Is Raw Meat Safe for Dogs?

A diet of raw meat opens the way for many parasites to enter your dog's body.

Q. We have a 4-year-old dog. My boyfriend's mom gives the dog raw meat sometimes. I have read a lot of articles that say it's not healthy to feed your dog raw meat. Is it OK for dogs to eat raw meat?

Dr. Jon Geller

A. The raw-meat diet is a topic of great controversy in veterinary medicine.

Most veterinarians don't like it because of the toxic bacteria that is present, such as E. coli and Salmonella.

In addition, raw meat is often riddled with parasites that will take up residence in the intestines of a dog that eats the meat. These parasites can migrate about the body, often curling up in a little cocoon-like structure known as a cyst. They can live in the intestines, wreaking havoc with normal digestion and causing diarrhea and vomiting.

Once you have looked at these worms, flukes and tiny parasites under a microscope, you hope that they never make their way into your own body.

So to answer your question, no, I don't recommend giving your dog a raw-meat diet.

Jon Geller, DVM

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Give us your opinion on Is Raw Meat Safe for Dogs?

leslie new york, Alabama

5/20/2013 8:55:40 AM

think of it this way,if we never use to have dogs as pets how would they eat?back o the wolf,see wolfs are dogs but are normally whiled,and what do the feed on? raw meat,so there is no problem feeding your dog raw meat it natural once their body gets use to it

Leslie - 233329 Amarillo, TX

3/30/2013 11:16:00 AM

I agree with Dr. Geller.

MARYANN shirley, New York

2/8/2013 6:29:05 AM

I HAVE 3 GERMAN SHEPARDS,THEY ALL HAD SKRICHING,LICKING PAWS,BLACK WAX IN EARS, ICHING REAL BAD.TRIED ALL KINDS OF KIBBLE AND MEDS,SPRAYS FOR HOT SPOTS, NOTHING WORKED.SO I SAID NO MORE KIBBLE AND WENT TO RAW MEAT EIGHTER INSTINT OR STELLAS, OR PROMEL. AND VEGGIES THAWED LIGHTLY HEATED.2 X A DAY MORN. AND EVENING AND IT WORKED NO MORE ICHING,PAW LICKING OR ANYTHING MAKE SURE THE MEAT IS FROZEN FIRST THEN THEW,AND GIVE IT TO THEM

threenorns Minden, Ontario, Canada, Wyoming

12/28/2012 12:55:11 AM

belen - if you can eat it, so can your dog. myself, i prefer to limit pork, though, as it makes my dog fart. he's been on raw food diet since he was a puppy after the second time i had to heimlich kibble out of his throat before he choked to death - he's a border collie mix, weighs about 65lbs at the moment (he's a tad on the thin
side).

otherwise, he gets 600gr of raw meat a day; marrowbones twice a week to chew on; enough bone to keep his poop firm (too much bone and your dog will be pooping out little bricks - not kidding). meat includes: beef, chicken, turkey, pork, goat, duck, moose, deer, and anything else i can get. i give him a can of sardines and a raw egg weekly bec his skin gets very dry in the winter (we heat with wood). he also get bananas, sweet potato, avocado, carrots, sweet peas, green beans, cauliflower, shrimp and canned but not raw salmon (gives him the runs).