# Raw Feeding and Salmonella Concerns



## sparkyjoe (Oct 26, 2011)

I'm interested in this myself as I've been thinking about trying chicken necks.


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

Don't worry about it. Vets are trained to dislike the raw diet; mine does, too, despite the fact that I've been feeding it since '97 and he's seen how healthy and hearty my dogs are.

Dogs' systems are much tougher than ours. They can deal with the germs in raw meat; think of how they wolf down random stuff they find on the ground and feast on cat poop with nary a problem. If you're worried about germs for yourself, just clean up surfaces and hands thoroughly after feeding.

The dog food forum has a section on raw feeding you might want to browse as well.

Good luck!

--Q


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

You may feel more comfortable about things after taking a look at this info. At @ 6:03 minutes into the video, Dr. Becker speaks about salmonella in particular. 

Raw Meat Diet for Dogs and Cats - YouTube
Excerpted from the transcript...
Salmonella and Your Pet
The second most frequently asked question I get about raw meat diets is, 'What about salmonella?'

The most important thing to understand about salmonella or any other potentially pathogenic bacteria is that contamination absolutely does occur. It's a fact of life.

Salmonella is the reason for most recalls of dry pet foods (and human foods as well). When a salmonella outbreak occurs, there has been contamination in the food chain.

The word Salmonella is used to describe over 1,800 serovars (species) of gram-negative bacteria. This bacteria lives in many species of mammals. The most common bacteria riding around in your dog or cat is Salmonella typhimurium.

I want to quote from an article titled Campylobacter and Salmonella-Associated Diarrhea in Dogs and Cats: When Do I Treat? It was written by Stanley L. Marks, BVSc, PhD, DACVIM (Internal Medicine, Oncology), DACVN, Davis, CA, for the Veterinary Information Network (VIN):

"The clinical significance of bacteria such as clostridium and salmonella causing diarrhea or illness in dogs and cats is clouded by the existence of many of these organisms as normal constituents of the indigenous intestinal flora. The primary enteropathogenic bacteria most commonly incriminating in canine and feline diarrhea is Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium difficile, Campylobacter, and Salmonella.

Veterinarians are faced with a quandary when attempting to diagnose small animals with suspected bacterial-associated diarrhea because the isolation rates of these pathogenic bacteria are similar in diarrheic and non-diarrheic animals, and because the incidence of bacterial-associated diarrhea is extremely variable. Salmonella species are commonly isolated from both healthy and hospitalized dogs and cats."

What this is saying, in a nutshell, is dogs and cats naturally have some Salmonella in their GI tracts much of the time – it's not some unknown foreign invader but rather one their bodies are familiar with.

If you're familiar with reptiles, the situations are similar. Reptiles are known to naturally harbor Salmonella in their GI tracts.

In an article written by Rhea V. Morgan DVM, DACVIM, DACVO for the VIN, the doctor asserts the following about illness resulting from salmonella:

"Factors that increase the likelihood of clinical disease from Salmonella include the age of the animal, poor nutrition, the presence of cancer or neoplasia, and other concurrent diseases and stress, as well as the administration of antibiotics, chemotherapy or glucocorticoids [which are steroids]."


The bottom line is potentially harmful bacteria reside in your pet's GI tract whether you feed raw foods or the processed stuff. In other words, your pet is already 'contaminated' with Salmonella.

Dogs and cats are built to handle bacterial loads from food that would cause significant illness in you or me. Your pet's body is well equipped to deal with heavy doses of familiar and strange bacteria because nature built him to catch, kill and immediately consume his prey.

Your dog's or cat's stomach is highly acidic, with a pH range of 1-2.5. Nothing much can survive that acidic environment – it exists to keep your pet safe from potentially contaminated raw meat and other consumables.

In addition to the acid, dogs and cats also naturally produce a tremendous amount of bile. Bile is both anti-parasitic and anti-pathogenic. So if something potentially harmful isn't entirely neutralized by stomach acid, the bile is a secondary defense. And your pet's powerful pancreatic enzymes also help break down and digest food.
_________________________________________________________________________________

I have been feeding Answers Detailed Raw Frozen Food along with chicken, duck and turkey necks without any problem. My vet thinks I'm crackers, but he also proclaims I have a very healthy, fit 5 year old poodle! He feeds his dogs Purina. hwell:
Raw Dog Foods

Some more on the subject here...
Common Raw Feeding Mistakes That Can Be Harmful to Your Pet


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## Poodlerunner (Jul 4, 2014)

I have fed raw chicken wings in the past without ever a problem. Boy was it ever a leap of faith to toss him that first wing. That was about 14 years ago. My current spoo puppy gets all raw food, but pre-made. I feed Primal nuggets and Stella and Cheweys frozen. I haven't given her chicken necks yet but I will probably start to look for a source for them. Yesterday she had a recreational shin bone. I scooped all the marrow out first... next time I will leave a little bit. My vet is the last person I would ask about it though. Too bad.

pr


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

Thank you SO much for the instant relief on this issue. Saved me the research time and the angst. Buck may be indifferent to the kibble, but he is always happy to savor those necks. His stools are never loose and don't stink. It's funny how I went from "wtf!" when I read my breeder's feeding program to thinking it makes great sense for my puppy. I was pretty bummed when the vet mentioned this risk. Now I can be happy that he had a good check-up


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Mfmst said:


> Thank you SO much for the instant relief on this issue. Saved me the research time and the angst. Buck may be indifferent to the kibble, but he is always happy to savor those necks. His stools are never loose and don't stink. It's funny how I went from "wtf!" when I read my breeder's feeding program to thinking it makes great sense for my puppy. I was pretty bummed when the vet mentioned this risk. Now I can be happy that he had a good check-up


_Good!_ That is "the power" of our PF pack in action!  And your spoo will have nice white teeth, too!:biggrin: Here's Chagall eating a turkey neck. I assure you no poodle was harmed in the process! (I didn't have his snood and leg covers on because he was going straight into the bath.):bathbaby:


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## pandj (Jun 12, 2013)

I agree that Vet's have no clue on dog nutrition and raw or homemade feeding. All their information comes from the dog food industry. No worries on your puppy's diet...raw feeding is a great way to go.


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