r/rawpetfood Apr 16 '25

Article The "Evidence-Based Science" Pet Food Game

79 Upvotes

I have a pet food recipe, and I've conducted randomized controlled trials (RCTs) showing that pets prefer my pet food over skipping breakfast entirely. Based on this, my pet foods are now considered "evidence-based," while yours are not. I begin promoting my pet foods as superior, conducting more RCTs where I compare my pet food to a fake recipe that I created specifically for the trials. This "control group" recipe leaves out key ingredients, yet I now claim my pet food has been tested with an "active comparator." My pet food is empirically proven and now regarded as "the gold standard." I tell everyone that my pet foods are scientifically validated, while yours are discredited. No one should ever consume your pet food.

This seems unfair to you, so you conduct your own RCTs, perhaps at a reputable institution like a University in another country, using the same research methods. To your surprise, your studies reveal that pets enjoy your pet food just as much, if not more, than mine, especially over time.

You've finally set the record straight about your pet food. Nice try, but now I start scrutinizing your research methods, labeling them as flawed, while applying standards that I never held myself to. Only my pet food can be "evidence-based." No matter how rigorous your research is, I continue to shift the goalposts. Your studies will never be good enough.

By now, the phrase "evidence-based" has become synonymous with my pet food, even though no one really knows what the term means. It just sounds credible. If you raise any questions, I accuse you of being anti-science or anti-evidence, and no respectable veterinarian wants that reputation. In this way, I've successfully stifled any serious discussion.

Are you starting to see how this "evidence-based" game is played?

Meanwhile, I've been hiring PR firms to broadcast that my pet food is scientifically proven, while yours is not. I've orchestrated media coverage with articles titled, "Why Do Pet Owners Reject Science?" Editors, reviewers, and grant agencies have now joined my camp, committed to promoting my pet food and discrediting yours. I even start associations and institutes to market that those who don't use my science based methods of food are harmful to other members of society like the ill or infirm. Maybe, I started doing this in the 60's having learned from the tobacco industry.

Yet, despite all this fanfare, my research has never answered fundamental questions—like whether pets actually enjoy my pet food or feel satisfied after eating it or even if it is actually healthy. My studies have only shown that pets prefer my food to either no food or poorly made, fake food.

I’ve never even done a head-to-head comparison between our pet foods. Frankly, I don’t know anything about your pet food. I’ve never tried it, nor do I need to, because it's already been accepted as fact that only "evidence-based" pet foods count—and only mine fit the bill. Because, well, "science."

Meanwhile, I keep accumulating grant money and publishing papers—hundreds of them. There are now studies comparing my pet food when served on weekdays vs. weekends, on round plates vs. square plates, with water vs. dry, and so on. Just look at all the evidence! But you’re no fool, and you've been busy too. Your own studies consistently show that your pet food is just as good as mine, if not better. Yet somehow, my pet food remains more "evidence-based" because—wait for it—I have more studies.

Now everyone believes that more studies automatically mean better pet food, regardless of what those studies actually prove. The term "gold standard" has come to mean simply having more research.

Heads I win, tails you lose.

Did you catch my trick? I changed the rules halfway through the game. Everyone still thinks "evidence" means proof that my pet foods are better than yours. But it doesn't mean that at all. It simply means that my friends and I conducted more studies, and the actual findings of those studies are irrelevant.

After all this, we've learned nothing about how to make better pet food. My research still shows nothing more than the fact that pets like my food better than no food or bad food. Nevertheless, prominent researchers and policymakers now advocate for my pet foods as the first-line option—because they have the most "evidence." Yet, there is still no proof that pets even like my pet food or that it is healthy.

In fact, there's growing evidence that most pets don’t enjoy it and don’t feel satisfied after eating it, that is causes obesity and diabetes and leaky gut. Moreover, there’s no evidence that pets would choose my food over yours if given the chance. But most pets no longer get a choice, the marketplace ensures this.

Remember, all my studies ever showed is that pets prefer my food to nothing or bad, fake food. But no one cares about the specifics. Everyone keeps repeating that my pet food has the "most evidence," and therefore it’s the only food worth feeding pets.

And don’t be surprised if, someday, when you go to buy pet food, your credit card company refuses to pay for anything but mine. Why? Because, you guessed it—science.

It’s good we had this little talk. Now you know your place.


r/rawpetfood Jun 04 '24

Science New Recipe Book from Dr. Karen Becker -dog owners can start with these 120+ recipes

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58 Upvotes

r/rawpetfood 6h ago

Question can i give my dog raw pork bones?

2 Upvotes

Ok i have seen a couple of posts in general about this but not specifically answering my question. I usually pick up a bag of dog bones from the butcher for my dog as it is healthy for her as well as keeps her entertained for hours. Except usually those ones are red meat and this time they only had bags of pork bones.

