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Raw Meat Myths
Raw Meat Diets
for Cats and Dogs?
An Assessment of the Research and Arguments Related to the Advisability of Feeding Raw Meat-Based Diets to Cats and Dogs
by James O'Heare, Ph.D.
Raw Meat Myths
False: Chicken and turkey bones are soft and wholly digestible. Especially baby back and necks.
Truth: History and present records show that this is completely untrue. Thousands of dogs have died or been severely injured, over the years, from consuming raw fowl bones. Farm dogs and Coyotes are consistently treated for bone fragments and splintering in their stomachs or throats after having killed live chickens, hens and turkeys - yes, even baby fowl. Another way small fowl bones have painfully harmed dogs is they become jammed or lodged between teeth or through the palate. I receive email frequently from ex-barfers whose dogs have been harmed or killed from being fed raw chicken and turkey bones. Even Dr. Billinghurst, in his rebuttal to my website, admits there is risk. In his latest book he has a disclaimer that raw bones may be hazardous. Duh! Too bad he didn't mention it in his book when he recommended that you feed your dog raw bones!
False: Bones won't splinter on a full stomach.
Completely untrue! Many times jagged chunks of bone do their damage in the throat. Dogs have died from choking on bones. And, regarding the stomach, bones do not pass as quickly as the food. Digested food does not protect the lining of the stomach from sharp objects. Wolves eat fur, cartilage and muscle meat along with the bones which helps prevent injury from fragments. I'm not recommending you feed your dog bones in this manner, but it should be noted that your dog doesn't have this advantage on the barf diet. Click here to read testimonies about dogs harmed by raw bones".
False: Cooking the meat destroys the quality of enzymes and predigests the meat.
Truth: The benefit of meat for dogs is protein not enzyme. Secondly, cooking the meat makes it much more digestible as raw meat has indigestible collagen proteins. In the wild, mother dogs eat the meat from a kill and regurgitate for their pups - serving predigested meat. In addition, raw meat is very high in fat. Thousands of dogs die every year from Pancreatitis, and some are disabled by this disorder after being fed a raw meat diet for a short time. Not only is raw meat high in fat, but the pancreas is made to produce enzymes. Supplementing with too many live enzymes can cause the pancreas to shut down. If your dog has Pancreatitis and you aren't aware of it – a high fat diet of raw meat could kill them.
False: Freezing kills all parasites and bacteria.
Truth: Freezing kills some but not all parasites and does not kill most bacteria. The most dangerous parasite in raw meat is toxoplasmosis. It can kill your dog. I know of two recent cases where dogs died from this parasite after eating raw meat. Dr. Michael Harrington, a Veterinary Neurologist reported that he treated a dog with thousands of parasites from a raw meat diet, which turned to worms in his brain. An MRI showed the dog's brain looked like Swiss cheese. The parasites are usually much more dangerous than the bacteria. Cats and people are also susceptible to this parasite. Pregnant women are told not to change kitty litter when pregnant because toxoplasmosis can effect the baby. Cats who carry toxoplasmosis from eating birds and rodents, while pregnant, often birth deformed kittens.
False: Grapefruit seed extract kills all dangerous bacteria.
Truth: This is completely un-scientific and unproven. Furthermore, some bacteria thrive in the acid environment of the stomach. Grapefruit Seed extract is irritating to the dog's stomach lining and the taste is bitter.
False: Adding calcium through bone meal or bones balances the phosphorous/calcium ratio.
Truth: The phosphorous/calcium ratio in a dog's diet is one of the most critical for optimum health. It's difficult to provide an accurate balance in home-made diets. It's an uneducated, "amateur" idea to add bone meal because it contains both phosphorous and calcium, which negates any balance. There is also the threat of Mad Cow Disease in some locations. You would be better off giving them a Tums tablet or a serving of Broccoli. A few of the disorders caused by feeding raw meat are; Nutritional Secondary Hyperparahtyroidism (parathy gland) and kidney failure due to the inability of the kidney to remove high amounts of phosphorous from the body. When kidneys fail due to over abundance of phosphorous, the body compensates by robbing jaw bone for calcium to balance these circulating blood levels. This is also known as Rubber Jaw. There are also a number of osteopathic disorders.
False: Acidophilus and FructoOligoSaccharides will also kill dangerous bacteria.
Truth: Sound impressive? Acidophilus is a "friendly" bacteria that aids in digestion. It is not a bactericide. Fructo = fruit, oligo = few or decreased, saccharides = sugar. These sugars are added to provide a food source for the acidophilus.
False: Pasteurization leads to arthritis. The makers of raw meat diets often suggest a meal plan that contains whole, raw dairy.
Truth: Dogs in the wild (which is the basis of the raw meat argument) do not eat dairy. They eat eggs – eggs are meat not dairy. Dogs have a very low tolerance for dairy because of the lactose. They do not produce lactase (which digests the lactose) after being weaned from their mother’s milk.
False: Dogs drink the milk from lactating goats that have been killed.
Truth: Not many goats live in regions where large wild wolves do - unless the wolf is stealing from a farmer. The number of incidents where a wild wolf would have killed a female, lactating goat, are so few that this is not a standard ingredient of the wild dog's diet - nor should it be the domestic dog's.
False: Dogs are carnivores
Truth: Dogs are omnivores. They eat both vegetation and meat, of which vegetation is the higher percentage. Domestic dogs do not have the same skull shape or number of teeth that wolves do. You could say they are carnivorous. Cats are true carnivores, however, that doesn't mean that raw meat is safe for them either. There are very obvious differences between cougars, lions, tigers and your housecat.
