# Raw Meat = Worms?



## CoverTune (Dec 20, 2011)

Are y'all getting tired of me yet? lol Hope not!


Can anyone explain this theory to me? I hear it OFTEN.. feeding raw meat will cause your pet to have worms. I never believed it until now.. Corona had bloodwork done in February that was 100% normal. This summer I fed raw for a few months, and her bloodwork came back with a ton of markers for eosinophils (white blood cells that are one of the immune system components responsible for combating multicellular parasites). Now I'm not sure what to think. The first thing the vet asked me was "has she had access to any raw meat?" Aside from the raw food, she is at extremely low risk for worms.

Those who are raw feeders, are your dogs on regular deworming?


----------



## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I have regular blood work done on my dogs (twice a year) and have never heard of this...I also have their stool samples checked twice a year and haven't had a problem with worms since I started raw feeding..


----------



## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

No worms here. I had bloodwork done in Sept, and my older dog was perfect and my younger dog also showed eosinophilia. However, it was slight - just above the reference range - and was likely from other sources, not the food. In the future, you should have your bloodwork read by Dr. Jean Dobbs at Hemopet.


----------



## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Mine did had worms a month ago but they could have picked them up anywhere since I take them everywhere.

Mine are dewormed every six months or as needed.


----------



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

My dogs haven't been wormed since puppyhood and I've never seen any sign of them. Bishop had bloodwork at one year and didn't see anything of concern.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Absolutely not.

Funny, but before we started feeding raw food both my dogs had giardia twice and pinworms once. But no worms since raw.

I would ask your vet - what kind of parasiite?
Do they ONLY live in raw meat?


And I don't worm regularly. I get a fecal done sometimes with diarrhea is all. Which means Snorkels never gets a fecal - the time she had giardia was the only time she's ever had real diarrhea.


you guys are freaking me out with all your vet stories. I am about to move away from my fantastic vet. I hope I don't get one that blames everything on raw meat.


----------



## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Have you fed any wild game without freezing first? I would ask the vet what kind of parasite he/she is talking about and to explain it.


----------



## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

We have 7 dogs, 3 of them puppies and no parasites. They only get raw and the pups have only had raw since weaning.


----------



## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

I only worm mine if they need it. I think, correct me if I'm wrong, that most Vets are talking like this because most of there experience is with dogs eating dead animals or raw meat they encounter that has been laying out and flies have gotten on it or dead animals that have fleas on them and they get round worms. Although I have heard of worms being in wild game meat I myself have never seen it and I have fed allot of it.

It has just made me think that's why they jump to that conclusion.


----------



## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

I've seen worms in meat. We had a duck that Drew shot. It was literally riddle with little teeny worms about every 1/4 inch. Burrowed into the muscle, skin, joints. I cut open the Breast to see if it was more than the surface. They were bone deep. 

I tossed that bird in the trash.


----------



## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

thats why its important to freeze the meat to kill of any parasites. I deworm Uno once a year just as part routine checkup.


----------



## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I'll tell you at the end of January when Mollie has her yearly check up, blood test, urinalysis and fecal. She eats a lot of raw pork, which is rarely frozen first. Plus she's had some venison recently which I don't think was frozen first, maybe it was in the snow, but not down here. My vet doesn't like raw feeding at all, so I'm quite sure he will absolutely jump on it if he see's any sign of worms whatsoever.


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

CoverTune said:


> Are y'all getting tired of me yet? lol Hope not!
> 
> 
> Can anyone explain this theory to me? I hear it OFTEN.. feeding raw meat will cause your pet to have worms. I never believed it until now.. Corona had bloodwork done in February that was 100% normal. This summer I fed raw for a few months, and her bloodwork came back with a ton of markers for eosinophils (white blood cells that are one of the immune system components responsible for combating multicellular parasites). Now I'm not sure what to think. The first thing the vet asked me was "has she had access to any raw meat?" Aside from the raw food, she is at extremely low risk for worms.
> ...


well, white blood cells fight disease....eosinophils are an indicator of allergies...not worms...

if your dog had worms, a fecal would tell you ...that or worms falling out of your dog's behind. lest you have never seen it, i wish i had taken pics of malia when we first got her.....it was charming to say the least NOT.

my dogs are raw fed for almost two years. i do nothing for deworming.....other than watch for them...yes, i inspect their bowel movements....

to my knowledge blood work does not indicate worms.....

my dogs don't have worms.....they had giardia before i started feeding raw....now they don't have anything but purely beautiful stools...


