Home-cooked meals and raw diets...Helpful or Harmful?

I know that there are still a lot of pet food myths, misconceptions and “old wives tales” out there, but I think I am going to end my “series” on pet foods with a brief discussion of raw food and homemade diets.   These diets are becoming more popular with pet owners, especially in light of the pet food recall of 2007.

Back in the spring of 2007, veterinarians and pet owners alike were shocked at the extent and severity of the pet food recall.   It seemed as if every day brought word of a recall of yet another brand of food.  Over the course of two months, dozens of companies were affected and hundreds of brands were pulled from store shelves.

Because people were afraid, many started cooking at home for their pets.  And while this action was helpful in the short term, the long term use of a homemade diet can have detrimental effects on the pet.  Simply put, making a diet for your pet at home sounds easy enough, but studies have shown that about 90% of diets prepared at home by individuals are lacking in nutrients needed by the pet.

As our pets have become a bigger part of our families and our lives, pet owners want to do what is best for them and for many that means avoiding the commercially prepared diets.   Some people fear their pet being sickened by another supply problem, others think they can do just as well with their own cooking, and still others simply don’t like the idea of a corporation making their pet’s food.

Whatever the reason, IF you choose to try a homemade diet, you must talk with your veterinarian first.   He or she can give you trustworthy resources to help design the diet and you might even consider consulting with a veterinary nutritionist.  It is vital that you follow the guidelines for balancing nutrients to avoid any long-term problems.  There is a website (balanceit.com) that was set up by veterinary nutritionists to help people who are considering this type of diet for their pets.

That said, I applaud people who can effectively prepare diets for their pets at home.  I personally feel that I don’t have the time (and I know myself well enough to know that I won’t make the time) to spend balancing and cooking a diet for my pets when there are sound, well researched, and very good diets available on the shelves of my local pet store and/or veterinary office.  My pets are on a premium commercial diet and, in my opinion, they are doing just fine.

Raw diets are also another popular alternative for some pet owners.   Using the fact that dogs and cats are taxonomically classified in class Carnivora, the theory is that they need to have a diet that is composed of a high percentage of meat.

I have no real big issue with people who choose to feed raw diets other than, as mentioned above, it needs to be properly balanced.  A diet of strictly meat can predispose animals to bone fractures as there is not near enough calcium in meet to balance with the excessive phosphorus.

My other concern with raw diets is that many people dismiss the potential for bacterial contamination (Salmonella).   I am not sure I understand this casual dismissal given the number of human food recalls I see every week due to Salmonella contamination.  Look at the recent peanut/pistachio recalls!   More than 2000 products recalled over a period of 4 months because of potential Salmonella contamination and hundreds of people were sickened.

Proponents of raw diets maintain that dogs and cats can tolerate Salmonella and other pathogens and aren’t sickened by the bug.   In essence, this is true.  Most pets won’t get sick from ingesting Salmonella, but, (and this is what the proponents forget) your pet can be a reservoir for Salmonella and that means your family is at risk.   Kids playing in the grass where the dog was defecated can pick up Salmonella…a dog who just ate raw chicken and now wants to lick your face can give you Salmonella…and so on.

And, some pets do get sick from Salmonella, especially if their immune system is compromised in some way (Feline Leukemia, chemotherapy, etc).  

Some people have the belief that raw diets are more “natural” for the pet.   While I understand this belief, again, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.   “Natural” would be allowing your cat to hunt small rodents, birds, lizards, and other critters to her heart’s content.   “Natural” would be putting a goat in your backyard and letting your dog’s kill it and gorge on the carcass.  My point here is that if you are going to feed a raw diet, fine, just don’t say you are doing it because it is natural.   The raw meats we feed our pets look nothing like what they would go in kill in the wild.   As one veterinarian put it, packs of wolves don’t hunt in meat processing plants.

Again, if you cook for your pets at home or feed raw diets, I commend you for your commitment.  I don’t think either are necessarily wrong, but I when I see people promoting “recipes” or raw diets without recommendations or oversight from veterinarians, it bothers me and I truly believe some of these pets are at risk for a multitude of problems.  Similarly, when people dismiss the potential human health risk of Salmonella, I believe they are doing a disservice to people who don’t understand the potentials risks.

So…now that I am off of my soapbox…what are your thoughts?   Any raw diet feeders out there?  Also, I am planning a brief discussion of flea and tick products soon…any other thoughts for blogs you would like to see?