[Guy N]

I have a suppressed immune system due to organ transplant. Among the multitudinous advice I’ve received via the transplant center and other qualified medical professionals, a veterinarian once told me that feeding raw to my dog might be hazardous to my health.

My Australian labradoodle’s breeder whelped him on raw food and I continued for a couple years, until the transplant happened and the vet gave me this opinion. Aside from occasionally creating our own raw food from inexpensive parts my wife and I obtained, we mainly bought from our local Top Quality Dog food people. My wife however felt uncomfortable doing so based on this warning from the vet. So we’re back to kibble.

I’ve asked around and usually get the “holistic” mystical answers, but I was wondering if any forum members had qualified thought on this. Our dog did very well on raw food, poops could be obliterated by smashing them with a shovel, good clean teeth, a very lively and happy dog (not that that’s changed much), etc. A healthy dog in other words.

So does anyone have any advice on this. A medical option would be nicee–GuyN

[aimee]

Hi Guy,

It seems that you have been given recommendations by the medical professionals that understand your situation.
Considering that raw diets in dogs has been associated with some fairly serious heath issues in people I understand why your vet is concerned. These types of events are very infrequent but may be of higher frequency in immunosurpresed individuals.

Consider not only food handling hygiene but also bacterial contamination in the environment. For example, a dog finishes the meal and then wipes their face on the couch. Bacterial transfer can occur. Some time ago I read a paper in which the authors cultured out the contents of vacuum cleaner bags. In raw fed home 10% of the time they grew out Salmonella. Salmonella was also found in vacuum cleaner bags in kibble fed dogs but at a lower occurrence. The numbers tested were too small to do a statistical analysis but it severs as a eye opener as to the extent of bacterial transfer.

My BIL didn’t make it to organ transfer but was going through the process. The dog’s base diet was discussed and dog chews as well….no animal parts like bully sticks, pig ears etc. Everything offered to the dog had to have gone through a “kill” step and then be sealed from potential contamination.

[Author]

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