I am particularly concerned because i know that white meats generally cause more harmful bacteria, at least to humans right? like if I were to leave raw pork out for a day and eat it, i am much more likely to get food poisoning. If my dog was to have a pork bone and she was still chewing on it for several days would this make her sick?

As well as this, the bones stuck together in the bag in the freezer, if I were to defrost them enough to separate them and refreeze them afterwards would this be safe for a dog to consume?

I never give her ribs or any bones small enough that she would try to swallow it.

Edit: thank you everyone :)


r/rawpetfood 15h ago

Question Elevated creatine levels - looking for help and advice

3 Upvotes

Our 2 year old Shiba Inu had blood taken last week. Our vet noted elevated creatine levels, so they decided to take an ultrasound to check his kidneys for any damage or signs of kidney disease. The results showed no kidney damage.

Of course, the vet is not interested in asking about our dog's lifestyle or what he eats... I have low trust in not just this vet, but many vets in our area, and don't feel I have a better in-person vet option, unfortunately.

About 1 year ago I started cooking homemade food for my dog. As a puppy, he ate kibble but had terrible allergies and digestive issues, so I now only give him dry kibble that he tolerates well 25% of the time. I realized that beef and chicken do not sit well with him, so the other 75% he eats cooked rabbit and some fish and not only has it solved his digestive issues but he loves it.

Now I'm really worked up about this and want to make sure I'm feeding him balanced meals. Does anybody have a virtual vet based in the USA that they can recommend? Or, does anybody else have similar experience with elevated creative levels? How did you address?


r/rawpetfood 1d ago

Link Northwest Naturals raw dog, cat food recalled due to risk of listeria, salmonella

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6 Upvotes

r/rawpetfood 1d ago

Question Primal Issues - anyone else?

1 Upvotes

Hi, I just purchased a few bags of frozen Primal Turkey and Sardine nuggets, which my dog has been eating for almost a year. He ate the beef previously but developed an allergy.

The bag I just opened is very dark in color - it looks and smells more like the beef. I opened another and same thing. One of the two bags doesn’t have a lot number or a best by date stamped on it. Is anyone else noticing this? Thanks!


r/rawpetfood 1d ago

Question Traveling

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I feed my dogs raw premade (vital essentials). I will be driving two days and will bring an ice chest but won’t have a freezer until I get to where we are going. Has anyone just temporarily fed the freeze dried food just for convinence? Anyone have any good raw travel tips?:) thank you!


r/rawpetfood 2d ago

Discussion be very careful with raw bones.

13 Upvotes

So basically, today I gave my dog a raw bone. It was pretty large, too big to fit into the mouth well I was relaxing, watching a movie while she chewed her bone, and apparently, sometime when I wasn’t paying attention, she broke some off and got it stuck in the back of the roof of her mouth. She started freaking out. I tried getting it out a few times, but it was just making the panic worse, and she started trying to snap and started gagging, so I stopped because I didn’t want her throwing up and choking or panicking anymore than she already was. We got to the ER vet about an hour later, and they removed it, and luckily, no damage. But this is just a fair warning that even raw bones are not safe, and if you do take the risk, never take your eyes off of them. She is all good now and resting at home. She got some McDonald’s nuggets after because I felt so bad.


r/rawpetfood 2d ago

Discussion Ground vs parts

9 Upvotes

I sell rabbit and quail whole and parted for pet consumption.

People are telling me I need to grind it so it sells better.

I'm asking the community for input.

I don't grind it because it reduces bacterial growth, increases shelf life, provides better mental stimulation for animals eating it, and is healthier for teeth.

I understand though that ground is more storage space friendly and it's easier to measure and regulate the nutritional components within it. Feeding ground means the bones and organ meat can be worked into the mix.

I know ground also means people don't have to acknowledge that they are actually feeding another animal to their animal.

I'd love to hear your input.


r/rawpetfood 2d ago

Question Any advice for people with compromised immune system?

2 Upvotes

I am considering slowly introducing a raw food diet to my two wonderful cats. However, because I am immunocompromised, I am concerned about the warnings I have read regarding the risks of raw pet food for individuals with weakened immune systems. Any advice or recommendations on how to stay safe? TIA!


r/rawpetfood 3d ago

Discussion Feeding big dog once every 2 days?

0 Upvotes

What’s everyone’s thoughts on feeding dog once every 2 days occasionally. I have a 35kg (77lbs) 14 month old. On a day he has had heavy exercise, I feed him 2x the weight he’s supposed to be eating. And maybe just give him a bone on the 2nd day or nothing at all.

I’ve heard that they’d spend the energy used for digesting food into growing muscles and recovery. Although this should be just a theory and no way proven.

Sometimes I find good deals on whole chicken or pork shoulders in bulk. And instead of cutting it up, I’d feed him whole. I know this isn’t balanced as it lacks organs ect, but this is an occasional treat.


r/rawpetfood 4d ago

Question Best complete cat food premix to replace my tried and true?

