Raw feeding is the practice of feeding domestic dogs, cats and other animals a diet primarily of uncooked meat, edible bones, and organs.
Supporters of raw feeding believe that the natural diet of raw meat, bones, and organs is superior nutritionally to cooked meat and commercial pet food. They argue that a carefully planned raw diet gives the animal numerous health benefits, including a healthier coat and cleaner teeth and breath. Critics of raw feeding assert that the risk of nutritional imbalance, intestinal perforations and foodborne illnesses posed by the handling and feeding of raw meat and bones outweigh any benefits. The assertion that raw feeding is inherently better because it is natural has also been criticized.
Few studies have been done to prove or disprove the numerous beneficial claims of a raw diet.
Read more about Raw Feeding: History, Raw Diet Types, Nutritional Balance, Bones and Dental Health, Bacteria, Viruses and Parasites, Commercial Preparation, Veterinary Position
Famous quotes containing the words raw and/or feeding:
“One farmer says to me, “You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with;” and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When all who had money and leisure
Grew rural o’er ices and wines,
All pleasantly toiling for pleasure,
All hungrily pining for pines,
And making of beautiful speeches,
And marring of beautiful shows,
And feeding on delicate peaches,
And treading on delicate toes.”
—Winthrop Mackworth Praed (1802–1839)