This information is originally found on Red Dog Deli Raw Pet Food page.

We all want to offer our animal companions the very best, so they can live healthy, active and long lives. The diet we feed them is an essential part of this process.

Sadly, commercial pet food companies have been a defining force in how we feed our pets for over a century and have taken pet feeding a long way from nature and by doing so, a long way from optimal health. They have done an excellent job of convincing many people that they are incapable of providing their animals with healthy nutritious meals without corporate intervention – that something artificial is better than something natural.

When we think of our own nutrition, we strive for a healthy balanced diet. We do not eat the same processed foods every day of our lives because we intuitively know that health requires variety and freshness. Medical nutritional research continues to prove that the more processed foods we consume, the more our health suffers. Similarly, recent studies have shown that the monotonous, processed diets are a significant factor in the increasing numbers of pets suffering from the same degenerative diseases plaguing their human friends – obesity, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, immune disorders, premature aging, skin and coat problems, and many more.

By feeding your dog and/or cat a diet of fresh raw ingredients, you are giving them the benefits of better nutrition and allowing their systems to work as it was designed by nature. Feeding a natural diet puts less stress on the body (organs, immune system, nervous system, etc.) and provides it with resources to maintain health and ward off disease.

Some benefits of feeding raw that pet guardians have observed are:

• Healthy, shiny coat with little or no odour.
• Better breath.
• Cleaner teeth and healthier gums obtained through chewing on bones.
• Reduction in allergies and skin ailments.
• Increased energy.
• Smaller, less offensive stools.
• Better weight control – with raw food, keeping your pet at an ideal weight is just a matter of determining the food portion appropriate for their metabolism.
• And much more!
• And the best part is, they LOVE IT!

In addition to general health benefits, there have been a number of cases where switching to raw has helped an animal overcome or manage a serious medical condition such as ear and eye infections, anal gland problems, digestion and bowel problems, and even heart problems.

Initially, it may seem overwhelming to have to assume the responsibility for feeding your dog or cat. Just remember that our own nutritional needs are no less complicated and just as we thrive by eating a variety of fresh natural foods, so can our animal companions.

So what is the BEST diet for your dog or cat? To answer this question you must look at the biological design of your animal companion and how their digestive system is designed to obtain nutrition. While domesticated dogs and cats differ in many ways from their wild counterparts, their digestive system has remained virtually unchanged. As such, a raw diet – yes, feeding your dog or cat fresh raw meats and vegetables – is the best source of nutrition for them. While this may seem outrageous at first, just remember that feeding dogs and cats a raw diet is not a departure from the norm but rather a return to how they were meant to eat in the first place.