Good Reasons for feeding RAW

Chris_Heilong

These are some of the reasons I choose to feed Raw, the start of the video is poor but just give it a minute or two and he will get to the truth about kibble and all the stuff thats in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f894HviamHw&NR=1

This video is also a very extream example with some exaggerations, do not take it as fact.

Cherry Blossom

That is honestly the biggest load of ill-informed propaganda I've ever seen:eek:

I really hope you haven't based your entire decision on what to feed your dog based on this OP because if you have you are seriously misinformed. Where are all these dogs that live to 27 years of age? There's an awful lot of 'fact' given in that video with no supporting evidence.

4 Reasons Commercial Dog Food is the WORST choice for your dog -> High quality dog food isn't made from this crap, this is your cheap supermarket rubbish. We don't live in the US and quality standards in Europe (for eg) are nowhere near that abysmal.

Sources which come from animals which are Dead, Diseased, Disabled and Dying before slaughter are clearly labelled 'Animal Derivatives' under EU quality standards. I feed my dog high quality kibble made by manufacturers that have ethical codes of practice, there are no shortage of foods that are made from top quality ingredients, no I would not feed any of the brands that originate in the US, but thankfully we don't have to.

I would honestly hate for someone to read this thread and take that as the absolute truth.

Chris_Heilong

I would hate for people to take it at absolute truth also(its a youtube video) but the things the guy is saying are true for the most part of American food companies(living to 35 years is BS) those same companies such as Nestlé and Masterfoods own Pedigree, James Wellbeloved, Royal Canin just to name a few,Procter and Gamble (P&G) purchased The Iams Company (Iams, Eukanuba) in 1999. P&G shortly thereafter introduced Iams into grocery stores, where it done well.
Colgate-Palmolive bought Hill’s Science Diet (founded in 1939) in 1976 (Hill’s Science Diet, Prescription Diets, Nature’s Best). In America there have been lots of Pet food recalls because of contaminated products. There is also the 95% rule. The “95% Rule” applies when the ingredient(s) derived from animals, poultry, or fish constitutes at least 95% or more of the total weight of the product (or 70% excluding water for processing). Because all-meat diets are not nutritionally balanced and cause severe deficiencies if fed exclusively, they fell out of favor for many years. However, due to rising consumer interest in high quality meat products, several companies are now promoting 95% and 100% canned meats as a supplemental feeding option.

The “With” rule allows an ingredient name to appear on the label, such as “with real chicken,” as long as each such ingredient constitutes at least 3% of the food by weight, excluding water for processing.

The “flavor” rule allows a food to be designated as a certain flavor as long as the ingredient(s) are sufficient to “impart a distinctive characteristic” to the food. Thus, a “beef flavor” food may contain a small quantity of digest or other extract of tissues from cattle, or even an artificial flavor, without containing any actual beef meat at all.

My goal is to let people see that everything might not be as it seems so a little extremism(the video) showing people whats going on across the pond might get people thinking about what might be happening here. As regards European standards I do agree that they are well above American standards but still feel we are not getting the full picture. I changed to RAW because of all the benefits but hearing about what happended in America makes me happy I did(just an extra reason, better safe than sorry), even the best kibble can not compete with what dogs where designed to eat, meat and bone. I feel now the video alone was weak and I can make a better augment, but would also like to hear others view on the subject.

Cherry Blossom

One think you haven't mentioned is that your dogs are northern breeds, to me this would be a major part of any decision on what to feed them. Basically these breeds would have developed on a raw food diet which leads me to believe that they would continue to thrive on what they have become used to. I think its worth looking into the history of your breed whatever they may be and take on board what has worked for others. Eg. the Westie almost died out in the UK in post war years due to rationing and lack of available meat and was basicly saved by sending loads of them to the US therefore it is well know that they don't do well on grains. All indications on what is best to feed them points to a cooked diet, I am no expert on canine nutrition so I don't feel comfortable preparing my own food, so this means going down the commercial dog food route (and will for most people).

James Wellbelloved by the way is manufactured in New Zealand I believe where standards are still higher than the states but not quite on a par with European ones.