It’s not quite the paleo diet, but “raw feeding” is gaining in popularity among pet owners looking for what they believe are healthier and more natural options.
“There are a lot of reasons I choose to feed a raw diet to my dogs,” Christine Dupuis of Standish said. “There are a lot of great commercial products out there, but it’s hard to select one when you are unsure of where the ingredients come from, and that concerns me. You don’t know what you are getting.”
The raw-based diet that Dupuis, who has a background in animal nutrition, feeds her 6-year-old boxer mix, Sophie, and 5-year-old American bulldog, Maizy, contains ingredients such as ground meat, bone, organs and vegetables she feels she can trust.
“We believe raw food is the best way to feed [because] it is the way dogs and cats were intended to eat,” Megan Davis, manager at Paws Applause in Scarborough, said. “Dogs, for example, are no longer socially like wolves living in packs, but their guts and intestines are still the same and their digestive system hasn’t changed the way they digest food.”
Davis said pets do not need the fillers — such as corn, wheat and soybeans — often found in commercial foods, which she said can be difficult for dogs or cats to digest. That, however, is not always the case, according to Dr. Christiana Yule of Fort Kent Animal Hospital.
“It’s important to remember dogs and cats need carbohydrates like those from grains just like anyone else,” Yule said. “Most of my prescription diet foods have grain as the first ingredient, and it’s how the food is cooked and processed so it is digestible that is important.”
Natural does not always mean better or safer.
“One of the key things to remember is, if the food product is a commercially manufactured product, there are guidelines in place,” Dr. Michele Walsh, state veterinarian with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, said. “These are the same standards that are used in human [commercial food] production.”
The safest way to feed pets, Walsh said, is to make sure the food comes from a manufacturer subject to U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines. Those same guidelines, she said, trigger recalls when a pet food is found to be out of compliance of the health and safety regulations.
It is understandable, Walsh said, that ongoing pet food recalls — there have been 85 in the past year — can shake consumer confidence.
“Nothing is perfect,” she said. “Keep in mind a lot of them are voluntary recalls by the manufacturers who have detected a problem. The checks and balances of the company’s quality control procedures triggers the recalls.”
She declined to speak on the merits specific brands of pet food.
“I really can’t comment on the quality of individual brands,” she said. “But there is a ‘buyer beware’ principal. If a product is [federally] regulated and safeguards are in place, then on a common-sense level those regulated products are likely more safe.”
Food coming from a smaller, even home-based business is not subject to those FDA regulations. Reputable raw dog food is certified by the Association of American Feed Officials, which assures the raw ingredients have gone through stringent processes to eliminate any unsafe bacteria, Davis said.
“If you are going to go raw for your pets, you don’t want to just walk into a grocery store and pick up a whole chicken off the shelf and start feeding it to your dog,” she said. “Any horror story you hear from a veterinarian is because they have encountered someone who fed an animal a raw diet that was not put through a certified sanitary process.”
“Feeding raw does worry me a bit,” Yule said. “When people do it right, it’s OK. But you really need to be conscious of sanitary procedures. Raw meats and poultry are big conduits for salmonella and E. coli for pets and for people.”
At times Dupuis gives Sophie and Maizy raw chicken necks, hearts, livers or kidneys she gets through Pet Applause, which obtains them from a supplier who processes the organs in a sanitary facility.
“They just look better and are healthier on a raw diet,” Dupuis said. “There are a lot fewer trips to the vets when they eat raw.”
In Maine, all pet food must be registered with the state, according to Steve Giguere, Program Manager Maine DACF Division Quality Assurance and Regulations. However, manufacturers of pet food based in the state are not required to be licensed, he said.
“The department does not have an ongoing routine sampling program or a laboratory that could test such samples,” Giguere said.
The bottom line, Davis said, is to be aware of what is in a pet’s food, something she said more and more consumers are doing. Davis tells her customers to check out the website DogFoodAdvisor, which lists and rates hundreds of brands and their ingredients, based on input from veterinarians.
“Of course, the higher the rating, the pricier that food will be,” she said. “So people really need to figure out their budget and then determine which food is most affordable and meets their pets’ needs.”
Davis and Walsh recommend having a talk with a local veterinarian well-versed in animal nutrition to guide in pet food choices.
“Generally speaking, I don’t care if a client buys the food from me or from somewhere else — as long as their animal is doing well on it,” Yule said.
A complete list of recalled pet foods is available on the American Veterinary Medical Foundation’s website at avma.org.
