We are so excited to share our answers to this question with you because there are just so many good reasons.

The more we have learned and the longer we have been feeding raw dog and cat food, the more the question has become:

But, we do remember how nervous we were in the beginning. Decades of commercial pet food advertising had convinced us that hard, dry pellets filled with grains, rendered meat/meat meal, preservatives (and other ingredients that we could not see) were the only path to pet health.

We had been led to believe that we were incapable of feeding our beloved dogs and cats a balanced diet, and that we should put our trust in the big pellet companies with their glossy photos of model pets. These pictures promised “complete health” encapsulated in a small, convenient, dry nugget, and who were we to question the expertise of these companies? If they said this kind of pet “fast food” was the answer, it must be so… right?  But our pets seemed to be telling us otherwise and we were hungry to learn.  Now we are so happy to be able to share some of what we discovered with you.

For your interest: A Very Brief History of Dry vs Raw Feeding

We want to focus on telling you why raw feeding is good rather than detailing why dry food is bad – but a brief look at the history of commercial pet food certainly makes for interesting reading.  There are many articles available online if you want to know more.

The short version is that pellets/kibble have only been widely used since the 1950’s when corporations discovered the enormous profits that could be made in the pet food industry via the technology of heat extrusion (where the food is processed at excessively high temperatures – yes, it kills bacteria, but it also kills most of the nutrition, including the live enzymes that would have contributed to a healthy immune system in their original, raw form).  Already in the 1930’s, when most commercial pet food was canned and horse-meat based, the Natural Pet-Rearing Movement was started by the herbalist Juliette de Bairacli Levy. She promoted a diet of raw food for dogs and cats, and the treatment of ailments via natural remedies.

In 1993, Dr Ian Billinghurst published his work about the illnesses that have arisen since pellets became the staple pet food, and since then the modern natural feeding movement has been joyfully spreading. Dr Billinghurst is an avid advocate for feeding dogs and cats “Biologically Appropriate Raw Food” (BARF).  Both Billinghurst, and Dr Tom Lonsdale (2001) researched the diets of wolves and wild dogs and showed us that the natural meal plan of our dogs’ ancestors can help us to keep our beloved pets as happy and healthy as they were meant to be. “Dogs are modified wolves and cats are modified desert predators,” says Dr Lonsdale. He asserts that feeding your pet only on commercial dry pet food is the equivalent of feeding your children fast food at every meal.

Other brilliant vets like Dr Jean Dodds, Dr. Mark Roberts, Dr Holly Mash, and Dr Karen Becker from the Raw Feeding Veterinary Society have taken this research further and we find their publications and talks very useful. Animal nutritionists like Dr. Conor Brady, Michelle Bernard, Kymythy Schultze, and many others have all contributed to our knowledge. For cats in particular, there is an advocacy group called The Feline Nutrition Education Society – their website is packed with informative and inspiring articles. If you’re looking for a vet who supports raw feeding in South Africa, drop us a line or look at the Complementary Veterinary Medicine Group.  And the list goes on, as the research goes on.

The core philosophy that we and all the above-mentioned and many other writers, researchers, and vets share is that optimal pet health will only be obtained if we mimic the species-appropriate ancestral diets that our pets would eat in nature. They are natural creatures, after all.

If you are on our website in the first place – and especially if you have read this far! – you obviously care a huge amount about your pets. So do we. The simple answer to the “why?” question is the guiding principle behind all our food – it is As Nature Intended. Where we used to feel intimidated and inexpert, we now feel awed and inspired. If you have any more questions do not hesitate to contact us. To read more about what the true experts think, have a look at our Feedback From Well-Fed Friends page. And please visit our page FAQs for any questions you may have.