Raw feeding is the practice of feeding domestic dogs, cats, and other animals a diet consisting primarily of uncooked meat, edible bones, and organs. The ingredients used to formulate raw diets vary. Some pet owners choose to make home-made raw diets to feed their animals but commercial raw diets are also available. The practice of feeding raw diets has raised some concerns due to the risk of foodborne illnesses, zoonosis, and nutritional imbalances. People who feed their dogs raw food do so for a multitude of reasons, including but not limited to: culture, beliefs surrounding health, nutrition, and what is perceived to be more natural for their pets. Feeding raw food can be perceived as allowing the pet to stay in touch with their wild, carnivorous ancestry. The raw food movement has occurred in parallel with the change in human food trends for more natural and organic products. Despite beliefs in better health outcomes there is no evidence raw feeding provides any health benefit compared to conventional diets. Raw diets may be nutritionally incomplete or have harmful parasites and bacteria. Feeding bones can lead to tooth damage or gastrointestinal blockage and perforation.
Health claims
Bone and dental health Uncooked, non-weight bearing bones are often recommended in raw diets because of the belief that bone would be the primary source of calcium and phosphorus for canines in the wild. However, phosphorus is available in many food sources. Finding foods that provide sufficient amounts of calcium to maintain a good ratio is challenging, as many foods that are high in calcium are also high in phosphorus. For this reason, creating a homemade raw diet with an appropriate calcium:phosphorus ratio may prove difficult, especially without the analysis techniques that are available to commercial food producers. Consumption of bones may cause oral and dental trauma and or create an obstruction in the oesophagus or gastrointestinal intestinal tract. Bones also have the potential to cause perforation.
Skin and coat health Many raw diets focus on promoting a healthy skin and coat, mainly through the supplementation of essential fatty acids. Fatty acids play an important role in the structure and function of cells, while also improving palatability of the diet. Omega-6 (n-6) and omega-3 (n-3) are especially important for normal skin function and appearance. The skin's ability to produce long chain fatty acids, such as linoleic acid (18:2n-6) and linolenic acid (18:2n-3) is limited. For this reason, these fatty acids are especially essential for skin health and many raw diets make sure they are properly supplemented. To improve skin and coat health, essential fatty acids are supplied in excess of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) requirements, which results in improved coat sheen and skin health. Omega-6 fatty acids, linoleic acid in particular, play an important role in skin barrier function. Omega-3 fatty acids also plays an important role in skin health as they help reduce inflammation and can even protect against UV damage. Fatty acids supplemented into raw food diets often are seen in a variety of forms. Common sources of omega-6 fatty acids in raw diets often include flaxseed, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. All these ingredients can be fed as whole seeds or as oils.
Protein availability When commercial pet food is made, ingredients in the food are exposed to high temperatures, creating a risk of maillard reaction. Maillard reactions are problematic as when this reaction occurs, a reducing sugar binds to the amino group on the amino acids, making the amino acids unavailable to the animal. The amino acid most affected by this reaction is lysine, which is an essential amino acid and the first limiting amino acid for dogs, cats and most other vertebrates. Lysine plays a major role in the body including in protein synthesis, as well as carnitine synthesis and obligatory oxidation. Thus, some forms of food processing may reduce the amount of available essential nutrient in a dog's food.
Types There are various differences in opinion within the raw feeding community. Issues include whether dogs are omnivores or carnivores, whether dogs need plant material in their diet and if so, in what quantities. The safety of whole bones use is also a frequent topic of discussion. Raw diet recipes can range from meat with a wide selection vegetables and grains, while other are more minimalist, using only meat, bones, organ meat, and necessary supplements. An example of a minimalist approach to raw feeding is the Meat with Bone diet advocated by Michelle T. Bernard. Critiques of raw diets include the concern with the possible nutrient imbalances that can arise feeding any type of raw diet.
BARF BARF stands for either bones and raw food or biologically appropriate raw food.
Prey model diet
The "prey model" diet attempts to create a diet that simulates the proportions of ingredients and nutrients seen in a prey animal's diet. In the wild, a predator gains nutrients not only from the meat and organs of the prey they are eating. A wild animal would also gain nutrients from the food their prey has previously consumed. This diet aims to simulate all the nutrients that the wild animal would obtain. Actual whole prey are used whenever possible, including whole rabbits, chickens, game hens and turkeys. Generally, the diet recommends 80% meat (including some 'meaty' organs such as heart), 10% bone and 10% organs (of which half is liver). Proponents of the whole prey model diet believe dogs and cats are natural carnivores and do not have any nutritional needs besides what is found in meat, bones, and organs. The supporters of the prey model also focus on feeding meats from a wide variety of animals. Some also add small amounts of vegetable matter to simulate the consumption of stomach contents of prey animals. Supplements are generally not used in a prey model diet although some followers do add fish oil to the diet to compensate for the reduced amount of omega-3 fatty acid in commercially raised grain-fed livestock. This problem can be partially mitigated by using grass-fed meat, which has more than double the omega-3 content as grain-fed meat.
Preparation
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