6 Upvotes

My two maine coons have eaten exclusively raw food since they were born. The breeder I bought them from makes her own mix and since I brought them home I’ve always used My Natural Cat Plus Chicken Liver from Feline Instincts, mixed with ground turkey, salmon oil, and water. Unfortunately, the company is going out of business, so I need to find a replacement premix.

The most important factors for me are:

  • Reasonable cost
  • No need to purchase, grind, or add organ meat separately
  • Can be used with ground turkey

So far, I’ve seen Know Better for Cats, EZComplete, and TCfeline PLUS. For anyone who has used these, which would you recommend and/or why? Or if you have some other recommendations that meet those requests I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks!

FYI Repost because I linked the mix I was using? I wasn't trying to sell just wanted to show for any comparison.. but yeah I suppose google it if you'd like more clarity. Thanks in advance!


r/rawpetfood 4d ago

Question 10-year-old kitty, fed raw forever, now vomiting a lot

7 Upvotes

Hi all- my tortie cat, Snickers, has eaten commercial raw her whole life- everything from Rad Cat to Stella and Chewy's to Primal. She likes rabbit and venison the most. She's done well with it, enjoys it, and her bloodwork is always perfect.

She has dental resorptive lesions, and has lost most of her teeth to extraction surgeries over the past 7 years. Poor boo. But she always comes through and heals up very nicely. I wish we could have figured that out without putting her through all those surgeries, but I was unable to find a holistic solution that worked, and was told it was autoimmune.

She just turned 10, and she has begun vomiting consistently. We moved to a new house about 4 months ago, and that's when it started. She's always been a "vomit once every few months" cat, and suddenly it's happening all the time. She's throwing up everything from bile with stones to hairballs, and now this week, a kind of food and hair slurry. I can't tell if it's stress from the move, a recent dental extraction surgery (she's had a ton of these and seems to do fine, so I don't know why that would be bothering her now), or what.

We feed her rabbit nuggets from Primal, and we microfeed so she's always got something in her stomach. She seems to vomit mostly at night between 12am and 3am. We can't tell if it's the new house, stress from the new environment, the food, age...? We've tried pepcid every night, some digestive enzymes, egg yolks, sunflower lecithin, and nothing seems to help over more than a few days.

Do we need to switch her food? I don't want to put her on Hill's or sometihng crappy. Aside from the vomiting, she does well. Eating, peeing, pooping normally, no diarrhea, appetite is good aside from right after throwing up.

Has anyone out there dealt with a cat who's been eating raw for years and suddenly starts vomiting? I'm thinking we're headed for an ultrasound...


r/rawpetfood 4d ago

Question Bear Meat

1 Upvotes

Has anyone ever fed wild bear meat ? Or is it just too fatty? Thanks


r/rawpetfood 4d ago

Question Looking for advice

2 Upvotes

Hey all, I have a ~20 lb 6-year-old dog, and I was wondering if I could get some advice. He's at an age where he's starting to get some supplements as a preventive for his joints. He's on a prescription kibble diet, but we have the ok from our vet to add a few supplements/options as long as it's run past her. So he gets fish oil with dinner, homemade beef bone broth (no additives with the exception of a carrot sometimes) at both meals, and green-lipped mussel at breakfast (~300 mg) and pumpkin with dinner (~2 teaspoons). I was wondering if anyone had any organ meat suggestions or raw meaty bones (besides chicken feet; he doesn't like the texture/will hide them). He's picky, but loves fish, and doesn't like large bones; however, he's a fiend for rawhide (he only gets a small bone once a month, and its ok with the vet) but not bully sticks, beef cheek rolls, or collagen sticks. He gets offered salmon or sardines (whole in water) 1x a week in lieu of fish oil.

TIA

Also, my cats get 1/2 a teaspoon of pumpkin and salmon/sardines 1x a week too. They also get a little bit of green-lipped mussel and bone broth too (~50mg); they're 1 and 2.


r/rawpetfood 5d ago

Picture Excited for her meal!

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32 Upvotes

Today’s meal she got beef tongue, quail egg, ground chicken, Beef Tripe, Beef Heart, Lung, Beef Kidney m, Beef Liver, fish oil, chicken foot and wing tip.

Since I prep her meals for the week I spread out her weekly needs throughout the week so I don’t know what exact supplements are in this.

For the week she gets for protein she rotates between beef, bison, duck, chicken, turkey,, along with edible bones such as chicken necks, chicken feet, chicken heads, and rabbit feet with fur. Her weekly extras and supplements include hemp seeds, bone broth, mussels, egg, pumpkin seeds, fish oil, green-lipped mussel powder, kelp, collagen, vitamin E, and Carna4 flora seed mix with probiotics. She gets a fish once a week I rotate monthly between herring, sardines and salmon. She gets veg mix with her meals a couple times a week.

