The GESPETFOOD veterinary team explains what a BARF dog diet entails.

The BARF diet for dogs translates as Biologically Appropriate Raw Food and is something like the equivalent of the paleo diet for dogs and cats. It has many followers, especially in the United States and Northern Europe, but is the BARF diet safe?

To begin with, it is perhaps natural for your dog to roam the steppe in packs. On that basis, qualifying as natural any food provided by a human may not be the most correct, although it is clear that dogs have long ceased to be wolves.

We are no longer hunter-gatherers, although perhaps our organism has not yet found out. There are people who, based on this fact, promote the so-called paleodiet, that is, that we should eat the same as in the Paleolithic. This is what our body is prepared for, and it is true, although it is also true that life expectancy in the Paleolithic was low.

Evolution may not have changed our bodies in a very pronounced way, but technology has forever changed the way we eat, for the better. That’s a fact in humans, but what about pets? Cats and especially dogs have been with us for thousands of years, which has also changed the way they eat and their diet.

The BARF diet promotes standards that include mostly raw meat and some vegetables and fruits. It is what a dog or cat could get in the wild, the paleo diet for pets.

The best thing to do if you have any doubts is to consult your veterinarian, who is the professional and best placed to advise you in these cases. Surely you can consult him if it is convenient to give your pet homemade food, that is to say, raw, baked or cooked meat, but of different origins than the one sold frozen as BARF diet.

We hope our advice and the information we share with you will help you, in the hope that your furry friend will have a wonderful and healthy life.

If you want to contact the GESPETFOOD veterinary team, write us at info@gespetfood.com and follow us on our social networks @gespetfood for more tips.