Search Results for: raw diets

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

Dr. Marty Goldstein’s Nature’s Feast Raw Diet: A Look at the Infomercial

A client recently asked one of my colleagues for an opinion on an infomercial by Dr. Marty Goldstein for his new commercial raw cat food, Nature’s Feast. There was little new or surprising in this video, but since Dr. Goldstein has a … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 87 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

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

More Evidence of the Risk of Infectious Diseases Associated with Raw Pet Foods

I try to keep track of new research on the subject of raw food for pets. So far, the research only allows us to conclude: There is no evidence to support claims that raw diets are healthier than cooked commercial … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 54 Comments

Evidence Update-Most Homemade Cancer Diets for Dogs are Inadequate

I have often discussed the problems with homemade pet diets, which are frequently recommended in books and websites that complain about commercial food or proclaim some magic method for preventing or curing disease. Raw diets, grain free diets, and other … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 61 Comments

Homemade Diets for Cats and Dogs with Kidney Disease–Most Recipes are Wrong

A new study has been published adding to the evidence, which I have discussed before(see articles listed below), that homemade diets are frequently nutritionally inappropriate and less consistent or reliable than commercial diets. Larsen, JA. Parks, EM. Heinze, CR. Fascetti, … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 31 Comments