# Shedding bacteria in poop



## jewels (Jan 3, 2011)

Could someone give me some info on "shedding bacteria"? I have been reading this forum for a while now, and was seriously considering going raw until I talked to my vet and she scared me a bit. Believe it or not, my vet actually agreed that feeding raw is generally better. What worried me was that she pulled out studies that showed bacteria in the feces and said it would be dangerous for my children, since they play in the same yard my dog poops in. Any thoughts? To me, this potential danger would be a helpful thing to study... if that could be disproven it would likely remove a big mental roadblock for a lot of fence sitters!


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## hcdoxies (Sep 22, 2010)

jewels said:


> Could someone give me some info on "shedding bacteria"? I have been reading this forum for a while now, and was seriously considering going raw until I talked to my vet and she scared me a bit. Believe it or not, my vet actually agreed that feeding raw is generally better. What worried me was that she pulled out studies that showed bacteria in the feces and said it would be dangerous for my children, since they play in the same yard my dog poops in. Any thoughts? To me, this potential danger would be a helpful thing to study... if that could be disproven it would likely remove a big mental roadblock for a lot of fence sitters!


Poop is dirty... there's no "clean poop". Kibble poop, raw poop, human poop... it's all dirty. I don't know if this will help ease your mind, but raw food degrades VERY quickly. It turns into dust within 2 or 3 days. I haven't had to pick up my yard in 1.5 years (I have 9 mini dachshunds). My 2.5 year old son plays out there all the time and we don't have any issues.

ETA -- a dog's digestive system is very acidic and kills bacteria... Which is one of the reasons why they can handle raw meat or even meat that has spoiled (ie: road kill)


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

jewels said:


> Could someone give me some info on "shedding bacteria"?


Yes, raw fed dogs do shed bacteria in thier stools as do all animals regardless of what they are fed. Ever hear of sterile poop? It's ALL nasty stuff.



> I have been reading this forum for a while now, and was seriously considering going raw until I talked to my vet and she scared me a bit.


Well, vets scare real easy. Did you know that humans shed salmonella in their stools? Yep, its a fact.



> Believe it or not, my vet actually agreed that feeding raw is generally better.


Thats good to hear. :smile:



> What worried me was that she pulled out studies that showed bacteria in the feces and said it would be dangerous for my children, since they play in the same yard my dog poops in. Any thoughts?


It's no more dangerous for children to play in raw fed dog's yard dogs fed any other diet. It's probably safer for them to play in raw fed dog's yard because their poops dries up and blows away in a few days or is quickly washed away by rain where kibble fed dog's poop will last forever. 



> To me, this potential danger would be a helpful thing to study... if that could be disproven it would likely remove a big mental roadblock for a lot of fence sitters!


We have lots of raw fed dogs on this forum and lots of them live with lots of children. I have not heard of one single case of children having any health problems from any source regarding a raw diet. I know my 8 year old granddaughter has been playing around my house both inside and out all of her life and has never had a problem even remotely related to the diet I feed my dog.


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## jewels (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks for the replies. I know it is almost laughable (ok it IS laughable) to think of ANY poop as being "sterile". Well... my guinea pigs' poop doesn't bother me at all, but then they just eat hay and veggies. Omnivore or carnivore poop is a different thing for my comfort level than herbivore poop! I usually poop scoop daily during warm weather months when the kids are outside, but lately I've had my older kids take over this job (yay!) so that's why I was nervous about what my vet told me. Yes all poop is germy, but surely some germs are worse than others? It's good to hear that no one here has had a problem with this. It helps calm my worries a bit!


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Herbivores naturally have more bacteria in their gut to be able to digest plant matter, which is much harder to digest than meat (which is relatively easy to digest). So your guinea pigs poop is just as bacteria laden if not more so than your dogs.


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## jewels (Jan 3, 2011)

That might be true, but for some reason it doesn't change my emotional reaction to different kinds of poop! Lol! I mean, guinea pigs eat some of their poop on purpose to finish digesting it, so it can't be that bad right?  All joking aside, not all bacteria are the same. Some are good for us, some not... and some of the "nots" are more dangerous to humans than others. So I'm more worried about which kind of the little nasties are in my pets' poop rather than how many. If that makes any sense! Most gardeners I know recommend putting manure in a garden for fertilizer, but warn against using anything put herbivore poop (cow, horse, rabbit, guinea pig, etc). You don't use human, cat, or dog poop in a garden, so there must be a difference. To me, the relevant issue here is whether a raw diet poses a health threat for kids who play in the same area (back yard) that the dog uses for his toilet, and whether this threat is greater than, equal to, or lesser than the existing germs of my currently kibble/can fed dog's poop. It's good to hear anecdotally at least from people feeding raw (with children in the house) that they haven't had any problems. We all know that kids don't always remember to wash their hands, and mine at least are usually barefoot outside, and frequently seen rolling in the grass! Which is why we poop scoop daily... except when there is snow on the ground and then I wait for a thaw and gather a couple months worth up at once! Ewww! Snowmen are only built in the FRONT yard at my house!


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

It's a personal mental thing for some people to get over. My aunt has two raw fed dogs and also has four small kids. She's been raw feeding for a long time and has never gotten a sick kid. And she isn't the best about poo duty either. She has never been concerned about germs in any context, actually wants her kids exposed to as much as possible to have a good and strong immune system.


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## candiceb (Jan 22, 2010)

I should think the risk would be equal to the risk of a kibble-fed dog's stools when it comes to bacteria like Salmonella (which is what I'm assuming you're afraid of). That fact of the matter is that kibble-fed dogs, just like raw-fed dogs, consume and shed these and other bacteria. Not to mention these bacteria are also present pretty much everywhere in the world, except for maybe on things that have been sterilized. 

