Over the last decade, there has been an explosion of pet diets and dietary recommendations: dry diets, canned diets, grainfree diets, pure protein diets, organic diets, home cooked diets, and raw food diets. Experts publish data saying their way the best, other experts refute their findings. And going to the pet store is liking running a gauntlet, with store employees (generally given a commission to promote certain diets) assail you on all sides. I hate going to the pet store, as the amount of different diets is daunting.
As a veterinarian, it can be very difficult to figure out on my own, which type of diet is best. Here is my opinion. Pre-formulated diets (canned and dry) are best for most pets, but you do have to rely on the manufacturer to provide research and data that is accurate and that they follow safety practices to protect your pet’s health. Sometimes faith in these companies is misplaced. If you want complete control, then home cooking is the best option…but only if working with the veterinarian and nutritionist approved recipes to make sure all nutritional needs are met.
But there is one type of diet I will never recommend. Raw diets, also called the BARF diet is quite simply dangerous. Not necessarily to your pet, but to the humans around him. Besides risk of handling raw meats, pets fed raw foods pass pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria in their feces and can become carriers of pretty nasty Salmonella, Listeria, and E Coli bacteria, not to mention parasites. My stand is not based on whether it is healthier or not to feed raw foods. It comes from my belief that any benefit (if any) is outweighed by human health risk.
Recently the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has recently released a decision discouraging the feeding of untreated raw meats (including egg and milk-except same species). Treatment is pasteurization (flash heating), cooking, or irradiation (the last being a controversy unto itself). The AVMA feels that the risk to pets, livestock, and humans from consuming undercooked foods is too risky and should be avoided. While not all veterinarians, breeders, and pet owners may agree with this recommendation, it passed with greater than 90% of the vote.
So, my recommendation…don’t feed raw foods to your pets, use a recommended diet (by your veterinarian not the guy/gal in the store), or home cook…with input from your veterinarian. Let’s work hard at making sure you and your pet don’t BARF.
Dr. Horn
http://atwork.avma.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Resolution_5_raw-food.pdf
http://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/tags/raw-meat/