# Salmonella Shedding in Raw Fed Dogs



## alphadoginthehouse (Jun 7, 2008)

http://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/20...monella/risks-of-raw-more-evidence/index.html

I personally don't know what this means and hope that someone can explain it to me.


----------



## Mr. V (Jan 28, 2010)

Dogs seem to be less susceptible to developing clinical signs associated with salmonella in their food. I think most of the concern over raw feeders and salmonella is more of a public health risk than a dog risk. Of course, an immunocompromised dog (or person for that matter) would always be more prone to infection than a healthy one.


----------



## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

Even kibble fed dogs shed salmonella.


----------



## phoebespeople (May 27, 2009)

First of all, we all know that the corporate pet food manufacturers are responsible for these "studies". The percentage of pet owners who feed their dog a RAW diet represents a significant loss of revenue for them and they will do whatever it takes to get that back. 
Secondly, there is salmonella everywhere. Shopping cart handles, your computer keyboard, hand rails and door knobs, dog feces... Furthermore, what are these people doing handling dog feces anyway? I'm sure there are a lot of bad things in dog feces that people with immune deficiency should stay away from. 
The whole salmonella report business is a propaganda campaign, a negative marketing campaign, paid for for by the corporate pet food companies, meant to scare the public away from RAW feeding, and steer them towards buying more kibble. 
Don't take my work for it though. Do some research. Find out who published the report, what organization they work for, what corporation sponsors that organization, and what pet food manufacturers that corporation owns.

I don't know if you can tell, but I feed my dog a RAW diet.


----------



## phoebespeople (May 27, 2009)

http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/petloss/sponsors.cfm

I just typed in "University of Guelph Veterinary Sponsor" in to Google.

HILLS 

I think I just proved the point I made in my previous post!


----------



## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

Brom was sick before Christmas. I had his stool tested at the vet school in Prince Edward Island by a specialist. He was eating nothing but raw chicken and some raw moose for 2 months before this. His stool came back negative for salmonella. I don't know if this proves much of anything but it does show that Brom could eat raw chicken for 2 months and not get sick.


----------



## alphadoginthehouse (Jun 7, 2008)

My question is this (which was the purpose for posting): What is Salmonella Shedding? 

Is there danger of it being transmitted to humans, and if so, how? Part of the study indicated the care of the food and utensils (which is the same as for humans) and that part makes sense. I don't feed RAW and have no intentions of doing so in the forseeable future...


----------



## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

I am assuming that you can probably get salmonella from the feces or utensils IF you handle those things without washing your hands. I, for one, will never pick up poopie and then not wash my hands. Also, people eat chicken and and have to handle it raw all the time. You just wash your cutting board, utensils, and other dishes. 

I was SUPER paranoid about getting sick from the dogs when I started feeding raw. I got over that very quickly. I am feeding kibble at the moment but am going back to raw in a few weeks. I am not worried.


----------



## phoebespeople (May 27, 2009)

The term "shedding" is purposely ambiguous, it is clever wording by the author of the report to make it impossible to prove them wrong. It can only mean that something is in the feces. Food goes in the mouth, and out the other end.

Now, please don't oppose RAW dog food because of bogus reports like these. Are you going to refuse to prepare Thanksgiving turkey for your family? Because that raw turkey is going to be on your counter and cutting board, you're going to be touching it with your hands and utensils. Are you going to refuse to make hamburgers or BBQ chicken? Because the raw ground beef and raw chicken is going to be in your kitchen and will come in to cantact with other stuff. When you prepare RAW dog food, you clean up exactly the same way you do after you make chicken for your family. 

Unless you buy your meat at a 3rd world street market, and you have no concept of hygene, have no life skills whatsoever, and you live in squalor, then you'll be just fine feeding RAW to your dogs. It's simple, common sense, easy, cheap, and is abolutely the best thing for your dog.


----------



## Ayanla (Jun 11, 2009)

You encounter hundreds of thousands of bacteria and viruses every day. They're on your skin, on your hair, and on every surface you touch. Life is a nasty, nasty, business.

The study says nothing of any value. Pets are always shedding nasty things. Let's be real...they lick and sniff their own, and each other's, butts. Is anyone on this board under the illusion that dogs are clean, germaphobe friendly, animals? Dogs eating raw offer no greater risk than dogs eating kibble, as a perfectly healthy dog eating kibble can STILL shed and spread salmonella.

Here ya go...read up on what our dogs could potentially pass along to us

http://www.cdc.gov/Healthypets/animals/dogs.htm


----------



## alphadoginthehouse (Jun 7, 2008)

Phoebe: I had no intention of feeding RAW before I read this. It is a hot topic on here and I posted the question to my vet clinic on FB. The link was their response. I was just curious what was meant by the term "Salmonella Shedding." I am very happy with kibble for my critters.


----------



## phoebespeople (May 27, 2009)

If kibble is your preference, that is just fine. However, The real issue here is that the report in question:
_Risks of Raw - More evidence 
Posted on March 1, 2010 by Maureen Anderson_ 
was published on the University Of Guelph blog, and they are sponsored by Hill's Pet Nutrition. I am not a conspiracy theorist, it is just the nature of their business to try and scare people away from RAW dog food any way they can, and trying to associate salmonella with RAW dog food is just one way they try to do that.
I'm just saying, I'm not fooled by their tactics.


