A woman is issuing a warning about raw dog food after claiming the diet may have led to the death of her pet.
In a video with over 4.9 million views, TikTok user Kelsey (@bestlashesvlc), who is from California but currently lives in Spain, documents herself saying goodbye to her dog.
“Getting my dog ready to cross the rainbow bridge thanks to raw dog food,” she writes in the text overlaying the video.
But how did the diet potentially contribute to her dog’s illness?
What Happened To This Woman’s Dog?
In the caption and other videos on her page, Kelsey details what she says happened to her dog, Natsu.
According to Kelsey, she had purchased “Menú BARF de Pollo con verduras frescas para perros.” This is a raw dog food from a company called Wild Balance. For context, “BARF” is an acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. It’s a diet that mixes raw meat with bones, vegetables, and other raw ingredients.
Soon, she noticed her dog suddenly change.
“After a few weeks on that diet, Natsu suddenly became paralyzed,” she says in a video.
Concerned, she took her dog to the veterinarian. Following some tests, it was determined that the dog had Polyradiculoneuritis, or PRN. This is a condition in which a dog’s immune system begins to attack its nervous system.
“The vets told us they couldn’t say for certain the cause, but the timing, the food change—it was all pointing to a bacteria commonly found in raw poultry, Campylobacter, which has been linked to cases of paralysis,” Kelsey says.
It Gets Worse
After this, Natsu began a long recovery process. While the dog eventually regained the ability to walk, another problem soon emerged: immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, or IMHA.
“This can happen when the immune system becomes strongly activated. It can sometimes become misdirected and attack multiple parts of the body…in this case, his red blood cells,” Kelsey shares.
“To treat that, he was given a strong immunosuppressant medication called cyclosporine,” she continues. “While it helped control the anemia, over time, it severely damaged his kidneys. And, for the last 2 years, Natsu has been fighting two fates at the same time: IMHA and kidney failure.”
While “Natsu fought so hard for the last 2.5 years,” the ailments eventually became “too much to take anymore.”
“This is just my experience. I know others will debate me on it, but others don’t have a dog with an autoimmune condition,” she writes in the caption of a video. “Autoimmune conditions are triggered by something. Usually bacteria, viruses, vaccines, etc and in our case we’re sure it was a bacteria commonly found in raw poultry which he happened to switch over too shortly before becoming paralyzed.”
Can A Raw Food Diet Really Cause This?
What can be said definitively is that raw poultry can carry Campylobacter. Additionally, raw chicken has been linked to APN in dogs, and APN can cause sudden weakness or paralysis.
One study found that 96% of tested dogs with APN had eaten raw chicken; of the non-APN dogs, only 26% had eaten raw chicken. Additionally, when stool samples from the APN dogs were taken within a week of visible symptoms, they were about 9 times more likely to test positive for Campylobacter than the non-APN dogs.
Whether Kelsey’s specific raw dog food actually carried Campylobacter is uncertain. It is also uncertain if the dog obtained the bacteria from the food, as it can also occasionally be found in contaminated water and meat from other animals.
Still, the sheer possibility may make some dog owners reconsider a raw food diet. Furthermore, it should be noted that the World Small Animal Veterinary Association states that “there is no evidence that raw meat-based diets provide health benefits over commercial or balanced homemade cooked diets.” These diets also have a “high risk of bacterial contamination,” per the WSAVA.
@bestlashesvlc Natsu fought so hard for the last 2.5 years. So many points in his journey we thought it was the end. From the 3 weeks of being paralyzed, and learning how to walk again. The diagnosis for IMHA and his struggle to fight off the anemia. To the diagnosis of kidney disease due to his body not taking the medications for the IMHA well. Many points in his journey I thought it was the end but he fought so hard for more time with us. Until it was too much to take anymore. I can only share his story in the hopes it may make others think before giving raw dog food. This is just my experience. I know others will debate me on it but others don’t have a dog with an autoimmune condition. Autoimmune conditions are triggered by something. Usually bacteria, viruses, vaccines, etc and in our case we’re sure it was a bacteria commonly found in raw poultry which he happened to switch over too shortly before becoming paralyzed. I’ll keep sharing your story Natsu. Thank you for teaching us so many great things 🩷
BroBible reached out to Kelsey via email and Facebook direct message, and Wild Balance via email.
UPDATE: In an email, the TikToker explained why she switched to raw dog food in the first place.
“Natsu had a small bladder stone originally and the vet had advised us to change his diet to avoid the stone growing. We researched online into alternative diets and found raw food to be a good option,” she wrote. “We found the wild balance commercial raw dog food in the chain pet store here in Spain and since one of our close family members was feeding that same brand it made us short cut our decision because it was trusted by a close family member.”
While she cannot be certain of the raw food’s role in her dog’s illness, the timing was suspicious.
“When he became paralyzed he went to see a neurologist. They did a spinal tap and rested everything and officially diagnosed him with polyradiculoneuritis. They explained it’s normally seen in hunting dogs who eat raw game. He then asked if he was eating any type of raw meat,” she shared. “We told him yes and he said the possibility of that being the cause is quite high although cannot be proven, knowing the timelines he was leaning towards that theory. He said they see many cases of complications with raw dog food.”
The TikToker says the dog ended up needing to see “2 neurologist specialists, 3 veteranians, and 1 rehabilitation veterinarian.” The latter claimed another dog came in with similar issues after eating raw food.
To conclude, she offered her thoughts on the responses to her video.
“I shared something really personal on the Internet out of a moment of shear guilt, regret and grieving. To try so hard for years to remedy your mistake with every resource you have and then still have the outcome of your loved one passing, is a terrible feeling and then to post about him as a very last resort just to say, please don’t let your death be for nothing is something very profound,” she detailed. “This is to say after it being posted the amount of hate and controversy that it created was incredibly insensitive and it made me look at human empathy differently.”
“But also on the other side, the amount of love from people and also the sharing of all of the other stories, similar stories, people recognizing patterns with their pets, people saying they will not choose raw food because of Natsu’s story, veterinarians joining the comments with warnings,” she continued. “In the end, I think it changed quite a lot of people’s minds. It may have even created a conversation around education on raw dog foods, risks, research and the relationship to autoimmune conditions.”