B.A.R.F. (Bones and Raw Foods/Biologically Appropriate Foods)
"These diets are produced to provide a diet thought to mimic what cats and dogs eat “in the wild”. These diets generally consist of variable combinations of raw meats, grains, vegetables, and bones. Like grain-free diets, there is no scientific evidence that feeding a raw vs. a conventional diet is any more beneficial to an animal’s health. However there is ample evidence that it is not. Moreover, these diets also have generated controversy due to their increased risk for microbial contamination. Exposure of pets and their owners to dangerous bacteria have the potential to cause serious illness."
https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/myths-and-misconceptions-surrounding-pet-foods
"These diets are produced to provide a diet thought to mimic what cats and dogs eat “in the wild”. These diets generally consist of variable combinations of raw meats, grains, vegetables, and bones. Like grain-free diets, there is no scientific evidence that feeding a raw vs. a conventional diet is any more beneficial to an animal’s health. However there is ample evidence that it is not. Moreover, these diets also have generated controversy due to their increased risk for microbial contamination. Exposure of pets and their owners to dangerous bacteria have the potential to cause serious illness."
https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/myths-and-misconceptions-surrounding-pet-foods
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Raw meat-based diets (RMBDs) do not support the dog’s nutritional needs and lack scientific validation.” The present study revealed that only 14% of the persons interviewed had asked a veterinarian or a nutrition-trained expert for advice on formulating a RMBD. Most owners created their own recipes following other peoples’ advice or guidelines available online or in books and magazines. This should be discouraged, because some studies [23,24,25] have shown such published recipes of home-prepared diets for dogs and cats to have multiple nutritional imbalances (i.e. 95 to 100% of the recipes analyzed failed to meet all essential nutritional requirements for the target animals). More specifically, two other studies demonstrated most self-formulated home-prepared RMBDs to be nutritionally inadequate, and multiple mineral and vitamin imbalances (especially for calcium, phosphorous and vitamin D) were shown in respectively 100 and 76% of the recipes considered [21, 22].” - https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-019-1824-x
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Human contamination from raw feeding landed a foster child in the hospital. Their dog was fed a B.A.R.F. diet.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201703/dog-owners-are-wrong-about-the-health-benefits-raw-diets
Raw diets are based on owner opinions and insufficient research. Fears of commercial diets have been exaggerated.
https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/myths-and-misconceptions-surrounding-pet-foods
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201703/dog-owners-are-wrong-about-the-health-benefits-raw-diets
Raw diets are based on owner opinions and insufficient research. Fears of commercial diets have been exaggerated.
https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/myths-and-misconceptions-surrounding-pet-foods
- https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/debating-raw-diets-january-2019/
- https://www.dvm360.com/view/pros-and-cons-raw-food-diets-proceedings
- https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/nutrition-feeding/dangers-of-raw-diets-for-dogs
- https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jan/12/scientists-criticise-trend-for-raw-meat-pet-food-after-analysis-finds-pathogens
Common Health Complications Following Prolonged Raw Diets
- Thyroid disease (hyperthyroidism)
- Fractured teeth
- Bowel obstruction from bones
- Bowel/stomach perforation from bones
- Liver disease (higher BUN, higher serum creatinine and a higher Hct than controls)
- Kidney disease
RMBDs are often lacking in balance, leading to heart, kidney and liver damage. Too much protein is unhealthy for dogs, possibly leading to irreversible organ damage.
https://www.hillspet.com/about-us/nutritional-philosophy/pet-food-facts/too-much-protein
https://www.hillspet.com/about-us/nutritional-philosophy/pet-food-facts/too-much-protein
Salmonella Poisoning in Dogs
Dogs can, and do, develop Salmonella poisoning called Salmonellosis.
Symptoms:
More information here:
Human health risk: Salmonella has been widely documented in raw fed dogs’ feces. This poses a human health risk. “As there appears to be strong evidence that raw food can contain Salmonella, it is vitally important, if feeding a raw meat diet to a pet, that hygiene of the food preparation area and the feeding bowls be diligently maintained. This may, however, be difficult to achieve. A recent study found that standard methods of cleaning and disinfecting food bowls were minimally effective at eliminating Salmonella (35). This included soaking with bleach and cleaning in a dishwasher.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3003575/
Symptoms:
- Fever
- Shock
- Lethargy
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Anorexia
- Weight loss
- Dehydration
- Skin disease
- Mucus in stool
- Abnormally fast heart rate
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Abnormal vaginal discharge
- Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion
- Fever
- Weight loss
- Loss of blood
- Non-intestinal infections
- Diarrhea that comes and goes with no logical explanation, which may last up to three or four weeks, or longer
- Acute vomiting and diarrhea
- Low albumin
- Low platelet levels
- Non-regenerative anemia
- Abnormally low white blood cell count
- Electrolyte imbalances, which may include sodium and potassium imbalances
More information here:
- https://dogtime.com/dog-health/53925-salmonella-infection-dogs-symptoms-causes-treatments
- https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/food/raw-dog-food-and-salmonella-risks/
- https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/digestive/c_dg_salmonellosis
- https://www.merckvetmanual.com/digestive-system/salmonellosis/overview-of-salmonellosis
Human health risk: Salmonella has been widely documented in raw fed dogs’ feces. This poses a human health risk. “As there appears to be strong evidence that raw food can contain Salmonella, it is vitally important, if feeding a raw meat diet to a pet, that hygiene of the food preparation area and the feeding bowls be diligently maintained. This may, however, be difficult to achieve. A recent study found that standard methods of cleaning and disinfecting food bowls were minimally effective at eliminating Salmonella (35). This included soaking with bleach and cleaning in a dishwasher.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3003575/
Kibble Diets
Kibble diets have been the standard for nearly 100 years. Studies have shown these diets to be more balanced than RMBDs but still lack crucial nutrients and can result in severe nutritional deficiencies and disorders such as "vitamin D–dependent rickets type I and nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism".
