Once again, the American Veterinary Medical Association is cautioning pet parents against feeding raw or undercooked animal proteins to dogs and cats. These include meat, poultry, fish, eggs and milk — except for same-species milk used to nurse puppies or kittens.
Raw or undercooked animal proteins can harbor a plethora of bacterial pathogens, as well as the notorious virus that causes bird flu.
Just like us, dogs and cats are susceptible to foodborne illness. But even healthy appearing pets can have infections that endanger humans. Just handling raw pet food can also make people sick.
For every presumed benefit of feeding raw, undercooked or unpasteurized animal proteins to pets, there are even bigger risks. It’s just not worth taking the chance.