Reply #46: informed choice

[DreamOutLoud]

"I took my professional oath very seriously 26 years ago. I have a duty to the public, and when I see advocacy of something so potentially deadly as feeding raw meats to pets, I intend to speak out."


I'm curious. How many hours of nutrition do vet students recieve? Who sponsors this portion of the education? I'd be interested in what studies back up your position. You have every right to speak out an opinion, as do all of us, but it is only that, not gospel, not The Truth, and how dare anyone question it.

The reality is, most people make an informed choice of what to feed their pets, based on whatever research they choose to do. That's what I did. And I feed raw. To my now six year old, extremely healthy German Shepherd, who is a Service dog, and a Therapy dog. I'm not a fanatic, as I believe there are a lot of very good foods out there. I've been trying out a new organic brand this last month, but alas, I can see it's causing some weight gain. My dog has always been extremely fit, (and he's neutered).

Here's a link. http://www.sojos.com/rawstudiesarticle.html It's the Pottenger study. I know there's not a lot out there. But it is true that dog's have a huge amount of enzymes that break down bacteria, in their mouths, and very acidic digestive systems. That's why they can eat putrid rotting meat, and be fine. (Not routinely, of course). Raw diets are fed to canids in zoo environments, why are they not becoming ill from this type of feeding?

It's like the vaccine debate. There's good points to either side, and in the middle. Studies are continually being done, and beliefs revised. This is good, progressive. All we can do is read up on what is available, and make our own informed decisions. I feed a commercially made, frozen (kills bacteria) raw diet to my dog, with a variety of nutrition sources. An extremely healthy dog tends to validate that I am making the right choice, for us.