Raw feeding is a natural and healthy alternative to your pet's conventional diet. The philosophy behind raw feeding pets is that they have been eating this diet for thousands of years.

By definition, a raw diet for our dogs and cats includes animal protein, fat, vitamins and minerals.

Dogs and cats have short digestive systems, meaning they are designed to digest food quickly. Cooked foods take much longer to digest compared to raw foods, and the latter contain vitamins and enzymes in their natural state, making the nutrients available and more easily absorbed by our pets.

Additionally, dogs and cats do not have digestive enzymes in their saliva (e.g. amylase) like humans do to digest grains, so this further complicates the digestion process when they eat dry grain-based food.

Dogs and cats need animal proteins like meat and not plant proteins like corn, in order to cover their amino acid needs. They can live perfectly well without plants (carbohydrates). They do not have the ability to break down the cellulose from plants. The latter are therefore very poorly digested, if at all, and make the pancreas work at maximum capacity at all times.

A raw diet will include foods such as muscle meat, bone, fat, organ meat, limited amounts of plant matter for dogs, and any other foods that mimic what their wild ancestors ate. For cats, no plant matter, as they are 100% carnivores. Dogs and cats should eat 2-3% of their body weight on a normal basis. Pregnant and gestating females, as well as puppies over 4 weeks old, should eat portions of 4-10%. The owner is best placed to assess the amount to be fed.

Benefits

A raw diet promotes a boosted immune system, which not only increases resistance to disease and parasites, but also provides the following benefits:

Some myths to be elucidated

Here are some questions we've been asked over the years.

Will raw meat give my pet a “taste of blood”?

No, that's a myth. Your dog is not going to start killing everything that moves.

Should we be concerned about bacteria, such as E. coli, in raw foods?

According to some holistic veterinarians, dogs and cats rarely become infected with bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella after consuming raw foods, such as meat and eggs. The explanation is that dogs and cats, being natural carnivores, have a much more acidic stomach than humans, capable of destroying harmful bacteria entering through the digestive system.

However, you should still avoid free feeding in animals fed raw food. As a precaution, for your pet and you, do not leave food in your pet's bowl for more than two hours. Remember to wash bowls and utensils thoroughly after each meal.

My dog ​​will get worms. Is this true?

FALSE: Worms are not caught from meat. Worms can be transmitted either through contaminated feces from another animal, through breast milk or even through grass.

Is there a risk of unbalanced meals for my dog?

Quite the contrary. It is actually a concept invented and promoted by industrial food distributors. At Chef Canin, all our recipes are complete and highly nutritious with proof year after year. So, no need to be alarmed.

At Chef Canin, we are not looking to return our dogs or cats to the wild. It is impossible to feed a domestic animal a diet identical to that of its wild ancestor, but we are trying to recreate that diet. What we want for them is a diet and environment that will maximize their health.

By Mario Ethier, for Chef Canin