I would follow the same precautions with raw-fed dogs as you do now with your kibble-fed dogs. Scoop the poop, practice good hygiene, and don't let the kids eat the dog poop. :biggrin:


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

I have two small children (3 and 5) who play almost everyday in our backyard. My dogs poop back there too!  All I do is a quick poop pick up before they go out to play. 

Poop is poop is poop. If they step in it, they step in it. If they fall in it, they fall in it. They get cleaned up and we move on. It has never bothered me and I have had dogs since they day my kids were born. We have never had a problem with the kids getting sick. :becky:


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

If I was to put a bet on the amount of bacteria in dog poop 2 days after it left the dogs backside I would bet on the kibble fed. When you feed raw there is very little to no carbohydrate fed daily that means the poo is also not carbohydrate laden. Bacteria love carbs, if you leave a pile of warm mushy, damp carbohydrate outside in the air the little bugs will think they just checked in to the savoy!!!!!!

personally I would not let it bother you which is way easier said then done, but it will come


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## jewels (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks for the input everyone!


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

I really wouldn't worry about it...poop is poop. poop is gross no matter how you look at it. 

Bacteria is everywhere. It is not necessary to shelter yourself from germs. I am a believer of being exposed to germs. (I'm not going to go roll around in poop or anything, but...)


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

you know the old saying...every child needs to eat a pound of dirt?

that's because the only way the immune system can become super strong is if it is exposed to the bacteria and viruses that hit the body, starting with the first line of defence....the skin..which, by the way, has staph all over it.

the notion that it's good to live in a bubble is a marketing tool, media sensation, and a knee jerk reaction to c.diff and mrsa.......and other methicillin resistant bacteria...

there is salmonella everywhere...there is e.coli everywhere and there are bacteria with names too long to type here and they are everywhere....for the most part...

with a strong immune system and a healthy body....and common sense, nothing happens.

on that rare occasion when there is the perfect storm such as a dip in your immune system that day, a bit of salmonella in the kibble you feed your dog....and maybe, just maybe there will be an oops....or a bit of mayo that was left in the sun too long...and you throw up for a few days, lose a few pounds and life goes on....

i am immuno compromised and have been for five years....i'm on my first year of raw...i do not sterilise the dogs or my home..and my pug licks my nose..inside and out. disgusting but true....he's a pug. that's what they do.

my corgi mix has the longest tongue g'd ever created...she's a neat eater but she also licks herself and the pug...who also licks her.

no one in this house, especially me, has gotten sick from bacteria....and if anyone were going to get sick it would be someone with a crappy immune system.

buy raw meat. give raw meat to dogs...dogs will pay you back by being healthy, saving money on vet bills and their breath won't stink...they won't stink...and you will be happier.


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

I read a case study out of Canada and they found that kibble fed dogs also shed all the bad bacteria no difference but at the end of the study they still bad mouthed raw I forget who put on the study

I worry more about the wild animal poop my dog eats while walking in the woods but it doesn't seem to bother him...lol I'm sure there is a little bacteria in that poo!!!! We have lots of bob cats here it must be tastey:becky:


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

Yes, it's funny isn't it? I've had birds for 17 years before I got my dog, and cleaning up their poop never bothered me one bit. I've gotten it on my hands probably a million times and never thought twice about it. Maybe because it doesn't look like mammal poop, or maybe because it doesn't smell so gross. Now the dog's poop is a different story...but in the end, poop is poop! I looked at a Gram stain of the birds' poop under a microscope before, and trust me...they aren't any less sterile than dog poo! As for bacteria...they're everywhere...on your skin, in your mouth, the air you breathe, the dirt in the yard...heck, Tetanus lives in the soil! And yes, kibble fed dogs shed those nasty strains all the same.


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## jjcj (Nov 26, 2010)

Well we only just started raw but had dogs and kids for years (youngest is 19)
The thought to us of having the kids play in the same grass the dogs used for bathroom never went well so we always made a run or stone area for the dog to use and the kids stayed out of.
This is the smalles property i ever had and both kids are gone but the dogs still use a 4x4 area of pee gravel to potty in
Last house had 3 acres of grass and they had a 12 x12 area to potty in Makes cleaning up much easier and no little feet running through poop


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## KlaMarie (Dec 30, 2010)

magicre said:


> you know the old saying...every child needs to eat a pound of dirt?
> 
> that's because the only way the immune system can become super strong is if it is exposed to the bacteria and viruses that hit the body, starting with the first line of defence....the skin..which, by the way, has staph all over it.
> 
> ...


So true. That's why nurses (exposed to every disease and bacteria around) have some of the best immune systems. I swear, I have had some nasty stuff around me, and ON me at times  I've never gotten sick from working at the hospital. Go figure, I DID get sick, with the flu, a week after my flu shot!


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## Nani (Apr 14, 2010)

If you put kibble poop and raw poop next to each other the kibble poop is so much grosser than the raw and it STINKS! 
That being said, Poop is Poop.:biggrin:


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

Feeding both raw and kibble, I see both poops. Normally it's sort of a hybrid poop, some days, when the dogs eat all raw, their poops reflect this. When they eat all kibble, their poops reflect it. Even when their poops are poops which become crumbly after a few days, I still pick them up...I'm on poop patrol morning, afternoon, night - I have time and keep a careful watch on the dogs stools because I am open to the thought that one day after all this time of things going well, someone might get an upset tummy. I practice agility in the yard and my dogs play in the yard a lot...I don't want them running around in a poopy area, even if it does become dry and crumbly! Does the dry crumbly poop have less bacteria once it's dry or something? I doubt in any way that it has more bacteria than the kibble poops, as many people have already pointed out. But I agree completely, raw fed doggy poops smell totally different and are much easier to clean up.


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