Download Pet owners are naturally concerned about providing the best care for

Pet owners are naturally concerned
about providing the best care for their pets,
and no form of care is more direct and
meaningful that what we feed our animal
companions. Rare but serious problems
with contamination of commercial pet
foods have caused significant anxiety about
the safety of these foods and generated
increased interest in alternatives. One such
alternative is a variety of raw diets, often
referred to as BARF (Bones and Raw Food)
diets. Unfortunately, there are many myths
surrounding these diets, and the facts don’t
support their use.
Myth 1
Dogs and cats are carnivores and
should eat uncooked, whole prey.
Dogs have been domesticated for tens of
thousands of years, and they have been
eating human leftovers for the vast majority
of that time. There are significant physical
and genetic differences between dogs and
their closest wild relative, the wolf, and
genetic evidence suggests they diverged
into separate species close to 100,000 years
ago. The teeth and gastrointestinal tract of
dogs have since adapted to the human food
they have eaten for so long. There is little
resemblance between the average
Chihuahua and a wolf, and little logic to the
idea that they should have the same diet.
Cats, on the other hand, have remained
hunters despite their associations with
humans, and their nutritional needs are
closer to those of their wild ancestors.
Nevertheless, there are still significant
differences between domestic and wild
cats, which make a pure prey diet less than
ideal.
It is also important to point out that
wolves and other wild carnivores live longer
in captivity when fed cooked commercial
diets, and the nutritional advisory group for
American zoos recommends these diets over
raw, whole prey for captive carnivores. And
while cats often hunt and eat whole prey,
they also suffer from infections and parasites
related to eating birds and rodents.
Raw, whole prey is clearly not a natural
diet for dogs. And it is not at all clear that
raw prey is the optimal food even for cats or
other carnivores for which it is a natural diet.
Myth 2
Raw food is more nutritious than
cooked diets.
Proponents of BARF diets sometimes
claim that vitamins and other nutrients are
destroyed by cooking, so raw diets are more
nutritious than cooked ones. While it is true
that cooking reduces the amounts of some
nutrients, it also makes others more available
and easier to absorb. And while cooked
commercial diets are designed to have
adequate levels of vital nutrients in the final
product, most raw and homemade diets
tested were found to be nutritionally
inadequate.
Myth 3
Myth 4
Raw diets are safer than commercial
foods.
Raw diets are healthier than
commercial diets.
The recent tragedy involving melamine
contamination of commercial pet foods has
caused much anxiety about the safety of these
products. It is important to remember that
such events are very rare, especially
considering the tens of thousands of pets
eating these diets for decades. Still, if raw
diets were truly safer, it would be a powerful
reason to consider using them.
There is no evidence to support claims
that dogs or cats are healthier when fed raw
diets rather than balanced commercial
foods. With improvements in nutrition and
healthcare and the reduction of infectious
disease, parasitism, and trauma, our pets
are living longer than ever before. Some
advocates of raw diets point to an increase
in cancer deaths among companion
animals as evidence commercial diets are
unhealthy. The truth is that high quality
commercial diets have increased the
lifespan of our pets, and that cancer is
more common because it is a disease of
aging and there are now more elderly pets.
Unfortunately, there are many dangers to
raw diets. Raw bones are frequently used, and
can cause fractured teeth, gastrointestinal
upset, and, in some cases, death due to tears
in the stomach and intestines. Many raw diets
tested have been shown to contain potentially
deadly bacteria, including Salmonella and E.
coli. Dogs and cats have been shown to shed
these bacteria after eating, potentially
exposing other pets and humans to them.
Cases of illness and death from contaminated
raw meat have been reported. Contrary to the
claims of some BARF proponents, there is no
evidence that dogs or cats are naturally
protected or immune to these infectious
agents.
Intestinal parasites are very common in
wild carnivores, and uncooked meat is a
significant contributor. One study showed a
substantial increase in parasitic disease in
dogs fed homemade raw diets. These facts
make it clear that raw diets are not safer than
cooked commercial diets.
As already pointed out, eating raw diets
increases the risk of intestinal parasites and
infections. Such diets are often not
nutritionally adequate or balanced and this
can lead to diseases of malnutrition. There
is no reason to believe BARF diets are
healthier than conventional cooked diets.
© Brennen McKenzie MA VMD, 2008
References and More Information
Finley, R. et al. The risk of Salmonella
shedding by dogs fed Salmonellacontaminated commercial raw food diets.
Can Vet J 2007;8:69-75.
Key Points
What About…?
Food and Drug Administration, Center for
Veterinary Medicine, Pet Food webpage,
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/petfoods.htm
Freeman L., Michel, K., Nutritional analysis
of 5 types of "Raw Food Diets." JAVMA
March, 2001;218(5): 705.
"FDA has not seen any objective
evidence to suggest that raw meat diets
are better than other kinds of
diets….[and] does not believe that raw
meat foods are consistent with the goal
of protecting the public from significant
health risks."
Food and Drug Administration
Center for Veterinary Medicine
"All the [raw] diets tested had
nutritional deficiencies or excesses that
could cause serious health
problems….Of equal concern is the
health risk associated with bacteria in
the raw food diets…”
Freeman, L., Michel, K.
JAVMA March, 2001;218(5): 705
Joffe, D., Schlesinger, D. Preliminary
assessment of the risk of Salmonella
infection in dogs fed raw chicken diets. Can
Vet J 2002;43:441-442.
Lauren , S., et al, Computer analysis of
nutrient sufficiency of published homecooked diets for dogs and cats. Proc ACVIM
Forum 2005.
Nutritional Advisory Group, American Zoo
and Aquarium Association,
www.nagonline.net
Robinson JGA, Gorrel C. The oral status of a
pack of foxhounds fed a "natural" diet
(abstract). Proceedings. Fifth World
Veterinary Dental Congress. Birmingham,
England, 1997.
Weese, J. et al. Bacteriological evaluation of
commercial canine and feline raw diets. Can
Vet J 2005;46:513–516.
Stiver, S. et al. Septicemic salmonellosis in
two cats fed a raw meat diet. J AM Anim
Hosp Assoc 2003;39:538-42.
Strohmeyer, R.A., et al., Evaluation of
bacterial and protozoal contamination of
commercially-available raw meat diets for
dogs. JAVMA 2006;228:537-542.
Raw Diets for
Dogs & Cats
 Domestic dogs and cats are
physically and genetically very
different from their wild
ancestors, and raw whole prey
is not the optimal food for them.
 Raw food is not inherently more
nutritious than cooked food.
Many raw diets tested have
been found to be nutritionally
deficient or unbalanced.
 There are significant risks of
bacterial and parasitic infection,
broken teeth, and nutritional
disorders when homemade or
commercial raw diets are fed.
These diets are not safer than
traditional commercial pet
foods.
 While there is no evidence that
raw diets benefit our pets, there
are clear risks to feeding them.
Though there are many myths
suggesting these diets are
superior to cooked commercial
pet foods, the facts do not
support this.
 In addition to the risks to our
pets, there is a potential risk to
humans of serious, even lifethreatening illness from feeding
raw pet diets.