Raw Food

RE: Raw Food

becky warden — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 08:26:15 GMT

I would be more than happy to talk to them, send them my way :)

RE: Raw Food

elaine elder — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 20:08:59 GMT

Thanks for that info Becky. If any of my clients want to feed RAW they are getting sent your way x

RE: Raw Food

Louise B — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 18:19:44 GMT

[quote user="elaine elder"]There is also new research showing it to cause hyperthyroidism in dogs[/quote]

I would be interested to know more about the new research. I am not aware of any new studies. There was one study that is a number of years old that linked specifically feeding raw gullet / thyroid to dietary hyperthyroidism in dogs. However, this is related to feeding an unbalanced raw diet. This would not be a problem in a balanced raw diet. Dietary hyperthyroidism has also been linked to feeding canned food in cats and excessive consumption of burger meat in humans.

I feed a mixture of raw and commercial dry food, dependent on what time I have available to me to prepare the diet.

RE: Raw Food

becky warden — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 11:20:13 GMT

Hi Elaine,

I totally understand your concerns and that is why here at Natures Menu Ltd we create complete and balanced raw meals which comply to the FEDIAF guidelines. We are the only raw pet food company that is a member of PFMA (Pet Food Manufacturing Association). To legally make raw pet food within Europe you have to be DEFRA approved, salmonella free and use human grade meat. We not only comply to these legal requirements, but we also test for Campylobacter and Listeria. We have been making raw pet food for over 30 years and not had a case.

EU Animal by-products regulation 1069/2009 and 142/2011 states that we have a restricted list of raw materials that can be used. For example, we use gland free meat in our products, so hyperthyroidism is not a concern. Also, we are not allowed to use feathers, blood, head, feet or viscera in raw pet food. We really are monitored very closely. As I have mentioned already, we have microbiological standards that we must abide by. Our raw material has to be traceable and we are monitored by AHVLA regularly. We deep freeze our materials at -18C for a minimum of 10 days which kills the parasites of concern. We have freezer delivery vans that deliver the product to the door, reducing the risk of defrosting. Having these regulations is very important and is what makes us different from buying from your local butcher or grocery store. The meat you buy from a grocery or a butcher is for human consumption (will be cooked) so very different standards to what we have to follow as the food we provide is fed raw.

The topic of bones is always very controversial. It is all about education and advising appropriate bones. Never feed cooked bones, supervise the animal when feeding bones and never cut or saw bones. We recommend to consider life-stage, breed and experience when selecting a bone. You wouldn't want to give a 10 week old puppy a knuckle bone as they are very hard and are not appropriate for puppy teeth. For this situation our chicken wings, duck necks and duck wings would be a better choice. Gastrointestinal foreign body studies never differentiate between cooked and raw bones. We source and store our bones and meaty chews the same way we do our meat.

I have a Great Dane and have been feeding him raw food (Natures Menu complete and balanced) since he was 7 months old. He has grown into a wonderful 2 year old with no skeletal issues. I understand that if raw is done incorrectly in can be very dangerous and that is why we have the raw complete and balanced meals. Here at Natures Menu we are trying to educate the veterinary world about safe responsible raw feeding. If you would like more information about our lunch and learn lectures I would be more than happy to discuss it with you. We know that kibble and wet food will always have a place in the pet food market, but we are hoping that the veterinary profession will consider raw food as another option for their patients.

The more options we have to offer the better we can help our patients!

Thanks

Becky Warden (BSc DVM MRCVS)

RE: Raw Food

laceylp1990 — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 13:39:15 GMT

Was this due to poor balance in diet ? Not necessarily raw but just lack of complete diet.

I am a HUGE fan of raw feeding (not fat, just pro raw ;) ) All my guys are raw fed and I really do feel it important that the veterinary profession are open and understanding to moving with the times and giving clients a choice

RE: Raw Food

Mafy ccr — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 12:42:47 GMT

Is your cat in tx with caninsulin?

RE: Raw Food

maylane — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 19:34:20 GMT

The ready prepared diets like natures menu also recommend feeding raw bones -you can buy these from them too and be assured they're salmonella free.

Natures Menu are registered Defra approved raw pet food company, so they adhere to strict guidelines and are inspected by Animal Health Veterinary Laboratory Agency. DEFRA only allows a company to legally trade prepared raw diets if they are free from bacteria such as salmonella.

The natures menu website had some video clips explaining more about RAW - definitely worth a look. Honeys also have good info on their site.

RE: Raw Food

elaine elder — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 18:56:06 GMT

Interesting. Is this a commercial raw diet or do you do this yourself?

RE: Raw Food

mrsspider — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 17:13:50 GMT

I have a cat that is raw food fed, he is diabetic and I have seen a huge improvement in his blood sugars since he went onto this diet. If he manages to get anything other than meat he now has a spike in his bloods. I have also found that with cats using litter trays there is no smell to their faeces which makes life much more pleasant. I have found that for cats the raw food is cheaper than lots of the good quality cat foods you can get, and it is most definitely cheaper than the diabetic foods.

My mum has put her dog over to raw and my sister has her cat on raw, they are all doing very well and are very healthy and growing well.

