Search Results for “raw protein diet”

Raw food diets are rooted in the notion that dogs and cats are carnivores who crave protein and evolved to eat meat. But is meat what they really want to eat? Maybe only if it tastes good. A new study shows that when food is altered to remove the appetizing taste, dogs and cats will pass up protein in favor of other macronutrients. Specifically, dogs prefer fat, and cats like carbs.

It’s like the paleo diet, only for pets. Grain-free, all-meat, and raw-food diets are hugely popular with pet owners who like the idea of feeding their cats and dogs a diet that’s closer to what their ancestor ate in the wilds. The problem is, there’s no hard, scientific evidence that raw meat–based diets (RMBDs) are any healthier than traditional dry or canned pet foods.

Feeding dogs raw chicken meat, particularly chicken necks, has been linked to a rare but potentially fatal type of canine paralysis. A study by researchers at University of Melbourne’s U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, found that dogs who consumed raw chicken meat had a 70% greater risk of developing acute polyradiculoneuritis (APN).

Organic fare, specialty diets, and eating raw are some of the top pet food trends, according to The Bark. And while it’s difficult to argue with organic food, or putting Fido on a diet, what about feeding him raw food? Is it safe? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is attempting to answer that question via two new studies.

Feline Study Proves Link Between Raw Diets, Salmonella

Researchers who scoured existing research to compare common beliefs about raw food-based diets against research-based information have concluded that the risks of the diets appear to outweigh the benefits.

Pet owners are spending more money on their pets than ever—last year they spent $72 billion—and they spend more on pet food than any other category.

Cornell researchers say they have discovered that the secret to improving detection dogs’ smelling ability lies in adding fats to their diets and reducing protein.

Many veterinarians know that dogs of different ages have different dietary requirements. A new study provides another piece of evidence that supports the idea of age-based diets in dogs. A team of researchers from the University of Illinois has analyzed for the first time the gene expression profiles of colonic mucosa in dogs as a function of age and diet. The objective of the study was to compare the colonic mucosal gene expression in healthy young adult dogs with that of senior dogs that were fed two types of diet: animal-protein based and plant-protein based. The study found that "the colonic mucosa of senior dogs had increased expression of genes associated with cell proliferation, inflammation, stress response, and cellular metabolism, whereas the expression of genes associated with apoptosis and defensive mechanisms were decreased in senior vs. young adult dogs. No consistent diet-induced alterations in gene expression existed in both age groups, with the effects of diet being more pronounced in senior dogs than in young adult dogs."

While some studies suggest that lifelong training and an enriched diet could slow cognitive aging in dogs, most of those focus on dogs in a laboratory setting. Few have explored aging in pet dogs.