----------



## Jordan S (Nov 21, 2009)

Salmonella shedding? I think it just means they just poop it out, not sure if they kill it or not. but either way it leaves the body, leaving the dog unharmed. This is what dogs do with other types of bacteria, so I would guess salmonella is no different.


----------



## doggybytes (Mar 1, 2010)

"Salmonella Shedding" simply means that Salmonella cells are present (have been shed) in fecal matter.


----------



## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

salmonella abounds everywhere....dogs have always been capable of giving humans certain diseases..one of which is sarcoptic mange, commonly known to us as scabies...and, whilst they don't 'shed' it from their fecal matter....it's worse than that because how many of us pick up poo with our hands and then not wash....this type of mange is on their skin....and scabies is no picnic.

there was a recall of spinach because of salmonella...and that was traced back to farms with cows and improper irrigation techniques.

people can get giardia..which is on the rise.

lest we all become germaphobes....there are cases of MRSA found in some dogs.

the relationship between humans and food and humans and dogs is a tenuous one, since we consider food as sustenance, therefore it cannot be evil...after all, it's spinach and good for us...and how can our dog be a source of my stomach ache...

yet...

malia did get giardia and we washed her bum and ourselves many many times, because it is catching and it is nasty. salmonella is present on the chicken breasts i prepare for ourselves and the ones i give my dog. you'd best believe the floor gets washed as do the surfaces of my kitchen on a twice daily basis....

nothing fun about salmonella.

kibble people are not much safer than raw people....dogs still gotta poo and they smell and lick us and each other and the grass...and the older the bag of kibble is, the more likely bacteria forms....

use reasonable cleanliness around raw food, including veggies, fruit and meat....and chances are, we will live to ripe old ages...unless we get hit by a meteor.


----------



## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

MagicRe said:


> salmonella abounds everywhere....dogs have always been capable of giving humans certain diseases..one of which is sarcoptic mange, commonly known to us as scabies...and, whilst they don't 'shed' it from their fecal matter....it's worse than that because how many of us pick up poo with our hands and then not wash....this type of mange is on their skin....and scabies is no picnic.
> 
> there was a recall of spinach because of salmonella...and that was traced back to farms with cows and improper irrigation techniques.
> 
> ...


this...is an awesome post.


----------



## alphadoginthehouse (Jun 7, 2008)

After Magic's post, I'm going to hibernate in my house, get rid of my dogs and cat, and die of malnutrition because I'm afraid to eat anything!   JK!!

I can see this post has generated quite a bit of information. And my main reason for posting was to get a definition of the term "shedding" as used in the report. Got waaayyyy more than I bargained for. 

Thanks for all the info and input everyone. It has been a very informative thread.


----------



## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

alphadoginthehouse said:


> After Magic's post, I'm going to hibernate in my house, get rid of my dogs and cat, and die of malnutrition because I'm afraid to eat anything!   JK!!
> 
> I can see this post has generated quite a bit of information. And my main reason for posting was to get a definition of the term "shedding" as used in the report. Got waaayyyy more than I bargained for.
> 
> Thanks for all the info and input everyone. It has been a very informative thread.


too much information, maybe?


----------



## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

zimandtakandgrrandmimi said:


> this...is an awesome post.


thank you....really...it's the one area where i know my stuff...now, ask me about raw, and i start to stutter

i became a true germaphobe after a hospital gave me the one true gift of MRSA during a neck surgery.

Since then, i have fought the phobia to the degree of putting myself through aversion therapy.

the story about sarcoptic mange is true and we have the dog to prove it. she crawled out of a ditch and gave me scabies

a month ago, she got giardia....i have no choice but to deal with my issues LOL


----------



## alphadoginthehouse (Jun 7, 2008)

MagicRe said:


> too much information, maybe?


Nope. Not this girl. Have had too many animals and actually worked for a vet clinic for a few months, so I have seen some of the worst of the worst. I don't live by the 10 second rule at my house (if it hits the floor it's gone!) but other than that, I'm fine.


----------



## dieterherzog (Sep 28, 2009)

Not to sound snarky or anything but I think a lot of Americans worry TOO much about bacteria and viruses. I grew up in a South-east Asian country and I can't tell you how much it irks me when American tourists need to have bottled water even to brush their teeth in places like Mexico or South-east Asia. While I laud the effort of sterile water, let's face it. In case you ever get caught in a situation where there is no bottled water in a foreign land, you're screwed. 

My point is that, a proper level of hygiene is necessary. Going overboard with the antibacterial nonsense is just plain silly. Depending on your source of meat, there's bound to be some level of salmonella bacteria lurking around. Dogs have more acidic and shorter stomachs that help them in being virtually unaffected by many bacteria that would make us sick. That explains why they can eat their own poop and still act/look fine. 

If you have crawling babies around, you might want to keep them away from dog poop and from being licked in the face. Other than that, use common sense. Wash your hands, wipe your counters frequently with a vinegar solution and pick up poop in the proper manner.


----------



## alphadoginthehouse (Jun 7, 2008)

I agree with you dieter...the more you sanitize, the more likely you are to catch something. I am rarely sick...just careful.

Now the bottled water when traveling in foreign countries is not a bad idea. The results can be pretty bad and if you don't travel a lot, it's better to be safe than sorry.


----------

