By Haley Rau
Garden Plain senior
Raw feeding is a new trend in the pet industry. The goal in mind is a balanced diet of raw animal products to dogs, cats, and even ferrets. The objective is to mix a ration of 80 percent muscle, 10 percent bone, 5 percent liver and 5 percent excreting organs. Making sure you are feeding a complete, nutritionally balanced diet to the animals’ requirements is important. Consult your veterinarian if in doubt.
Everything in that ration is a direct byproduct of the meat industry. Benefits that pet parents have seen are allergy relief, better teeth, better joint health, and extended life, but there is a lack of medical studies which demonstrates these benefits. With pet parents jumping at the opportunity to try to extend their pets lives, it is also helping the beef industry.
However, with every benefit there are some downsides. Raw feeding is going to be a larger hit to your wallet. The average dry kibble costs anywhere from 85 cents to $2 a pound while raw is more around $5 a pound. Shelf life is also an issue, with the recommendation to keep frozen until the day before you plan to feed.
The average household in America has more than one pet, which can lead to more difficulty. With storage also a problem, many parents decide to buy a whole new deep freezer and will dedicate hours of their week to prepping raw food. Prepping can range from grounding all portions together or leaving it in small chunks or even whole, depending on the size.
A concern expressed by a Hays veterinarian, Dr. Mike Gaughn, is that raw pet food should also be handled like any other raw meat. A thorough cleaning is necessary for animal and human health. Veterinarians are also concerned about the bacteria found in and on raw meat when being digested.
The American Veterinary Medical Association does not recommend feeding to cats and dogs any raw animal-source protein and prescribes cooking meat to eliminate pathogens, which can potentially cause foodborne illnesses for your pet, which can be secondarily transmitted to the family.
However, allowing the stomach to adapt to the new diet change, your pet’s health is not in any direct danger, says a group of avid raw feeders. Pet parents can buy their raw feed from the grocery store, butcher, or even local farmers. Many meats can be fed raw. As a starter diet, chicken, rabbit, or other white meat is suggested. While introducing white meat, incorporate light bones to harden the stools. A concern with bones is the dog damaging its teeth, choking or perforating their intestinal tracts, so grinding them would be beneficial. After about a week of white meat and bones, you can add red meats. Lamb, venison, pork, and beef are included in many raw diets.
When buying raw ingredients, another thing to think about is the supplier. Hunters and farmers are big supporters of the raw dog food movement, and they can be your biggest supplier. Farmers not only can sell you a whole cow to process, but any fatalities can also bring in money for them. A pulled calf that didn’t make it can be a financial loss to the farmers, but it can also be a point of sales in the raw community. A lame heifer that needs to be euthanized can also bring contribution to a pet’s diet versus being used on a compost pile.
Before buying or selling, contact your state’s agriculture department to discuss the legality of selling. If you are a rancher or farmer, it can be a great idea to reach out on Facebook pages specified as raw feeding groups. Social media is a great way to connect a supplier to a buyer. The page “Raw feeding advice and support” has currently 97,400 followers and counting.
That is a worldwide group but many are happy to have supplies shipped to them. Some beef products to search for are liver, green tripe, heart, brain, testicles, kidney, non-weight bearing bones, and any muscle meat. By adding another demand to the meat market, we can see growth in profit for farmers and ranchers.
The agricultural community is always looking for ways to help supply the world with food. Buying direct can also cut costs for parents and selecting the byproducts that humans do not usually consume can add to a farmer’s bottom dollar.
Butchers are also making money by selling to locals rather than big pet food companies. The raw pet food community is very strict with what they recommend to be fed, which allows farmers, ranchers, and butchers to charge more. Though feeding raw can be expensive and time consuming for busy pet parents, it can help local farmers, ranchers, and butchers. It is important to support local agriculture just like any other small businesses.
If switching to raw has a chance of having a positive impact on your pet’s life, it is worth the time and money put it in, while also helping your local businesses and farms.
Haley Rau, a 2016 Garden Plain High School graduate, graduated this spring with a degree in agriculture (animal science) from Fort Hays State University. She is the daughter of Jason and Christina Rau, Garden Plain.
This essay on a topic in agriculture was researched and written by a student as part of a project in a senior animal science class at Fort Hays State University. The project director is Dr. Brittany Howell, associate professor of agriculture, bjhowell@fhsu.edu, 785-628-4015.