Alot of vets aren't educated extensively in terms of nutrition. And if they are, guess who comes by and teaches them? YEP! Big companies like Hills will come by and "teach" them. I've also read that in some cases, Hills will offer extremely cheap food to students because alot of the students have problems paying for schooling and feeding their pets. I'd imagine that that would be one reason why so many vets seem to stick by Hills/Science Diet.

PROPERLY fed raw diets don't consist of just raw meat. There's much more to it. Just feeding muscle meat alone is asking for trouble. There are bones involved along with veggies/fruits, supplements (in some cases), eggs, and organ meats. Some people actually do feed whole animals (like Cali stated). A few butchers have loads of customers who only go there to buy meats for their dogs and often have specials on whole rabbits.

But yes, there are risks involved. Of course there is. The success of the diet relies on what the owner knows and sometimes, just plain ol' luck. If the owner decides that feeding raw meat only is going to be beneficial, well, that's risky. Some dogs have choked on bones (and yes, I've read that some have even choked on kibble). But when you read the articles closely, you can often find a mistake that the owner made. Like in one case, a lady was raging and venting about the raw diet after her smaller breed dog choked on a bone. Most of the non-raw feeding people started supporting her and cursing the diet while the raw feeding people weren't surprised as the size of the bones were absurd for a dog of that size.

And well, seeing is believing for me. Kai went from a very good food (Wellness) to raw. That change wasn't as obvious as Wellness was already a good food but there were still changes to be noted. His energy was astounding. His teeth were incredible. And his coat was the most amazing change of all (although..coat change doesn't necessarily mean the dog's in good health but it's generally a good thing). With Kaedyn, lord knows what his past "owners" fed (I say “owners” with reluctance ). He came to us in pretty bad conditions. Coat was dull, teeth were nasty, breath was gross, and he acted over his age. He acted like a senior. After a few weeks on the raw diet (complete with veggies, eggs, organ meats and all), he looked like a brand new dog. His coat was amazing, his teeth were much cleaner, his breath improved dramatically and the most significant change was the way he acted. He didn’t act like a senior anymore. He acted like Kai, like a youngster again. So.. risky? Yes. But whatever floats your boat I guess.