I most certainly do! I hooked my anxious cat up with grain-free kibble and his personality changed overnight from anxious, needy, irritable. he' s calm and energetic now, sleeps longer and purrs a lot more!

Yup! My dog is 9 and has had severe allergies since she was a puppy. I've been taking her to animal dermatologist for about 7 years and have spent untold $1000s on medications for her. Weekly allergen shots, steroids, topical creams, shampoos...you name it and I was giving it to her. A few times I tried to reduce her medication since even on all of it she was still itchy all the time and often scratched herself raw. This resulted in her clawing about 60% of her fur off.

Fast forward to a couple months ago and I decided to try a raw food diet. I am now giving her zero medication and her itching is the best it's been in her entire life. I can't recommend a raw diet enough!

For the most part. Our two 10-year-old house cats usually turn their noses up at whole, raw meat on the bone, so I process raw chicken, smaller chicken bones, chicken liver, a few eggs and a can or two of mackerel in my Vitamix. They love it, and they've never looked healthier! Darwin was a fat kitty before we went raw, and now he's lean and mean. We only supplement their diets with dry food (Wellness Core grain-free kibble) on the rare occasions that raw food isn't convenient, or we're going away for the weekend.

Interestingly, after we changed their diets, both cats started showing more interest in catching their own "supplemental" snacks - mice, birds, lizards - Darwin proudly brought home a roadkill squirrel the other day (I'd seen it earlier in the street in front of our house). Yes, my soft, spoiled kitties who like to sleep on the couch all day are very "paleo" now. :)

Yes indeed, I love my house-wolf. My Siberian Husky gets bones, guts, organs, and meat to eat, wild game and farmed. She eats the occasional rabbit or squirrel or mouse out in the woods on walks. I am pretty conscious to force a fast on her from time to time as well. She gets a daily run or walk, sprints, chasing, playing and loads of napping in the sun. Cold weather finds her sleeping outdoors at 20 below, and not wanting to come inside.

Yep, sort of. Attempted to start kitty on a raw diet a couple of months ago but we're still working out the kinks. She doesn't love it, and we are still mixing it with either some of her old wet food, tuna juice, or some crushed high protein, grain-free kibble. She's 12 so it may be a little late in life for her... but she's at least eating vastly better than she was before. Cutting up chicken wing tips/necks seems to be her favourite. Even buying the pre-made raw 'pucks' isn't any more expensive than the premium "Pro Plan" food she was on before.

Best side benefit? Her litter box doesn't smell. at. all. Miraculous!

My 9 GSDs and 3 kittys went to raw species appropriate way before I did.

Actually that is what made me start wondering about what humans eat

.. Sooo here we are . lol

ALL dogs are carnivores and have a powerful very short, fast and effecient digestive tract. They are only designed to eat raw prey with large ungulates being the choice of preference.

It is the kibble aka crap in a bag that they cannot digest nor are they physically built to eat anything plantlike. Bagged food prduces volumes of stinky bacteria laden indigested crapola. Large volume because no matter how small the kibble company grinds the stuff it still cannot be digested. Experiment by givin your dog a raw carrot and not that it comes out still looking like a carrto . lol

Just compare jaw structure. The wolf (dog) has a hinged jaw that only can open and close straight down. This allows crushing tearing and shearing meat from a carcass. Look at the jaw of an omnivore or herbivore that can move sideways to grind plant matter like a camel or a bovine for example.

Dogs cannot digest plant matter without putting excess strain on the pancreas to produce more than normal digestive enzymes and hormones. So many pets are suffering from pancreatitis, diabetes, arthritis ,and other modern disease etc just as humans that follow the S.A.D. way of eating. Dogs are carnivores and cats are obligate carnivores so kitty MUST have rawmeat for optimum health.

HTH, shirley who has lived the raw prey model feeding for our dogs and cats for 12 years or so.

My dogs wouldn't even know what to do with kibble. They've never touched the stuff.

