Raw Food Diet Ncbi Pdf
The controversy about the feeding of raw food diets (RFD) to pets rages on. These diets consist mainly of raw muscle and organ meats, bones, vegetables, and fruits. Several studies have highlighted the risks associated with feeding RFD to pets, and major professional veterinary associations and public health organizations have expressed their concerns with the practice of feeding RFD to cats and dogs. These professional organizations include the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) (1); and the American Veterinary Medical Association; public health organizations including the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and the United States Food and Drug Agency (FDA).
Despite these concerns, the practice of feeding RFD appears to be growing. What started out as largely home-based feeding has mushroomed into the commercial arena and sales of raw freeze-dried, raw air-dried, and raw frozen pet foods have been increasing dramatically in recent years. "Natural" pet food was reported to have captured 58% of the $13 billion spent in 2015 in the "pet specialty" market in the United States, and there appears to be a similar trend in Canada. Many pet owners are willing to spend 2 to 8 times as much for raw minimally processed food compared with dry kibble.
The major risks associated with feeding raw pet foods are infectious diseases (notably bacterial and parasitic) and imbalance in nutrients. Hazards associated with bones have also been identified. The bacterial pathogens likely to be present in raw meats include Salmonella, Clostridia, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter and Escherichia coli. Following ingestion by pets, the bacteria may or may not cause disease in the pets and may contaminate surgical and other wounds as well as the environment and humans with whom they come in contact. Young, very old, immunocompromised and pregnant animals or humans are at greatest risk of severe disease. Parasites that may be transmitted to humans and animals through raw meat include Toxoplasma gondii and Echinococcus tapeworms.
A recent web-based survey in Virginia (2) sought to identify the motivations of pet owners who feed RFD to their dogs and cats and to investigate the relationship between veterinarians and owners who fed RFD to their dogs or cats. A total of 804 (37%) of 2171 individuals who completed the survey reported feeding raw animal products to their pets. The survey found that 77% of dog owners who fed RFD believed that it was healthier for their dogs and 72% felt that it was more natural; this contrasts with 15% of the cat owners who identified being healthier and 40% who identified being more natural as a motivation. Seventy-eight percent of cat owners who fed RFD did so because of a veterinary resource other than their own veterinarian; the corresponding figure for the dog owners was 22%. Seventy-two percent of cat owners indicated that they tried to refrain from consuming processed foods and wanted to do the same for their pets; 35% of dog owners felt this way.
Among all pet owners, whether they fed RFD or not, the Internet was the most common resource for first learning about RFD for their pets (2). On the Internet, pet owners will see statements such as "Raw diets featuring fresh, natural ingredients are unequivocally the best nutritional choice" (3). This site (3) states a number of advantages ranging from "a dramatic improvement in your dog's physical health to a decrease in vet bills." Another site states "Dogs are carnivores and we believe they deserve to thrive on real minimally processed food — the way nature intended… It's what your dog would eat in the wild, only better" (4).
Veterinarians did not rank highly as a source of nutrition information: 8% of the 804 respondents who fed RFD sought nutrition advice from their veterinarian, and 7% of 1270 respondents who did not feed raw food sought nutrition advice from their veterinarians (2).
What is the role of veterinarians in this debate? Some veterinarians are fervent advocates of RFD; others are strongly opposed. The advice provided by the CVMA and PHAC in 2012 (1) continues to make a great deal of sense. Make sure you are well informed about the scientific evidence that is available and get involved in the discussion of pet nutrition and public health with your clients. Advise clients of the risk of infectious and nutrition-based diseases and of the circumstances when pets and humans are particularly vulnerable, as some clients are likely to feed RFD in spite of the evidence.
Footnotes
Use of this article is limited to a single copy for personal study. Anyone interested in obtaining reprints should contact the CVMA office (gro.vmca-amvc@nothguorbh) for additional copies or permission to use this material elsewhere.
References
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5432139/
0 Response to "Raw Food Diet Ncbi Pdf"
Post a Comment