Raw Pet Food

Raw food is healthier for people, and for animals.
Some raw foodists say their pets thrive on green leaves and vegetables.
Most raw-food Veterinarians agree that animals need raw meat.
Grains should not be fed to animals. Soy is one of the worst allergens commonly added to pet foods.

William Pollak D.V.M. - "In the wild, no one cooks for the coyote or wolf. Their foods are raw and unprocessed."

T.J. Dunn D.V.M."There is ample proof that today's pet dogs and cats do not thrive on cheap, packaged, corn-based pet foods. Dogs and cats are primarily meat eaters; to fill them up with grain-based processed dry foods that barely meet minimum daily nutrient requirements has proven to be a mistake."

William Pollak D.V.M. "Severe nutritional deficiencies and toxic states have been known to mimic almost every known disease in veterinary medicine. In chronic conditions, some developing over several generations, improvement in health can take months or years."

Alfred Plechner, D.V.M "The most common and most visible symptoms of nutritionally caused deficiencies are allergies of one kind or another. Because many commercial foods are woefully deficient in key nutrients, the long-term effect of these foods makes the dog hypersensitive to its environment. . . . [It's a dinosaur effect. Animals are being programmed for disaster, for extinction. Many of them are biochemical cripples with defective adrenal glands unable to manufacture adequate Cortisol, a hormone vital for health and resistance to disease." Allergies can be, and often are, unrecognized deficiency diseases.

Dr. Francis M. Pottenger's nutritional studies have shown that a regular diet of cooked or canned foods causes the development of chronic degenerative diseases and premature mortality.

Elizabeth Hodgkins DVM- "My own cats eat ONLY raw meat. It is a very good way to provide some of the natural, unprocessed nutrition the cat evolved to utilize best."

Dr. William Pollak D.V.M. "Recent studies have shown processed foods to be a factor in increasing the numbers of pets suffering from cancer, arthritis, obesity, dental disease, and heart disease. Dull or unhealthy coats are a common problem with cats and dogs, and poor diet is usually the cause, according to many veterinarians and breeders. "Dogs, cats, and other animals live for years on foods that come out of bags, cans and boxes. But do these foods promote health? If they did, our companion animals would enjoy long, happy lives free of arthritis, hip dysplasia, eye problems, ear problems, fleas and other parasites, gum disease, lick granulomas, thyroid imbalances, skin and coat problems, personality disorders, birth defects, breeding problems, diabetes, cancer and other major and minor illnesses. Before World War II, most North Americans fed their pets raw bones and table scraps. Today, everyone uses convenience foods, and pet food companies are industry giants. Diet isn't the only thing that has changed. So has life expectancy, with the life span of many breeds now less than half what it was two or three decades ago. Skin and coat problems are so common that we accept them as unavoidable, and today's vets routinely treat conditions that used to be unusual or even rare." Learn more: The Poisons in Pet Food

Dr. Kollath, of the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, headed a study done on animals. When young animals were fed cooked and processed foods they initially appeared to be healthy. However, as the animals reached adulthood, they began to age more quickly than normal and also developed chronic degenerative disease symptoms. A control group of animals raised on raw foods aged less quickly and were free of degenerative disease. In nature, we see another example of wild animals eating entirely enzyme-rich raw foods being free of the degenerative diseases that afflict humans.
(The above 7 quotes are from Shirleys Wellness Cafe.

Buying Raw Pet Food

If you don't like to prepare the raw food yourself, and if you can afford it, you can have frozen pet food shipped to you for about $5/pound (including shipping):
frozen raw cat food from Felines Pride.
Other raw cat food sources are Raw Advantage Organic Dinner for Cats, Northwest Naturals Raw Cat Food, and Raw Advantage Organic Critical Care for Dogs & Cats.
frozen raw dog food from Northwest Naturals
Other raw dog food sources are Nature's Variety Freeze-dried Raw Food Diets, Primal Pet Foods Raw Dog Food, and Paw Naturaw Raw Organic Diet.
If you can't prepare or buy raw pet food, the next best is high nutrition pet food, like from Pets Home.

Dangers of Raw Meat

You should choose the source of your raw pet food carefully, and be aware that diseases from tainted raw foods can be passed to humans from their saliva or feces. Dogs like to lick you, and cats lick their fur, so if you pet them or hold them right after they licked it, you might be in danger..

You can read more on Pets as Disease-carriers at Hygiene-Educ.com

Zoonosis is an infectious, parasitic disease, that can be passed from animals to humans, and vice versa, like tuberculosis, rabies or brucellosis.

Salmonella: Dogs and especially cats can shed Salmonella organisms (from raw meat diet) in both their feces and saliva, meaning that transmission can occur via licking. A pet dog or cat licking your hand is a very common occurrence. Sometimes a pet may lick the face of a child, helping germs spread more easily. Animal saliva contains many pathogenic agents.