Raw Diet Proaganda

[Crysti_Lei]

Raw meat diets spark concern In recent years, feeding dogs raw meat has become increasingly popular. The trend, however, has sparked health concerns, because of the risk of foodborne illnesses in pets as well as the public health risks of zoonotic infections. Now, a new study that identifies potentially harmful bacteria in 21 commercial raw meat diets bolsters these concerns.

"This has some potential public health concerns for both the animals being fed these diets and their human owners," said Dr. Rachel Strohmeyer, a researcher at the Animal Population Health Institute, Colorado State University. She presented her findings at the annual meeting of the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases held in Chicago in November.

Proponents of raw meat diets say it improves dogs' performance, coat, body odor, teeth, and breath. While high-performance dogs, such as racing Greyhounds and sled dogs, have been fed raw meat diets for years, the trend to feed raw meat to companion dogs is new.

Because of this trend, and because the safety of these raw diets has received limited attention, Dr. Strohmeyer tested 21 commercially available raw meat diets, two dry dog foods, and two commercial canned dog foods for non-type specific Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp, and Campylobacter spp. The researchers purchased diets of beef, lamb, chicken, and turkey in four months, trying to space the purchasing times far enough apart so that they came from different lots. Three samples from each product underwent bacteriologic culturing each time.

The researchers did not find Campylobacter spp in any of the foods, but non-type-specific E coli was isolated from all raw meat products. Ten of the raw products contained S enterica. "It is really important to note that 99 percent of raw meat samples were contaminated with aerobic bacteria, and 79 percent had gram-negative, probably enterica, contamination," Dr. Strohmeyer said.

The scientists also found non-type-specific E coli in a few of the samples taken from the dry food, and believe post-processing contamination is to blame for these results.

"There is a greater apparent risk to animals and humans from feeding a raw meat diet," Dr. Strohmeyer commented. "I really do not think that there is any advice we, as veterinarians, can give to improve safety. You can give basic food safety guidelines like hand washing, cleaning surfaces, and bowls, etc., not letting the food sit out for extended periods of time. I just think that it would be a disservice for a veterinarian to give any recommendation for the safety of dogs and their owners (except to not feed raw meat to pets). Bacteria are not the only health concern, there are also parasites and protozoal organisms that can be transmitted in raw meat, even meat labeled fit for human consumption."

Other veterinarians, including Dr. Jeffrey LeJeune, a food safety molecular epidemiologist and microbiologist at The Ohio State University, agree that pets should not be fed raw meat. This may be a hard sell, however, to some clients.

"From my own clinical experience, owners that feed raw (meat) pretty much have their minds set that they are going to feed raw," Dr. Strohmeyer said. She thinks clients who are thinking about feeding raw (meat), however, can be swayed fairly easily, just by basic education.

http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jan05/050115ww.asp

[Poodle wrangler]

I agree it smacks of propaganda- dogs are not humans and their digestive systems are hardier than ours. Bugs are everywhere. Most dogs are wormed regularly, also. You should keep things hygienic when handling any raw meats, including the stuff you cook for yourself.

It's up there with the "danger" of raw bones

[MonElite]

While high-performance dogs, such as racing Greyhounds and sled dogs, have been fed raw meat diets for years, the trend to feed raw meat to companion dogs is new.

Where is it new??????????????

Where I come from kibble and cans are new, we didnt have them 15-20 years ago....

And even if we compare how humas fed the dogs over centuries Id say that kibble is relatively new discovery.

[~Anne~]

It also states "21 commercially available raw meat diets" which leads me to believe they are specific pet food only meats. I buy meat for human consumption and wouldn't touch pet mince with a barge pole.

[JeffnCel]

Well we just need to be careful that we don't lick our fingers after feeding our dogs their "dangerous raw meat"

[monsterpup]

While high-performance dogs, such as racing Greyhounds and sled dogs, have been fed raw meat diets for years, the trend to feed raw meat to companion dogs is new.

Where is it new??????????????

Where I come from kibble and cans are new, we didnt have them 15-20 years ago....

And even if we compare how humas fed the dogs over centuries Id say that kibble is relatively new discovery.

Same here. Where I grew up there was no canned dog food to buy, and I'd never heard of kibble. All our dogs did very well on the same meat we were eating.

I'm always amazed by people in the US that go on about how dogs can't eat "people food". If they mean KFC or McDonalds I'd agree, but they usually seem to mean *gasp* fresh meat

[Cavandra]

While high-performance dogs, such as racing Greyhounds and sled dogs, have been fed raw meat diets for years, the trend to feed raw meat to companion dogs is new.

