Renowned Vet Reveals Foods She Would Never Feed Her Dog

By Nova M Bajamonti for Dailymail.Com

20:34 June 3, 2024, updated 20:36 June 3, 2024

A top vet has revealed the foods she would never feed her dog, warning that some pet diets put their owners at risk.

Virginia Beach-based Tiffany Ruiz-Dasilva has been a veterinarian for seven years and has now decided to bust some myths about what’s good and bad for four-legged friends as well as their owners.

The 35-year-old explained how ditching raw materials, watching out for bacteria and counting calories are some of her practical tips.

She urged pet owners to be even more aware if there are children or vulnerable people at home.

“Many factors play a role in how people feed their pets, whether it’s finances, religious or personal beliefs,” Tiffany said.

“It’s my job to make sure the dogs are healthy and their owners are well informed.”

In a video posted to her Instagram, the expert explained that she wouldn’t feed her canine companion raw eggs, raw meat and bully sticks.

This sparked a heated debate between owners in the comments before Tiffany shared a follow-up clip to address the widespread furore.

She has since said: “If anyone wants to feed their pet a raw diet for any reason, I recommend it be a commercially manufactured diet. »

“By that I mean formulated by a veterinary nutritionist or doctor, making sure it is complete and balanced, and has undergone high pressure pasteurization.”

“Studies show that raw eggs are less digestible than cooked eggs and therefore provide no benefit.

“There is a significant risk, however, as raw eggs often contain harmful bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli, which can cause serious health problems in dogs.

“Even if a dog shows no signs of infection, it can carry and transmit the bacteria to humans through contact with the infected dog.”

“Long-term feeding of raw egg whites can also lead to biotin deficiency, leading to skin and coat problems, lethargy and other health problems.”

Tiffany also warned owners against feeding their dogs bully sticks, which are a long-lasting, high-protein dog treat made from dried penises of bulls or steers, also known under the name of pizzles.

They are also known as beef sticks, beef pizzle or beef sticks.

She said: “I definitely don’t recommend feeding bully sticks to dogs as around a third of them have been found to be contaminated with bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella.

“If a dog swallows a large piece, it can cause an intestinal obstruction that may require emergency surgery.”

“They are also quite high in calories, containing around 90 calories per six inches.”

“While it may not seem like a lot, treats should only make up 10 percent of a dog’s daily calories.”

And the last no-no on Tiffany’s list is raw meat.

She said: “I do not recommend feeding raw meat to dogs because, based on current evidence, there is no clear benefit and there are many risks.

“Raw meat diets are also high in fat. Although they can potentially improve the coat, high-fat diets can cause gastrointestinal problems and increase the risk of obesity.

“It’s easy to overfeed due to increased palatability.”

Tiffany also says that while many dogs can tolerate pathogens, not all can.

She said: “Due to the nature of raw diets, they are inherently prone to bacterial contamination.

“Although freezing and freeze-drying can reduce bacteria counts, they do not destroy all pathogens.

“These pathogens will continue to be excreted in the feces even if the dog consuming a raw meat diet shows no signs of illness.”

The expert then explained that this can put owners and their dogs at risk.

She said: “It can affect people who are young, pregnant, elderly or immunocompromised, as well as increasing exposure to resistant bacteria that can cause antibiotic resistance.”

Instead, Tiffany recommends that people feed their dogs fresh store-bought food, as she “firmly believes that fresh food is the ideal choice.”

But viewers were bitterly divided over the advice, as one person wrote: ‘Hmmmm ok. Raw meat works great for our dogs, but yes, the bacteria risks should be taken seriously.

“My dog ​​ate a rotten opossum the other day. I think he will do well on his raw diet,” another person added.

Another surprised user said: “Wow. I have been feeding my dog ​​raw for over 10 years and the only food that has ever made my dogs sick was kibble. Yeah, I don’t know why people advocate raw meat when you can just cook the meat gently at home and make it safer! »

“Dogs are constantly compared to wild wolves even though they lead completely different lives to justify a raw food diet,” one pet owner commented.

Another person added: “Thank goodness for this message. I love it. So many people are fed (excuse the pun) BS about what dog nutrition should look like.

“I call it dog abuse. Raw is very acidic and it is lazy, among other things. Great article.’