Is there any Scientific Data Supporting Raw Diets?

RottenFlower

rotties are my kryptonite
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#81
I've never fed my dogs raw, and I don't ever intend to. I don't know enough about it. I'm too lazy to learn about it. The veterinary nutritionists I work with don't recommend it. I'm not sure how cost effective it is to try and feed 3 large + 2 medium breed dogs raw vs. kibble. I don't have enough time to plan it out.

That being said, I used to be a huge kibble snob. I only wanted to feed the best, premium, top shelf foods. And my dogs looked like utter crap on them. Gross, flaky, greasy, dull haircoats. Disgusting poops. Eye boogers. Overall, very lackluster and definitely not like how I imagined they'd look.

As it turns out, my dogs tend to do very well on a midrange food; they looked and felt fantastic on PurinaONE. I have also fed ProPlan lamb with excellent results - soft, shiny, non-flaky coats, bright eyes, good energy levels, great bloodwork. They very rarely get baths (maybe 2x a year at most), unless they get into something rancid. My SIL, while on vacation last month, mentioned how they didn't "smell like dogs" and was shocked when I told her we never bathed them. They're currently on Hill's Ideal Balance (grain inclusive), but I'll probably be switching them back to Diamond Naturals in the next month or so (for no other reason than it's more cost effective for me).

I'm now in the food camp where you just feed your dog what you *both* do well on. If that means Puppy Chow or grass fed organic Kobe beef every meal, then so be it, as long as everyone is happy & healthy.
 
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#82
I have fed raw, and kibble, I do stick with what is considered high quality kibble, Acana/Orijen, they are made close to me so they are always readily available.

Gage diesel ok on raw, but better on kibble, he had more eye goop and ear problems on raw (guess I should have stuck it out longer then 6 months for his supposed detox huh?) but I couldn't see him in pain any longer. He was feed chicken and beef, he flat out refused to eat deer and moose. And where I live that's all we can get, unless I went to pre made raw and it would end up costing me upwards of $500 a month to feed him that. So back to kibble he went, back to smaller poops and no more goopy eyes

Then there is Bristol, who can eat anything, she will not eat the pre-made ground chicken (no idea why), but will eat chicken wings and necks. She ate rabbit, elk, lamb, beef, fish, happily and did well. She is the one dog I would love to put back on raw she does poop WAY more on kibble, way way more.

And Diesel, Diesel will not eat the raw, he will go on food strike. Wait him out they said, he was underweight when I got him (you could see his hip bones and vertebrae). He would get sick if he are anything but the food he came with (which his original owners couldn't remember the name of, only that the bag was pink) so I started him on a bland diet and worked on adding things in to see if we could work though his problem. Try and determine if he was actually allergic to something (which I didn't really think was the issue since he was given milk bones for treats) or if different things caused his stomach to shock because of no variety, he can now eat anything with no problems and USAF a healthy weight. I did try raw and he just will not eat it, like at all, food strike, how many days can one wait it out? Well for me after three days of the poor little bugger not eatting a single thing, I caved and gave him kibble. I even tried to mix the raw I to his kibble, he would pick out the kibble that had the least amount if raw and leave the rest (this made Bristol very happy because she figured leftovers were hers lol). Maybe I shouldn't have given in?

Ruffian was my only dog with allergies, corn of course, she was fed pro plan, until then, we went to hund n flocken and then to raw, she did amazing on raw.

Tonka, Tonka was one of those dogs, the dogs that literally could eat anything and look fantastic. When he got older he wouldn't eat high quality kibble any more, the ol Roy that makes it's own gravy was the only think he wanted, and at 12 I let him have that, he didn't smell any more the. Before, he didn't poop any more, he didn't shed any more, he was just the same as he was before lol.

While I do agree that MOST dogs do better on high quality feed, I KNOW that some dogs do well on what I consider crap foods. I have a friend who's pug can't eat raw or high quality foods, he get sick, and has cannon butt with a side of blood every.single.time, after struggling with it for 8 or 10 months, she would feed various high quality kibble he would get sick, put him back on some Hills crap and he is fine again, she stopped trying the high quality kibble and keeps him on hills. She has no problem feeding raw, her cat still gets it, but, She believes in feeding what WORKS best for her pets, not what someone tells her SHOULD be best.
 

Sit Stay

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#83
This thread is so interesting! Jackson'sMom, the info about Champion is really interesting to me as I feed Quinn Acana.

