Search Results for: raw diet

Plant-based vs Meat-based Diets for Cats: Which is Healthier?

It hasn’t been very long since I last wrote about vegetarian diets for pets, but a new study is out that touches on the issue, so I thought it was time for an update.  Dodd, S. A. S. et al. (2021) ‘A … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 13 Comments

Diet-Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) in Dogs: What Do We Know So Far?

I have been following the controversy, and the research, on diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs since the issue was first addressed by the FDA in 2018. I recently had a chance to talk with Andy Roark on his Cone … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 7 Comments

Raw Pet Foods & The Death of Expertise

One of the more enlightening, and terrifying, books to come out in the last 5 years is Tom Nichols’ The Death of Expertise. In clear prose, with cogent argument and substantiating evidence, the author makes the case that the proliferation of misconceptions, … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 19 Comments

New DogRisk Study Compares Risk of Allergies in Dogs Associated with Raw and Processed Foods

The subject of raw diets is a constant and controversial one in veterinary medicine. The controversy stems mostly from the fact that some people are passionately committed to the idea that raw diets have health benefits, but there is no … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 6 Comments

Vegetarian Diets for Dogs & Cats

Pet owners frequently project their beliefs about human health onto their companion animals. Anxieties about purported harms from vaccines in children, for example, have spurred an anti-vaccination movement among vets and pet owners.1–4Beliefs in alternative medical therapies for people, such … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 11 Comments

Don’t Give Raw Milk to Your Pets!

A reader recently sent me a link to this little advertisement.  This is an illustration of a popular bit of alternative nonsense, the idea that raw milk has magical health-giving properties. The idea owes a lot to the Appeal to Nature … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 9 Comments

Grain-free Diets and Heart Disease in Dogs

For some years now, grains such as wheat and corn in dog and cat foods have been demonized by many in the alternative medicine world. There has never been any real scientific evidence to support all the hysterical claims about … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 74 Comments

Dietary Carbohydrates are NOT “Toxic” to Cats

Folks who are critical of commercial pet foods or advocates for raw diets and other alternatives often rail against the evils of carbohydrates. The idea that dietary carbs cause disease is a central thesis of the recent “Truth About Pet … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 31 Comments

Actually, Raw Chicken Likely Can Lead to Paralysis in Dogs.

I recently reported on a study out of Australia that found an association between feeding raw chicken, infection with the bacterium Campylobacter, and a serious neurologic disease call Acute Polyradiculoneuritis (APN). Not surprisingly, advocates of raw diets are desperate to … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 33 Comments

More Nonsense from Holistic Vets about Commercial Therapeutic Diets

One of the subjects that holistic vets and other advocates of alternative practices get really passionate about is the evils of commercial and conventional diets. They promote a laundry list of myths about pet food, many of which I’ve addressed … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 180 Comments