Our vet used to be an advocate for a raw food pet diet but she said she saw too many cases where the stomach was getting torn by bone fragments because it has been weakened by generations of kibble. I'm not 100% sure I believe it but that's what she told us...

See also this question:

http://paleohacks.com/questions/714/paleo-for-pets

Huck eats burgers and eggs and bacon or sausage. His dry food is wheat-free with only a bit of rice. He is a happy bulldog.

Yes. I feed my cat raw meat, organ meats, meaty bones (mainly chicken necks) and egg yolks. Bones fed small and raw are supposedly best for their soft nature so that they can be chewed and aren't as sharp (re: the tearing of the stomach note above). It remains to be seen how this will be helpful to my cat's health in the long-term as he's still just about a year and a half old now. What I can say is that when my last cat got sick very quickly and with an idiopathic condition (meaning the vets just had no idea what caused it), I immediately felt badly for having fed her cheap, grain-based food for her entire life. I didn't know then what I know now, but I knew that my next cat wouldn't be raised on a diet of essentially cereal. I thought, if I had a kid, would I feed it Total Cereal or protein bars it's whole life? No, I'd feed it real food.

Paleo Kitty (his name is Mason) even has a facebook page. Yes, really. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paleo-Kitty/139884926048968

Yes, my dog went primal/paleo before I did. It made a huge difference for her and for us on so many levels.

my 1.5 year old pitbull is 100% meat fat and bones since day one. All raw all the time. He is in seriously good shape, sleeps alot, is super friendly, etc. And it saves me a serious chunk of money. Species-appropriate, for all species!

Here are a couple more skeptical views of raw food meat and bone diets for pets. They are worth a read and make some interesting points.

Raw Meat and Bone Diets for Dogs

Captive wolves live longest and are healthiest when fed — guess what? — commercial dog food! This is the recommendation of the leading specialists in captive wolf husbandry and medicine, and it is largely the result of evidence that the previous practice of feeding raw meat based diets to captive wolves led to poorer quality nutrition and health than the current practices. Certainly, raw meat and bones are often used as enrichment items or bait for husbandry purposes, but always with an awareness of the risks they pose, and never as the primary diet.

Raw Veterinary Diets

It is also important to point out that wolves and other wild carnivores generally live longer in captivity when fed cooked commercial diets, and the nutritional advisory group for American zoos recommends these diets over raw, whole prey for captive carnivores. And while cats often do hunt and eat whole prey, they also suffer from infections, parasites, and other illnesses related to eating birds and rodents. Raw whole prey is clearly not a natural diet for dogs. And it is not at all clear that raw prey is the healthiest or optimal food even for cats or other carnivores for which it is a natural diet.

My dog Vegas was eating ancestrally before I was. Years ago I started feeding him raw meaty bones, at the advice of our dog trainer and after a ton of reading. Through observing my dog, however, I've learned a few things. He likes cooked beef the best, with well-cooked greens and some sweet potato or winter squash. His next favorite is raw pork bones. I've learned I have to be careful on sourcing his meaty bones, though. The pork bones from the large Asian market are brittle, and they don't seem to digest well, to the point where he doesn't like to eat them anymore, whereas he scarfs down the pork bones from my meat csa share (and they aren't brittle). So I don't feed him conventionally raised meat/bones anymore because I'm just too worried that he'll have a problem digesting those bones.

I share all of my organ meats with him. Actually, I share most of my meals with him as long as I'm not using onion. He's been a heavy influence on my food choices, now that I think about it, so maybe he's sharing his meals with me.

I find the raw vs. cooked question really interesting: both for dogs and for humans. There's been a few studies providing good support for the idea that dogs co-evolved with humans, so it stands to reason that they have been getting cooked meats in their diets for a long time. Feeling it out, Vegas and I both seem to like a mix of cooked and raw, though of course I don't eat the bones like he does, except for canned fish.

No. I tried to feed my cat the raw meat cat food stuff. She sniffed at it, and then walked away. She did not seem to interpret it as being edible.

