Do Cats Need To Eat Less When On Raw Diet?

HungryPandaCat

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I'm currently feeding my two cats (11 months old) the manufacturers recommended amount of commercial raw (chicken & rabbit) based on their weight, and they're starting to get a little fluffy (size wise). Just went for a vet checkup and was told to reduce their intake (my vet supports raw, so happy).

I reduced their feedings to 3/4 of their original amount and they keep crying for more. I know they're just being greedy but I'm just wondering about the reasoning behind it.

Because the body can absorb more nutrients when eating raw so they need to eat less? Whereas with kibble its full of fillers they can't digest so it takes more to make them full?
 

Azazel

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It really depends on what you’re feeding and how active your cats are, plus their individual digestion systems. I would just cut down a little by little until you feel like they are at their desired weight, but be careful that they don’t lose too much weight too fast.
 

dhammagirl

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As Azazel mentioned, it varies from kitty to kitty.
I think that most of the time the food manufacturer recommended amounts are a bit high, they sell more food that way.
It's definitely best to prevent the kitties from getting overweight then trying to lose. Some kitties are rather food obsessed, and you'll just have to be tough.
I'd suggest keeping a journal of how much you feed, by weight, and also regularly weigh the kitties. And maybe experiment with the feeding schedule, for example, see how they behave with a big breakfast and a smaller dinner versus a small breakfast and big dinner, or both the same amount, or maybe more frequent small meals.
 

lalagimp

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I think they were for a while, but then they adjusted to it. Stewart gets about 4 ounces cause he's a little chunky boy, and Tommy is just an empty pit. He eats 6 1/2 oz of my mix, and then a serving of Stella and Chewy since he started dropping weight.
The two guys are only supposed to be 1 pound apart based on their measurements. They're just domestic house cats.
 

Tobermory

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I'm currently feeding my two cats (11 months old) the manufacturers recommended amount of commercial raw (chicken & rabbit) based on their weight, and they're starting to get a little fluffy (size wise). Just went for a vet checkup and was told to reduce their intake (my vet supports raw, so happy).

I reduced their feedings to 3/4 of their original amount and they keep crying for more. I know they're just being greedy but I'm just wondering about the reasoning behind it.

Because the body can absorb more nutrients when eating raw so they need to eat less? Whereas with kibble its full of fillers they can't digest so it takes more to make them full?
Typically kitties eat more dry food because the pet food companies add yummy animal digest sprays that entice them to eat and eat more. They kind of get addicted to the taste. You're right about raw being more efficient in terms of how an obligate carnivore processes its food.

Can you ask your vet how many calories she or he recommends for them at this age? Since you're feeding commercial raw, the package will tell you how many calories and that might give you better control over how much you're feeding them and reduce the guilt factor for you! :)
 

jclark

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Because the body can absorb more nutrients when eating raw so they need to eat less? Whereas with kibble its full of fillers they can't digest so it takes more to make them full?
This is factually incorrect. Raw foods are harder to digest and consequently animals on raw diets are a little thinner.


I'd bet the reason why your cats put on weight is that the recommended portion size assumes your animals are NOT spade/neutered and they may not be as active as you think they are.
 

Azazel

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This is factually incorrect. Raw foods are harder to digest and consequently animals on raw diets are a little thinner.


I'd bet the reason why your cats put on weight is that the recommended portion size assumes your animals are NOT spade/neutered and they may not be as active as you think they are.
I think what you mean is that raw food is easier to digest.
 

jclark

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I think what you mean is that raw food is easier to digest.
No. Cooking food is akin to partial digestion. Proteins are partially broken down, carbohydrates and vitamins/minerals are more readily accessible/easier to digest, etc. It's why we as humans generally don't eat raw food (specifically proteins and starches). Cooking = greater bio-availability.

Raw food for cats has no fillers or preservatives and is full of water. That's why you feed them raw. Cats evolved to digest raw foods and they even let their kill marinate a little (burying to hide from others) where it'll go a little off but they'll still eat it.

Fillers and preservatives add bulk, but insure shelf life and make it easier to portion out.
 

Azazel

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No. Cooking food is akin to partial digestion. Proteins are partially broken down, carbohydrates and vitamins/minerals are more readily accessible/easier to digest, etc. It's why we as humans generally don't eat raw food (specifically proteins and starches). Cooking = greater bio-availability.

