Ever Heard of These Myths About Raw Food?

All pet owners always have the best intentions in their desire to feed their furry friends a good quality diet. However, it can be very confusing to make the right decision, especially when overwhelmed by incorrect online misconceptions and information regarding pet food.

Raw food is constantly gaining attention along with veganism. Many pet parents are torn between switching to a raw diet or sticking to a processed one. There are some important facts and myths you should be aware of before considering feeding raw foods to your pet.

6 Myths About Raw Foods

1. Raw Diet Contains Harmful Bacteria

There are many concerns related to the presence of germs and bacteria like Salmonella and Listeria in raw food. 

Preparing raw foods for our pets the same way we handle raw meat for our family, has negative associations with a bacterial infection. It’s never appropriate to feed your pet spoiled raw food that has not been stored or handled properly.

Always practice safe handling of raw food and dispose of spoiled ones.

2. Raw Diets Are Expensive

Generally speaking, a pre-made raw diet is way too expensive than canned food. This is because raw food follows the market pricing for fresh food. Many people opt for homemade raw food to cut their budget only to find that the cost of this diet is similar to what they are spending on themselves. However, it’s worth it.

3. Raw Food Is Less Nutritious

The truth is, cooking destroys or alters some of the nutrients in a particular food. This is why cooked diets require an expert formulation that will make up for the lost nutrients. On the other hand, raw foods have a combination that brings balance to our pet’s diet. 

 A raw diet consists of ground bone, muscle meat, and organ meats. For example, raw meat diets contains 85% meat, 5% organic meat, and 10% bone. Your pet’s energy requirements come from proteins, carbohydrates, and fat, which you can get from raw foods.

4. Raw Bones are Unsafe for Kittens and Puppies

Raw bones are totally safe for kittens and puppies! In fact, raw bones are softer and easier to digest as compared to cooked bones as long as your pet chews the bones thoroughly before swallowing. Avoid weight-bearing and rib bones because they are too strong that they can even break your pet’s teeth.

5. Raw Diets Leads to An Aggressive Behavior

Only an imbalanced raw food diet may lead to aggressive behavior. A lack of amino acids like tryptophan may affect serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical messenger that aids in mood stabilization. You can reverse these effects with a well-balanced diet of raw food.

6. Raw Diets Do Not Taste Good

This entirely depends on the type of raw food you’re offering your pet. Spoiled raw foods taste bad as well. Otherwise, most pets find the scent of raw food -almost irresistible. You should offer your pet fresh raw foods.

How the Raw Diet Can Benefit Pets

Many pet owners choose to feed their pets raw foods because they are more natural and are also less processed as compared to other commercial food. The following are some of the health benefits that have been associated with raw food. 

1. Better skin and coat health

Raw diets that contain ingredients such as Omega-3 fatty acids enhance your pet’s general skin and coat health. They also help pets with seasonal allergies by supporting a normal inflammatory response in the skin.

You can feed your pet raw freeze-dried salmon and lamb food to supplement the essential omega 3 fatty acids

2. Improved digestion

Raw foods contain a lot of enzymes that aid in digestion. By eating WOOF or MEOW Freeze-Dried Raw Food, your pet receives plenty of enzymes from the natural ingredients in the raw food. Therefore, you won’t need any additional supplements.

3. Strengthened Immune System

Raw meat is best known to boost the immune system of pets. It contains abundant bioactive factors, which improve the immune function of pets. Provide your pets with a healthy amount of raw food to ensure that they have access to a range of micronutrients that are responsible for strengthening your pet’s immune system.

4. Less Stool and Odor

Since they are highly digestible, a lot of raw foods are absorbed and utilized in your pet’s body such that less comes out on the other end as a stool. Raw food also takes less time in the gut leading to the production of odorless stool.

Feeding your pet a diet that contains no fillers and is very low in carbohydrates will result in a reduced volume of stool and odor.

5. Cleaner Teeth and Better Breath

Raw foods have active living enzymes that support healthy flora in the mouth, which in turn promote cleaner teeth and better breath. You can feed your pet raw foods that are rich in natural ingredients such as peppermint and celery to enhance his dental hygiene.

Is a Raw Diet Safe?

Raw diets are safe for your pet only if they are carefully cleaned, processed, and stored in a very clean environment. They are more beneficial to most pets as compared to processed food. Besides, pets such as cats and dogs are designed to digest raw meat. So, their stomachs can handle Salmonella that humans can’t.