We often hear about new trends in diet and exercise for people, so it may not be surprising to encounter dietary trends for pets. One gaining interest is the raw food diet.
You might have seen this dietary approach called “Paleo for Pets” or the “ancestral diet.”
These descriptions arise because the main ingredients are raw meat, bones and organs, typically from sources such as beef, lamb, chicken and turkey. Raw pet food may also include raw eggs and unpasteurized dairy products. The diet is uncooked or undercooked, is devoid of grains, and is meant to mirror what canines and felines ate before domestication.
A raw dog food diet is designed to mimic a dog’s natural ancestral menu. The whole concept of raw feeding is based upon a dog’sinstinctive carnivorous bias — a built-in desire to capture (or find) and eat another animal.
These descriptions arise because the main ingredients are raw meat, bones and organs, typically from sources such as beef, lamb, chicken and turkey. Raw pet food may also include raw eggs and unpasteurized dairy products. The diet is uncooked or undercooked, is devoid of grains, and is meant to mirror what canines and felines ate before domestication.
A raw dog food diet is designed to mimic a dog’s natural ancestral menu. The whole concept of raw feeding is based upon a dog’sinstinctive carnivorous bias — a built-in desire to capture (or find) and eat another animal.
Raw dog food diets are controversial. But the popularity of the diets -- which emphasize raw meat, bones, fruits, and vegetables -- is rising.
Racing greyhounds and sled dogs have long eaten raw food diets. Extending those feeding practices to the family pet is a more recent idea, proposed in 1993 by Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst. He called his feeding suggestions the BARF diet, an acronym that stands for Bones and Raw Food, or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food.
As unsavory as it may seem, it is completely natural for a wolf toc onsume the entire animal.
Meat, bones, organs and all.
