Pets should be fed bones and raw foods as they ate in the “wild.” The belief that dogs and cats “need” bones to chew on has been sadly demonstrated as false throughout the veterinary clinics and hospitals in this country. Feeding bones (raw or cooked) should be discouraged—they have caused intestinal obstruction, perforation, septic peritonitis, and death. Intensive medical and surgical therapies are needed to survive a bowel obstruction. There is no nutritional value in feeding bones, whereas the risk of illness and death is very real. In the “wild,” the dog and cat had very short life spans. If you would like your pet to live a long and healthy life, always cook the meat and eggs you feed him or her. There is no nutritional advantage to feeding raw foods over a commercially prepared pet food product, but there is the very real risk of illness and death. Dogs and cats are just as susceptible to food borne illnesses as people. Animals that roam freely or are fed raw foods are at risk for suffering from food borne illness. Bacteria and bacterial toxins, fungal mycotoxins, and other contaminants all can cause food borne illnesses. The most common signs of food borne illnesses are vomiting and diarrhea; however, disorders of the liver, blood and nervous systems, kidney damage, and skin sores may also result. Please realize that dogs and cats do die of food borne illnesses. Feeding washed raw vegetables is relatively safe. However, a few such as onions and garlic, can be dangerous. Onions and garlic are from a family of plants that contain an alkaloid disulfide compound that is toxic to red blood cell membranes and irreversibly denatures hemoglobin. This compound is toxic to several species including dogs and cats. Plants such as rhubarb, spinach and beets contain high levels of oxalates and glycosides, which can seriously irritate the gastrointestinal tract in some pets. Other strong-flavored, sulfur-containing vegetables (beans, brussels sprouts) may cause excessive gas production in the large bowel and flatus, which is usually not harmful but quite annoying. Some pets eventually develop a tolerance for these vegetables, but others do not, and these vegetables must simply be eliminated from the diet. Federally regulated, commercially prepared foods have processing methods and quality assurance programs that limit potential food borne illnesses in pets. If you would like help formulating a homemade diet using “fresh” ingredients for your pet, click on Chef and request a homemade diet formulation.