I would love to feed the dogs raw but unfortunately don't have the freezer space currently. Even if I did, I find it all very intimidating and don't know if I would trust myself to deliver the proper ratios to meet their nutritional needs and maintain them. I do think, barring any bad reactions, they would benefit our dogs though. I would love to put Quinn on raw to see the difference in her teeth - she has more buildup than Dally does, and Dally is twice her age and was on poor kibble for her first couple years of her life. Quinn's teeth arent awful, but could be better, and I think Dally is just blessed with good genes. She also has seasonal allergies. Currently she is on Acana, and supplemented with a joint supplement, oil and probiotics (I work at a store that sells all these supplements so I get a good deal - otherwise I wouldn't have her on all of that). The probiotics I believe are what has done wonders for her allergies as this year, she was probably 95% better than she has been in past years. She has a gorgeous coat and most people who pet her comment on how soft she is, and make comments on how I must groom or bathe her. She's bathed probably twice a year (only in the summer) and I don't brush her nearly as often as I should. Her teeth are the only thing I am not thrilled with, and I think that's more of a genetic component. I briefly had Quinn on Fromm GF, but I was feeding her way more to than the Acana in an attempt to maintain her weight, and I wasn't thrilled with her muscle tone, so I switched her back. Just an individual thing I think.

My two childhood Aussies grew up on Pedigree. Gemma lived with my dad, and Jasmine at my mom's. Gemma I'm sure would have been the type of dog that would have done way better on a high quality kibble or raw. She was overweight, with a very dry and sparse coat, with no shine to it. She was PTS at the young age of 8 due to medical issues. Jasmine, on the other hand, was one of those dogs that probably would have thrived on anything! She was always in great shape, very active and sound, with a beautiful shiny coat. We lost her at 13 without even a grey hair. No one (including vets and vet techs) believed how old she was. Dally is the same - does well on just about anything, but I do think she has done the best on Before Grain (even more so than other good kibbles like Fromm or Acana).
 

Sweet72947

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#84
My parents' dogs are fed raw. Daisy is 11 years old, her teeth are beautiful, most of her allergies are under control, for a lab she barely sheds, and her stink is manageable. She has always had a chronic ear issue, and no food we've fed has ever had much of an impact on it. But I really believe that the reason she doesn't have any tumors or serious joint issues and that she looks like she's 6 not 11 is because she's on raw. I have seen so many labs covered in fatty tumors who look 11 when they are 6. Benji, my mom's little terrier we used to have, had allergies to something that caused his back to scab up. We switched him to raw and his scabs cleared right up! He was always still a little itchy, never did figure out completely why, but he was so much better on raw than on kibble.

Norris is on TOTW grain free kibble, and he is doing pretty well on that. I'm not sure I could switch him to raw, he has a sensitive tummy and he's had two bouts of liquid diarrhea just recently, one of which may be correlated to a piece of raw chicken I fed him, the other possibly related to a vet visit the day before. It could also be the random crap he tends to hoover off the ground when we're on walks, including chicken bones people have tossed out.:mad: I haven't been really sure exactly the cause of either; luckily pumpkin helped clear it right up. I'm wary of trying him on raw because his stomach can be unpredictable.

I do have an issue with Hills as a company. Some people may know that they offer their food at discounted rates to animal shelters/rescues. FOHA used to feed Science Diet because of this discount. However, the catch is that you have to feed ONLY Hills brand food. If a dog won't eat Hills and you need to feed him something else? Welp, too bad! And we had to hide other brands of food because they were known to sent scouts out to check and make sure you were following the rules, which included NOT keeping other brands of food on the premises. We also were supposed to "sell" Science Diet to adopters. FOHA feeds Regal now, and I can say that there was a definite difference in the dogs after the switch. Sure they still poop a LOT on Regal, but they have a LOT LESS diarrhea (I used to call it peanut butter smoothie poo), a lot less shedding and dander, and they just seemed to feel better.
 

CaliTerp07

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#85
However, the catch is that you have to feed ONLY Hills brand food. If a dog won't eat Hills and you need to feed him something else? Welp, too bad! And we had to hide other brands of food because they were known to sent scouts out to check and make sure you were following the rules, which included NOT keeping other brands of food on the premises.
Wow, I had no idea! That's really eye opening.
 

HayleyMarie

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#86
I believe that different stroked for different folks. What works for one dog might not work for another, but I really don't like low quality foods. When we got Mitsu she was fed Ol'Roy and she was in such a terrible condition. She was way under weight, she stunk and her skin and coat was just terrible, she also had no energy. Now, she did have a heart condition, but that pup made a 360 in a matter or a few weeks once we changed her food over to Acana.

I feed Teagan 100%, unless we go camping. Then she is fed kibble. Main reason I don't bring raw is because we live in bear and cougar country. I've been feeding her raw for about 2 1/2 years give or take and I have noticed a huge difference. I should add she was fed Acana before this.

Her poops now are little and firm and go away in a few days. Her teeth are super clean and sparkly and her breath is always fresh and clean smelling. Also her incontinence went away, now if I put her back on kibble for a long period of time it comes back. Westies are terrible for skin issues, and we have no issues what so ever.

I am starting to feed Panzer raw, but I will be sticking to feeding one day raw and one day kibble until he is at least a year old. Just so he is not missing out on any of the stuff he needs to grow properly. For kibble he is fed Pulser Horizon.

My dogs are fed a lot of wild meat. Grouse, venison, Elk, Moose and when chicken and pork is on sale we get a lot of that too.m
 

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