Then I tried the meat-based no-grain kibble. She got really bad diarrhea that didn't seem to get better.

She won't drink tuna fish juice - walks away. Same with cold cuts or cooked chicken or wet cat food. She doesn't seem to get that it's food. Any other cat I've had loved that stuff.

So, she is back on regular ol' kibble. I dunno. She doesn't seem to be cut out for Paleo.

She does like beef jerky so I give her that sometimes.

My cats get Avoderm brand - the shelter said we should use it 'cause they do. They will only eat the chicken flavor. The ingredients starts: Chicken, Chicken Broth, Ocean Fish, Turkey, Kidney, Chicken Liver, Oat Bran, Rice Flour, Avocado Oil, Guar Gum, Salt, Carrageenan and then vitamins/minerals. Not totally paleo, but not bad.

We tried to get them to eat a raw food (meat) diet - they wouldn't go for it - they wanted what they were used to, I guess. We cut way back on the dry stuff, its a bit carby (grains) and they were gaining weight. Now they are lean and mostly happy/healthy. One cat has feline herpes which acts up once in a while - and we give her Lysine treats for that.

Both the cats are of the unwanted type. We adopted them at almost 1 year old. She is a tortoise hair and ADHD with a swishy Mae West walk. He (Mr. Magoo) is a big grey tiger with one removed (bad infection as a kitty) - but he still hunts down every bug and eats them. He also loves bacon and butter! So he's kinda paleo after all!

Unfortunately, no. It's a matter of both finance (I am currently unemployed and not eating as well as I would like to be, either) and my cat being totally picky (she LOVES cat food and the cheaper and crappier the better and never wants anything I am eating). We compromise on dry food that has no wheat, corn, soy or gluten (it does contain rice) and grain-free wet food pouches. I supplement this sometimes with bacon grease, water from canned salmon, coconut oil and bits of egg. She supplements with any insect that enters our apartment.

Uh, no. I would rather get the cheaper dog food and buy more grass fed beef and (ridiculously expensive) raw macadamias. Sorry brady! I give him some steak from time to time though, when I'm not hungry and I decide to fast.

Check out this 2 minute video of Jack Lalanne addressing the ancestral dog diet. His pup is GORGEOUS.

Our two pugs get a chicken drum stick each in the morning and about 3 ounces of raw "pet burgers" from uswellnessmeats for dinner. Two of the leanest and strongest pugs you'll ever see. The girl has been eating this way since we brought her home at 3 months. The other guy is a rescue, his coat was a mess when he joined us, that's all cleared up now.

I have 4 raw fed cats (going on 8 yrs raw for the oldest ones), and 3 grain free dogs (they get grain free kibble plus raw and cooked meats daily). Cats can be the hardest to switch to raw, their stubborn independent ways will hold onto junk food as long as possible....but their health difference is incredible.

Above someone mentioned their vet stopped recommending raw due to stomach perforations...I would wonder about that as well. As long as bones are raw, they 'should' be digested. Most dogs will have trouble digesting all cooked bones, those cause the MOST vet issues. ALTHOUGH, some pets do have difficulty on occasion with harder weight bearing bones or pork bones (like chicken leg bones), and if you ever see them pass through undigested you can easily omit them from the raw diet going forward.

Pics of the raw crew at Pet Meadow E

Absolutely. he's a 41/2 y/o Rhodesian ridgeback who developed rashes inside his paws which he would gnaw on and was constantly scratching. He gets organic free range chicken organ meats when we buy our supply which we boil and refrigerate together. He gets 1/2 cup of that and 1/2 cup Taste of the Wild or Blue Diamond largely protein kibble 2 x a day. No scratching, no nibbling and no infections. He is a steady 85 lbs. and very lean. The vet-who trys to sell us Science Diet and Iams is impressed but disbelieving. Our Ridgie supplements his diet with rabbit, chipmonk and squirrel.

He is the embodiment of the paleo lifestyle. 2 hours of running at full speed-morning and night-followed by 20 hours of lounging around or sleeping.

