Recommended Reading

Give Your Dog a Bone: The Practical Commonsense Way to Feed Dogs For a Long Healthy Life, by Dr. Ian Billinghurst BVSc, BScAgr, DipEd. Warrigal Publishing, 1993.

Raw Food for Thought:
Veterinarians Susan Wynn, DVM, Jean Dodds, DVM and Joe Bartges, DVM set out to see if "normal" blood values - which have been based on commercially fed dogs - applied equally to the new generation of "raw feeders." In the study, the veterinarians compared the laboratory blood work of 256 healthy raw-fed adult dogs of varying ages and breeds to 75 similar dogs who were fed a cereal-based kibble.

While most of the results between the two groups were more or less the same, there were some striking exceptions. The raw-fed dogs had a higher red blood cell count and a higher blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level than their kibble-fed counterparts. (BUN levels are often used to assess kidney function.)

If you raw-feed your dog, you may want to mention the study to your veterinarian, and the possibility that, in the absence of other abnormalities or concerns, slightly elevated red blood cell or BUN levels in your dog may not be a cause for concern. In other words....perfectly normal.

Source: DogFancy Magazine, Feb 2008, pg 20