals in the wild--but it still gives me pause.

[Hotler]

1. Try this...

Boil rice and ground beef together. Give it to her. Maybe a pinch of salt and maybe a tablespoon of butter/olive oil in the water. It's bland, got your carbs, protein, fat.. plus give her a daily vitamin (Pet-tab chew-ables are good ) still a good quality dog food without animal parts would be good. Ask your vet about a low protein diet. such as Nutro for senior dogs. Older labs put on weight really easy.

[mac56]

2. I'd never feed it to my two puppy boys.

The BARF (Bones and Raw Food) Diet sounds like a great idea, but everything I've read shows it may cause a potentially fatal salmonella infection. A growing body of information indicates that it poses a health risk not only for pets, but to their owners as well.

The risk of infection for my two lads isn't worth it.

[Delarage]

3. Good point....

the vet's website talks about that (it says dogs stomachs can handle any infections but that their waste in the yard can cause problems for us humans). Someone else suggested the rice and meat (cooked) idea, so I think I'll try that in place of her processed unnatural food. The vet's site, if anyone is interested, is:

www.wilmingtonanimalhospital.com

[flvegan]

4. Well, I'm a vegan and run a rescue, and all our dogs are veg* too

We feed Nature's Recipe Vegetarian kibble (Wow-Bow is great, too).

Dogs are omnivores like people, and benefit from a veg diet as we do.

The BARF diet is "better" than commercial dog food in that the BARF meat is at least "human grade" rather than the sludge off the slaughterhouse floor. However, feeding bones and raw crap to a domestic canine isn't anything remotely close to eating "raw animals in the wild" as it's been a very, very, very long time since any ancestry of our domestic canines did as such.

[mopinko]

5. you can buy raw diets

already made up, open and feed. i wouldn't feed them, tho. the salmonella thing is true, and whole kennels have been wiped out. i am not aware of any good scientific proof that there is any real difference nutritionally.

[Liberalynn]

6. We give Maxie chicken and turkey sometimes

because the dog is obsessed with it but we always boil it and let it cool off first. We are afraid of the salmonella too.

[hobo_baggins]

7. Those bags in the meat section are to avoid the dripping of blood

if you're that appalled, double bag it and move on.

[Delarage]

8. Actually, I was appalled

at the idea of chopping up raw, whole chickens in my vegetarian kitchen. The blood was just nasty and, unfortunately, there were no bags to be found in the place (it's B.J.'s). But thanks for the sympathy!