Raw Meat?

[LadyPirate]

I was watching Animal Planet today and noticed that some people on there were feeding their animals raw meat. Is that a good idea? Would you feed an animal raw hamburger? Wouldn't they get ill from that just like humans do? Meaning the E Coli? I'm not going to feed Lucy raw meat, but I was wondering if that was normally done, or if it's just a few people who do that.

Robyn
Owned and loved by Lucy and Lilo (we like our dinner cooked, thank you!)

[PatchO'Pits]

Originally Posted by LadyPirate

I was watching Animal Planet today and noticed that some people on there were feeding their animals raw meat. Is that a good idea? Would you feed an animal raw hamburger? Wouldn't they get ill from that just like humans do? Meaning the E Coli? I'm not going to feed Lucy raw meat, but I was wondering if that was normally done, or if it's just a few people who do that.

Robyn
Owned and loved by Lucy and Lilo (we like our dinner cooked, thank you!)

It is quite common. Many people feed the RAW or BARF diets as it mimics what would dogs would eat.

[amstaff]

yep, i feed my dog and cats raw. they eat raw hamburger, chicken, turkey, deer, etc. this includes the bones. in fact, my indoor cats catch their own meals sometimes.

[majestic]

Once in awhile, we saw news on TV about meat contamination, I would love to feed the dog raw meat, but I can't take any risk

[Alix]

Our pets bodies are not the same as ours. That's why dogs and cats can tolerate the raw meat diets. I would go with one from a manufacturer though because they add vitamins and minerals pets need that just plain raw meat won't provide. This food is much healthier for your pet making their coat beautiful and lives longer. I honestly wouldn't just go by a roll of hamburger and dump it in their bowls. Do research on BARF diets. I've only heard good things but can't afford it for my dogs

Pirate lady,

There have been several threads on this topic that you can peruse. It always seems to turn into a heated debate and the last time the thread had to be closed. Here is the link to one of the threads for some opinions you may want to see:

http://forums.petlovers.com/vb/showt...5&page=1&pp=20

[rileystar04]

I give Riley raw frozen hamburgers. It was great when he was teething and he still enjoys it. He also gets raw beef back bones, lamb necks, beef short ribs, marrow bones, etc. Whatever the butcher has on sale he gets. I don't bother with those nylabones and fake crap.

I've talked to a few vets about feeding raw and BARF.... they all told me that although wild animals and our pets ancestors did survive on raw diets... the meat was fresh kill. They told me that pets can be harmed by raw meat because we have domesticated them and are feeding processed meat... some cannot handle it with their digestive systems. I've also heard from other pet owners/breeders that do feed raw and BARF and their pets thrive on it and are very healthy. People have said their dogs became very ill until they changed to raw/BARF and are perfectly healthy now. I guess it depends on you and your dog. I personally wont take the chance .

[DoggyDelight]

Feeding raw meat to your dogs is quite a hot topic to some people. Some argue that domesticated dogs do not have the same system as wolves, etc. so the "feed them what they are used to in nature" rule doesn't apply. I agree. I will feed them meat, but it will be cooked meat!

i think that they can handle raw meat better than we can, and a small amount as an occasional treat, won't harm them. I do also like the commercial raw diets, but these meats have been slightly processed. But Squawks is right, some dogs do great on it and some don't.
For example i betcha my chi would do great. he has a stomach of iron. but my mutt had pancreatitis once when we gave him a marrow bone. my mutt probably wouln't do great on a barf diet.
however to compromise, ifeed a varied diet. i try to do several kibbles, and some canned food once a week with raw once a week too. i can't always afford it, but it gives them a small variety. =)

[amstaff]

i believe in the raw diet, but if someone is too squeamish, then homecooked is great. unfortunately, you still cant cook out chemicals, and you do lose vital nutrients and enzymes, but a good raw vitamin mix will help. there have been many cases where dogs have gotton e.coli, and mold sicknesses from kibble, so homecooked would be much better.

this is just going to be one of those debates where we all have to agree that no one is right, and we're all going to do what we think is best for our animals. i would still be feeding some kibble myself if i wouldn't have adopted my current dog.

as for a dog with pancreatitis, you just need to watch the fat. turkey is very low in fat, chicken backs are high. chicken breast is low, chicken thighs are higher. venison is also very low fat. some people avoid beef marrow bones because they think they're high in fat and the animals cant break down the collagen.

oh wow, i hadn't thought of thatabout the fat...cool, thanks =)
as for the rest, yes, i think we all need to agree to disagree and do what we think is best for our own animals.

[spiritwolf68]

WOW trying to find information on any subject is almost impossible it is always split almost right down the middle half for and the other half against or half good and half bad. My vet told me to feed all my cats and dogs satin balls. then I saw this tread so i called every vet in the phone book and asked them and sure enough split right down the middle. All my pets seem very healthy I've only been feeding it to them for about 2 months. I had always fed our pets science diet then started feeding them ol' Roy now back to science diet but I found a tread on that and it's down the middle. I called around to the vets and got the same results. So what does someone with no experience in this do? I sure don't want to hurt or kill any of our babies.

[amstaff]

spiritwolf, what you're going to have to do, is get really educated on high-quality ingredients, and poor-quality ingredients. then, you'll be able to pick an ideal food. also, you'll want to educate yourself on the dangerous chemicals that are put in many of our pets food. unfortunately, unless a vet has read up on pet nutrition, they are not great to go to. my vet i used to go to used to tell me to quit wasting my money on wellness and innova, and feed pedigree! this site may help get you started:www.mordanna.com
then go to dogfood.


i may be wrong, but satin balls are used by some who show to put weight on their dogs for the ring.

[spiritwolf68]

Well, I'm going to try Purina Pro Plan - Adult Original Chicken & Rice Formula. It looks like it has more vitamins and things than all the other foods I looked at. Atleast at all the local pet stores.