If we tried to get him to fast we would have to lock ourselves in the basement for fear we would be the meal.

Given the sheer quantity of small dead animal carnage my cats leave strewn around in a half-t0-mostly eaten state I would have to say yes, at least in part.

I did this for my pups, bought the "pet food" from US Wellness and mixed in organic pumpkin, etc. But I can't place orders there very often with it being a $75 minimum. I make them something impromptu like that from time to time. But now they are back on the canned garbage and I can tell they are not as lively. Can I please win the Lotto and I will feed them luxuriously everyday of our lives.

My German Shepard has been eating all raw meat since we got him at age 5 months. He's now 14 months old and growing stronger every day, has a great temperament, a perfect coat, and is never sick. Plus, his poop is small and nearly odor free, and disintegrates into the back yard lawn without any problems.

We feed him mostly chicken, with liver, beef heart, the occasional chuck roast or pork roast, and eggs for variety. Never any kibble or canned food, ever, except for using small dog bisquits as training treats, but not too many of those. I also add melted pan drippings to his food when I have extra, just to spice things up for him. He loves it all and he's super healthy and gorgeous.

Tell me do you all Vaccinate and worm your pets?? The whole thing fascinates me. I wonder if they are strong and healthy are they then resistant to common pet disease??

My cats don't seem to want to deal with raw food either, but I do feed them Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck - both dry and canned. Yeah, I know peas are a legume, and the formula also has some canola oil and flaxseed, but it doesn't have any cereal grains and it is also considered a less-allergenic formula because the food is what they call a single-source protein, limited ingredient diet.

All I know is that the younger one has lost some weight and the older - seriously neurotic - one has calmed down a little bit. NB also has a canned green pea and venison but my knucklehead doesn't like the venison (stupid cat).

I don't know what the policy for posting links to blogs is here, so I'm going to drop a few links that I think may be helpful. First time poster... If it's not OK... I guess I'll find out. :)

All my pets are on a raw diet. I have a (probably) 4 year old Aussie shepherd?/malamute? mix who I started when she was a rescue on a raw prey model diet. I can't attribute all her health improvements to raw food, but the change was very remarkable and she was fully recovered to normal after 5 months. She gained around 15 lbs. and grew a long and thick fur coat that we never could have imagined. When we got her, she had serious itching problems which I think may have been caused by kibble. You can see before and after pics here: http://sparkasynapse.blogspot.com/2008/06/dora-and-junior.html

It is now 1.5 years later and she pretty much looks just like that now... maybe with slightly thicker and longer fur.

I transitioned one of my cats to raw when the "pet food" scare happened around 4? years ago, before I got our dog as a rescue. So, when we got the dog, I was confident that I wanted to feed her raw food. In fact, all of this is what got me thinking about evolutionarily appropriate diets for humans, too. Since the cat was 8 at the time, the transition wasn't easy. I started with small chunks, mixing with tuna and tuna juice, etc., and gradually working up to bigger pieces. She was also really fussy about meat, too. For awhile she was eating pheasant from Whole Foods because she wouldn't eat anything else. Dang cat. Here's a video of that cat eating raw: http://sparkasynapse.blogspot.com/2008/10/where-i-post-graphic-videos.html

We adopted another wild cat about 1.5 years ago and she took right to it. I think she'd been eating a considerable number of chipmunks, voles, and such as she still wants to get out and get those.

The older cat never lost the tummy paunch (probably from being spayed?) but the younger, unspayed cat is very thin and has been fed raw since we got her. Our pets don't smell (this is a huge bonus to feeding raw), especially their breath. The cats have very silky fur and I noticed a big difference in fur after the orange tabby cat went raw.

My dad is a dog trainer (check out www.naturaldogtraining.com) and has recommended Abady dog food for years. It might be on the pricy side but is good for mixing with grain-free kibble or Avoderm, etc.

Cara http://primroseandpaleo.wordpress.com