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Originally Posted by yorkiepuppie  i think that it can be intimidating for pet owners to switch to feeding their dogs a raw diet, just because they don't feel educated enough about it. i don't disagree with you on the fact that raw is natural and probably very healthy for dogs, the concerns that many of us have is the processing and handling of raw in the manufacturing plants and the transportation process. if raw is fresh without going through manufacturing plant or where ever, i would feel a lot safer about feeding it to my dogs. it becomes dangerous IMO when it goes through the manufacturing process and transportation process. bacteria can multiply and produce toxins, contamination can occur, ...etc. |
I think if one takes the time to educate themselves it not very intimidating. Just my opinion though.
When you talk about the processing of handing raw in manufacturing plants and the transportation process you are speaking about pre-made raw, which is different than a prey raw model diet. Bacteria and contamination can happen in pre-made raw food just as much as it can it kibble and home-cooked.
The fact is that bacterial septicemia is just very rare. It usually occurs only in unwell animals that are incapable of dealing with a population of bacteria including immune compromised pets, sick pets, animals that have an underlying health issue. Bacteria are absolutely everywhere, and dogs often have a habit of eating anything and everything)? The unfortunate truth of it is that many vets and pet owners will simply blame the diet than work to find the real cause.
And actually most of the documented cases of severe bacterial septicemia are from kibble-fed and home-made fed danimals or animals suffering from reactions to vaccines. "Pet foods, commercial or homemade, provide an ideal environment for bacterial proliferation." (LeJuene, J.T. and D.D. Hancock. 2001. Public health concerns. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 219(9): 1224.)
Commercial pet foods have been pulled off shelves more than once and far more often than pre-made raw because of bacteria AND molds that produce a deadly toxin.
The dog, plain and simple, can handle greater bacterial loads than we can. Can dogs get sick from the bacteria? I suppose they can. But it is rare and usually indicative of an underlying problem, especially when one stops to consider how much bacteria that dog probably comes in contact with every single day.
IMO something is not right regarding the dog's health—a healthy dog does not suffer from bacterial infections or bacterial septicemia. That is just common sense.
A dog suffering from salmonella poisoning is obviously not healthy, especially when compared to a dog that ate the same food with the same salmonella load but is perfectly healthy and unaffected. The first dog has suffered a breakdown in its health that allowed the bacteria to become a problem IMO.