We're sure that many of you have heard those key pet food buzz words lately:
Raw diets.
But, many of you may be wondering, what is a raw diet, and why would you feed that to your pet?
Well, a raw diet is exactly that. The ingredients that go into your pets diet have never been cooked, and are minimally processed. When you have foods that aren't cooked, the naturally occurring enzymes that you find in raw meats, poultry, fruits and vegetables are not broken down and aid in digestibility of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. When you have good quality raw muscle meats, it can also help your pet to maintain a healthy weight. Raw foods are nearly 100% digestible, and are easily absorbed by the body.
Some of the benefits that many people see from giving their pet a raw diet (or even supplementing your pets diet with some freeze dried raw) are:
- Better digestive health: Raw food enzymes support naturally occurring digestive enzymes in your pets' digestive process. Enzymes in the digestion are essential for breaking down what your animal eats. The body naturally produces some of its own enzymes; mostly in the stomach and the pancreas. Over time however, the digestive system can become less efficient and begin to produce fewer of those enzymes. As a result, the digestive system can become more alkaline making it harder for the body to break down proteins, fats, and carbs. This process can lead to excessive gas, food allergies, or food intolerances. Through better digestion and superior assimilation of food derived nutrients, your pets can live happier and healthier lives.
- Better skin and coat health: Raw foods contain essential fatty acids and long chain amino acids that support healthy skin and coat and healthy bright eyes, and healthy teeth.
- Better oral health: Enzymes from raw food help to soften calculus, which aids in the teeth cleaning process as pets chew. Amino acids help to support healthy gums.
- Better immune system: When you feed a raw or partially raw diet to your pets, you are often introducing balanced levels of amino acids, fatty acids, and enzymes that are necessary to support your pets immune system. When your pets' food offers naturally occurring essential nutrients, you're setting up a good foundation for his overall health and wellbeing.
There are really two options available commercially for feeding raw food to your pets: Frozen Raw, or Freeze Dried. Deciding which option to go with may be a challenge. The questions to ask yourself at this point are these:
- Will you be feeding raw as a whole diet, or just adding raw to a kibble diet or using as treats? If you are considering feeding your dog strictly raw, then both freeze dried and raw options are available to you. Just a few things to consider though: Either way you go, unless you have a very small dog purchasing enough raw food is generally still very expensive. Some companies (like Primal and Nature's Variety) have frequent buyer cards that can enable you to get free food over time, but not every company makes those programs available. Raw feeding is generally great for pets, and will generally result in all of the benefits listed above. That being said, every dog is different. We do not promise that every dog will flourish on a raw diet.
- What does your schedule look like? If you lead a hectic life, and are constantly leaving early, or coming in late then know that frozen foods need time to thaw out. Do not microwave raw food, as many of the diets contain bone. Frozen food, though an excellent source of moisture for your pet, can be a tad time consuming, and quite frankly messy. This is where freeze dried comes into play. Most companies that offer freeze dried products, offer them in patties, bars, or nuggets. Determining which size you would need would depend on the size of your pet, and weather you would be supplementing or feeding raw alone.
- Are you simply wanting to give raw as a treat? If so, then freeze dried is probably the way you would want to go. If you buy patties or bars, they are easy to break up into smaller pieces. The nuggets are already bite sized, so they are super easy too! Freeze Dried, though raw, is safe to handle straight out of the package because of its unique process of killing off the bad bacteria. Raw bones are a great treat as well. Raw bones offer a great tasty treat to chew in the yard, and a natural way to help clean teeth. Safe handling is needed, as bones get bloody as they thaw out.
Dogs and cats are carnivores, and most dogs instinctively crave meaty foods. Most of the raw/freeze dried products that we offer in our stores are high in meat protein, but balanced with some organ meat, bone and veggies. We offer a number of brands in our stores including, but not limited to:
Stella & Chewy's, Nature's Variety, and Orijen.
The subject of raw feeding or supplementing is vast, and there is much more information that is available than what is listed here. As always, we suggest that you do some research, and have a chat with our staff at any of our stores. But hopefully this post was able to answer some of your questions, and get you started.
