Raw Food Pet Diet Trend Gains Supporters And Critics

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Los Angeles residents are all about food trends, but the latest is for their pets.

The recent raw food diet for animals is gaining both supporters and critics.

“It’s really healthy for them. There’s a lot of ingredients that goes into the raw food that hasn’t gone through a processing system to lose all of its nutrients,” pet owner Sandy Scott told CBS2’s Sharon Tay.

Scott started believing in the diet after her pet Maverick suffered a spinal stroke.

“If a person had seen what I saw when I was rehabbing him, and I saw the immediate difference from when he stopped eating the raw food because I simply ran out, you would be a believer,” Scott said.

Raw food, like ground up turkey necks and rabbit, has been one of the biggest sellers at a Culver City pet store, Dogromat, according to owner Bob McPherson.

There are also those who criticize feeding pets raw food. Veterinary Medical Doctor Jessica Waldman believes this kind of diet can be harmful to pets.

“Raw foods has major major health risks,” Waldman says. “Food borne diseases is the primary health risk.”