Guys, I wanted to share this article with the group to illustrate some misconceptions regarding a raw diet.

First, I’ll applaud the author Jim Posey for taking the time to write an article on raw.  And ANY article that discusses raw, good or bad, is a great thing as it facilitates dialogue and discussion of the movement of owners to return to a natural diet.

In his article, Jim unfortunately misses the ball on a few items that I’d like to address.

First, consulting with your vet is not necessarily the best thing to see if a raw diet is the right thing.  Vets will admit that there is not a great deal of time spent in vet school regarding nutrition. Furthermore, vet associations, schools, research programs are largely funded by commercial pet food manufactures with an aim to constantly bombard our trusted doctors with information on how their products are good for dogs.

Many vets still do not understand the diet or have enough experience with it to truly offer an educated opinion on it.   And I would recommend checking with either a holistic vet, or seeking the advice of vets that support the diet and they can offer the best advice if the diet is right for you own particular dog or cat.

The author also incorrectly states that you should start with feeding your dog something like carrots or turnips.  This is absolutely incorrect.  And although I do not criticize anyone for opting to add veggies or fruits to their raw diet, I can certainly state that if you start with feeding your dog chopped carrots, you’ll simply end up with chopped carrots on the other end - their systems simply are not designed for such foods.  From the first part of digestion which is in the mouth to the last part in the intestines, there is not part that aides with absorption of such foods.  Unlike herbivores and omnivores which have flat molars to grind vegetation to start digestion, dogs have jagged teeth used solely to rip and tear to allow ingestion.  So veggies in a dog’s mouth are merely swallowed or broken into a piece small enough for their throats - but in no way is pre-ground to begin digestion.

The stomach of the dog also does not have the correct anatomy to allow for digestion of such items.  Compared with say a cow (a herbivore) which has four stomach chambers to allow for the long processes needed to break down vegetables.

Finally the dogs intestinal tract is very short when compared to herbivore or omnivores.  Again, a short system does not provided the needed time to digest fruits and vegetables.

I’ll do an article soon on why dogs and cats are carnivores, but for now wanted to provide a response to anyone hat may come across this article on the internet.