Empert-Gallegos Alysia, Hill Sally, Yam Philippa S
School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary, and Life Sciences (MVLS), University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
PeerJ. 2020 Dec 8;8:e10383. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10383. eCollection 2020.
The practice of feeding a raw meat-based diet (RMBD) to dogs is a topic of increasing interest to owners and veterinary professionals alike. Despite the research around the practice, particularly about the risk of nutritional imbalances and microbial contamination, an increasing number of dog owners are adopting a raw diet for their dogs. This study expands the research into owner motivations for feeding RMBDs and cooked diets and asks them their opinions about risk and nutritional value.
An anonymized, online, internationally accessible questionnaire was developed to ascertain owner perspectives on the risks, benefits, and nutritional value of commercially prepared and homemade RMBDs as compared with commercially prepared cooked diets (CCDs).
The questionnaire was completed by 419 dog owners of diverse backgrounds across the world. Of the participants, 25.3% fed RMBDs. Just over 70.0% of all participants had spoken to their veterinarian about their dog's nutrition. Owners who fed RMBDs ranked their veterinarian's knowledge lower and their own knowledge of canine nutrition higher than owners who fed CCDs. They rated commercial and homemade RMBDs as highly nutritious 83.5% and 73.6% of the time, respectively, while only 12.5% rated CCDs as highly nutritious. Owners who fed CCDs ranked RMBDs as highly nutritious less often, but also only ranked CCDs as highly nutritious 52.7% of the time. All participants agreed that CCDs were low risk to human health. Owners who fed RMBDs ranked raw diets as highly risky to human or dog health under 20.0% of the time but deemed CCDs risky to animal health over 65.0% of the time. When asked about benefits of raw diets, the most repeated words offered by owners were "health", "better", "coat" and "teeth". The most repeated risks presented were "bacteria", "nutrition", "risk" and "Salmonella". Owners who fed RMBDs tended to use vague terminology like "health" and "better" when asked why they fed a raw diet. Owners who did not feed RMBDs used more specific terminology like "expensive", "time" and "risk" when asked why they did not feed a raw diet. Overall, the two groups differed in their perceptions around RMBD and CCD feeding, which highlights the need for a better line of communication and education between veterinarians and owners.
给狗喂食以生肉为主的饮食（RMBD）这一做法，受到了狗主人和兽医专业人士越来越多的关注。尽管围绕这一做法开展了研究，尤其是关于营养失衡和微生物污染风险的研究，但越来越多的狗主人开始给他们的狗采用生食饮食。本研究扩展了对狗主人选择喂食RMBD和熟食饮食动机的研究，并询问他们对风险和营养价值的看法。
设计了一份匿名的、在线的、全球可访问的调查问卷，以确定狗主人对商业制备和自制的RMBD与商业制备的熟食饮食（CCD）的风险、益处和营养价值的看法。
来自世界各地不同背景的419名狗主人完成了调查问卷。在参与者中，25.3%的人喂食RMBD。所有参与者中，略多于70.0%的人曾就他们狗狗的营养问题咨询过兽医。与喂食CCD的狗主人相比，喂食RMBD的狗主人认为他们兽医的知识水平较低，而自己对犬类营养的知识水平较高。他们分别有83.5%和73.6%的时间认为商业和自制的RMBD营养丰富，而只有12.5%的人认为CCD营养丰富。喂食CCD的狗主人较少将RMBD评为营养丰富，但也只有52.