I have to add the above in because whenever I post her with just her food people get concerned that I’m just feeding meat and bone and not properly feeding her.


r/rawpetfood 5d ago

Question What food do you leave when someone else watches your dog?

5 Upvotes

Leaving my dog with my parents for a few days and I’m trying to figure out how to make the feeding part easy for them. I’m comfortable with the routine but it feels harder to explain to family or a sitter without making it sound complicated. Do you pre portion everything, leave written instructions, use freeze-dried raw for those days or just keep the normal setup?


r/rawpetfood 5d ago

Question Rebel raw rabbit bones

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8 Upvotes

TLDR: how big of bone size is too big for cats, and am I being too careful or should I be giving the brand feedback? (See photo - pencil eraser for size compare)

I have been making the rounds on food brands and raw vs canned vs freeze dried etc. for our food allergic cat.

Recently we’re newly on rebel raw ordering the plain rabbit grind and adding vitamins.

I’m not familiar with “safe” bone size since this is the first brand I’ve used where the bones were big enough to see and need outside advice.

From what I’ve read online I think many bones I keep finding in the raw rabbit grind are too large, sharp, and hard for kitties.

I attached a photo of this mornings latest bone and it was incredibly sharp like it could pierce skin and about 1/2 inch long.
I was sleepy and missed it and thankfully my cat spit it out on her plate.

Trying to understand if I’m just being overly cautious, is this bone size too large so I should be providing feedback to the company, just keep digging for bones everyday, switch brands, etc?

(Just not feasible right now for me to make the raw food myself.)


r/rawpetfood 5d ago

Question Is this correct for 55lb gsd 5.5 month old

2 Upvotes

I’ve run this through multiple different search engines and various tools but it seems like every AI is giving me a different answer, and this seems the most accurate based on what I know. I’m basing it off of 2.75 pounds a day total with no kibble and no vitamin or extra supplements only what is listed below

I keep getting freaked out from the calcium levels and I wanna make sure that they’re accurate so he doesn’t have hip issues

The evening bowl is basically just a hodgepodge mix of everything else he needs because he’s super picky about his organs, but he’ll eat them if they’re all stuffed together.

Morning Bowl (14.8 oz total)
• 14.8 oz Boneless Chicken Thighs

Evening Bowl (19.2 oz total)
• 10.8 oz Ground Beef
• 2.2 oz Beef Liver
• 2.2 oz Beef Kidney
• 2.0 oz Raw Sardines
• 1 Whole Raw Egg (approx. 2.0 oz)
• 1/2 teaspoon Shelled Hemp Seeds

Separately Fed Chew Session (since he likes to chew them up)
• 10.0 oz Raw Chicken Wings (roughly 4 to 5 standard wings)


r/rawpetfood 5d ago

Question My idiot cat refuses all wet food

1 Upvotes

Hello friends! I have one cat who is 9 years old that I transitioned to raw wet food a long time ago. He's one of those cats that will eat anything, and the transition was super easy. We got a new cat about a year ago, and he'll eat any dry food, so I have him on Stella and Chewy's raw coated kibble. It's okay, I mean, he's healthy, but S&C is pretty expensive, and I'd love to get him on the same diet as my other cat. The problem is, he won't touch wet food. At all. And I mean, he won't even eat the dry food if it's a touch soggy. I tried supplementing with freeze dried raw, but I can't feed it to him exclusively because he refuses it wet, and eating too much dry makes him puke (which is reasonable tbh). Anyways I'm trying to figure out any way I can get him to eat wet food, and I'm out of ideas. Does anyone have tips for me?


r/rawpetfood 5d ago

Question My new dog has been fed raw before I owned him but the previous owner said he had an upset stomach often

1 Upvotes

I’ve just picked up a 6 month old Bernese mountain dog, the previous owner fed raw (Durham animal feeds chicken mixed with frozen vegetables) he also said that he sometimes mixed in kibble but said the dog often has Diarrhoea. I’m debating feeding him a mix of kibble and raw to try and settle his stomach. Would I be better off just moving him back to kibble ? Or was he not being fed a complete raw diet?


r/rawpetfood 6d ago

Discussion Darwin's Rabbit discontinued

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8 Upvotes

Darwin's will be discontinuing their Rabbit line for cats due to supply "challenges". Brutal news for my cat that eats rabbit pretty exclusively due to her IBD. Honestly it's the abruptness that's more tough to deal with but if they had tried to ease into this, I'm sure everyone would have tried to stock up making it even more difficult to fulfill orders.

Tried Viva a few months ago to no luck and have done Koha in past. Might have to be a homemade item now.


r/rawpetfood 7d ago

Link Yes I feed raw, how could you tell?

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11 Upvotes