Feeding Bones "Digesting the facts"

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Hello Dot

Chewing on raw meaty bones for both dogs (and cats) is a time-honoured tradition amongst dog breeders world wide, not to mention the millions of wild dogs that have chewed on bones for up to 40 million years. In more recent times, it has become a topic of much controversy, with some vets now suggesting it may be a dangerous habit to form. It’s important to note that much of this information, or mis-information, relates back to the very nature of the gastric environment of the dog and cat, which in turn, is directly related to diet. Studies performed on dogs eating a dry food diet (in a laboratory setting) will show a significant difference from dogs eating a fresh meat diet, as I will explain below.



The gastric acidity (gastric PH) of the stomach of a dog or cat eating a diet predominantly made up of raw meat is very low (very acidic), with a PH of 2 or lower (relative to the level of meat protein). This highly acidic environment favours the breakdown of raw meats, and raw bones, into soft digestible material. The low PH also is highly effective at killing bacteria, particularly potentially pathogenic bacteria like salmonella spp, clostridia, campylobacter and E Coli.

To maintain low prices, modern processed diets are often high in carbohydrate and plant proteins, with very little meat protein, which directly impacts on the digestive environment of a dog or cat. With decreased acidity levels several key issues arise such as slowed digestion, food bacteria/contaminants not being destroyed effectively, and raw bone material not being softened and broken down (due to decreased digestive enzyme function) which can result in obstruction.

Dr Bruce’s Feeding Tips

1. If you intend to make the switch to a balanced fresh meat diet, you must make this change gradually over 7-10 days. A common complaint I hear is from people who feed bones or fresh meat on odd occasions to their dog that eats primarily dry food is that “he/she cant handle fresh meat or bones because she vomits” – as we see from above, these dogs can handle it if it is introduced gradually, and the gastric acidity is allowed to normalise.

2. If you intend to feed raw bones (which I strongly advise as an important part of everyday pet health) then you must include some fresh meat every day as part of your overall diet plan to make sure the gastric PH remains low (acidic).

3. Feeding a raw food diet will actually protect your dog or cat from bacterial contamination and food poisoning, and greatly reduce the chance of an obstruction from eating raw bones. It is a fact that dogs that eat processed foods are even more likely to shed salmonella bacteria in their faeces than are dogs that eat raw food!