Raw Food Diet

Raw Food Diet Information & Policy for Boarding Pets 

 

 

Companion Animal Hospital will not feed true raw food

diets to patients in the hospital or boarding facility due to

the risk of food borne illness to other patients and staff.

There are many types of these diets available today, including

a small number of cooked fresh, frozen, or freeze dried foods

that remove bacteria when processed. If this sounds like what

you feed, please ask us as it may be appropriate for us to feed. 

 

Raw food diets are in fact raw foods and include meat,

seafood or vegetables that are not cooked or processed to

appropriately remove bacteria. Food borne illness from raw

meats is of concern due to the zoonotic potential of bacteria such as Salmonella, E-coli, and Listeria. This is a safety concern for both our staff and other patients.

 

In a study performed by the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, it was found that 

almost 30% of the 197 commercially available raw food diets tested for both dogs and cats, were positive for Salmonella or Listeria. This puts both the pet consuming the food, and the owner handling the food, at risk.

 

Our veterinarians do not recommend raw food diets for these reasons, as well as other health risks such as tooth fractures, tooth loss and overall wear, and esophageal and intestinal blockage or rupture.

There can also be long-term nutritional concerns with these types of diets.

 

Companion Animal Hospital feeds both Purina ProPlan Adult and the Purina EN Prescription Diet to animals in our boarding facility. We feed ProPlan puppy and kitten diets when appropriate.

We will also feed any other cooked, commercially available diet provided by the owner.  

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us directly. We are happy to have a Veterinarian or Veterinary Technician discuss this policy with you, and answer any questions you may have.