A raw diet recreates the way our pet's ancestors have eaten in the wild for thousands of years. Dogs and cats are carnivores. Left to their own devices, their typical daily diet, like that of their wild cousins (wolves and the big cats), would involve catching (or finding) and eating another animal. A raw diet returns our pets to this more natural and healthy form of nutrition, as if they had hunted and caught their "perfect" dinner.

When a carnivore eats an herbivore (plant and grass eating animal) like a rabbit or a deer, the carnivore eats some meat, some bone, some organ meats (liver, heart, kidney, etc.), and a small amount of green vegetation contained in the herbivore's digestive tract. These ingredients are the five main food groups of a good raw diet.

• Fresh, raw meat
  
• Some uncooked bone
  
• Some raw organ meats
  
• Some green vegetation
  
• Natural vitamins and minerals

Until recently, many people thought kibble (grain-based dry food) diets were the best food to feed their pet.. They are readily available, easy to store, convenient, reasonably inexpensive and most pets seem to enjoy them.

However, within the last 15 years, concerned owners began to notice an increase in certain diseases among pets. More pets seemed to be suffering from diseases like diabetes, cancer, joint disorders, skin issues and dental problems. Evidence of these diseases was also appearing at a much earlier age. There had to be a reason.

One of the primary suspects was diet. The old adage, “you are what you eat” seemed to apply. Natural diets were replaced with highly processed pet food diets based on grain products (kibble), rather than meats, organ meats, bones and vegetables. That's what had changed so dramatically and the change coincided with the increase in these diseases.

Most dry commercial pet foods are at least 50% (or more) grain because the carbohydrates are needed to hold the food together. But as The Merck Veterinary Manual tells us, dogs and cats have "no dietary requirement for carbohydrates". Does it make sense to feed our companions diets made of 50% or more of a substance they don't even need? Additionally, carbohydrates are metabolized by the body to glucose (sugar), which is known to feed cancers, diabetes, and some of the other disorders that now seem to be commonplace among our pets.

As well, most kibble has a low percentage of the high quality meats, organ meats, bones and vegetables a pet needs for good health. Yes, meat and other proteins are added to most kibble formulas, but at a much lower level than is available in a good raw diet.