confused...?

[horse656]

so i was on this site i go on, and i decided to see if anybody fed raw, i searched it up, and i found this. copied and pasted exactly.

***this isn't me, i found it on a forum from a game i play on. I'm skipping the first bit to shorten it up***

"They took 22 animals and started feeding half of them raw and the other half quality kibble at the age of 7 and 20 weeks old. After 6 months, the raw diet animals showed better stool condition and a better coat than the kibble animals. After 10 months, one of the raw diet animals died. An autopsy was done and it was confirmed the animal died due to taurine deficiency due to its diet. Upon testing the rest of the raw diet animals it was concluded that 70% were also suffering from cardiac changes due to taurine deficiency although they still looked great and healthy.

The diet the animals were fed consisted of rabbit, veal, beef, and chicken. The diet was tested and it was actually -approved- by the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials). Which means, this diet could easily be sold on the market it if were manufactured.

Veterinary neurologists have seen an increase in seizures in older animals fed the raw diet due to the lack of nutrition to the brain they receive on this diet. Raw diets often have low levels of phosphorus and potassium as well as low calcium. There was a rather disturbing picture presented to us comparing the raw diet puppy vs the kibble puppy and... wow, it was just disturbing. The raw diet puppy looked deformed, I wish I could find the image.

I guess the take home message is, the raw diet isn't as healthy as one would image. Measuring nutrient value does not predict how well a diet will act after many months. Don't buy food that hasn't undergone a feeding trial study that's come back with good results, it's not fair to jeopardize the health of an animal on untested food.

Would you eat something that had unknown health risks associated with it? I wouldn't."


so is this true, or is it nonsense?

[StephyWolf]

I notice it only says "...rabbit, veal, beef, and chicken."
My initial reaction is that they only gave ground meats, which would put the animals at risk as that is not a proper raw diet.
You might notice that here it's a big deal that ferrets get a specific amount of bone (calcium), and heart (taurine) fed to them. Without correct feeding rations given to the animals deficiencies are indeed possible.

Also keep this in mind- Most research studies done on what to feed animals are funded by... pet food companies. More so they're generally paid for by the big name food companies that generally don't have the best quality food in the first place.
This presents a large bias as anything good said about alternative diets are shoved under the carpet so to speak, and anything bad will be front and center.
I've seen "studies that prove" corn is an essential part of the canine diet (which, if you're unaware is complete bull).

[Heather]

I know this study....this is Pottenger's study It was seriously flawed and made no attempt at balance. Even once they figured out what was wrong they continued to feed the method that they had started, it was a cruel and meaningless study. I can probably get you the study stats if you like. I believe that we have them on the other sight that I'm a moddie on. Meat was fed but no bone was fed, there was also no attempt to feed any organ meats. This is not a good raw diet. It is raw....The kibble mfg and vets did use this study all the time to discredit the raw movement. I've been feeding a raw, natural diet for over 11 years, my mentor has been feeding a raw and natural diet for over 25 yrs. My senior kitty is now 21 yrs old and has been eating raw for 11 yrs. This was a photo taken of Samurai and Fun-Go sharing dinner just a few weeks ago


Napoleon was a ferret kit when he came to me and never ate anything but raw, he's now 5 going on 6 yrs of age.

Over 30 ferrets have gone through my rescue. I've had great success with health and longevity. I"ve not had any abnormal cardiac problems (except for Mayhem, who had cardiomalyopathy but that's a ferret disease, not a raw diet disease.). I had 2 great pyrenees who lived good long lives on raw diets. Shakespeare passed on just one month short of 13 yrs and Mushu (who had numurous structure problems caused not by an unnatural diet but by poor breeding) passed on at 11 yrs of age. I presently have an Irish wolfhound who has known nothing but a raw diet, in fact his parents and grand parents were raw fed.

Mithrandir is now 2 yrs of age (or will be at the end of this month) He's a strong, healthy wolfhound, tipping the scales at 165 lbs. His bloodwork pulls in the normal ranges and he shows no signs of heart problems. No, I'm sorry. Do this right and you've got kibbles beat. I know all the horror stories, I know because they were around when I first started feeding raw. I was so afraid of "doing it wrong" but you know, I was tired of burying my furfriends long before their time. Never again. My furkids will live out their lives on the diet their bodies were designed to eat. I figure that 11 years of raw feeding can't be wrong. My furbrats have changed a number of vets' opinions about raw feeding. Rather blows Pottenger's studies don't you think
ciao

[sherrylynne]

This study is one of the reasons some vets are against feeding raw. Far too many people refuse to consider balance when they toss a few chunks of meat to their carnivore. It would be similar to us just eating vegetables. No milk, no proteins, just vegetables.
We'd soon be suffering from diet related illnesses, and if it was not corrected, we'd die. Likely horribly.
That's why mentors work so closely with their newbies. To achieve that healthy balance. I'm quite sure some of my people must get frustrated with my harping on a minimum of 3 proteins, enough bone, and making a soup of the liver/heart/kidney if the ferret won't eat it willingly!

[horse656]

ok.
so it was just that they weren't eating a balanced diet?

[sherrylynne]

They weren't getting taurine, nor were they getting any calcium. So no- their diets were in no way shape or form balanced.
What we're doing here is basing a raw diet on whole prey. Whole prey is basically about 70%-80% meat, 10%-20% bone, and the rest made up in liver and other organs.
So, we feed according to this. Animals have been around for millenia, eating each other. Kibble has only been around since the 1950's! Which one do you think a carnivore needs