Raw diet or BARF diet for dogs and cats

A reader recently emailed me and asked what I thought of the Bone and Raw Food (BARF) diet, and did I feed it? So, here are my thoughts on the BARF diet and my own dogs and cats.

I currently live with 4 large dogs. I have chosen not to feed the BARF diet because frankly, I just don’t have the time to prepare it these days. For the dogs, I trust my favorite super premium food and I add an assortment of raw eggs, raw vegetables, cooked vegetables, raw beef bones and yogurt, depending on what is available that day. I have found that the dogs handle the raw vegetables more easily if they are finely ground or pureed. I also add prebiotics because the dogs aren’t getting the raw enzymes from the processed food.

I also don’t feed BARF to my cats. I have 14 barn cats, all of which just wandered their way to my place and decided to stay. As they live in the barn and hunt rodents, I haven’t felt they need additional raw foods. I feed them dry kibble as well, and add my favorite cat vitamins and minerals. I haven’t had any problems with parasites, hairballs or other common cat ailments.

I have heard the arguements against BARF such as the risk of bacteria and parasites, and the risk of intestinal perforation. I personally don’t worry too much about bacteria or parasites, as I have found that healthy dogs and cats with proper stomach pH will be able to fight off the majority of bacteria and parasites. I also feed supplements with ingredients that inhibit parasites. As for perforation, I agree that it could potentially occur. It hasn’t happened to my animals. Raw bones appear to be less risky as they are less brittle and therefore less likely to splinter as cooked bones. I will also add that when I was studying red wolves, and wolf scat (droppings) the wolves were eating large amounts of fur with their meals and the bones came out the other end well-padded with undigested animal hair. Bottom line: I would encourage every animal caretaker to do their own research and make their own decision.

I did a quick internet search and found these links for BARF:

There are many more sites out there. I would also suggest doing a search on “BARF problems” to see the other side of the debate.

Carrie