Micah is a cat, not a dog, but I answered this poll anyway.

I just started Micah on a combo RAW and Innova canned diet yesturday and amazingly enough, he has MORE energy...if that's even possible!

Micah has feline Inflammatory Bowel Disease and I've been researching a lot on how to make him better. The raw diet has been proven to fix IBD in cats!! So...anything Micah needs to make him better is worth it to me. Pets are a huge committment, and regardless of what they need, its my job to do whatever I can for him.

Here is a link on what I use to make Micah's food: http://www.felinefuture.com/ As far as paracites go, the dont recommend feed pork, because it has the only bacteria cats CAN get from eating FRESH meat. Cats (and I'm pretty sure its the same with dogs) have a shorter digestive system and food passes through MUCH quicker than with people. So, salmonella and e.coli aren't a threat to them.

Making the food isn't bad at all. I spent about an hour last night making 12 days worth of food. (That included cleanup and feeding him his first taste.) It really isn't that much of a hassle if you ARE considering it.

Lots of companies make suppliments to be mixed with the fresh meat, so there isn't a fear of the animal not getting enough nutrients.

As far as the animal getting sick FROM the raw diet...I guess that's why we have to monitor our animals a bit more closely, but that's something we should be doing anyway. Fecal tests can detect tape worms and only cost about $20....and SHOULD be included in yearly exams anyway....

Anyway...that's my take on the raw diet.

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