Raw Fed and Fabulous – Raw is Safer and Easier Than You Imagine

Disclaimer right here before we start – Sally is rawfed by Bella and Duke. If you click this link or use the code INSALWOLF50 at checkout you’ll get 50% off your first order (UK only) from any of their ranges and any size box up to 20kg. This is not an affiliate link, we don’t get anything extra if you sign up, just the satisfaction of knowing your pup is now on a species appropriate raw diet.

Raw is safe and nutritious if you follow these three simple rules:

1. Buy from a reputable raw supplier that batch tests for pathogens
2. Feed “complete minces” and/or make sure you feed a wide variety of proteins (and a small quantity of fresh fruit/veg). Use approximately 80:10:10 for 80% muscle meat, 10% offal, 10% bone.
3. Keep good food hygiene and follow the manufacturer’s defrost and storage guidelines.

Why Sally is Raw Fed

Sally’s breeder fed raw. This is probably the most common feeding choice among UK Samoyed fanciers. Honestly (to my shame) I’d never looked into raw feeding prior to getting Sally. I was somewhat aware that the cheaper kibble foods were designed for convenience of the owner and profits of the pet food company rather than to provide optimum nutrition. I’d fed my cats on a mix of kibble and home-cooked meals for this reason. I thought raw was a step too far – hippy nonsense and how could raw meat be more nutritious than carefully cooked meals and kibble with Science behind it (I mean it must be good if the vets sell it and it says SCIENCE in big letters on the bag)?

Sal’s breeder was adamant. She’d owned and then bred Samoyeds for most of her life. She fed raw and if I didn’t agree to feed raw then I’d likely not be getting one of her pups!

Raw can be:

• more nutritious as vitamins and proteins aren’t denatured by cooking
• better for dental hygiene as raw bones clean teeth and less starch means less dental plaque
• result in smaller denser poops that are easier to clean up plus better for anal gland health
• give a more glossy coat, brighter eyes, less hyperactivity but greater energy

I went away and researched raw feeding, and what I found was that although the majority of mainstream vets did not approve, there seemed to be a lot of good sense, and a smattering (although not nearly enough research) of science to support raw feeding.

Please bear in mind this was five years ago, since then raw has become more mainstream, there’s even a pro-raw vet society. What I found when I was starting out were some raw feeding Facebook groups full of well-meaning people, but pushing a hardline agenda “raw = good, kibble = bad, all vets are evil and only after your money”, it seemed more than a little extreme and rather intimidating to a new to raw (and dogs) new puppy owner.

Talking to Sal’s breeder and a few other Samoyed owners who fed raw helped: “ignore them (the FB groups) and all their fancy ideas, feed the pre-prepped minces as a base and add some extras if you want/afford to, remember not every meal has to be 100% balanced, but try and feed as great a variety as you can. Do you work out the exact fat, protein, and carbohydrate content of each of your own meals? No, then why get so fussy about your pup’s food? Just make sure she has a varied diet and you aim for around 80% muscle meat, 10% offal and 10% bone and add in some veg too if she’ll eat it. Otherwise sprinkle a herb mix such as Dorwest Keepers Mix or Easy Greens”. Their common sense “just get on with it and feed the dog” approaches were a great help.

After this, my main worry about feeding raw was not “would my pup get all the nutrients she needed?”. I thought if I saw her even beginning to lack in any way then I’d pop her straight onto a quality kibble and her breeder would just have to lump it. My main worry was “is it safe?”. What about the bacterial and parasite risk? I’m mostly vegetarian (for health and ethical reasons) and I live with chronic autoimmune problems. The last thing I wanted was bowls of “dirty” raw meat lying around – and a dog whose mouth (and the other end too) would be a disease-carrying risk.

Raw Can Be As Safe as Kibble

So, I researched “does raw dog food carry an additional disease risk?” I now believe the answer is “NO”. Carefully done, the risks from raw are very low and no more risk than feeding kibble.

Let me explain.

All reputable raw dog food companies batch test their food for pathogens. They should also hold the food (in deep freeze) until they have the test results back before shipping it out. This way no contaminated food should reach the consumer. When I got Sal, I phoned round all the UK brands at the time and asked them their protocols. I only bought from the brands that took me seriously and gave me a full answer. So, if you are new to feeding raw or switching raw brand then check out the brand’s website, phone them up and ask about batch testing. Ask Google to see if they’ve had any recalls. If you buy in the USA or UK from brands that batch test for pathogens, and are DEFRA/USDA registered and inspected, then the bacterial content of the meat should be so low as to cause no harm.

Interestingly (and good ammunition if your vet is anti-raw) the largest contaminated pet food incident was from a Salmonella-infected kibble, and kibble recalls are far more frequent than raw recalls over bacterial contamination fears.

