Domestic dogs often prefer cooked meat, though they’ll get sick if they eat meat that’s been excessively seasoned. However, if you were to grill a fresh cut of beef your dog will smell the aroma from quite far away and may even come running.
You’ve probably noticed this happen if you’ve ever tried to grill meat and your dog was out with you. Though they do appreciate the smell of blood in raw meat like their predatory ancestors did, dogs have lived with humans long enough to pick up on the smell of cooked meats.
Table of Contents
- How Much Cooked Meat Should a Dog Eat Per Day?
- How Much Raw Meat Should a Dog Eat?
- What Is the Best Raw Meat for Dogs?
- Why Do Vets Hate Raw Food?
- Do Animals Get Sick from Raw Meat?
- What Does Raw Meat Taste Like to Animals?
- Can I Feed My Dog Raw Meat from the Grocery Store?
- How Do I Safely Feed My Dog Raw Meat?
- Why Raw Diet is Bad for Dogs?
- Is Raw Food Really Better for Dogs?
- Why Do Humans Get Sick from Raw Meat but Not Animals?
How Much Cooked Meat Should a Dog Eat Per Day?
A dog that was fed nothing but meat would need around 300 grams of food for every 2.2 lbs they weighed. That means a dog that weighed around 30 lbs would need around 3,900 grams of meat.
That being said, dogs actually do need other nutrients to survive, so you’d have to provide them with either supplements or add at least some sort of vegetable matter to their menu in order to ensure that they were getting all of the nutrients that they require.
How Much Raw Meat Should a Dog Eat?
You’d still follow the same formula for a dog who ate raw meat. Thus, your dog would need somewhere around 300 grams of food for every single kilogram they weighed, which translates into 2.2 pounds.
Unfortunately, an overwhelming majority of domestic dogs would get sick eating all of this raw meat and probably couldn’t satisfy all of their nutritional needs from it anyway.
What Is the Best Raw Meat for Dogs?
Raw organ meat from animals like cows are usually the best for dogs. In general, dogs will go crazy for a cow heart, which is also usually going to have less of a risk of carrying severe disease than, say, a good sample of tissue meat might.
These areas of the body also usually carry the most protein and nutrients, which is why they’re so valuable as part of a dog’s diet.
Why Do Vets Hate Raw Food?
Vets tend to dislike raw foods because so many pet owners give their dogs food without cleaning them first. The key is to select the right cuts of food so that your dog doesn’t contract some sort of disease from eating things that aren’t fully cooked first.
Do Animals Get Sick from Raw Meat?
Wild animals usually won’t get sick from raw meat. Their digestive systems are more capable of dealing with parasites than domestic ones are.
While parasites do exist in the wild, the immune system of these animals is usually aggressive enough to take care of them. Eventually, parasites do kill many older or weaker predators.
What Does Raw Meat Taste Like to Animals?
Raw meat tastes much like it would to humans. It has a bloody taste that’s somewhat bitter.
The difference isn’t that it would taste different, but rather that predatory land mammals have receptors on their tongues and in their noses that focus on those tastes.
As a result, they tend to go wild for freshly cut red meat, no pun intended!
Can I Feed My Dog Raw Meat from the Grocery Store?
Grocery store meats often have some sort of bacteria or other parasitic organisms living in it that make it inadvisable to give to dogs unless you properly cook them. Even if you do plan on not giving them raw meat, you’re going to want to carefully read over any meats you buy in a grocery store.
Some have added nitrates or other preservatives, which aren’t good for a dog’s stomach.
How Do I Safely Feed My Dog Raw Meat?
Take a look in the pet section and see if there’s a cooler that provides purpose-made fresh organic dog food. If you plan on doing everything yourself, then you could get special cuts of meat that only feature organ tissue so you aren’t risking disease as seriously as you might with other cuts.
Why Raw Diet is Bad for Dogs?
Raw meats in particular can pass worms and other parasites to your dog. To a lesser extent, some raw vegetables are actually potentially dangerous as well, but dogs can normally eat raw carrots and green beans without much difficulty.
Properly prepared meats, though, are great for dogs because they’re so rich in the kind of proteins that dogs need the most.
Is Raw Food Really Better for Dogs?
It’s better to say that unprocessed food is better for dogs, because domesticated dogs can’t eat things that are every bit as raw as what a timber wolf might eat. If you got to the store and find a cooler with organic dog foods, then these are often what’s best for your average pooch.
While dogs shouldn’t be exposed to all of the germs that are common in totally uncooked foods, it’s not a good idea to give them all of the sprayed on fats that constitute most modern dog food products either. You might want to look into organic dog food if you’re trying to reduce your dog’s reliance on processed chemicals.
Why Do Humans Get Sick from Raw Meat but Not Animals?
Humans can’t handle the parasites that are in raw meat, so they start to grow out of control the moment they get into our guts. We don’t have the sophisticated iron guts, so to speak, that predatory land mammals have.
Something like a mountain lion or a timber wolf can eat their prey because they have a very developed digestive tract that’s strong enough to take it. Considering that it’s been a long time since humans lived in the wild, we’ve also lost some of our survival instincts over the years as well and our ability to eat many raw foods in the process.
