Raw feeding or cooked?

[Eprim]

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Looking for views from anyone who's fed raw and if it's preferred to home cooked ? How it compares (health wise)
Thanks

 

[arealhuman]

Welcome to the forum! You'll get a lot of replies to this We're not on a raw diet, but there are plenty of people here who's pooches are.

 

[JudyN]

I feed raw

Previously I fed my dog kibble, but more came out than went in, and boy was his wind stinky! Changing to raw cured the wind overnight and though I don't think he'll ever have a rock solid digestive system, his poos are much smaller and firmer.

As to the health benefits - well, to my knowledge there have been no properly controlled long-term studies of raw feeding, but then there haven't been for kibble or home-cooked either. This means we really have to go on common sense and anecdote. As far as common sense goes, wild dogs and wolves obviously eat raw meat with no problem. And anecdotaly, I have come across loads of people, online and in real life, who have converted to raw and seen a lot of beneficial changes in their dogs, and almost no one whose dog's health declined in any way. Loads of people have fed multiple dogs raw for years and never had problems related to it. There is a theoretical risk to humans if, say, you let your dog lick you after he's eaten raw meat, but I'm far from careful when it comes to hygiene and never had an issue.

I can't really comment on a home-cooked diet - there's probably less proven evidence about the benefits/risks of that so it might be hard to work out what a 'balanced' meal looks like.

 

[excuseme]

I feed raw too.
What else could anyone else add to your post JudyN.

Dried foods/kibbles are a very modern type of convenient food. I wonder if the wolf or wild dogs would exist as long as they already have if they were to eat kibbles and not raw. There is no dog or wolf in the wild that could consume grains for 52 weeks of every year. Our canine companions are scavengers and survivors, but where would the wolf or wild dog be these days if there was no raw product.

 

[Josie]

I've just started trialing Den on Butternut Box meals - which are home cooked. Bit pricier than regular food but then I guess you get what you pay for!

 

[youthnovels]

I feed raw for my six year old as he had really terrible allergies. He's had lots of testing (although not for foods as apparently they aren't the reliable?) and we made the decision to put him on raw venison.

He was never really one for his food when he was younger but he demolishes his venison in literally five seconds. He used to have intermittent problems with his hips (hip dysplasia) and would limp; the raw diet seems to have helped with this too!

I would recommend it but I do it the lazy way and get Natures Menu which is already prepared for me. It works well for a small dog (8/9kg) but can imagine it being an expensive way of doing it with a larger dog!

 

[Eprim]

I feed raw for my six year old as he had really terrible allergies. He's had lots of testing (although not for foods as apparently they aren't the reliable?) and we made the decision to put him on raw venison.

He was never really one for his food when he was younger but he demolishes his venison in literally five seconds. He used to have intermittent problems with his hips (hip dysplasia) and would limp; the raw diet seems to have helped with this too!

I would recommend it but I do it the lazy way and get Natures Menu which is already prepared for me. It works well for a small dog (8/9kg) but can imagine it being an expensive way of doing it with a larger dog!

 

[Eprim]

Thank you all everyone has been very helpful lots of good experienced information!

 

[Violet Turner]

I don't feed raw but home cooked food I find is easier in my eyes as we raw fed our cockapoo raw every other day due health problems... olive I think prefers home cooked over raw, but I cook the food on a Sunday and freeze it and defrost in the morning when needed...
Also I add raw egg into olive evening meal to help with dry skin!