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

It makes you wonder if all those carbohydreates in a dog's digestive system makes for a better environment for parasites.


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

xellil said:


> It makes you wonder if all those carbohydreates in a dog's digestive system makes for a better environment for parasites.


considering a dog doesn't have the digestive enzymes to break down grains and food overloaded with more carbs and starches than proteins and fats......yes. 

how many of our raw fed dogs have irritable bowel disease? far less than those whose dogs eat kibble....all those sensitive stomachs.....that's kibble irritating the stomach and intestinal lining.....there's nothing to break it down....and if there is, it's a very small part of the animal's make up.

i do believe there is some ability to break down a few carbs, merely because dogs get hungry when there is no meat around and will eat anything....

those dogs who are force fed kibble and processed foods have their pH thrown off and their enzymes are a ship wreck.....and their immune systems are affected.....providing a breeding ground for anything to get in.


----------



## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Dogs get roundworms and hookworms from contaminated feces of other animals or soil, some species can be passed on from mother to infant during pregnancy and nursing. Also tapeworms most commonly from consuming fleas that carry the parasite...this is either from eating them from themselves or eating small animals that have fleas on them. 

So...raw meat causing worms in dogs? Just doesn't happen.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> considering a dog doesn't have the digestive enzymes to break down grains and food overloaded with more carbs and starches than proteins and fats......yes.
> 
> how many of our raw fed dogs have irritable bowel disease? far less than those whose dogs eat kibble....all those sensitive stomachs.....that's kibble irritating the stomach and intestinal lining.....there's nothing to break it down....and if there is, it's a very small part of the animal's make up.
> 
> ...


Yes, it does make perfect sense. About 100% of Snorkels' issues were related to digestion. And I just kept throwing more vegetables at her! Yikes. 

AND, we have had the same conditions in our yard this spring as last, when they were both parasite-infected three times. Wet weather, standing water, poop at the dog park. And no parasites this year.


----------



## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

None of our dogs have had worms ever...and have gotten, at different times, kibble, canned food, pre-made raw, and PMR . The foster dogs normally get pre-made raw and/or PMR...no issues with them either.


----------



## Noodlesmadison (Sep 18, 2011)

My dog got worms when on kibble - what is your point?


----------



## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

Sprocket said:


> I've seen worms in meat. We had a duck that Drew shot. It was literally riddle with little teeny worms about every 1/4 inch. Burrowed into the muscle, skin, joints. I cut open the Breast to see if it was more than the surface. They were bone deep.
> 
> I tossed that bird in the trash.


You know I take it back, it's been over 30 years ago I once got some kind of white fish at the groc store and it was not frozen and it had a worm in it. I threw it out as well. But I have never seen it again. But during hunting season there was a gal she's married to the taxidermist but was raised on a ranch and on wild meat, she told me that she has seen after meat being frozen and put in the oven worms crawling out of it yuk. I have no idea if it was deer or antelope but I have never seen it, and I've seen allot of wild game. 

I have never had worms in the dogs I have now but my other two basset girls would at times get worms because we had a ton of rabbits around and they would catch and kill and eat the babys. Of course hair and all so fleas too, walla worms and they would get fleas from sticking there heads in the holes.


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

geez, now that i think about it....i bought two purdue chickens from superfresh when i lived in philly....

took them home and seasoned them all kinds of pretty and put them in the oven.

when i went to baste them, there were worms crawling out of them....white ones....

i took the roasting pan, both birds back to the store and got my money back, including the roasting pan. 

blech.

however, had i fed the chickens to the dogs.....i wonder if they would eat the worms, rather than get worms...


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> geez, now that i think about it....i bought two purdue chickens from superfresh when i lived in philly....
> 
> took them home and seasoned them all kinds of pretty and put them in the oven.
> 
> ...


My goodness. Glad you found them before they got baked. ARen't you supposed to be off at a spa?


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

xellil said:


> My goodness. Glad you found them before they got baked. ARen't you supposed to be off at a spa?


yep. getting ready to go get a massage...was just sipping on a mimosa.....


----------



## danecolor (Nov 22, 2010)

no dewormers here!

i just got back from the veterinarian for riley's annual checkup and her fecal was free of parasites. she has been on raw since May.


----------



## tem_sat (Jun 20, 2010)

No way do I deworm either. The only time I ever had to deal with worms, other than heartworms, was due to visible tapeworms, which my Doxie got prior to him being fed PMR. The Drontal Plus he had to take caused him to climb the walls, so I would never bother with that unless it was a visible or tested issue.


----------

