Raw Food Diet For your Pets

The BARF diet, Bone and Raw Food diet consists of everything from raw meat, raw chicken, raw pork, and organ meats to shredded fruits and vegetables.

We bring them into our homes and our lives and they rely on us. We buy them toys and get them groomed. We spoil them often. Sadly many of us are feeding our pets junk!

Many pet owners say the raw food diet improves your pets hair, teeth and can even aid in the curing your pet of allergies, arthritis and kidney stones.

Although there is some controversy that exists among raw food diet advocates as to the best way to combine these ingredients. Some pet owners prefer to feed raw chicken-bones and all-to their dogs, believing that the chewing gets their diegestion started and the that the bones help to clean the teeth. Other pet owners choose to grind the bones or not serve them at all to prevent potential choking.

The most common lean meat sources used in natural diets include chicken, turkey, beef and lamb. It is helpful to change meat sources and other food ingredients in the natural diet from time to time.

Ideally, if you are making homemade pet food you should use organic sources for the meat and other ingredients but this can be very exspensive for many people. Making your homemade pet food is going to be of a much higher quality than the commercial pet foods you would buy in your grocery store and it will come from sources you know and trust.

In preparation of your pets food it is very important to use the proper meat handling as we would for ourselves. Don't put raw food on the counter as this is causes bacteria. Always thaw meat in the refrigerator. Using the microwave to thaw can desroy some of the nutrients. Once thawed, never refreeze and keep it in the refrigerator for no more than three days.

Bones are an importand component of the BARF diet because they provide calcium and minerals in the form of nature intended. Cooked bones are much different than raw bones. Be very careful if you choose to feed your pet cooked bones as these have tendency to splinter into dangerously sharp fragments. Raw bones are much softer and much easier for dogs to consume and digest. If you choose not to feed bones just make sure they get their calcium from another source.

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