Due to a $500/month medication bill at the vets for skin and allergy issues we started one of our Shih Tzu's on raw food and as a result of the huge improvement will be placing the other on it as well. I basically got pissed off at the vets and told them that all they were are pushers for the pet pharmaceutical industry. We will save about $400/ month...facking crazy.
There are some quality dog foods out there when a raw diet isn't feasible. Particularly Orijen and Blue Buffalo. But yea...my vet said they do little training in pet nutrition while in school.
The old curriculum at most vet colleges (like when I graduated) were like that - very little small animal nutrition. But it has changed dramatically in the past decade at most schools, now students have the opportunity to get far more training in specialized fields like this (usually as an elective course).
To the OP, if you are going with raw food for your dog remember that your hygiene needs to be top-notch. Raw food (obviously) has a lot more potential live pathogens in it than cooked food, and while the bugs don't seem to have much effect on the dog, they will excrete more zoonotic pathogens in their feces. There were a couple of Canadian studies published on this a few years back - I've attached the abstracts below. So just remember to handle the feces carefully (duh!!), and don't let any children/elderly/immunocompromised people pick up the feces.
Can Vet J. 2007 Jan;48(1):69-75.
The risk of salmonellae shedding by dogs fed Salmonella-contaminated commercial raw food diets. Finley R, Ribble C, Aramini J, Vandermeer M, Popa M, Litman M, Reid-Smith R.
Twenty-eight research dogs were enrolled to determine the prevalence of salmonellae shedding after consumption of 1 Salmonella-contaminated commercial raw food diet meal. Sixteen dogs were exposed to Salmonella-contaminated commercial raw food diets and 12 to Salmonella-free commercial raw food diets. Seven of the exposed dogs shed salmonellae 1-7 days after consumption of Salmonella-contaminated raw food diets. None of the dogs fed Salmonella-free diets shed salmonellae. No clinical signs were observed in either group. Five of the 7 dogs shed the same serotypes as those recovered from food samples used for feeding. Results showed the same serotypes and antimicrobial resistance pattern in 2 of the 7 shedders. Dogs fed Salmonella-contaminated raw food diets can shed salmonellae and may, therefore, be a source of environmental contamination potentially leading to human or animal illness.
Preliminary assessment of the risk of Salmonella infection in dogs fed raw chicken diets
Daniel J. Joffe and Daniel P. Schlesinger
Canadian Vet Journal, June 2002; 43(6): 441-42.
This preliminary study assessed the presence of Salmonella spp. in a bones and raw food (BARF) diet and in the stools of dogs consuming it. Salmonella was isolated from 80% of the BARF diet samples (P < 0.001) and from 30% of the stool samples from dogs fed the diet (P = 0.105). Dogs fed raw chicken may therefore be a source of environmental contamination.
