The top Challenges of Raw Food Diets our readers reported are: 1) time constraints, 2) cost concerns, 3) the "ick" factor - strangeness & fears about bacteria, and 4) pet pickiness.

Making Time - The top reported challenge in feeding raw food is the time commitment involved. Most say the effort is worthwhile though, and it doesn't take long to get the hang of it. Their top suggestion? Plan ahead - from the purchasing to the thawing, prepping and serving, raw food requires more thought. How much does your pet need? How long does it take to thaw in your fridge? How often do you need to restock food? These questions take some trial and error to answer, but once you've got it down, things get easier. Our article, "Raw Food Feeding Guidelines," can help answer some of these questions for you.

Cost Concerns - After time issues, the biggest concern pet guardians reported was budget constraints. This is a serious concern for multi-pet families or those with limited financial resources. Some guardians with multi-pet families said they fed raw to just the most health-challenged animal. If you can't afford a full-time raw diet, many readers suggested occasional raw meals, along with a high quality kibble or canned food. Some people alternate prepared raw food with dehydrated food mixes, or use a natural food pre-mix along with smaller portions of quality meat ingredients they get from their local grocery store's meat department.

The "Ick" Factor - This includes the primitive strangeness of raw meat, as well as concern about bacteria contamination. Several readers who expressed these fears said it had stopped them from trying raw foods. But other pet parents (even a few vegetarians!) chose to overcome their fear or distaste and feed raw meat after researching pet food and deciding that a raw diet seemed best for their companions. Their advice on the ickiness? Get over it!  As one guardian suggested, "feeding conventional pet food is like giving your kids fast food for every meal." When you know what goes into many conventional pet foods, you'll think raw food ingredients are a lot less icky! See our article, "What You Need to Know About Your Pet's Food," for more details.

As to concern over bacteria like Salmonella and E. Coli, consider that there's inherent risk in any raw food - for humans or for pets. Recent human food contamination problems include raw spinach, peanut butter, and countless incidents of meat plant problems with hotdogs, hamburgers, and other meat products. Raw or undercooked chicken and eggs cause many cases of Salmonella poisoning in people each year, and most of us know the food safety guidelines for handling raw meat, poultry and eggs when preparing food for our families.

Our favorite way to kill surface bacteria when preparing raw foods is using grapefruit seed extract, which can be used to sanitize pet bowls, utensils, countertops - and even works as a soak or rinse on the food itself! Taking basic safety precautions with food prep and clean up will keep you and your family safe. Always using safe food handling practices (and precautions like choosing stainless steel bowls and utensils) puts many pet parents at ease about food safety.

So why can our pets safely eat raw foods that we can't? Their digestive systems are like those of their wild ancestors, and are designed to let them thrive on raw meat while destroying bacteria that would make humans sick. Our pets' GI tracts are far shorter than our own, and their stomach acid is stronger to help them destroy any bacteria they ingest. For more information on the bacteria issue, please see our article, "The Safety of Raw Meat Diets."

Pet Preferences - Some readers said that their pets didn't care for raw food, while others have been afraid to try because their pets are picky. Picky pets are a real challenge and it can be hard to convince older or fussy pets (especially cats) to try new foods. Cats are hard-wired to be suspicious of unfamiliar things - from people to furniture, to food. Many dog breeds tend to fussiness as well. Our readers suggest that you persevere - it often takes patience and experimentation to get a picky pet to switch to a healthier diet. Check out our article on Raw Food Transitioning & Trial Tips for more suggestions.

We hope you found these tips helpful and are motivated to try raw food with your companion -remember, all raw items are 10% off through April 3rd! For more information on feeding a raw food diet to your companion, please see these articles in our Holistic Healthcare Library:

All About Raw Food
Raw Food Feeding Guidelines
Safety of Raw Meat Diets
Raw Food Transitioning & Trial Tips
Why We Feed Raw: An Insider's Perspective