Re: I'm confused/anxious about B.A.R.F. vs. Raw Meaty Bones diet
I understand your concern about trying to fed your dog the best diet you can. I am not a vet but my best friend has her DVM and she is a board certified DVM Pathologist....She is the person who does animal autopsies to determine cause of death. She has shared stories of dogs eating raw bones and choking to death, which did not become my main concern after my discussions with her. She works at NCSU in Raleigh, NC, an agricultural area. She has seen factory farm animals that died from viruses and bacteria, even though those animals receive some intense vaccines and drugs. I don't want my pets to consume animals treated extensively w/ hormones & other meds/ chemicals. I also worried about just going to the grocery butcher shop to get bones or meat b/c there have been quite a few outbreaks among stores selling meat for human consumption b/c of employees not washing their hands then handling the meat or other poor sanitary conditions.
Basically when you compare wolves and cougars to your dogs and cats remember this wild animals KILL THE ANIMAL AND EAT IT IMMEDIATELY.
In the wild, there are no genetically altered animals ex. pigs, animals full of hormones & chemicals, freezers, etc! Animals can generally sense if an animal is sick, i.e. diseased. Refer to ABC's show PrimeTime and its story about how dogs smell cancer. When animals sense a truly diseased animal they don't always kill &/ or eat it. Your pets are conditioned to trust you and to eat what you give to them.
Now go rent a tape of wild packs of wolves hunting and eating their prey OR wild big cats doing the same. They don't go eat the bones unless it is a small animal. Take note that on big game they always eat the gut first- fatty and full of nutrition, then go for the other meat, and that bones are not high on the list.
As a result of all this info she and I discussed PLUS the dog food scare, I only feed my dogs cooked organic meat which includes soft (no splintering) bones b/c of long pressure cooking. I mix it w/ some dry food, right now I use hi quality ckn & oats kibble. AFTER GREAT research, I do occasionally feed raw organic ground chicken patties, which include ground bones. (I have not found organic or hormone free beef patties in my area.) I am very diligent after defrosting only 1 or 2 patties. I wash my hands extensively before and after touching the meat, which my dogs consume within 24 hours. Anything that touches the meat is cleaned immediately (so must wait until dogs are done eating and clean bowl immediately).
I don't feed bones- raw can be contaminated and those cooked pet store bones can result in cracked teeth b/c they are too hard.
I will never go all raw b/c of the risk of contamination. If I was raising the chickens and other animals myself, I had a clean butcher, and a big freezer, THEN I would go all raw.