BARF - a bones and raw food diet for pets
BY Kevin Lai
BARF
A few years ago, a book by Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst urged pet owners to turn away from commercial diets and prepare their own raw food meals for pets. Based on the knowledge that wild canids eat raw food, Billinghurst promoted BARF - a bones and raw food diet - as healthier for dogs than any commercial diet.
Ingredients in raw food diets include whole chicken or fish carcasses or parts (chicken necks and backs are popular); yogurt; raw eggs; and leftover fruit and vegetables. Grains are forbidden. Advocates assert that raw food diets increase energy, improve longevity, and fix everything from doggy odor to arthritis.
There is much controversy over raw food diets, including debate over the use of dairy products for adult dogs, the safety of feeding bones, and the potential for illness from parasites and high fat content of raw meat. Proponents of BARF and other raw food diets claim that many veterinarians do not promote home-prepared foods because they are uneducated about nutrition or they sell commercial foods in their clinics; detractors express fears about feeding bones and milk, about assertions that the raw diet prevents many diseases, and about claims that the ingredients in commercial foods cause health problems.
Books promoting raw meat diets for dogs include Give a Dog a Bone by Dr. Ian Billinghurst and The Ultimate Diet: Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy R. Schultze AHI. A plethora of information can be found on the World Wide Web as well, including www.secondchanceranch.org/rawmeat.html, a site devoted to the drawbacks of BARF.
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Keywords: Dogs, pets, dog supplies, pets supplies, pets store, dog food.
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