The Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods (BARF) diet is a trend of home-based pet feeding whose advocates say it means greater health benefits for pets because of their natural composition.
However, many others warn of the risk of presence of bacteria in this raw food, so they recommend opting for the use of processed food "croquettes", as it is known in some countries.
However, according to some users, they ensure that they will not buy processed food for their pet again.
But what is the best option?
Obviously, that will lead to various responses. "The trigger for these sensitivities in the case of pets is the carbohydrate, gluten and chemical aggregates that commercial foods bring," BarfChile's medical director Christian Vergara tells BBC World about a user's dog named Miguel, because his dog did not stop scratching.
According to Vergara, who is an international speaker of the BARF diet, says that, the ideal is that a pet, whether dog or cat, does not feed on croquettes because its nature is not prepared for that type of food, dry, sterile.
This expert thinks that the only advantage of processed food is "comfort" for the user. "A highly processed food damages the intestinal microbiota [...] compromising the immune system and walls of the intestine, leading to diseases such as diabetes or obesity".
On the benefits of the BARF diet, Vergara identifies an increase in the quality of the pet's coat, the stimulation of the immune system, the decrease of stool by 80% or the improvement of the teeth
According to Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst, author of the 1993 book "The BARF diet: raw feeding for dogs and cats using evolutionary principles" in which the concept of BARF was used for the first time, its benefits are more universal.
As he considers that a biologically appropriate raw food diet has been developed for all creatures, it is not just a particular way of feeding a dog or cat with a raw diet, as many think, he told BBC World.
The Bacteria risk
However, many experts do not defend this theory. Dr.Hyunmin Kim, of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, believes for example that "raw food diets can put pets at a higher risk of exposure to bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella ".
But it is not the only one, César Hernán Calad, is a Colombian specialist in internal medicine and feline and canine dermatology. According to him, although there are stray dogs used throughout their lives to feed on leftovers or food with the presence of bacteria, this cannot
be applied to a pet. If the food does not have a good storage and the bacteria arrive, the situation can be terrible.
Calad points out that the advantage of processed food is that it brings all the compounds suitable for the nutrition of cats and dogs, in addition to being divided by age and protected against bacteria thanks to its storage.
He states that - despite not recommending it - he has patients who use it and have had no problems. But he clarifies: "they have frozen food or they buy the portions for the day, maybe that's why nothing has happened to them".
However, there is an intermediate choice.
The choice of raw food for animals is an upward trend in recent years, but is lower than those who opt for processed food.
According to David Lummis, a pet industry analyst for the market research company Packaged Facts, the sale of homemade food in specialized supermarkets in the United States during 2017 was US $ 200 million, 45% more than five years ago. "The raw pet food market did not take off as I expected,"
In addition, the truth is that between one and another choice of diet there may also be an intermediate option: cooking food.
Vergara, defender of the BARF method, recognizes that food should be cooked in case the pet suffers from some digestive pathologies.
"In that case it is recommended to seal the meat, for example, because bacteria are found on the surface of the meat. Some vegetables such as asparagus and pumpkins are recommended cooked for their conformation."
To opt for one or the other option, therefore, it will be decisive to consult with the veterinarian, be aware of the reaction of the pet and, ultimately, choose the one with which it is healthier and happier.