Raw Meat Diets
for Cats and Dogs?
An Assessment of the Research and Arguments Related to the Advisability of Feeding Raw Meat-Based Diets to Cats and Dogs
by James O'Heare, Ph.D.
Raw Meat Myths
False: Chicken and turkey bones are soft and wholly digestible. Especially baby back and necks.
Truth: History and present records show that this is completely untrue. Thousands of dogs have died or been severely injured, over the years, from consuming raw fowl bones. Farm dogs and Coyotes are consistently treated for bone fragments and splintering in their stomachs or throats after having killed live chickens, hens and turkeys - yes, even baby fowl. Another way small fowl bones have painfully harmed dogs is they become jammed or lodged between teeth or through the palate. I receive email frequently from ex-barfers whose dogs have been harmed or killed from being fed raw chicken and turkey bones. Even Dr. Billinghurst, in his rebuttal to my website, admits there is risk. In his latest book he has a disclaimer that raw bones may be hazardous. Duh! Too bad he didn't mention it in his book when he recommended that you feed your dog raw bones!
False: Bones won't splinter on a full stomach.
Completely untrue! Many times jagged chunks of bone do their damage in the throat. Dogs have died from choking on bones. And, regarding the stomach, bones do not pass as quickly as the food. Digested food does not protect the lining of the stomach from sharp objects. Wolves eat fur, cartilage and muscle meat along with the bones which helps prevent injury from fragments. I'm not recommending you feed your dog bones in this manner, but it should be noted that your dog doesn't have this advantage on the barf diet. Click here to read testimonies about dogs harmed by raw bones".
False: Cooking the meat destroys the quality of enzymes and predigests the meat.
Truth: The benefit of meat for dogs is protein not enzyme. Secondly, cooking the meat makes it much more digestible as raw meat has indigestible collagen proteins. In the wild, mother dogs eat the meat from a kill and regurgitate for their pups - serving predigested meat. In addition, raw meat is very high in fat. Thousands of dogs die every year from Pancreatitis, and some are disabled by this disorder after being fed a raw meat diet for a short time. Not only is raw meat high in fat, but the pancreas is made to produce enzymes. Supplementing with too many live enzymes can cause the pancreas to shut down. If your dog has Pancreatitis and you aren't aware of it – a high fat diet of raw meat could kill them.
False: Freezing kills all parasites and bacteria.
Truth: Freezing kills some but not all parasites and does not kill most bacteria. The most dangerous parasite in raw meat is toxoplasmosis. It can kill your dog. I know of two recent cases where dogs died from this parasite after eating raw meat. Dr. Michael Harrington, a Veterinary Neurologist reported that he treated a dog with thousands of parasites from a raw meat diet, which turned to worms in his brain. An MRI showed the dog's brain looked like Swiss cheese. The parasites are usually much more dangerous than the bacteria. Cats and people are also susceptible to this parasite. Pregnant women are told not to change kitty litter when pregnant because toxoplasmosis can effect the baby. Cats who carry toxoplasmosis from eating birds and rodents, while pregnant, often birth deformed kittens.
False: Grapefruit seed extract kills all dangerous bacteria.
Truth: This is completely un-scientific and unproven. Furthermore, some bacteria thrive in the acid environment of the stomach. Grapefruit Seed extract is irritating to the dog's stomach lining and the taste is bitter.
False: Adding calcium through bone meal or bones balances the phosphorous/calcium ratio.
Truth: The phosphorous/calcium ratio in a dog's diet is one of the most critical for optimum health. It's difficult to provide an accurate balance in home-made diets. It's an uneducated, "amateur" idea to add bone meal because it contains both phosphorous and calcium, which negates any balance. There is also the threat of Mad Cow Disease in some locations. You would be better off giving them a Tums tablet or a serving of Broccoli. A few of the disorders caused by feeding raw meat are; Nutritional Secondary Hyperparahtyroidism (parathy gland) and kidney failure due to the inability of the kidney to remove high amounts of phosphorous from the body. When kidneys fail due to over abundance of phosphorous, the body compensates by robbing jaw bone for calcium to balance these circulating blood levels. This is also known as Rubber Jaw. There are also a number of osteopathic disorders.
False: Acidophilus and FructoOligoSaccharides will also kill dangerous bacteria.
Truth: Sound impressive? Acidophilus is a "friendly" bacteria that aids in digestion. It is not a bactericide. Fructo = fruit, oligo = few or decreased, saccharides = sugar. These sugars are added to provide a food source for the acidophilus.
False: Pasteurization leads to arthritis. The makers of raw meat diets often suggest a meal plan that contains whole, raw dairy.
Truth: Dogs in the wild (which is the basis of the raw meat argument) do not eat dairy. They eat eggs – eggs are meat not dairy. Dogs have a very low tolerance for dairy because of the lactose. They do not produce lactase (which digests the lactose) after being weaned from their mother’s milk.
False: Dogs drink the milk from lactating goats that have been killed.
Truth: Not many goats live in regions where large wild wolves do - unless the wolf is stealing from a farmer. The number of incidents where a wild wolf would have killed a female, lactating goat, are so few that this is not a standard ingredient of the wild dog's diet - nor should it be the domestic dog's.
False: Dogs are carnivores
Truth: Dogs are omnivores. They eat both vegetation and meat, of which vegetation is the higher percentage. Domestic dogs do not have the same skull shape or number of teeth that wolves do. You could say they are carnivorous. Cats are true carnivores, however, that doesn't mean that raw meat is safe for them either. There are very obvious differences between cougars, lions, tigers and your housecat.
