Reimschuessel explained that the study “identified a potential health risk for pets who eat raw food and for owners who handle the product. Owners who feed their pet a raw diet may be at increased risk of infection with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. Raw food diets are often not considered nutritionally balanced. Studies have found low levels of calcium, low phosphorus content, excess vitamin A and excess vitamin D in raw diets, among other imbalances (AVMA).
If left unchecked, nutritional imbalances can cause health complications in dogs over time. Bacteria also exist in raw human food, but the difference is that we cook them. Although some dogs can safely ingest a small amount of salmonella, pets that eat raw food are likely to kill more pathogenic (“bad”) bacteria in their feces. And although responsible owners will pick up their dog's excrement, you can't remove all traces.
However, most bacterial species in raw food samples do not normally cause infections, researchers note. Feeding your dog only raw meat as if it were a domesticated wolf has the potential to deprive it of vitamins and nutrients that are vital to its health. If you are not convinced that raw diets for dogs should be avoided, here are some safety guidelines recommended by the FDA to help reduce the risk of contamination for you and your dog. Researchers warn that bacteria present in raw dog food have a way to spread quickly.
Some working dogs and racing greyhounds are traditionally fed a raw food diet, which usually consists of muscle meat (often on the bone), offal, whole or ground bones and sometimes raw eggs, fruits and vegetables. Advocates of raw food diets say commercial diets are not natural and that raw diets more closely reflect what dogs would eat in the wild. Another concern with raw diets is blockage of bones or other solid artifacts that are not properly disposed of from food. These foods are governed by stricter bacteriological standards than even raw meat products of human quality, and are supplied in clean and easily understandable packaging.
In addition, dogs that have eaten raw foods that harbor bacteria could transmit them to humans by licking them affectionately right after a hearty meal. If you decide that raw food is not for you, then the commercial dog food you buy must be the best you can get. Studies conducted by the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine have found that raw pet food was more likely to contain disease-causing bacteria than other types of pet food that were tested. Unless the dog owner is an expert in animal nutrition, a homemade diet can be difficult to do well: a dog needs 37 essential nutrients to stay in good shape, and balancing the right amounts of zinc and iron, for example, is very difficult.
Dogs are able to digest and use starchy foods by increasing amylase secretion with the help of the AMY2B gene, a genetic component that has multiplied many times over its evolutionary history. Recommends that dogs with pancreatitis or other digestive problems start with a cooked homemade diet and clarify problems before switching to raw. Instead, switching your dogs to a high-quality dog food can lead to similar improvements and ensure that your dogs receive the right balance of nutrients. .
