Browsing by Author "Frisk, Camilla"

Feeding raw food has increased in popularity and many advocate the good effects of it. Only few studies on raw food has been done, mainly on negative effects such as the risk of infection when handling raw meat. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether different diets, especially raw food, has an impact on blood parameters. The hypothesis was that raw food will have an impact on the blood parameters. A total of 101 dogs were included in the analysis. Both hematologic and serum biochemical analyses were made. The owners were asked to fill in a questionnaire with information about their dog and the percent of each food they give to their dogs. Diets were defined as raw food, dry food, canned food and homemade food. Based on the questionnaire, the dogs were divided into different diet groups. Staffordshire bull terriers were also analysed individually since they consisted the majority of the population (n =80). The diet groups were as follows; 100 % raw food, 100% dry food and mixed diet. The population was also divided into 5 groups according to a set percent of either raw or dry food (1 = 0%, 2 = 1–30 %, 3 = 31–60 %, 4= 61–99 %, and 5 = 100 %). The mean values of the blood parameters in all groups were compared statistically (Kruskal-Wallis test). Differences were found between raw and dry and raw and mixed diets. The blood values that most often differed were erythrocytes, haemoglobin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatinine, cholesterol, sodium and protein. Erythrocytes, haemoglobin, protein and creatinine increased with increased amount of raw food. ALP and cholesterol showed the opposite. Sodium showed high values in groups with high amounts of raw food and low values in mixed diets. This study gave evidence that diet is affecting blood parameters. In which extent it can affect remains unclear since no exact information about the diets were collected. Further studies need to be done to evaluate the real effect of a raw diet on blood parameters and whether it should be incorporated in clinical work.