Is It Better To Feed Dogs Raw Meat Than Dog Food?
A further dive into the popular trend of Raw Meat Diets (RMDs)
Post by: The Puppy DogMa AKA Midas’s Mom
When it comes to what you should be feeding your dog, things can get complicated. There are many types of dog foods out there, and even more information, so it’s hard to know what to believe! Being the puppy dogma of a particularly picky Havenese, I have done my fair share of research on this topic. Obviously, I’m not a veterinarian, I am sharing with you what I have learned from reading research articles, attending informational sessions, asking my own veterinarian, and books.
With the explosion in dog companionship in the last decade, there has been a concurrent increase in information about dog nutrition and diet. Should I be feeding my dog exclusively raw meat, what about wet food mixed with dry, how about Blue Buffalo or Hills Science….the list goes on and on. As a first time DogMa, I was quickly frustrated when my veterinarian wouldn’t give me a clear recommendation and found that other DogMas were experiencing this too. Let’s start with some background on raw meat based diets vs “traditional” diets.
Raw Meat Based Diets (RMBD)
Raw meat-based diets (RMBD) include uncooked ingredients derived from domesticated or wild caught food animal species (Freeman, et al. 2013). These ingredients can include muscles, organs and bones from mammals, fish, and poultry, as well as unpasteurized milk and uncooked eggs. RMBDs can either be commercial (manufacturer makes the meals and sends them to you either fresh, frozen, or freeze dried) or home-made. While commercial RMBDs are usually made based on formulas thought to meet the AAFCO nutrient recommendations, homemade recipes are much more variable in both ingredients and nutritional value. The rationale behind many owners switching to RMBDs often includes the belief that there is superior nutrition and health benefits, and that it is more “natural.” However, there is limited evidence to support these claims. In my attempt to be unbiased and provide you with the best information possible, I will start with potential benefits of RMBDs and why or why not they come from strong research.
In (Limited) Support of RMBDs?
Of the limited evidence available in support of RMBDs one aspect is that RMBDs do frequently have increased digestibility of their components. However, the improvement is modest. Proteins and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) can undergo changes during processing involved in traditional dog foods, but this is not always a bad thing. For example, some proteins are actually more useable to the body after processing because digestive chemicals can access them better.
Another often cited benefit of RMBDs is an improvement in immune function. This conclusion is poorly drawn as it was made by looking at the number of immune cells present in the animals. Briefly, animals fed RMBDs had elevated levels of the immune cells that are used to fight off bacteria and viruses. It was also found that these animals were shedding Salmonella in their poop. So, of course they had elevated numbers of immune cells, their immune system was being activated by the bacterial pathogen that was introduced to the body after being fed RMBDs!
The same thing happens in humans, we get exposed to a pathogen and our immune cells increase in attempt to eliminate the problem. This doesn’t mean that the pathogen has improved the function of our immune system, it just means that our body is doing what it is supposed to do in response to the bacteria. Thus, although it is technically unknown as to whether RMBDs improve immune function, it is currently a “wash” and shouldn’t be the main reason you start your dog on one.
Nutrition Content
Let’s talk about nutrition content. Dog and cat nutrition guidelines are set and evaluated by the NRC, with the most recent update occurring in 2006. From those recommendations, the AAFCO comes out with further guidelines that are more applicable to everyday use. For a review on how pet nutrition and pet food is regulated check out my blog post here. With the understanding of nutrient minimums and maximums set by AFFCO we can discuss RMBDs.
Although the commercially available RMBDs are usually developed to meet AFFCO guidelines, homemade recipes are frequently nutritionally unbalanced (Freeman, et al 2013). Two studies evaluated the nutritional balance of common homemade diet recipes for animals with a medical condition. Of the 94 recipes that were evaluated, NONE of them had adequate concentrations of all essential nutrients (44-45).
In another study, 200 recipes were evaluated in healthy dogs and 190 of the recipes (95%) had at least one essential nutrient below the AAFCO minimums, while 167 (84%) had multiple deficiencies (46). The concern is not limited to homemade recipes however, as a study in 2001 evaluated 3 homemade and 2 commercial based RMBDs and found that ALL had nutritional imbalances present (2001).
These nutritional imbalances can be devastating to the health of your pup. Further, even if the diet does meet the minimum AFFCO recommendations, it doesn’t mean that it is what is best for your dog from a health perspective. Many of these diets can be high in fat when compared to “traditional” dog food. Although high fat diets may make your dog’s coat look extra shiny, it can also cause gut issues and increase risk for obesity which comes with a whole host of other problems. Beyond nutritional imbalances there are further health risks including abnormal biochemical levels in the body such as thyroxine, cholesterol, BUN, and serum creatinine elevations which have all been found to be elevated in dogs consuming RMBDs.
Safety Concerns
Okay, so you’ve checked that your dog’s RMBD is commercially prepared, checked the nutrition content with your veterinarian, and made sure that it is optimized (not too high in fat, etc.). You’re good to go then right? WRONG. Even if the nutritional content is optimized, there are still significant safety concerns you need to be aware of before considering feeding your pup RMBDs.
As a human doctor in training, my brain goes straight to what would happen if a human ingested raw meat…not good. Whether sold for human or animal consumption raw meat can be contaminated with various pathogens, a particularly popular one is Salmonella spp. This is because freezing and freeze drying (some manufacturers have tried other methods such as high pressure etc to which pathogens have developed resistance to) do not kill this pathogen so if the meat remains uncooked both humans and animals can get sick from it.
In fact, contamination rates with salmonella spp in raw meats sold for human consumption have been estimated at 21-44% (Freeman, et al. 2013). Rates of contamination in commercial RMBDs range from 20-48%. Although it’s possible to have contamination in “traditional” dog food, this is much more rare. The pathogens are not just limited to Salmonella however, other bacteria have been found such as E coli, clostridium, and listeria, all of which can infect humans as well. So, even if your dog is simply “carrying” a pathogen (meaning they are infected but asymptomatic), they can still transmit the bacteria to humans and cause illness (salmonellosis, etc.) (Freeman, et al.).
You may be thinking, “Puppy DogMa, my dog is basically a wolf, wolves eat raw animals, wouldn’t it make sense to give my dog the most natural raw food I can find?” To which I would reply, not necessarily and here is why:
Dogs have evolved over thousands of years into the domesticated animal they are today.
During that time their genetics have literally changed so that they can successfully digest other types of food such as starches and fat. In fact, dogs aren’t even carnivores (meat only), they are omnivores, meaning that they consume both plant and meat derived products for nutrients. My point is, yes wolves eat raw meat and dogs are evolutionarily related to wolves, but they are not the same!
The idea of feeding my dog all natural and wholesome food is attractive, but with the current options available the benefits may not outweigh the risks for me at this point.
Furever yours,
The Puppy DogMa
Sources:
Freeman, L. M., Chandler, M. L., Hamper, B. A., & Weeth, L. P. (2013). Current knowledge about the risks and benefits of raw meat–based diets for dogs and cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 243(11), 1549–1558. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.243.11.1549
Heinze, C. R., Gomez, F. C., & Freeman, L. M. (2012). Assessment of commercial diets and recipes for home-prepared diets recommended for dogs with cancer. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 241(11), 1453–1460. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.241.11.1453
Stockman, J., Fascetti, A. J., & Kass, P. H. (2014). Correction: Evaluation of recipes of home-prepared maintenance diets for dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 245(2), 177–177. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.245.2.177
