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It's Rah-Rah-Rah for Raw

Denise Flaim | Animal House

May 30, 2000

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'TALKING ABOUT dog food these days is like talking about politics and religion," wrote Jen, a friend and dog breeder, in a recent e- mail to me. "I try to stay clear."

Maybe I'll regret not taking Jen's advice in this column, but here goes:

I feed my dogs a raw diet-otherwise known as "BARF."

That unfortunate acronym, which stands for "bones and raw food," has been popularized in recent years by Internet discussion groups and the writings of Australian vet Ian Billinghurst ("Give Your Dog a Bone") and Kymythy Schultze ("Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats: The Ultimate Pet Diet"). Richard Pitcairn ("Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide for Dogs and Cats") and Wendy Volhard ("The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog") also promote raw diets.

Denise Flaim Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

The theory behind raw food is this: Because the biology of domestic dogs(and cats) is virtually identical to their wild cousins, their diets should follow suit. A wolf that eats a deer, for example, would munch on its raw, meaty bones (the staple of BARF diets, loaded with enzymes that are destroyed in cooking), as well as muscle and organ meat, and partially digested vegetables in its prey's stomach. That opportunistic wolf might also scarf raw eggs, fallen fruit and what he scavenges from the leftovers of humans.

Basically, that's what I feed my dogs: In the morning, pulped raw veggies-carrots, kale, spinach, turnips, collards, zucchini, pumpkin, celery, garlic, cucumber-mixed with raw fish, ground beef or veal, beef heart or lamb kidneys. Sometimes I add eggs or cottage cheese or plain yogurt or occasionally even leftover Chinese food. At night, it's raw chicken wings or turkey necks, which the dogs crunch with gusto. It's a sound you get used to -along with the sight of calf brains in your grocery cart and the reaction of people-including many vets-when you tell them what you feed.

"I don't even understand why it's controversial," says Marcie Fallek, a holistic veterinarian with practices in Manhattan and Fairfield, Conn. A self-described "raw food advocate," she says 30 percent of all the skin problems she sees are cleared up by a raw diet. "It's what we fed these animals for 10,000 years. Dog food only came to this country in the 1940s."

For his part, veterinarian Marc Franz of Woodbury Animal Hospital takes a more cautionary approach, pointing out that people need to "understand the downsides" of feeding raw and "take responsibility for them." One risk factor he points to is intestinal perforation or impaction from raw bones, though that can be mitigated by grinding them.

"Probably the biggest concern I have," Franz continues, "is the risk for food poisoning and bacterial contamination. People talk about soaking the meat in food-grade hydrogen peroxide or grapefruit- seed extract, or braising the outer surfaces. But there's absolutely no way we can guarantee you're not going to get into a problem with campylobacter or salmonella or E. coli. The vast majority of dogs do not"-Franz has seen only one dog that "possibly" got sick from bad raw meat-"but that's a real issue, also for the humans handling the food."

Amanda Dimick of Huntington Station, who BARFs nine dogs, including six Chihuahuas, points out that no approach is fail safe. "Dogs can also choke on kibble." BARFers also contend that, unlike humans, dogs have short intestinal tracts and the stomach enzymes to deal with harmful bacteria. (Last week, recalling a brand of pig ears sold at Costco, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the salmonella-tainted treats posed a health threat to owners, not their pets.) BARFers add that while brittle cooked bones should never be fed, raw bones, especially poultry, are much softer and more digestible.

For me, the benefits of BARF outweigh the risks: Not only has it eliminated the periodic diarrhea and hives my dogs had while on kibble, but the improvements other BARFers said I'd come to see have indeed materialized: sparkling teeth and shiny coats. Higher energy and less "doggie" smell. And(forgive the indelicacy, but fellow poop- scoopers will relate)the, er, output has been reduced by more than half, signifying that their bodies are using the human-grade, minimally processed nutrients I'm feeding them.

That said, feeding BARF is expensive (easily quadruple what I spent on premium kibble, maybe more). And it requires a time commitment, both in preparation and research. Dimick interviewed at least 20 BARFers before going raw. Reading Billinghurst or another raw-food author is a must; www.dogwise.com offers most of the books. There are dozens of BARF e-mail lists at www.egroups.com (for kitties, try the "rawcats" list), and links at the site www.geocities.com /Heartland/Flats/7244/barfwebring. html.

Franz stresses that those who want to undertake a home-prepared diet -whether it's raw or cooked (he prefers the latter) -should give multivitamins, and do periodic bloodwork to ensure nutritional needs are met.

And most of all, says Franz, don't go it alone. "Let your vet know what you're doing."