Is it safe to give my dog raw meat as an occasional supplement?

Hello, Veterinarians generally do not recommend feeding raw diets. Raw diets are associated with serious food borne illness (food poisoning) and the nutritional imbalances are associated with heart and bone disease. I would not recommend feeding any raw meat or bones to any pet, at any time, due to risk of illness. If you would like to feed a home cooked diet, I would recommend using the website balance.it which is formulated by veterinary nutritionists at the University of California-Davis. This website can direct you on making a homemade diet that is safe and nutritionally complete for Molly. If you're looking to purchase any complete diet, I recommend feeding one that is formulated to AAFCO requirements for canine nutrition. These requirements are based off of evidence based canine nutritional studies and the diets are regularly tested to ensure they are meeting every essential dietary need. Most popular brands are formulated like this- Purina, Iams, Royal Canin, Hill's, for example. I hope this is helpful! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Tank. Raw diets are very trendy now and unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation. There is a very high risk of Salmonella poisoning to both your dog and you by feeding raw food. This is especially problematic if anyone in the home is immunocompromised such as very young children, elderly or anyone with a disease that weakens the immune system. Furthermore, raw diets will not be nutritionally balanced for Tank. This can lead to serious consequences with longterm feeding. Finally, bones of any form can lead to intestinal obstruction or perforations. I hope this information helps!

No, meat is not a balanced diet. Even raw meat is not balanced. Balancing a home made diet is difficult and is not recommended unless you work with a veterinary nutritionist. When online, home made recipes where tested, 97% were found to be unbalanced and lacking in 1 or more essential nutrients. Unless you plan on working with a nutritionist, I recommend to feed a normal commercial diet that is AAFCO certified. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Raw food has a huge number of risks associated with it, including auto-immune induced paralysis, severe gut infections, increased vomiting and therefore increased chances of pneumonia, etc. Also, if you feed your animal BARF, then there will be E.Coli and Salmonella all over your house. I never recommend a BARF diet, as there are no benefits and lots of side effects, for both your pet as well as the people living in your house. It especially should be avoided if any immuno-compromised people (old, young, pregnant, cancer patients, people on certain drugs, etc.) are present in the house or around your animal. Bones should also be avoided as they have no benefit (they often cause more damage then good to teeth), and cause many problems as well. Unfortuantely, working in emergency, I see dogs die daily as a direct side-effect of being fed raw food and bones. Many animals have it and do OK, but these are ticking time-bombs waiting to go off and cause severe issues that sometimes, despite all medical care, cannot be saved. Human grade meat can be fed if desired, and if you wish to home cook that is great, I would just cook all meat the way you would for yourself (you wouldn't eat raw food or bones, don't feed it to your pet.). Best of luck with Ralphie!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is to some extent a matter of opinion. However, it is well known the possible risks of eating raw meat just like it is possible health risk to a human for the same exact reasons like the development of an infection from ingesting raw protein. Also, it does not offer any benefit over cooked food. I personally do not recommend raw diets. Good luck!

I am a holistic vet. I love raw diets, but it is very hard to make your own raw diet and have it be balanced nutritionally. I highly recommend pre made raw diets such as Honest Kitchen and Sojos. They are freeze dried, so much safer, and you simply rehydrate with warm water. This way you can feed raw, AND ensure it is a balanced diet.

While a raw diet does have increased risk of exposure to bacteria and parasites, if you prepare it properly (or purchase from reputable sources) and practice basic hygiene then you and your pup should be fine. If Blue is doing well on it (eating well, gaining weight, no GI issues, etc), then there is no reason to transition him to a more traditional diet. Discuss any additional concerns with your veterinarian at Blue's next vaccine appointment.