Is fermented, freeze-dried, or dehydrated pet food safe and raw?

No, there aren't any merits to this. As we talked about before, companies will make bold claims to get you to buy their products. You see it all the time with homeopathic products claiming to cure things such as cancer. They want you to buy their product.

Hello, thank you for your question about Sky. There are many different opinions on feeding raw food diets, so you may hear different opinions depending on who you ask. I would not recommend feeding your dog raw chicken feet. In general feeding raw or even freeze dried food can lead to bacterial infections such as Salmonella. This can be transmitted to humans also. There is no advantage to feeding freeze-dried/raw food over commercial dog food. Hope this helps!

The procedure of freeze drying is safe, but not necessary or any better for a cat food. My first question would be whether it's nutritionally adequate. In order for a food to be nutritionally adequate it must have gone through a diet trial, or was formulated based on know nutritional requirements. In order to find this out, you will have to research the food a little more. Different countries will have different or no requirements for the company to show that the food is nutritionally adequate. For more information about choosing a food, I recommend you read the short article at the link below. https://www.petcoach.co/article/what-to-look-for-when-choosing-your-pet-s-food/ I hope that helps and all is well.

Dry food labels give the amount of nutrients that are contained in the finished product. Period. Be aware that pet food marketing is a serious business. And unfortunately, buzzwords and trend diets are generally used to sway your views towards whatever product is attempting to be sold to you, and these buzzwords don't have your pet's best interest at heart. I would encourage you to explore some sites published by those who have dedicated their careers to advancing veterinary nutrition. This is a great article about raw food: http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/01/raw-diets-a-healthy-choice-or-a-raw-deal/ Scroll down to the 2nd 1/2 of the page for some common questions regarding pet foods. http://www.acvn.org/frequently-asked-questions/#choose This one is a bit long, but has some really good information: http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/banr/miscellaneous/dog_nutrition_final_fix.pdf Thank you for asking PetCoach!

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.

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!

Try giving her another brand of wet food, such as Fancy Feast, or warm up her regular wet food. Freeze Dried is not wet food and I would be concerned about bacterial contamination. You may also want to have her teeth and mouth checked by your veterinarian.