RE: Raw Food

Charlotte Craven — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 13:25:49 GMT

I have seen raw food diets done right and very very wrong. One client who fed 3 rough collies with 1lb of raw beef mince a day, no veg, no bones. These dogs were morbidly obese and suffered from many medical issues. We tried and tried to tell her that it needs to be balanced and she was having none of it. But then another client had their dog and cat on raw diet and they were great. The dog was 4yrs old but looked like a puppy, both had white gleaming teeth and were excellent body condition.

I think with the right education and strict balance between meat, bones and veg it can be a successful diet.

RE: Raw Food

nickyc — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 12:20:28 GMT

No diet is perfect, and there are pros and cons to feeding any diet. Although I understand the benefits of feeding raw. Personnelly I would not feed any of my three dogs raw food due to the salmonella and campy risk and more importantly the risk of obstruction after seeing one young dog pass away after an oesphageal obstruction (despite emergency treatment to remove) and a mastiff who was pts after his third bowel obstruction due to his owners continuing to feed raw bones.. I would not however completely discourage an owner who wished to feed raw, but I would definately make sure they did their homework, as its much more involved then just chucking the dog a chicken wing. So its good to see some information from the people feeding raw what you are recommending. I think the pre-made diets are a stepping stone, but these then don't have any teeth cleaning action? which I thought was supposed to be one of the benefits of feeding raw?? and still has the campy/salmonella risk?? Although I am all for not filling dogs with additives etc but would like to see further research, and long term effects of feeding raw... so for the moment I will firmly sit on the fence...

RE: Raw Food

Mafy ccr — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 18:48:14 GMT

Im not against but Im not a fan!

RE: Raw Food

elaine elder — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 18:13:33 GMT

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22931400/

in the cases I have mentioned all made an improvement once dog food was introduced. One St Bernard improving within a week but unfortunately now has permenant damage and the vet school have said they can not do anything for him. I am not totally against RAW I just feel it is done badly but a high percentage of owners.

RE: Raw Food

Mafy ccr — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 17:33:13 GMT

Also one of the biggest pillar of the RAW is the gluten free!!! I already saw studies that dogs and cats can digest gluten without problems. I can understand that they are hunters, they shouldn't eat processed food etc... but with hundreds of years of evolution they are different.

RAW is processed food too...Still don't understand whats the difference between a good chicken wing of the supermarket and one from Natures. If they are different, Natures needs to use additives and theres no studies about that

RE: Raw Food

PSA-David — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 13:44:05 GMT

[quote user="elaine elder"]There is also new research showing it to cause hyperthyroidism in dogs. I have also seen rubber jaw in a 6 month old Maltese puppy and irreversible skeletal damage in young large breed dogs. But in the end it's up to the owner so I think it's important we know enough about it so we can advise and hopefully prevent them just feeding raw chicken every day.[/quote]

interesting!! do you have any links to the above? with reference to the Maltese and the skeletal damage in large breed dogs. i would myself hold my cards back, as one or two of the above does not necessarily means RAW has done this. might be a coincidence

RE: Raw Food

elaine elder — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 10:47:11 GMT

I still need to see more evidence to support RAW food before I'm convinced. Practically it's expensive and difficult to provide a balanced diet. If any client wanted to do it I would always recommend a preprepared bought food where the bones are ground up. you also need to warn the owners of risks of bones, salmonella and campylobacter (any dog on raw food should be isolated and barrier nursed when in the vet practice). There is also new research showing it to cause hyperthyroidism in dogs. I have also seen rubber jaw in a 6 month old Maltese puppy and irreversible skeletal damage in young large breed dogs. But in the end it's up to the owner so I think it's important we know enough about it so we can advise and hopefully prevent them just feeding raw chicken every day.

RE: Raw Food

maylane — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 16:13:01 GMT

Simply giving beef from the supermarket is obviously not a balanced diet.

Prob best if you're new to the benefits of Raw to do some homework and look on any of the pre made raw diet websites for info. Natures Menu site has lots of info and some downloads on home made diets and why raw is good. We had them come and give us some CPD at work.

RE: Raw Food

Mafy ccr — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 13:50:09 GMT

So what you answer when clients ask you whats the difference between a good beef from supermarket (cheaper and easy to get) and raw food?

Also what about the risk of eating bones (chew chicken wings etc..)?!

RE: Raw Food

maylane — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 19:20:29 GMT

I'm a fan. We now stock natures menu raw food along side traditional diets but our vets are increasingly recommending clients feed raw diets or at least try dry diets like applaws. I would love to feed my dogs raw but it is a little too pricey for me. Natures menu also do a steamed range advertised as the next best thing - raw is not for everyone.

RE: Raw Food

Caro Laithwaite VN — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 19:00:50 GMT

l now reccomend raw l point people at Honey dog foids as know people who have used them and like them.

l am now firmly of the belief the processed food we and supermarkets sell are like fast food. Look at the obesity and health problems. The only difference between the hills/royal canin type and cheap end supermarket is our lot is high end junk supermarkets low end junk.

So long as it is balanced and fresh l have no problems also explain difference between human junk food.

The normal meals people eat as their daily diet thinking at least home cooked = healthy or human take away and proper animal raw diet.

RE: Raw Food

lemonearth905 — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 14:20:50 GMT

I have been in practice that sold both complete dry, tinned and raw, i think raw drefinatley has its place, certainly for those cases of weight gain and bad skin, as long as its sold with the right advice and from a reputable raw food manufacturer.