# raw vs cooked?



## kaydobe (Jan 27, 2012)

feed my dog raw some time to time, but lately it's more the meat portion is cooked. worried about parasites in the meat, so it was cooked.

are any nutrients lost in the cooking process? if so, what is lost? has vet guide to check for worms and stuff but I still don't feel right giving completely raw...

would like to do the best option but average vets aren't really experts in this...and don't personally know anyone who is...


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## Huginn (Nov 21, 2011)

First off since you are posting in the raw section, I can tell you that none of us really recommend veggies in the diet. If meat is frozen for a period of time before eating, all parasites will be killed, during the freeze. Most meat you buy in the grocery stores is prefrozen. 
Here is a good link to getting started and how to balance the diet: How to Get Started | Prey Model Raw
If you really want to include veggies try looking posting here:BARF and Alternative Feeding

Raw meat is highly digestible and a more appropriate diet for a carnivorous animal like a canine.


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

I'm assuming you are cooking it similair to the way you cook your own food. In that when we cook any foods for outselfs .. We loose nutrients. All though you are still leaps and bounds above kibble, there Is much less nutrition to what you are feeding when comparing it to raw. However there are many many websites where you can find the nutrition values of chicken being baked for example. This will give you a good guide line to what your pet is getting from his/her food. To address your concern about paresits.. This is really not a concern for dogs. Their bodies digestive track was designed to process raw foods, they have small digestive tracks so that no bacteria will have a chance to breed. So unless you are eating off the same area your pet is this is also not a concern for you. However if you still decide to feed cooked my suggestion would be to only cook it half way or leas so that some of the raw meat is still present and your pet can still Recive some of those nutrients and you can have some peace about germs as any germ would onu be present on the surface of the meat and not normally all the way through. btw please only cook food if it is a meat only meal, bones will splinter once they are cooked increaseing your dogs chances of chocking, but this is not a issue if you feed a bone raw.


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

Huginn said:


> First off since you are posting in the raw section, I can tell you that none of us really recommend veggies in the diet. If meat is frozen for a period of time before eating, all parasites will be killed, during the freeze. Most meat you buy in the grocery stores is prefrozen.
> Here is a good link to getting started and how to balance the diet: How to Get Started | Prey Model Raw
> If you really want to include veggies try looking posting here:BARF and Alternative Feeding
> 
> Raw meat is highly digestible and a more appropriate diet for a carnivorous animal like a canine.


And I second her statement that veggies and grains and additives to " increase the nurtriation" value of the food will not be perched here friend. But if you do want to go raw theres tons of people here to help ease your fears and answer your questions  good luck either way !


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## bully4life (Aug 9, 2010)

Where do they mention veggies ?


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## Huginn (Nov 21, 2011)

bully4life said:


> Where do they mention veggies ?





kaydobe said:


> feed my dog raw some time to time, *but lately it's more the meat portion is cooked*. worried about parasites in the meat, so it was cooked.
> 
> are any nutrients lost in the cooking process? if so, what is lost? has vet guide to check for worms and stuff but I still don't feel right giving completely raw...
> 
> would like to do the best option but average vets aren't really experts in this...and don't personally know anyone who is...



I am _assuming_ here based on this part that there is something else that they aren't cooking, and it would be veggies or grains or fruit. Also basing this on a previous post by the op.
http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/dog-food-recipes/13161-healthy-vegetarian-dog-treat-recipes.html


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## bully4life (Aug 9, 2010)

Oh ok. Their grammar and punctuation isn't easy to comprehend .


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## Huginn (Nov 21, 2011)

bully4life said:


> Oh ok. Their grammar and punctuation isn't easy to comprehend .


I have two dyslexic siblings that write worse than this, I have gotten pretty decent at deciphering lol. I think he/she also said he/she was posting from a mobile (in another thread) and it was difficult.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

You definantly want to give raw, not cooked. Cooking does loose nutrients. Thats why kibble is what it is. Dogs are designed to handle the raw where we can't. Raw also digests fast as well, so nothing has time to set up in their system to begin with. 

Not many vets know much about nutrition. Those of us here who feed raw know more about nutrition than they do, so you have come to the right place to learn!


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## kaydobe (Jan 27, 2012)

bully4life said:


> Where do they mention veggies ?


the veggies and fruit are only for occasional treats, though. not for actual meals.

I wasn't aware there was something wrong with giving some from time to time...<:I


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

kaydobe said:


> the veggies and fruit are only for occasional treats, though. not for actual meals.
> 
> I wasn't aware there was something wrong with giving some from time to time...<:I


There isn't. :smile:

But definitely try to feed your meat raw. Keep in mind that dogs are not people. I know it sounds weird to have to say that, and I'm not being condescending. But we (me included) tend to humanize our pets, when they are a completely different species. Completely. 

Dogs produce stomach acid much much stronger than us people. So parasites don't really stand much of a chance. Really, it WILL be fine.

And for SURE you want to feed all bones in their raw state. I know you only mentioned that you feed meat cooked, but I wanted to point out for any lurkers that cooked bones can be very dangerous because they become brittle and can splinter easily.

Welcome to our little group. :smile:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

the digestive tract for a dog beats ours every day of the week.....they have the ability to eat roadkill that's been left out, especially over time....which is why there is a process for introducing raw to our dogs...

we want to give them the very best chance to succeed....

so bony chicken is the start, and the progression to other proteins is very very slow....

there was a time when i was feeding veggies to my dogs, because their hair was thinning and i couldn't figure out why. i noticed, however, they got more gassy when fed too many veggies daily.....and, sugar in fruits is not good for their teeth...

so as a once in a while thing, sure....i drop veggies on the floor all the time because i'm a clutz....and the dogs get a treat....why should i have to bend down? 

but, the 80-10-10 guideline is in place for a reason...some dogs need more bone than others...other than that....it's a slow progression and their digestive systems build up the intensity of acids that will eat through a wood floor. don't ask me where i read that, but i did. 

welcome!


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## MyCuteDoggie (Nov 8, 2018)

I'm also interested in the difference bteween raw and cooked food. Can someone share data showing how much nutrients are lost during cooking?


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