BARF diet - Scientific community criticism/warning

spockety

Thinking of moving our 6 month old Collie cross over to a raw diet, but then saw this article in The Guardian this morning which spooks a bit.

Any thoughts?

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jan/12/scientists-criticise-trend-for-raw-meat-pet-food-after-analysis-finds-pathogens?CMP=fb_gu

Nody

All I'll say to date I know of no case of a BARF fed animal who's owner got salmonella due to feeding BARF; there are however multiple occurrences of it with dry food where the owner got salmonella. As everything else however it's a question of doing your research on nutrient values and balanced diets to ensure your pet gets all they need in terms of nutrition and keeping things cleaned rather than using the same cutting board for fish, chicken, beef etc. without cleaning it. As for the benefits you can find it not only from people who've changed over but also from animals who've gone from needing pills to not any more due to a better diet. Personally I'm all for BARF but only as a conscious choice and if people find it to yucky/difficult I'll always recommend a good quality wet food instead (with kibble if needed) as an alternative. As a cat feeder that's what I'll link you to but here's an article with all sources listed as an example of the issues with commercial dry food vs. raw for example.

Forgot to add; the main thing they warn about is the lack of cooking the food however for dogs you can actually cook it (well boiling is generally recommended) which would remove that risk as well in your case.

tk123

Who funded this study I wonder? OP it's complete scaremongering rubbish - ignore it and just practice the same hygiene you'd use when preparing and handling raw meat for yourself. I haven't poisoned any humans or dogs yet lol

Plenty of dry food has been contaminated and recalled btw - https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recalls/

muddypaws

Here's the study, with funding info at the bottom http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/182/2/50

3dogs

I'm curious who sent the article out to all the newspapers, it was in multiple papers in the same week.

The article doesn't actually say that raw is bad it just says the risks are higher. I feed raw and clean the utensils and my hands in the exact same way as I do when handling the raw meat I use for cooking my own meals.

Dry food companies may not have funded the research but I would lay any money that one of them sent it on to the media as it certainly suits their reasoning.

tk123

I read on FB that it was a project done by a student in the Netherlands and it was for a Royal Canine award lol!! . I don't know about food produced in Ireland but the food I feed atm is actually from the UK where each batch is basically in storage until it's cleared for bacterial/salmonella testing before it's released for sale and the testing and regulations are fairly stringent. It's also in the BVA's interest to scaremonger about raw food in the same way they've outlawed alternative/complimentary treatments so again - use your own judgement/common sense.

Wildcard7

Maybe read this as well: https://www.dogsfirst.ie/raw-faq/is-raw-meat-good-for-dogs/

I don't know if raw food is inherently more dangerous, or if it really is the right thing to feed. If you ask 2 people you'll get 3 opinions, so make up your own mind. What I do know is:

- Apart from used cars, you'll have to look long and hard to find an industry that rips you off like the dry pet food industry. Just go in a shop, pick up any "premium" dry food (something that has TV ads), read all the buzzwords on the front ("meaty", "chicken", "no artificial such and such") and then compare that to the actual information on the back. You will find that "meaty" translates to "artificially meat flavoured" and "contains real chicken" means "contains 3% parts of chicken like feet, skin and heads". "Anti-inflammatory" means that instead of 95% wheat and 5% garbage it contains 90% rice and 10% garbage.

- I don't lick my fingers clean after I feed my dog raw food, I clean them with water and soap. I do the same after handling raw meat when cooking for myself. I'm confident that'll keep me safe.

- If my dog could chose, she would take raw meat over flavoured wheat any time of the day.

Nody

Well if you got netflix (or alternative means) and is a pet owner enjoy the documentary "Pet fooled"; it includes industry experts and vets explaining how the criteria for certain words are set (for example to be allowed to call a certain meat on the packaging you need 2% of that meat only etc. as set by the food industry themselves as standard to follow!) and you'll never look at dry commercial food the same way again.

tk123

Lol I thought of this thread when I saw this lol! Poor Mars with their tons of kibble brands bashing raw food over the years... I guess mocking is catching

Batch of Galaxy bars and Maltesers recalled over salmonella fears

http://jrnl.ie/3811945