Biologically Appropriate Raw Diets

A Biologically Appropriate Raw Diet (BARD) includes uncooked ingredients derived from domesticated or wild-caught
food animal species. Please note that any animal eating a commercial or home-prepared BARD diet should undergo an annual physical exam and health screening, including serum biochemical analysis, hematologic analysis and urinalysis. Results will provide veterinary practitioners with a general overview of your pet’s health status, which they can use to consult with a veterinary nutritionist to correct the diet for specific nutrient deficiencies or excesses.

• Internal organs
• Raw poultry
• Uncooked eggs
• Bones from mammals
• Skeletal muscles
• Raw fish
• Unpasteurized milk

Risks

Bacteria and Pathogens

Bacteria and pathogens in and on raw products, even freeze-dried ones, could cause you or your pet to get sick! Raw meat for human consumption can harbor a variety of pathogens and bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella spp, Clostridium spp, Campylobacter spp and Listeria spp. Your dog or cat can carry Salmonella organisms in their gastrointestinal tract and shed it in their feces, which can then infect you. Always wash your hands with warm soapy water after preparing raw food and don’t forget to sterilize the food bowl after your pet finishes eating. People who are young, elderly, lactating or immunosuppressed should take extra precautions.

Finding The Right Balance

Home cooked, raw, and commercial raw diets may have nutrient deficiencies and excesses, which could lead to health problems. It can be difficult to formulate and prepare a nutritionally-balanced raw diet at home.

Trouble With The Gastrointestinal Tract

Raw diets that contain bones could result in fractured teeth and gastrointestinal injury through obstruction or perforation of any part of the gastrointestinal tract. The frequency of obstruction or perforation with raw vs. cooked bones has not been evaluated, but elevations in kidney values (BUN and creatinine) and serum thyroxine concentration (hyperthyroid) are possible.

Wolves Compared To Dogs

Dogs and wolves differ in 36 regions of the genome, 10 of which play a critical role in their starch digestion and fat metabolism (a crucial step in their domestication). During millions of years of domestication, dogs have adapted to eating as omnivores (diets consisting of plants and animal products).

Since dogs are mainly omnivores, instead of carnivores like wolves, nutritional superiority and benefits of raw diets are largely unproven. These types of diets are not based on any specific evidence and long-term feeding has yet to be critically evaluated.

Commercial vs. Home Prepared

	Commercial	Home-Prep
Diets contain fresh, frozen or freeze-dried foods.	Yes	Yes
Diets have animal by-products like bone and internal organs.	Yes	Yes
Diets are developed by a company marketing a brand.	Yes	No
Diets are developed by specifically trained veterinary or animal nutritionists.	Yes	No
Diets include weight specific feeding guidelines.	Yes	No
Diets are typically based on opinion and not subjected to rigorous peer review.	No	Yes
Diets are made in large quantities in manufacturing facilities or industrial kitchens.	Yes	No
Diets are formulated to meet values listed in the AAFCO Dog or Cat Nutrient Profiles.	Yes	No

CHECKLIST: Selecting a Commercial Biologically Appropriate Raw Diet

Use this checklist to help you select a commercial pet food that ensures your pet is eating a balanced and nutritional product.

• The manufacturer employs at least one full-time qualified nutritionist with appropriate qualifications, like a Ph.D. in animal nutrition or board certification by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition or the European College of Veterinary Comparative Nutrition.
• The manufacturer tests diets with AAFCO feeding trials or ensures that diets meet AAFCO nutrient profiles through analysis of the finished product.
• The manufacturer owns the plant or plants where food is manufactured.
• The manufacturer practices strict quality-control measures, including certification of the manufacturer’s procedures by the Global Food Safety Initiative, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, or American Feeding Industry Association); testing ingredients and end-products for nutrient content, pathogens, and aflatoxins; materials risk assessments; and supplier audits.
• The manufacturer provides a complete nutrient analysis when requested and lists the average analysis on the product label.
• The manufacturer provides exact values for all nutrients, ideally provided on an energy basis in grams per 100 kilocalories or grams per 1,000 kilocalories, instead of an as-fed or dry-matter basis, which does not account for the variation in energy density among foods.
• The manufacturer provides the number of calories for any food on any requested weight or volume basis, including per gram, per pound, per cup or per liter.
• The manufacturer conducts and publishes research in peer-reviewed journals and recommendations are given on the basis of information included in the nutritional assessment guidelines published by the American Animal Hospital Association.

Find additional resources from The American College of Veterinary Nutrition: https://www.acvn.org