What are the risks of feeding raw chicken to my 3-month-old puppy?

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!

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!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! No, it is not recommended to feed dogs any raw meat at all as this can contain high bacterial loads which can result in gastroenteritis and infections. Good luck! He is adorable!

You could add some meat or chicken to your puppies dog food but your puppy needs to have some dog food because it is nutritionally balanced for a puppy. Feeding just meat/ chicken and rice is not recommended because your puppy would not be getting the proper nutrition. If you want to use a home made recipe than you should use the website called balance it to make the diet nutritionally balanced for a growing puppy. https://secure.balanceit.com/

No, I strongly urge you not to do it and you'd be hard pressed to find any vet who would recommend it. It's a fad and it's dangerous for both Kingston and you. Raw food diets contain bacteria like E coli and Salmonella, which poses a risk of poisoning him and you. You can get sick from handling it, and even sick from him licking you because the bacteria lives on his tongue for hours afterwards. In addition, these diets are often imbalanced nutritionally, and it's so vital to have a balanced diet for a growing puppy. I have a vet colleague that just saw an 8 month old puppy who was fed a rad diet and due to the nutritional deficiencies had broken his hip and had severe bone deformities. There is no scientific evidence it's beneficial at all, and all there are is bad things with it. You should feed him a dry puppy food such as Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina Pro Plan, and Iams. I hope this helps.

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.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. No, you do not need to take Betsy in to be seen by a vet right now. She may develop signs such as diarrhea or vomiting. If so, I would recommend initiating a bland diet as outlined below. If not, then continue feeding her as you have been and just monitor for these signs. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly! GENERAL INFORMATION A bland diet is a diet that is soft and highly digestible. It is low in fiber, fat and protein and is high in carbohydrates. Bland diets are generally composed of a single carbohydrate source and a single lean protein source. The most common bland diet is boiled rice and boiled lean chicken breast, without skin and bones. Since bland diets are low in fiber, stool production slows and defecation is less frequent. Bland diets are fed to rest the gastric system and to help promote normal stool formation. Animals that are physically sick should not be fed bland diets as a method of treatment. PRIOR TO FEEDING A BLAND DIET Pets should be fasted for 12 to 24 hours. Young animals should not be fasted for more than 12 hours. Fasting will allow the intestinal system to relax and minimize acid secretions that may irritate and inflame the intestinal lining. During the fast small amounts of water or ice chips may be provided. Never fast a sick animal, it may cause disease progression and death. BASIC BOILED RICE AND CHICKEN BLAND DIET RECIPE CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE: Boiled white rice LEAN PROTEIN SOURCE: Chicken breast, no skin and bones BOILED RICE: 1 part white rice with 3 parts water boiled for 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is easily crushed. BOILED CHICKEN: De-fat chicken breast and boil in water for 10 – 15 minutes or until the chicken meat is easily pulled apart and cooked all way through. MIXING INSTRUCTIONS: Finely chop the lean protein and mix 2 cups carbohydrate source and ½ cup lean protein source. STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: Bland diets can be premade and stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 48 hours. The bland diet can be cooked in a batch and frozen in feeding sized portions to minimize preparation time. Thaw and warm the frozen diet prior to feeding. PERMITTED LEAN PROTEIN SUBSTITUTIONS Pork loin, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese. 7% low fat hamburger, plain low fat yogurt. PERMITTED CARBOHYDRATE SUBSTITUTIONS Boiled potatoes, boiled spaghetti, Minute rice. PERMITTED COMMERCIAL BLAND DIETS Science Prescription Diet I/D, Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low Residue, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Intestinal HE. FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS Estimate 25% of your animal’s diet and feed that amount of the bland diet every 6 – 8 hours. Smaller animals will require less and larger animals will require more adhering to the same carbohydrate to lean protein source ratio. The bland diet should be fed for 4 -5 days with no treats or other food sources until stools are firm. TRANSITION BACK TO A NORMAL DIET Never transition back to a regular diet rapidly. Transition back to the regular diet over a 1 week period. Start by adding 25% of the regular diet to 75% of the bland diet and feed that combination for 2 days. If stools continue to be firm then continue substituting the regular diet in 25% increments and feeding the combination in 2 day time intervals until the diet is 100% regular diet. Minimize treats for 1 week after moving the diet back to 100% regular diet.