Hey, Bill. We’ve been reading a lot about raw food diet for our dog. Do you see any benefit to switching from more conventional foods to a raw diet?
Bill McQuade and his dog, Purdy.
Bill says: A raw diet is absolutely the best thing you can feed your dog or cat!
Let me phrase it differently. A raw diet absolutely provides the best nutrition for your dog or cat. I also believe adding raw bones for your pets to gnaw on is an excellent way of keeping teeth free of tarter and gums healthy.
I am not going to make a believer out of someone that only buys prepackaged processed foods for themselves, but if you shop the healthier outside aisle of the grocery store and eat mostly fresh vegetables, fruits, meats etc then you should try feeding raw frozen diets to your pets or at least supplement your pets diet with raw food. Last year the growth in raw sales was 275%.
We’ve seen the benefits of switching to a raw diet first hand.
My wife’s Shih-Tzu eats absolutely nothing but raw. He had (we were told) allergies, and moist eczema for the first eight years of his life. We fed him the best dry diet we knew of. Visits to the vet were frequent and expensive. Steroid shots relieved the itching temporarily. By eight years old, he was suffering so much we contemplated putting him to sleep. Ear infections, moist eczema, so much irritation he could not sleep and his joints obviously were hurting him. He would start scratching at his ears and could not stop and would exhibit seizure like behavior. We had just started carrying raw frozen diets and made the decision to feed and treat him with nothing but raw unprocessed food and treats to see if it would give him some relief. Within three months he was a new dog. He is now sixteen years old and has spring in is step, obnoxious and spoiled.
All three of our dogs get raw diet. We have seen tremendous health improvement in pets either fed exclusively raw or supplemented with raw diets. We have had a number of customers with dogs that had cancer (lymphoma in particular) and came in to ask about nutrition and on our recommendation started feeding raw.
One dog was so advanced the dog had stopped eating, had terrible diarrhea and his owner just wanted to try something to make her last days comfortable. He was amazed to see the tumors reduce in size in just a few weeks time, the stools firmed up and she relished the raw diet. She was old, and she did pass away, but her quality of life had been vastly improved.
Another customers dog had been diagnosed and given a “few weeks to a few months” to live and lived another three years. In both cases the dogs tumors shrank noticeably.
A recent study published in Cancer Research magazine has shown a low carbohydrate-high protein diet may reduce the risk of cancer and even slow the growth of tumors. “This shows that something as simple as a change in diet can have an impact on cancer risk,” said lead researcher Gerald Krystal, Ph.D., a distinguished scientist at the British Columbia Cancer Research Centre. Frozen and freeze dried raw diets for pets are quality protein, low carbohydrate diets. The Whole Pet carries Bravo, Stella & Chewies, Primal, Vital Essentials, Instinct and soon CA raw. We are believers.
Purdy’s answer: I will eat most anything, good or bad for me, but I love my Bravo Balance Raw diet. Bill also gives me a raw chicken back and other raw bones to chew on twice a week. He always makes me go outside to chew them. That’s okay but I wonder why he won’t let me lay on the couch and enjoy my bone. People can be weird.
If you have a question for Bill, email it to bill(at)luvhappytails.com.
Bill McQuade is the owner of The Whole Pet, located at 2423 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville. The Whole Pet specializes in nutrition for cats and dogs and offers a wide variety of quality diets in raw frozen, cans and kibble. The store also offers affordable, unique and high quality pet supplies and accessories. Bill is a professional dog handler, and has worked in the pet care business since 1972.
I hate to be that guy, but can Mr McQuade provide any evidence other than anecdote for the claims made in this article? I think it’s irresponsible to publish something like this without some sort of scientific backing. Thank you.
Re-reading, I suppose there aren’t any specific claims made by Mr McQuade except that it’s the best and most nutritious diet you can feed your dog or cat. Only the anecdotes themselves. Still, is there any evidence that the claim that it’s more nutritious than processed food?
This article is misleading and contains several gaps in science. Certainly, the anecdotal evidence about the dogs with cancer is not a responsible way to advocate for a raw diet. Further, the research quoted was conducted on mice, and did contain carbohydrates. In addition to this, it fails to mention that cancer mutates and changes all the time. Simply a change in diet cannot and should not be advertised as a potential cancer cure.
Next, because raw diets do not include essential nutrients such as essential fatty acids, probiotics and digestive enzymes, as well as vitamin E, feeding your dog a raw diet requires adding these elements, since they do not exist in the organs that can be fed to animals through commercial, raw foods.
I don’t know if Mr. McQuade is a veterinarian, and certainly not all veterinarians are experts in nutrition, but it might be good to add a note that Mr. McQuade is not licensed to offer veterinary advice if he’s not, in fact, a veterinarian.
I’ve been in the Whole Pet, they’re an excellent store and have great food for sale, but this article just needs a giant asterisk next to it.
Scott and Blarrrgh, My columns are my experience based opinions based upon 40 years of observation and extensive reading. The reference about cancer was an observation by me of a small number of clients that shop with us here and down in the river valley.. Their pets had lymphoma and their quality of life improved after switching to a raw diet. Commercial raw diets are either supplemented with synthetic vitamins or in the case of a number of brands raw fruits and vegetables.
Ref: The BARF Diet – Dr Ian Billing,
Raw Meaty Bones-Tom Lonsdale DVM,
Dr Pitcairns Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats
The Nature of Animal Healing-Dr Martin Goldstein DVM
Homeopathic Care for Dogs and cats-Don Hamilton- DVM
and an opposing argument by: Brennan McKenzie MA,DVM @ sciencebasedmedicine.org
I am not a veterinarian and my articles are based upon 40 years experience working with dogs and cats. I do believe dogs and cats are carnivores, not omnivores and as such should be fed a species appropriate diet.. Feed the corn to the chicken and the chicken to your pet dog or cat!
You are clueless sir. BARF diets include organ tissue which provide all the vitamins necessary. All dogs derived from wolves, and they have done so very recently. Do you see wolves eating corn and rice in the wild? They are apex predators and have evolved for millions of years to eat raw food and bone. Sorry vegans, welcome to earth.
Bill, I wholeheartedly agree with your observations. I have had my dogs on a primarily raw diet for the past 16 years and seeing is believing. I supplement with the use of probiotics, alfalfa, kelp, spirulina, vit c, and cod liver oil. It is a about QUALITY of life in my animals and that’s precisely why I do it.
My Great Dane has been on a raw diet since he was 10 weeks old. Processed foods did not go over well with him.
My dog has been on a mostly raw diet his entire life. I prepare all of his food myself only cooking the rice and sometimes the meat depending on quality. I’ve found that the only thing my dog can’t eat is dry dog food. He becomes very ill every time he eats it, no matter what the brand or “quality”. I’m sure with time I could ween him onto a brand of dry food, but I don’t see the point. Raw can be cheap and easy if you aren’t yourself a “lazy” eater, make large batches and freeze it. Good article Bill!
thanx for the support. Those of us that feed raw know what it can do for our pets. Addressing cost. Some Raw can be expensive to purchase in convenient formed patties and medallions, but for example The Whole Pet also carries Bravo 5lb chubs Chicken blend $11.39, Turkey, $12.89, and beef $19.49.