The raw dog food diet is taking the world by a storm. If you are among those pet lovers wanting to find a way to feed your pets much better, you might have encountered this already. However, experts on both the pro and anti sides seem to have good points for allowing or disallowing this for dogs. So if you are a pet lover who would want to discover the reality behind feeding your beloved pet with this kind of diet, read the rest of this article then.
Knowing the Effects of Raw Diet
Experts who swear by the positive effects of feeding raw dog food say that canines are meant to be fed this way based from their natural instincts. They say that dogs used to feed like other carnivorous animals in the wild, preying upon their meal and then eating them raw soon as they catch the said prey.
Those who are against the raw dog food diet would counter this with the notion that domesticated dogs simply can't. They point out that pet dogs are not wild animals and are therefore not built with the same capacity to digest raw diets. They also say that it is only through cooking that parasites in raw food can be killed.
Also, raw food diet seems to be discouraged among those who prefer giving kibble due to the fact that raw food such as bones can be harmful in the digestive tract. If dogs are allowed to munch on bones and crack them as they are, splinters might run their course into the digestive tract and eventually cause more problems that nutritive value.
How To Implement Eating Raw for Pets
Despite all these controversies, those who implement the raw diet say that it does take careful consideration to introduce this new way of feeding among pets. The first and most important is the transition stage, especially if the pets are used to eating cooked and processed meals by now. It usually takes a week for dogs to be fully capable of eating raw food without prompting. Aside from the transition period, the dog's age is also being considered. Older dogs would no longer have the capacity to develop the needed enzymes as puppies could.
Meats are also limited to beef and chicken only. The reason being that pork is hardly eaten raw because of the typical diet induced on pigs. Owners who would want to feed raw meat to their pets are also encouraged to buy meat that they themselves would eat. The meat should also be stored inside a freezer instead of letting it heat off under the sun before being fed.
Fruits are also highly encouraged to be fed among dogs. Fruits are easily digested anyway and are really healthy eaten raw than cooked. Meanwhile, a bit more care must be implemented when feeding dogs with raw vegetables. They should either be pureed or chopped into tinier bits so that the pets would find it easier to digest them. Dogs are generally carnivores and in the raw dog food diet regimen, they should be taken cared special care of when eating herbivorously.
Jamie is a pet health authority who specializes in raw organic dog food. Click here for more information.
