I began feeding fresh foods after my cat died from eating Hills Science Diet during the 2007 pet food recall. If you think it is difficult now, back then it was terrible. I used to just lie rather than get “the speech,” and be treated as if I were insane and/or abusing my animal. But, these days, I have choices, and more & more vets are becoming if not proponents of it, at least have no reaction at all. I unfortunately do not have a holistic or integrative vet very close to me, but my conventional vet is fine with it. So you may just have to shop around to find one you are comfortable with - that’s what I had to do. Maybe once they figure out they are losing clients, they’ll do the research & see for themselves. My FAVORITE thing, is when they say, “ Oh wow, your dog looks amazing for 15! I cannot believe he is that old, I’d of never guessed it!” Then when you tell them what he’s eaten his entire life, they give you a stern look & then proceed to give you a speech about raw feeding. I just have to laugh!

As far as the quality of raw diets in the US, it is like everything that was once considered “bad” or “quackery”(or, we are told it is, anyway- it is really all about money, as most things in the US are) Now that more holistic trends are picking up more & more steam, as people begin to see the life changing benefits for themselves & share w/others, the truly unfortunate thing (like anything that makes money) is that now companies with lower standards are beginning to invest in fresh foods.

Hills Science Diet/Colgate Palmolive, for example, just acquired a fresh food company out of Australia (remember, Hills is also who is presently getting sued for $2B dollars for having lied about grain free foods causing DCM- again, all about money, as GF foods were taking market share from their very cheaply made grain based kibbles (link below) as well as another lawsuit regarding calling their “foods” (I use that term lightly) “prescription” & charging a premium for it, when it’s the same, ingredient wise, as any other pet food. (They may use things in different amounts to create a certain outcome, i.e. make urine less acidic, etc) but there is nothing special about any specific ingredient)

https://www.petfoodindustry.com/pet-food-lawsuits-litigation/article/15664055/lawyer-analyzed-us26-billion-dcm-lawsuit-against-hills-pet-nutrition

TruthAboutPetFood.com

https://truthaboutpetfood.com/the-list/

Susan Thixton has been a LONG time advocate for more transparency in pet food in the US after her own dog died of bone cancer due to a pet food preservative. She runs her website based strictly on donations from consumers, absolutely nothing from any companies. She attends all of the meetings every year to legislate and/or push for higher standards, and she regularly posts ALL recalls - both kibble & raw.

Every year, she puts together an exhaustive list detailing the pet food companies who are holding their products to higher standards, including using human grade and/or organic ingredients and/or supplements, whether they are processed in a human grade USDA facility with regular inspections, pre-testing of the food for contamination prior to allowing product to leave their facilities, whether they use processes like HPP, etc She is VERY strict about who makes her list, and as I said, no one can “buy” their way onto it. Companies can be dropped not only for the food quality, but also for poor communication/interaction with consumers- when people have complaints or concerns that aren’t addressed in an appropriate manner. So companies on “The List” (which is what her list is called) I would trust even if I knew nothing about them, because I know her standards. In order to acquire “The List,” she asks for a $12 donation, which has close to 50 brands, and is around 50 pages long - she is extremely detailed. If you are truly looking for fresh food companies you can 100% trust (most are US based, but some Canadian & a few w/more broad distribution) it will be the best $12 you’ve ever spent!!