5 years ago
During these days of new and exciting fad diets for humans, it's all but expected that many new diets will appear to promote better health in pets. One of these that has become popular in some circles is the idea of an all-raw foods diet for your pets.
The argument goes something like this: Animals in the wild do not cook their food. Animals in the wild do not eat food with a laundry list of ingredients in every bite. Therefore, my pets should eat raw food as nature intended.
This argument does have some merit, but there is no evidence to prove that a raw food diet is actually superior to the normal diets household pets have consumed over the past several decades. In fact, there is evidence to the contrary showing that raw food diets may actually harm pets in more ways than one. Pets consuming raw diets may be contaminated with pathogens in foods that would not have been there if cooked. They may also suffer from parasitic infections, dental fractures, and other ailments.
Plus, a raw food diet for your pets may be dangerous for humans in the household, particularly those with weaker immune systems like young children and the elderly.
Until more evidence shows that specific raw foods are safe for your pets, you should feel comfortable feeding your pets traditional pet foods found in stores.
