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“Freezing raw diets kills bacteria.” Most of the bacteria found in raw meat diets can easily survive freezing (and freeze-drying). MYTH 6: “As long as bones are raw, they’re safe.” Bones, whether raw or cooked, can fracture dogs’ and cats’ teeth. Bone also can block or tear the esophagus, stomach or intestine. MYTH 7: “Cooking destroys enzymes needed for digestion.” All the enzymes that dogs and cats (and people) need for digestion are already in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, additional enzymes from food are not required for digestion. MYTH 8: “Raw diets do not contain grains, because grains are added to pet foods only as fillers.” Corn, oats, rice, barley and other grains are healthy ingredients that contain protein, vitamins and minerals; they are not added as fillers and are unlikely to cause allergies. Although meat is an important component of diets for dogs and cats, grains can be part of a high-quality, nutritionally balanced diet. MYTH 9: “Most commercial pet foods contain harmful ingredients such as by-products.” By-products are the animal parts that Americans don’t typically eat, such as livers, kidneys or lungs. There are specific definitions for what by-products can and cannot include.For example, by-products must be the clean parts of slaughtered animals and cannot include feathers, hair, horns, teeth and hooves. Basically, by-products are organs and meats other than animal muscle. Note that some pet foods may actually list these ingredients (e.g., duck liver, beef lung) but these are really just “by-products.” Most commercial and many homeprepared raw diets also contain by-products. MYTH 10: “If bones or chicken necks are added to raw meat diets, they’re nutritionally balanced.” Most homemade (and even some commercial) raw meat diets are extremely deficient in calcium and a variety of other nutrients, even if chicken necks, bones or egg shells are added. This can be disastrous in any animal but especially in young, growing pets and can result in fractured bones. TOP TEN MYTHS ABOUT RAW MEAT DIETS 2 3 Potential health concerns of feeding raw meat diets include: • Gastroenteritis • Fractured teeth • Sepsis CONTAMINATION RISKS More research is needed to fully understand the potential health effects of raw meat diets. However, a large body of research has been completed on the high risk for pathogenic bacterial contamination of raw meat diets and the potential risks posed by this problem.

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