Last Updated: 03/08/2026
Do Raw Diets for Pets Really Work? What the Research Says
Thinking about feeding raw? From ancestral diets and poop quality to gut health, immune function, and nutritional balance, learn what the latest research says about raw pet food so you can make the best choice for your furry family member.
Author: Dr Carla Paszkowski BVSc (Hons)
Reading Time: 4 minutes - short read
If you've looked into raw feeding for your dog or cat, you've probably come across a long list of claimed benefits - and a lot of conflicting information about whether they're actually true. This article gets into the research behind the most common claims, so you can decide for yourself what to make of them.
For an overview of the pros, cons, and practical considerations of raw feeding, see Raw diets for pets: pros, cons, and what you need to know.
Does the 'ancestral diet' argument actually hold up?
The theory behind raw feeding often starts here: dogs should eat like their wild ancestors, the grey wolf, because their DNA is so similar and their anatomy (teeth designed for slicing, shorter gut) suggests a carnivorous design. It's a compelling argument - but it doesn't hold up as cleanly as it sounds.
Your dog is not a wolf. Dogs were domesticated approximately 33,000 years ago, and that domestication came with significant biological change. While dogs don't technically require carbohydrates1, they've evolved the ability to digest them - developing increased gene expression for pancreatic amylase, the ability to convert maltose to glucose, and improved intestinal glucose uptake2. These adaptations didn't exist in early wolves. Dogs are now generally considered biologically omnivorous. In fact, dogs share only 98% of their DNA with wolves - roughly the same margin as humans and bonobos.
Early wolves also had a very short lifespan. The average domestic dog lives up to 20 years depending on breed. Wild wolves live around 5 years. This alone suggests that 'living wild' isn't the same as 'living well.'
Store-bought raw meat is not the same as freshly hunted prey. Wild dogs consume prey within 1-2 hours of the kill - that meat is genuinely fresh. Store-bought raw meat, by contrast, has been processed in an abattoir, transported, and refrigerated for at least 1-2 days before it's fed. There's a lot more opportunity for bacterial growth. Dogs are just as susceptible to food poisoning as we are, and dogs fed raw diets have been found to shed significantly higher quantities of harmful bacteria - including Salmonella, Listeria, and Yersinia spp3,4,5 - in their faeces.
Is raw food easier to digest, and does it actually produce better poos?
On digestibility: Raw diets are often said to be more digestible because cooking destroys enzymes and other nutrients. It's true that cooking destroys certain food-based enzymes6 - but dogs and cats don't rely on exogenous enzymes for digestion. They produce all the enzymes they need in their gastrointestinal tract and pancreas, and most enzymes from raw food are destroyed in the stomach before they do any work anyway.
Studies in cats have found raw food to be more digestible than cooked7,8 - but mainly for protein, not for fat, carbohydrates, or overall energy. And interestingly, the effect of cooking on protein depends on where the protein comes from. For meat-based protein, cooking can reduce bioavailability. For plant-based protein, cooking can actually improve it - heat processing deactivates compounds like trypsin inhibitors found in legumes, which would otherwise block digestion.
On stools: Higher digestibility does tend to produce smaller, firmer stools - and raw-fed pets often do have noticeably firmer, less odorous poos. But whether that's actually a good thing depends on why the faeces is bulky in the first place. Undigested plant matter (fibre) is genuinely beneficial for gut bacteria. Undigested meat protein, by contrast, produces compounds like ammonia, phenols, indoles, and amines - which can play a role in diseases like colorectal cancer9. So smaller stools on a raw diet don't automatically equal a healthier gut.
Can raw diets affect immune function and cancer risk?
Immune function: One study in domestic cats fed a raw diet for 10 weeks found a significant increase in lymphocytes (immune cells) and immunoglobulin production, compared to cats fed a commercial canned diet10. This sounds promising - but the cats fed raw were also found to be shedding higher levels of Salmonella in their faeces. It's possible the immune response was triggered by bacterial exposure rather than any positive effect of the diet itself. Other explanations include changes in gut bacteria or nutritional deficiencies. So the jury's still out.
Cancer risk: When muscle meat is cooked at high temperatures, it produces compounds called heterocyclic amines11 - which, in high concentrations, are associated with cancer. The concentrations found in commercial pet food are low12, but whether there's any meaningful cumulative effect from lifetime exposure remains unknown. It's a plausible mechanism, but the current evidence doesn't confirm a real-world benefit.
What about nutritional deficiencies?
This is actually one of the best-documented concerns with raw feeding. Studies into homemade raw recipes - particularly those sourced online or from books - have consistently found imbalances in essential nutrients, including calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin D, and fat content4,5,6. These imbalances are found in both home-prepared and some commercial raw diets. If you're making raw food at home, a consultation with a veterinary nutritionist is the best way to ensure your dog or cat is getting a complete and balanced diet.
For more, see Raw diets for pets: pros, cons, and what you need to know and our raw food safety guide.
References
Roberts MT, et al. Macronutrient intake of dogs, self-selecting diets varying in composition offered ad libitum. J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr. 2018;102:568-575.
Axelsson E, et al. The genomic signature of dog domestication reveals adaptation to a starch-rich diet. Nature 2013;495:360-364.
Sato Y, et al. Salmonella virchow infection in an infant transmitted by household dogs. J Vet Med Sci 2000;62:767-769.
Lefebvre SL, et al. Evaluation of the risk of shedding salmonellae by therapy dogs fed raw diets. Zoonoses Public Health 2008;55:470-480.
Finley R, et al. The risk of salmonellae shedding by dogs fed Salmonella-contaminated commercial raw food diets. Can Vet J 2007;48:69-75.
Meade SJ, et al. The impact of processing on the nutritional quality of food proteins. JAOAC 2005;88:904-922.
Crissey SD, et al. Use of a raw meat-based diet or a dry kibble diet for sand cats. J Anim Sci 1997;75:2154-2160.
Vester BM, et al. Influence of feeding raw or extruded feline diets on nutrient digestibility. Zoo Biol 2010;29:676-686.
Larsson SC, Wolk A. Meat consumption and risk of colorectal cancer. Intl J Cancer 2006;119:2657-2664.
Hamper BA, et al. Evaluation of two raw diets vs a commercial cooked diet on feline growth. J Feline Med Surg. 2016;18(12):991-996.
Sugimura T, et al. Heterocyclic amines: mutagens/carcinogens produced during cooking of meat and fish. Cancer Sci 2004;95:290-299.
Knize MG, et al. Mutagenic activity and heterocyclic amine carcinogens in commercial pet foods. Mutat Res 2003;539:195-201.
Freeman LM, Michel KE. Evaluation of raw food diets. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2001;218:705-709.
Taylor MB, et al. Diffuse osteopenia and myelopathy in a puppy fed a raw diet. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2009;234:1041-1048.
Dillitzer N, et al. Intake of minerals, trace elements and vitamins in bone and raw food rations. Br J Nutr 2011;106:S53-S56.
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History
Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
Mon 3 Aug 2026
Edited by Dr Gillian Hill BVSc (Hons)Dr Carla Paszkowski BVSc (Hons)
Veterinarian
Dr. Carla graduated from the University of Queensland in 2013 with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science and worked for a number of years in small animal clinics across South East Queensland. While Carla enjoys most facets of clinical veterinary work, she holds a special passion for feline medicine, pocket pets, and nutrition.
