5 Questions for Vets Who Poo Poo the Raw Diet

Help Your Vet – Help Your Pet

Work with raw feeder and holistic vet Dr. Judy Jasek, DVM

Many people throw out a chicken thigh or a scoop of raw hamburger meat and call that the raw diet. Wrong! That would be unbalanced and your vet would be right in his comment. But with the correct species appropriate ingredients, 80% protein and fat, 10% organ and 10% fat, raw diets produce amazing results and drastic changes in the lives of pets. In 19 years of feeding raw I have seen major relief from allergies, leaky gut, irritable bowl syndrome and yes even life threatening diseases disappear after starting the raw diet for dogs and cats.

Many vets just aren’t educated in nutrition. I know that may be hard to believe but we personally watched our daughter go through vet school and almost all nutrition classes were put on by Purina, Science Diet, IAMs or any number of the big commercial pet food manufacturers. How they can make a case for pet food that is dry (bad for kidneys) dead (no nutritional value) full of additives & preservatives, (causes leaky gut, digestive issues and far less bio-available to pets) aflatoxins (cancer causing) and a whole host of synthetic fillers as a better food than raw? Did they not study dog physiology in school?

The problem?  Good and loving pet owners don’t even question that line of reasoning. We just follow like sheep to slaughter. It’s time to Snap Out of It!

Here are 3 Questions to ask your vet when they frown at you and start down the usual path of “the raw diet is unbalanced, unhealthy and full of bacteria”.

1. Ask what the difference is between handling raw food for pets and raw food for humans. Most families eat at least some meals at home each week that are prepared from raw ingredients, including meat.

Why are there no policies discouraging humans from handling raw food purchased at the grocery store? Ask them to give you the actual statistics on people getting sick from feeding raw pet food. Was it proven the raw pet food was the issue or was it just an assumption.

2. Ask why a “high quality kibble” including the vet prescription diets are allowed to contain sub-standard ingredients like plant proteins, plus fish oils that begin to go rancid as soon as the bag is open (which causes inflammation in dogs and cats plus releases free radicals that can lead to cancer and all types of disease). Ask if they are aware that ALL synthetic vitamin and minerals come from China? Even if they say made in the USA as long as those components aren’t added to the pet food before they reach the USA they can claim these Chinese Supplements are USA Made- China has very loose safety regulations. China’s pet food products are responsible for over 8000 pet deaths.

3. Ask your vet why dogs need carbs? Most kibble including prescription dog food is over 50% sugar. Raw diets are less than 7% and that is in a complex carb of broccoli or green leafy veggies. Dogs get their glycogen from protein and fat. They were not born to eat high carb diets which by the way are one the leading cause of diabetes, obesity and cancer. But hey, carbs are cheap! Dry pet foods also need carbs to make the kibble stick together in the rendering process. Carbs have nothing to do with your dogs health.

4. Ask your vet how important is moisture do a pets kidney health. Kibble diets are dry and keep your pet in a constant state of dehydration and tax the kidneys. Raw diets are 75% moisture! Which would you choose for your pets?

Also listen to the Podcast How to Talk to Your Vet and What Questions to Ask