| study_of_raw_and_kibble.pdf |
| pet_food_report_2013_midyear-proposed_revisions_to_aafco_nutrient_profiles.pdf |
Dogs are NOT Wolves; Genetics Prove It!
Dogs are distinctly different from wolves, genetically and in relation to energy needs. - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jsap.13000
Dogs evolved a specific set of gene mutations that aid in the digestion of starches and grains. The Amy2B gene copy is responsible for coding for pancreatic amylase, which aids in the digestion of starches. Several studies have confirmed this crucial difference between dogs and wolves:
It is important to note that wolves and dogs biologically have different energy requirements.
Wolves are pack animals and dogs are not. Domestic dogs, even feral dogs, have a self-interest social order. Wolves have pack orders based on families and age order, where all are taken care of equally. Dogs do not form the same interpersonal bonds and desire to take care of their families and pack as wolves do. Wolves, even domesticated and human-bonded wolves, do not form close bonds with people and their interest in humans is limited.
Dogs evolved a specific set of gene mutations that aid in the digestion of starches and grains. The Amy2B gene copy is responsible for coding for pancreatic amylase, which aids in the digestion of starches. Several studies have confirmed this crucial difference between dogs and wolves:
- www.nature.com/articles/hdy201648
- https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.160449
- https://www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/blog/a-key-genetic-innovation-in-dogs-diet
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4749313/
- "Although it has been previously demonstrated that dogs experienced a copy number increase in AMY2B relative to wolves during or after the dog domestication process, we demonstrate that positive selection continued to act on amylase copy number in dog breeds that consumed starch-rich diets in time periods after domestication. Furthermore, we found that introgression with wolves is not responsible for deterioration of positive selection on AMY2B among diverse dog breeds. Together, this supports the hypothesis that the amylase copy number expansion is found universally in dogs."
- https://phys.org/news/2016-11-dna-analysis-ancient-teeth-dogs.html
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10461997/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26115282/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23354050/
- "Recent evidence shows that three genes (AMY2B, MGAM and SGLT1) involved in starch digestion and glucose uptake were the target of selection during domestication."
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18477314/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-78214-4
- https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-021-02815-y
It is important to note that wolves and dogs biologically have different energy requirements.
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/dietary-nutrient-profiles-of-wild-wolves-insights-for-optimal-dog-nutrition/6698A301900EEDF10E49B062A2BD9ED8
- https://www.hillspet.com/about-us/nutritional-philosophy/pet-food-facts/are-dogs-wolves
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3518205/
Wolves are pack animals and dogs are not. Domestic dogs, even feral dogs, have a self-interest social order. Wolves have pack orders based on families and age order, where all are taken care of equally. Dogs do not form the same interpersonal bonds and desire to take care of their families and pack as wolves do. Wolves, even domesticated and human-bonded wolves, do not form close bonds with people and their interest in humans is limited.
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-017-2339-8 - "... it seems that rank positioning is even more important in dogs than wolves as dominant dogs keep the food for themselves while each wolf pack member has a chance to eat. This is the first evidence that the importance of the social relationship in food sharing is dependent on the feeding context in canids."
- http://www.simplybehaviour.com/dogs-do-not-view-their-family-as-pack/
- http://www.caninemind.co.uk/pack.html
- https://newmillspetbuddies.co.uk/2020/10/28/dogs-are-not-pack-orientated-animals-implications-for-training/
- http://ajcs.org.uk/uncategorized/the-outdated-methodology-of-pack-theory-and-its-influence-on-modern-dog-training/
- https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/when-it-comes-to-sharing-wolves-give-dogs-a-bad-name/
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00785/full
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0304376283901074
| comparative_locomotor_costs_of_domestic_dogs_reveal_energetic.pdf |
| the_social_organisation_of_free-ranging_dogs_in_a_suburban_area_of_rome.pdf |