[Samantha W]

Hi everyone, I would love some advice on this topic.
Ive been feeding my dog and cats raw and whole prey for about 4 years now, but ive never been offered something like this and im not sure what to do!

Someone offered me a zebra carcass from a zebra who lived on a farm and was only a few weeks old, it was randomly found dead in the pasture one day and they dont kno what happened. I was also offered some foxes.

So my question is, is it safe to feed these things to my pets? I usually only feed captive bred whole prey, that I would buy from a breeder, and I dont like the idea of feeding wild animals because of diseases those animals may have had. But ive read that freezing the carcasses for a month or so will kill off any bad diseases, bacteria, etc and it would then be safe to feed. Is this true?
Normally I wouldnt take any chances, but if its safe I dont wanna turn up any free food for my pets! And I also kno that many people hunt deer and wild rabbit for their dogs, so does the same apply for the wild foxes?

Any advice, and no bad judgment is greatly appreciated.

[pitlove]

Hi Samantha-

Wow, a Zebra. That is definitely different. Considering the farm owners can not determine how it died, I would probably shy away. Why risk the chance that the Zebra contracted something that could make your pets sick by ingesting it?

A few posters who feed raw on here have addressed the question of freezing raw meat to kill bacteria in the past. Freezing does not kill bacteria, only parasites. I’m unsure about disease, but it isn’t something I’d be willing to risk.

[Samantha W]

Thanks, I just didn’t kno about the whole freezing thing, cuz like I said I usually only buy from breeders. I dont really wanna take any chances with the zebra either. As for the foxes, someone told me its not good for carnivores to eat other carnivores or omnivores…im not sure how true that is lol, cuz my cats eat rats and mice and theyre omnivores. Either way, i dont wanna take any chances with the foxes either.

[Author]

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