[Ellie May]

I don't feed raw for a few reasons. I have more reasons not to feed prey model than I do not to feed pre-packaged but I won't feed any of it unless I get some new information.

Yes, one of my concernes in bacteria. This does (for the most part) apply only to dogs with compromised immune systems but what I'd like to know is who is the judge of whether their immune system is compromised? I never thought Ellie had a compromised immune system until she was spayed and the internal sutures didn't dissolve as fast as they should. Her body didn't attack them right away. There is no way to be 100% sure. And are we positive that this only effects compromised dogs, I'm not convinced. Food poisoning is much more rare in dogs than humans...I agree, but how much more rare, I don't think anyone knows for sure.

Next, raw egg (which some prepackaged foods are held together with) can deplete your dog of biotin. I don't think there is a good reason to feed raw egg.

And, I have seen zero studies on if a raw fed dog lives significantly longer than a dog eating kibble or homecooked. If they are proven to live longer, than I might consider feeding it BUT this isn't the case so far (we only have testimonials and we have those from homecooked too) and I see no reason to put Ellie's health and life in danger by giving her a mouthful of bacteria-filled meat and hoping her immune system will take care of it. There is so much risk already feeding any food (homecooked, kibble) and I see no reason to add any additional to it.

I don't like dog food much either though. Homecooking is by far my favorite because the diet can be balanced with a bit less bacteria concern and dogs that eat homecooked can do very well on it. I say cook the meat and add a supplement...

For prey-model diets, add the rare occurence of bone obstructions to the list (which DOES happen) which could have been avoided by brushing their teeth and giving them food. Also, vitamins aren't added to prey model and the diet isn't the least bit balanced. I don't believe this last part is just an opinion at all.

So, I would like to see the dogs fed raw live significantly longer (and I don't just mean one or two of them) than dogs fed other foods. If that is the case, then it might be worth the risk.