A recent study asking raw feeders to self-report any times they/their pet got sick from suspected food poisoning found only 39 cases out of over 16,000 households surveyed (less than 0.2%). Out of these 39, only 3 were confirmed by vet/medical laboratory analysis. This survey was conducted by the DOGRISK group at the University of Helsinki, who continue to investigate and publish in veterinary journals.

So far, I haven’t seen any research that makes me question the safety of feeding raw here in the UK from UK-based suppliers that source only UK meat and batch test for pathogens.  

However, it is RAW meat so you should always handle it with the proper care and hygiene. Clean all utensils with hot soapy water, disinfect surfaces, and if your dog is a messy eater then wipe their face after meals. Store food in the fridge/freezer and follow manufacturer’s guidelines on defrost times/temperatures. Don’t leave raw food bowls sitting out after feeding. Please use common sense and good food hygiene.

The main risk as I see it is when you start buying meat (even human grade) that is not from a raw dog food supplier. This does not undergo the same batch testing for bacterial load, and fresh unfrozen meat and fish can carry parasites such as flukes and tapeworms. If you are going to DIY from the supermarket or butcher, then be aware of the increased risk and ALWAYS freeze first for 2-3 weeks to kill any parasites.

This all sounds like quite a fuss, so why did I continue with raw? Well my puppy thrived on it. I saw all the supposed benefits of healthy coat, skin, eyes, health and stamina. Plus the poo, we need to talk about the poos (it’s true, raw feeders are obsessed with their dogs poo). Smaller, less frequent and more “kickable” offerings than from my friends dogs on kibble or canned food diets.

Also, when I was researching raw food what I found out about some kibble was frankly horrifying. Of course, all dog foods claim they are wonderful (it’s not good marketing otherwise is is?), but some are better than others. The nutritional standards for pet foods have not been updated since the 1970s. In the USA and the UK, you can market kibble as “chicken” if it contains only 4% chicken by dry weight. So, the other 96% of the kibble pellet can be made up of starchy carbohydrates that some dog breeds find hard to digest and rendered meat (the left-overs boiled off the carcasses, abattoir waste…). Not all kibbles are equal, in some the main ingredient IS human-food grade meat as named on the bag. If you are curious then the impartial website All About Dog Food rates the UK (and some USA) most popular foods, and gives you the lowdown on what they contain.

Samoyeds Thrive on a Low Carb Diet

Sal being a Samoyed is one of the dog breeds the least able to digest starchy foods.Virtually all kibbles (grain free or grain-rich) use starches to bind the pellets together. Carbohydrates (starches) are digested by an enzyme called amylase, we humans have this enzyme in our digestive tract and saliva. So, we begin to digest starchy foods as we chew and swallow them. Wolves and dogs mostly produce amylase in their stomachs. Wolves tend to have low amylase levels and are poor at digesting starches. Some European dog breeds that evolved alongside farming societies for thousands of years have far higher amylase levels and are more efficient at digesting starches (so much so that Bella and Duke have recently developed a new Premium Range with a higher percentage of veg to suit these breeds), whereas many northern and “primitive” breeds including Samoyeds have wolf-like starch digestion. I’ve seen the results whenever a well-meaning friend has fed Sal too many starchy dog treats and it isn’t pretty! For her digestive health I’ll stick to raw thank you! She’s raw fed and fabulous.

Sal is Raw Fed and Fabulous

She’s fed on a diet of complete minces from a UK-based supplier (Bella and Duke) who run batch checks as part of their standard safety protocols. I supplement with meaty bones and offal from other safety-conscious UK suppliers and a small amount of fresh veg and fruit. I like to know that her meat is locally and ethically sourced and I’ll still phone up new companies and ask them awkward questions!

For anyone thinking of starting out on raw I’d strongly advise that you copy our feeding plan. Start with the minces where someone else has done the hard work for you to ensure it’s balanced. As you get more confident you can add in some DIY extras or go full DIY.

Look out for a more detailed article coming soon on what nutrient groups should be included in a complete raw diet. I’ll tackle should we feed veg, grain-free and potential DCM risk, and which supplements I think are beneficial and which are marketing hype, plus why I don’t feed either “lightly cooked” meals or dried raw.

Note: I’m NOT a vet or a dog dietician, I’m a PhD immunologist trained in critical thinking. All views are my own, talk to your vet before making any major changes to your dog’s nutrition. If you are interested I recently wrote a longer piece for HelloBark on raw feeding, and the Bella and Duke Facebook Group is a good place to go for information and advice.

Finally to end with (as I know you’ve been expecting a photo of Sal unleashing her inner wolf/polar bear), here you go:

Any questions or comments? Do you raw feed? Shoot me a message and let’s chat (but keep it civil please).