Raw Pet Food – Is it Safe?

Raw Pet Food – Is it Safe?

If you have been in our store, you know we love raw pet food. It is the most biological appropriate diet for dogs and cats. If you haven’t been in the store…what is stopping you?

Many pet owners have been told by their veterinarians that raw pet food is not good for your pet, and that you can give your pets infections from pathogens in the raw food, this article is addressing that.

First of all, the pet food in our store has been hand picked by us, because of the superior quality, with the best of ingredients, your happy pet makes us happy!

Unfortunately, vets have very limited nutritional training when they are in school, it has been reported to us that they get approximately a week of nutritional training, and that is sponsored by a major pet food manufacturer that we will not name.

There is one vet that we follow that is well versed in nutrition, Dr Karen Becker, and I recently read an article of hers that addresses this very issue.

There was an extensive international survey about the “safety of raw pet food”, and according to Dr. Becker, this survey “suggests pet parents are significantly more knowledgeable about the so-called risks associated with feeding raw than the majority of veterinarians and other self-described pet nutrition experts.” And there was a news release on this survey that Dr. Becker also noted, that the “survey was conducted by Dr. Johanna Anturaniemi at the University of Helsinki school of veterinary medicine” and the news release stated:

"… indicates that pet owners do not consider raw food [defined as any meat, internal organs, bones and cartilage fed to pets uncooked] to considerably increase infection risk in their household. In the survey, targeted at pet owners, raw food was reliably determined to be a contaminant only in three households."¹

The research was clear that “no large-scale outbreaks of contamination among humans caused by raw pet food have been reported” This survey had 16,745 households respond from 81 different countries.

Dr Becker’s article, tells us is what we have been telling our customers all along.

Feeding raw is safe for your pet, and for you, as long as you follow some basic food serving guidelines.

• Pet raw food is the same as our raw food, so you must wash your hands and surfaces when you deal with ANY raw food.
• DO NOT heat your raw food in the microwave, it changes the molecular makeup of the pet food and can harm your pet.
• Read the instructions, you can keep your thawed food in the refrigerator for usually 3 days, but follow the guidelines provided, or ask us, we will help you.
• We suggest you feed your pet in a glass or metal bowl. Plastic bowls can develop scratches over time, and can keep microscopic pieces of food in there which could develop into pathogens.

We highly recommend Messy Mutts . They have an elevated feeder with stainless bowls. The bowls have silicone lids, so what we do, is remove what frozen we are going to feed the next day, put it in one stainless bowl, put the lid on and put it in the designated drawer in the fridge. (That’s right, our animals are so spoiled, they have their own drawer in the fridge. It holds their frozen, goat’s milk, bone broth, marrow bones, etc.)

If you don’t have room in your fridge to give your pet, don’t stress. You can give your pet most of the same benefits with freeze dried foods. After reconstituting you are giving them the benefit of raw feeding with a shelf life. We carry the best brands of Freeze Dried food as well, and it is a product we can ship throughout the continental US.

Stella & Chewy’s has many products from the Magical Dust that will be a nutritious topper, to the dinner patties, The Duck Duck Goose recipe starts with 95% poultry (always cage free), organs & bone and 100% certified Organic fruits & vegetables. Small Batch-Pork Batch has 88% humanely raised/harvested pork, organic produce, 100% pure salmon oil & raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar are added. Primal, Steve’s, Dr Marty’s and Vital Essentials are just a few of the other brands we carry, and highly recommend. You can even get the bone broth and goat’s milk that doesn’t require refrigeration for those of you with busy lifestyles. 

Come by and meet with one of our nutritional experts, and we will help you decide if raw feeding is for you. We normally have raw feeling seminars, but with COVID we have put those on hold, hopefully soon we will restart the seminars again, and hope to see you there.