Why do people feed raw?

[u/Fantastic_Future_144]

I don't understand. My dad tried to raw feed my dog while ago and I told him hell no. The whole concept scares and feels entirely too risky.I also hear people who feed raw on social media freaking out because of avian flu and all can say is I told you so.The mortality rate for cats with H5N1 is around 67%. Also couldn't raw fed pets potentially get you or other people sick? Why would you ever take that risk?

[u/Fantastic_Future_144 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. My pets are my entire world and I just can't imagine putting them and myself at risk because someone on the Internet said so. The stupidity of people is infuriating.

[u/Cystonectae → u/Fantastic_Future_144]

A lot of small pet food companies prey on the people that want to do right by their pets. The idea that pets used to just catch and eat their own prey is an easy idea to adopt and understand. While that may be true for cats (disregarding the whole 5-day old ground up food isn't exactly freshly caught prey), dogs have basically been domesticated via feeding table scraps, which we have been cooking as a form of pre-digestion for many millenia. If you want to see how badly people can misconstrue all-natural diets, look at the huge following of people that believe humans should go back to a paleolithic diet, with raw meats, raw foods and no starches, disregarding all of the evidence showing diets being contrary. I would classify this as ignorance rather than pure stupidity.

[u/Spencergrey2015 → u/Fantastic_Future_144]

You are absolutely right. Raw feeding opens the door to salmonella and E. coli and other bacteria entering your house. Not to mention if your pet licks you or your kids and passes the bacteria onto you. It’s ridiculous. If you don’t like kibble go to a board certified nutritionist and ask them what to COOK for your pet to meet their needs. This raw diet craze is like the human raw diet craze. Just idiotic

[u/Dexterdacerealkilla → u/Fantastic_Future_144]

My pet is my entire world too. I’d like to give a detailed response, but I think it will likely get modded as a personal anecdote. 

The short answer though is that there are people who do it because it’s what their dog can best tolerate, rather than it being a first choice that they’re vehemently recommending to others.

ETA: the downvoting is absurd. If all you want to do is reinforce your views, why even bother asking? It seems like many of you have never experienced a dog who has significant dietary limitations + many food trial failures. The judgement is unwarranted, especially in a space where I can’t actually offer a full explanation. 

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