Raw food or home-cooked diets are appropriate for some pets, but not all, according to a recent  article  on  www.examiner.com . 

The article recommends commercially available foods and treats in order to ensure a healthy, well-balanced diet for pets.

When it comes to treats, the pet-specific real raw bones at holistic petfood stores are fresher than what someone would get from a butcher, according to the article, and are healthier, too, because the bones are meant to be fed raw or lightly cooked. Meat and bones for human consumption are intended to be cooked before eaten by people, and so hygiene considerations in the rendering plants may reflect that, according to the article.