Quote: michael_wise

.... How many serious cases has she SEEN? I've HEARD of the Loch Ness Monster..

That's the biggie.

IME, it always traces back to "I've heard of .... "

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

 Quote: Natalya Zahn

 Quote: Michael_Wise

I don't want anyone being able to come away from this post thinking that whole food is somehow more dangerous than ground because it isn't.

I definitely agree! I also think it's important that our shared experiences can generate conversation about nuances - if a brand new raw feeder had experienced what I experienced with Oscar in the above post, without knowing there are ways to nuance the raw diet, they may get scared away and swear off fresh raw food forever. Again, comfort levels aren't always rational, but if they don't do any harm, I don't see the danger in offering options.

~Natalya

Absolutely agree with both!

In all my years around dogs - my own, my clubs', and dogs I've worked with - I've never run into a serious bone mishap around raw feeding. And that includes the many folks I've worked with to switch from kibble to fresh.

And I know all about POVs skewed by one-in-a-thousand events.

And I agree that offering alternatives to the usual methods if they can help a nervous noob to take the plunge -- well, that's a good thing.

I TOO agree.

A couple of years ago my female found a crumbly stick out in the field & was chewing on it until I stopped her. Later that night she had a turkey neck as part of her dinner....a bit later she was laying on her bed in the den & I noticed blood dripping out of her mouth. As she had not been laying down until then, & was most likely swallowing any blood that was accumulating in her mouth & I would not have noticed that. Called a vet friend that explained how to palpatate her esophagus to make sure that there was not air escaping (which would indicate a puncture). None that I could tell. I did end up taking her to the ER vet who checked her out & felt that there was no damage, but that she most likely scraped her upper throat or esophagus with the stick & or turkey neck. Gave her only ground meat for a couple of days to let it heal & no problems. She has been raw feed her whole life, almost 7 years, as have all my dogs & this has been the only problem that any of my dogs has ever had. (And still not totally sure if it was the neck or the stick)

I have had pups & young dogs gulp whole chicken necks & backs & get them stuck. I have 'fished' many out thru the years with no ill effects. I NEVER feed my dogs & walk away. I am always there, just in case.

To me the risk of a mishap does not outweigh the benefits of feeding raw. If you figure that the dogs are eating 2 meals a day (3 a day up until 6 months old) x 2,3,4 dogs that I have or have had...that adds up to alot of meals of RMBs. And that is just my dogs. So I would say the chance is VERY slim for a mishap. No one that I know feeding raw has ever stated any problems either.

 Quote: connie sutherland

 Quote: michael_wise

.... How many serious cases has she SEEN? I've HEARD of the Loch Ness Monster..

That's the biggie.

IME, it always traces back to "I've heard of .... "

I'm not sure how many cases she has had experience with, however she worked in the animal health industry for 30 years. I THINK she worked for some company doing research so she was exposed to many different animals and diets and the accompanying statistics.