Quote: Kadi_Thingvall

It's interesting, but I'm on the fence about the article. It just feels a little sensational. Like describing kibble as "dead" while raw food is "living". I sure hope it's not living when you feed it to your dog, unless it's self caught LOL. And my house may not be the cleanest in the world, but I can leave raw food on the counter all day (have done it by accident) and not have it covered in maggots at the end of the day. My gut reaction to the repeated "kibble lacks moisture" response was also just "well then add some water to it". Which is the same thing they recommended for dehydrated "raw" (is it still raw if it's been dehydrated??), but don't seem to realize is also possible with kibble.

Before people assume I'm anti-raw, I'm not. I've done raw, kibble, and currently do a combination of them both. Some of my dogs eat a grain free kibble, some eat kibble with grains, all get raw for some meals. I'm just not a huge fan of the article. Didn't watch the video, can't at the moment.

When I read that, I understood the 'living' and 'dead' to mean something like raw has bone in it that contains nutrients that haven't been cooked to death, and muscle meat has things like blood that still contains all the original enzymes and everything that makes it more nutritious than kibble which has had a lot of that removed or cooked to death. It is true that I've never had maggots move into the kibble bag, but in the summer there has been occassion that maggots have moved into raw food in the outside trash can! I still feel nauseous thinking about it! That just might be a good reason for using kibble in my opinion!! It's definitely a good reason to call for your husband!

I have never seen maggots in a bag but have seen plenty of bugs in a sealed bag, so they came from the manufacturer.

There's also a lot you can't see too, like mold .
I know someone whose dog died from moldy kibble.

For me, ever since the melamine issue, and hearing countless stories, I can't get them out of my head, and the biggest reason why I feed raw.

 Quote: Joyce Salazar

There's also a lot you can't see too, like mold .
I know someone whose dog died from moldy kibble.

For me, ever since the melamine issue, and hearing countless stories, I can't get them out of my head, and the biggest reason why I feed raw.

I'm with you Joyce! You know what else is in kibble that I didn't know until my allergy dogs, is mites. They are similar to dust mites, which Kasey and many environmental allergy dogs are allergic to - especially if you leave the kibble in the bag and open and close it every day. I've heard if you get those airtight plastic kibble containers, you will have less of them, but each time you open the container they can invade.

I feed raw simply because I enjoy doing it. I like having a role in selecting and preparing the food-- I suppose it's the same satisfaction one gets in creating a home-cooked meal and sharing it with loved ones. Preparing a pot of homemade soup for one's family *feels* different than feeding them a bowl of Cheerios. It's not so much a nutrition thing for me (although I'm convinced that a raw diet can be superior to much of what's out there.) I do it to give my dogs joy twice a day. And to feel actively involved in the most important thing in their lives. I don't want to freelance that to a dog food company.

Contaminated food happens. I use a trusted performance brand kibble. I don't feed canned. I add baited water to dry kibble to assist with hydration and I read ingredient lists carefully. Human food (cantelopes comes to mind as the most recent example) can also be contaminated.

This is similar to the raw milk vs. pastuerized milk debate. There are valid arguments on either side. Plenty of kids grew up on unpastuerized (raw) milk, and perhaps were healthier for it. But there are also reports of illness and even deaths due to raw milk.

Judgement call. Know your dogs, your lifestyle, your finances, and do what is best for your situation. There are plenty of healthy dogs that are not raw fed.

I tried raw feeding and stopped when my GSD developed bleeding in her upper GI tract. I'm lucky she recovered fully. So, if my vet were to talk to someone about raw feeding she could honestly say she has seen a dog sick due to raw feeding. Not just due to an imbalanced raw diet, but to contamination on the raw meat.

I think raw has many benefits, but there are also some downsides. Which can be serious and costly.

Absolutely. There is no risk-free choice.

Sure there is - don't own pets!

I think that more vets are against raw feeding due to the lack of knowledge on the part of owners. Due to this fact, vets see a good number of nutritionally 'starved' pets due to poor quality raw diets.

Many pet owners want to feed raw, so that they can tell others that they feed raw. Not because of the true nutritional & other benefits, for their pets, of a raw diet done correctly. But decause it is the 'IN' thing.

My vet doesn't 'promote' raw diet, but is totally on board when she knows that you are doing it correctly (& can discuss inteligently with her, your meal plans & ingreedients etc) & can see the healty results in your dogs.

I think, as least from my vets stand point, that stuck bones, although that do rarely happen, the lack of nutritional balance is a much bigger issue.

I, personally, enjoy preparing my dogs food & creating a healthy variety of good foods for them. But I think the thing that I enjoy most, is watching them enjoy their meals. I also have to admit, that I like to hear them crunching the bones & thinking what a wonderful teeth cleaning & gum massaging they are getting in the process of enjoying their meals.

 Quote: Anne Jones

I think that more vets are against raw feeding due to the lack of knowledge on the part of owners. Due to this fact, vets see a good number of nutritionally 'starved' pets due to poor quality raw diets.

Many pet owners want to feed raw, so that they can tell others that they feed raw. Not because of the true nutritional & other benefits, for their pets, of a raw diet done correctly. But decause it is the 'IN' thing.

My vet doesn't 'promote' raw diet, but is totally on board when she knows that you are doing it correctly (& can discuss inteligently with her, your meal plans & ingreedients etc) & can see the healty results in your dogs.

I think, as least from my vets stand point, that stuck bones, although that do rarely happen, the lack of nutritional balance is a much bigger issue.

I, personally, enjoy preparing my dogs food & creating a healthy variety of good foods for them. But I think the thing that I enjoy most, is watching them enjoy their meals. I also have to admit, that I like to hear them crunching the bones & thinking what a wonderful teeth cleaning & gum massaging they are getting in the process of enjoying their meals.

DITTO on all that! My derma vet is that way with raw - she definitely doesn't tell her clients to feed raw, and she was a little skeptical when I told her I feed Kasey raw, but now she admits that she doesn't have another dogs with so many allergies whose skin looks as good as his.

And about the crunching of the bones, I always think that too! But it still grosses my husband out and he has to leave the room!! He's completely on board with feeding raw, but he said if something happens to me, Kasey may be in trouble!