Where is it new??????????????

Where I come from kibble and cans are new, we didnt have them 15-20 years ago....

And even if we compare how humas fed the dogs over centuries Id say that kibble is relatively new discovery.

Yes KIBBLE is a very new diet, the original kibble came about in war times when they wanted to use up all the biscuit crumbs from the factories, and people were quite poor, so feeding dogs the throw aways made sense at the time, and it has gone on to become a billion dollar business, that has killed more dogs from "microorganisms/bacteria " in the last year, than any raw fed dog that may have died in hundreds of years LOL

[Cavandra]

Well we just need to be careful that we don't lick our fingers after feeding our dogs their "dangerous raw meat"

Yes indeed

Actually, a very well known dog show identity is still alive as I type, and believe it or not when you go for dinner with him, he orders RAW steak........yes RAW........perhaps the author of this load of twaddle would like to dine with him sometime

Edited September 26, 2007 by Cavandra

[JeffnCel]

Actually I was reading another website the other day from a America where it alleges that euthanised dogs and cats are routinely used in dog food production!! Don't know if it's true tho, the website seemed authentic, but they were saying that the chemicals used to euthanise do not get destroyed in the pocess of making the kibble/can stuff, so in effect, dogs around the world are consuming toxic chemicals. Would love to know if the information was accurate, has anyone else heard of this happening??

[KitKat]

Plain raw meat can be a dangerous diet for dogs...it was one of the problems that came up recently (within the last couple of hears) that was the cause of some dogs death and severe nutritional issues. One person who had a dog with the problem ONLY fed his dog the raw meat...no other kible, bones or vegies - he stated that was all he fed his dog...not a surprise that the dog was in ill health.

However...raw meaty bones etc is a perfectly balanced diet if done right - same as with kibble. Some things will suit some dogs better then others tho...eg red meat over white meat, raw over dry etc

Edited September 26, 2007 by KitKat

[poodlefan]

Dr. Strohmeyer tested 21 commercially available raw meat diets,

And this is meant to cover the ground of raw feeding? This looks like a bit of a kibble v raw manufactured food battle to me.

I have to giggle at the hysteria over possible bacterial contamination of dog's diets - this for an animal that will eat cat poo at the drop of a hat.

It wasn't butchers that had to recall their product recently was it?

If anyone suggested that none of us were capable of feeding our families a balanced diet and that all we should feed is cereal based products out of a box day in and day out, we'd laugh them out of the room.

Some raw diets are crap.. feed crap quality products fresh or processed and you get problems. Bit of a no brainer really.

[Jed]

Dogs' guts are adapted to deal with salmonella/Campylobacter/E coli. My vet says he has dealt with ONE case of salmonella in dogs, in 30 years of practice - the dog got the Christmas turkey, which was left on the bench on a hot afternoon, while the humans did Christmassy things. The dog was sick, but survived. He said he had never seen E coli or Campylobacter cause a problem.

Neosporran is a problem - and beef should be frozen priior to feeding to dogs ---- just in case.

When we lived in the country (the real country) dogs were always bringing back juicy bits of roos, cows and some things too far gone to identify, but smelly enough to suggest the bacteria coating it could probably walk it to America!! Added to various types of fresh and rotten excrement as dessert, and no dog was ever ill.

Edited to add - a few dead snakes, and some dessicated cane toads -- the stud dog views the dessicated toads with the same delight as pigs' ears. I often wonder if he gets a bit high!!

Take my chances with a fresh diet at least I know what goes in to it.

Edited September 27, 2007 by Jed

[centitout]

i changed over from processed diets(which killed the first bloodhound i had) 2 years ago and the dogs have never looked better.they get minimal dry food.they also think nothing of burying a piece of RAW liver!!! for several days until it is a nice shade of green and then eating it with appreciation.no diarhhea,anything.the lady whose dogs died all of a sudden from contaminated canned food would disagree with the above findings i would think.my vet changed her mind about processed foods being the only food you should feed after seeing the condition of my dogs on their more 'NATURAL RAW DIET"..

[poodlefan]

Still shaking my head about this:

In recent years, feeding dogs raw meat has become increasingly popular.

That would be the last 30,000 years that we consider "recent"? If they hadn't been seeking a use for cereal byproduct, there wouldn't be any kibble. People need to ask themselves what Purina made before they made dog food.