Over the past four years, the raw food market has grown exponentially. Both humans and their dogs have switched from cooked food to raw food, many of them prompted by health issues they couldn’t seem to shake.
Raw food diets are popular for a variety of reasons. One of these is the idea that a raw diet is more natural than a cooked one, especially for dogs. Before dogs were domesticated and humans discovered how to cook food with fire, both humans and dog consumed meat, vegetables, and fruits that were completely raw. Because of this, our bodies are suited to absorb the nutrients in raw foods. Many people who eat raw even think we’re able to absorb more nutrients when we eat raw food because less of the nutrients are broken down as they might be in cooked food. While these reasons haven’t been entirely proven, they’re worth thinking about when comparing raw and cooked dog food, as we’ll be doing below.
Feeding your dog raw food means you have complete control over what your dog is eating (which can be both a good and a bad thing). This way, your dog isn’t subject to dog food recalls or the subpar ingredients and standards used by most commercially made dog foods. If you’re properly informed, you can even formulate your dog’s meals to fit their needs and preferences (you should always consult a veterinary nutritionist just to make sure your dog is getting the right nutrients).
Raw dog food also has a higher concentration of water, which is released from food when cooked. Because of this, raw dog food can be helpful for preventing dehydration in your dog. Some people also think that raw dog food has higher levels of certain water soluble vitamins and enzymes that might be broken down and lost through the cooking process.
While there are some benefits of raw dog food, there are also risks. The consumption of raw meat is the most dangerous of these, as raw meat is known to carry deadly pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Clostridium, norovirus and more. When your dog consumes raw meat infected with these pathogens, they can become ill themselves or they can pass the pathogens onto you and others, putting everyone they interact with at risk. You need to be very careful when prepping your dog’s food, as handling raw meat can also put you at risk for these pathogens.
On top of being dangerous due to pathogens, raw dog food has multiple other cons. Finding quality ingredients is inconvenient, taking up lots of time and money. Once you find these ingredients, storing them in a way that keeps them fresh requires lots of space and constant organization. Additionally, when you feed your dog a raw diet, it is extremely important to contact a veterinary nutritionist to make sure its diet is nutritionally balanced to your dog.
While wolves might survive off of raw food in the wild, dogs have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years, and because of this have evolved to eat food that has been cooked. Feeding your dog fresh, cooked food puts them (and you) at a lower risk of being exposed to the pathogens found in raw meat, so they’re less likely to deal with problems like food poisoning.
Cooked food is also easier to chew, and oftentimes easier to digest than raw dog food is. Cooking helps to reduce the anti-nutrients in grains and legumes, along with breaking down the plant walls and fibers that make up fruits and vegetables, making it easier for your dog to absorb the nutrients in the food they’re eating. What’s more, cooking food has even been shown to increase the antioxidant capacity of vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, and zucchini.
Compared to raw dog food, freshly cooked dog food has far fewer risks. As already stated, cooked ingredients can sometimes lose water and nutritional value, causing them to be full of empty calories that don’t serve any purpose to your dog’s health and wellbeing. Over time, these empty calories can lead to weight gain, which in turn leads to other issues like heart disease, diabetes, lethargy, and more. However, when food is cooked at low heat, there is a lower chance of this, as the food is cooked without breaking down important nutrients and enzymes.
Fresh dog food subscription companies offer a healthier, higher quality option for dog owners who want to feed their dogs fresh, homemade meals but don’t have the time to make the meals themselves. Recently, there have been a lot of new companies on the scene, and while the products they’re selling are more expensive than traditional, dried dog food, a lot of people have made the switch. When it comes down to it, commercial dog food isn’t a healthy option, and it really shouldn’t be an option at all. Why should your dog eat food you wouldn’t eat? They shouldn’t. However, because there are so many more options now than there used to be, picking the right dog meal subscription isn’t easy. While a lot of the products look the same, there are differences worth noting, so we’ve picked three of the best dog food companies to improve your dog’s health: Ollie, Farmer’s Dog, and NomNomNow.
When it comes to the health and happiness of your dog, you should choose Ollie. Ollie’s dog meals are high quality, extremely convenient, and full of real, fresh ingredients that are so good you could eat them if you wanted to. Their meals are cooked in USDA certified facilities, using low heat to kill pathogens and maximize nutritional value. Samples from each batch of dog meals Ollie makes is sent to third party testers to check for freshness and quality, so you can be sure you and your dog are getting the best of the best.
One of the biggest arguments for raw dog food is the amount of control you have over what your dog consumes. With Ollie, you’re given that same control – when you sign up, you’ll be asked to fill out a profile where you’ll put down your dog’s breed, weight, gender, activity level, age, and allergies, so the veterinary nutritionists who work for Ollie can be sure to get your dog the food it wants and needs. Because Ollie is a subscription model, you don’t have to worry about storing massive amount of food like you would when feeding your dog a raw diet – Ollie delivers your meals directly to you, along with portioning tools and instructions to store and portion your dog’s food to avoid confusion.
Founded in Brooklyn, the Farmer’s Dog is focused on not only making your dog’s life better, but making the whole world better too. As part of this, Farmer’s Dog only uses recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable materials when packaging its meals. Before packaging, meals are designed by veterinary nutritionists to fit your pet’s profile, and cooked in a USDA certified kitchen using proteins, vegetables, starches, and fruits that are cooked at low heat. Every two weeks, the Farmer’s Dog asks you to choose which two meals you’d like to have featured in your delivery for the next two weeks, then vacuum packs and sends your chosen recipes in fourteen meals delivered to your door.
NomNomNow is dedicated to making sure your dog gets all its necessary vitamins and minerals. To achieve this, each NomNomNow meal includes NomNomNutrient mix and Fish Oil, so you don’t have to worry about buying extra supplements for your pup. All of NomNomNow’s meals are specially made by Dr. Justin Shmalberg, one of the world’s leading veterinary nutritionists. He and his team have created four main meals: Heartland Beef Mash, Tasty Turkey Fare, Chicken Chow-Wow, and Porkalicious Pork, customizing each of these recipes based on your dog’s needs. Meals are made fresh weekly using restaurant-quality ingredients, and then are hand-inspected before being sent to you.
While there are pros and cons to both raw and freshly cooked dog food, Ollie is a great choice for the health of your dog. There are so many dog meal subscription services out there to choose from, each of them offering healthy, fresh meals for your dog that are filled with high quality ingredients sure to change your dog’s health for the better. While all three of these dog meal subscription services are an exponentially better choice than commercially made dog food, one in particular stands out: Ollie. Ollie’s commitment to your dog’s health shows in its attention to your dog’s allergies, and its consistent third party testing. If you’re looking for a dog food company that’ll improve your dog’s health, Ollie’s consistent quality and freshness make it one of the best choice on the market.
Update: Ollie is extending a limited time offer to our readers. Buy Ollie now through this article and receive an exclusive 50% off your first box for a limited time only.
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