The Pros and Cons of Raw Diets for Your Pet

Dogs and cats have a large variety of food for their owner to give them to eat. Many of the most popular foods on the market for pets consists of dry kibble and wet canned food. However, there are also foods known as alternative diets that owners can choose to feed their pet. One of these alternative diets is known as a raw diet.

If you are thinking about feeding your pet a raw diet, here are some pros and cons to consider first!

Pros:

1. It Caters to Your Pet’s Carnivorous Nature

Dogs and cats, if in the wild, would eat a diet consisting of mostly protein and only a few starches, vegetables, and fruits. Raw diets are mainly protein with only a few added vegetables and fruits. Feeding your pet a raw diet does not mean purchasing a package of human-grade meat from your local grocery store, as this meat has chemicals and other products that are unsafe for your dog or cat to consume. Instead, raw food for pets are sold at holistic pet stores. These raw foods are safe for your dog or cat to consume completely raw without having to cook it. Even Care2.com believes that cats and dogs should be on a strict carnivorous diet with only few starches or natural veggies or fruits due to their natural glucosamine levels. So, if you purchase the correct raw diet for your pet, you will be keeping to your pet’s carnivorous nature like their ancestors previously had been accustom to.

2. Raw Diets Can Help with Dental Health 

It has been proven that pets who gnawed on raw, safe, bones have improved dental health over several weeks of continuing their raw diet and uncooked bone chews. On OztheTerrior.com it states that if your pet were not domesticated, its diet would consist of meats and chewing on raw animal bones from their prey. Through this, wild animals that are relatives of cats and dogs such as wolves or tigers have better dental health than domesticated cousins (dogs and cats) would have through a kibble and bits diet. When a dog or cat chews a bone, the plaque on their teeth gets rubbed off through the raw bone and continuous chewing. Giving your pet a raw bone from a holistic pet store will help prevent dental disease in household pets and therefore prevent the medical bills to come.

3. Raw Diets Can Improve Digestion

Cats and dogs have very acidic stomachs, which are entirely different from a human’s stomach. With humans, we chew food in our mouth in order to break down our food through the enzymes we have in our mouths naturally. For pets, they do not have enzymes in their mouths and solely chew their food for it to be small enough to swallow. Pets have digestive enzymes located in their stomachs, which means their stomach is more acidic. If a pet eats a raw diet, they will be able to digest their food more easily because every raw food has enzymes because heat, preservatives, or artificial additives have not destroyed them. HealthyPets says that regular kibble food for dogs and cats have too many starches and not enough enzymes for your pet to digest more easily. Because of this, pets on a non-raw diet tend to gain more weight and have more medical issues concerning their digestion whereas pets on a raw diet do not gain so much weight and are less likely to have so many digestive issues.

4. Fewer Food Allergies

Raw diets consist of fewer carbohydrates than dry and wet foods sold in most pet stores. Many times these dry and wet foods are the cause of your pet developing an allergy. Raw diets consist of many proteins to choose from such as chicken, turkey, pork, beef, rabbit, or venison. This gives your pet a variety of protein options if they have an “allergy”. It is recommended by vets on HealthyPets to have a rotational diet with a pet in order to avoid allergies to food or seasonal allergies. This means that an owner can feed their dog or cat several proteins in a span of a week and continue this rotation to keep their pet healthier and to avoid any allergies.

5. It Can Make Your Pet Healthier 

Feeding your dog or cat a raw diet will keep your pet healthier overall due to its natural meats, vegetables, and vitamins. Since the meats do not contain any artificial additives or intense starches that cats and dogs cannot digest properly through their digestive enzymes, your pet will maintain a healthier weight, diet, and healthier overall body system including their digestive track, skin coat, and their dental health. One of the biggest raw food brands, PrimalPetFoods, states that all of the organic ingredients provided in their raw food and many others have a lot of health benefits whether they have a large or small impact.

Cons:

1. Raw Diets Tend to Be More Expensive

In comparison to many commercial foods sold through television, grocery stores, or cheaper pet stores such as PetSmart or Petco, raw diet foods tend to be on the pricier side. There is a reason for the price being so much higher than average, carbohydrate-filled dry or wet foods. Raw foods use organic ingredients and use meats that are specially prepared for your pet in their raw foods. Since their meats, vegetables and vitamins are organic, the price has to be more expensive for the raw food brands to get some kind of profit after spending so much money to have the food created naturally for your pets. DarwinsPet relays that raw, organic, healthy pet foods for your cat or dog will be more expensive because of their organic name similarly to organic foods sold for humans in grocery stores.

2. Some Brands May Have Harmful Bacteria

Depending on which raw pet food brand you choose to purchase for your pet, it could still have harmful bacteria that could hurt your dog or cat. DogFoodAdvisor states some of the “best” pet food brands that sell raw dog or cat food. These brands have certifications that their foods were checked for some commonly found bacteria found in raw food such as E. Coli and salmonella and came up negative. These brands are safe for your pet to consume without having to worry that they will ingest harmful bacteria. It is best to do your research on raw food brands you would choose for your pet before beginning a raw diet.

3. Pets Could Choke

If not properly monitored, pets on a raw diet could choke on the bones they are given to chew. Like any chew, your pet could choke on smaller pieces if they are not taken away or watched over by their owners. If your pet swallows a raw bone, it can cause your pet to have a bowel obstruction and intestinal perforations. This only happens if your pet chokes on a smaller piece of bone that was not taken away. RawMeatyBones says that if you should take away smaller bones that were chewed down that they might inhale and choke on.

4. It Can Be Difficult to Find

Raw pet foods are sold in mostly holistic pet food stores. In America, there are fewer holistic pet stores around and more commercial pet stores located in each state. This makes finding a good brand of raw food difficult. It is possible that a pet owner living in a more desolate area in America will be unable to find a holistic pet store close enough to go to for their pet food. This means that if a holistic pet store is not close enough to drive to, the owner will go to a closer pet store, likely one that is a commercial pet store, and will feed their pet regular kibble or wet food. Those living closer to a holistic pet store have a higher chance and a fairer chance to purchase some healthy raw pet food for their cat or dog.

Are you considering feeding your pets a raw diet? Why or why not? Leave a comment and let us know!