Raw food for cats has no fillers or preservatives and is full of water. That's why you feed them raw. Fillers and preservatives add bulk, insure shelf life, and make it easier to portion out.
Your logic doesn’t quite make sense. The fact that there are no fillers, especially carbs, which cats can’t digest well, impiles that raw food is easier to digest. Multiple studies have shown that raw food is more digestible for cats and dogs than cooked.

Humans cook raw food because we can’t handle the bacteria. But, in any case, cats have different digestive systems than humans.
 

MargoLane

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I don't think much about nutrient density in any kind of food. I feed the number of calories based on her weight; my cat's ideal weight is 8 pounds, so 160 is the baseline. Since different raw foods have different calories counts, how many ounces I feed really depends on that. Of course, that would be harder with home made raw! Commercial tells me an average calories count per ounce or per 100 grams. For example, with Big Country Raw Pork, she only needs about 3.5 ounces per day. With RadCat Turkey, she needs 5-6 ounces.

After 160 calories, I watched her activity level and how food-crazy she is. Busy gets the zoomies multiple times per day and enjoys a good play session, so she's pretty active. If I only feed 160, she waits in the kitchen for an hour before meal time, staring at me. She jumps on the kitchen counter and she races to the kitchen every time I go in there, hoping for food. Twice, she ate the leftover meat from our dinner! So I upped it to 180-190 calories, she's much more comfortable and only goes food crazy right at meal times. The layer of fat on her ribs could probably be a little thinner, but she's still a very healthy weight and she's not living meal to meal.
 

jclark

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Your logic doesn’t quite make sense. The fact that there are no fillers, especially carbs, which cats can’t digest well, impiles that raw food is easier to digest. Multiple studies have shown that raw food is more digestible for cats and dogs than cooked.

Humans cook raw food because we can’t handle the bacteria. But, in any case, cats have different digestive systems than humans.
The cooked protein is easier to digest then raw. It just is by the very nature of its change in state. As for carbohydrates, cats didn't evolve to to consume large quantities carbs. That's why they have a hard time digesting them. We can digest carbohydrates but it's much easier to digest a baked potato rather than a raw one. Or bread rather than raw grain.

It's a lie when people say raw is easier to digest simple because it's raw. It's more complicated that that. I could feed my cat raw mixed with wheat germ and it wouldn't be any more digestible than kibble.
 

sophie1

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In general, you'll feed a lot less raw than canned to maintain a cat at the same weight. Take my 11 pound Siberian - if I fed him canned food he'd probably be on a 5.5 oz can/day. On my homemade raw, his weight is stable on 3.2 oz/day, plus a tablespoon of Honest Kitchen for "dessert". Call it 3.5 oz/day. If I feed him more than this, he gains weight.

I expect a cat would have an easier time adapting to less food if you reduce the amount gradually. A trick I've used with Charlie: give him fresh catnip (stalk and leaves) after meals. The fresh stuff is not as potent as dried, and they love to eat the leaves and play with the stalk before eating it. A catnip chew toy might be a good substitute if you don't have access to the live plant - though Charlie sometimes throws up when he gets too enthusiastic chewing it.
 

Gauntylgrym

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My kittens are eating about 5 oz./day each of Dr. Pierson's homemade raw. It fluctuates though...some days they down 6 oz. each, other days they barely finish 4 oz. each.

As to size...breed should be a consideration as well coupled with the fact that too many vets out there don't understand certain breeds. Siberians are a good example. Being relatively new to the States, most vets don't understand how they are a stockier breed than most, and that they have a naturally loose belly skin area. My vet just told me that because Shiva's belly was loose that she was getting overweight...at 8.75 lbs...which is still small for a siberian (even a female). I expect her to get to around 12 lbs over the course of the next year or so...and even that is still on the smaller side.

Anyway...just something to consider.
 

catdaddy007

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No. Cooking food is akin to partial digestion. Proteins are partially broken down, carbohydrates and vitamins/minerals are more readily accessible/easier to digest, etc. It's why we as humans generally don't eat raw food (specifically proteins and starches). Cooking = greater bio-availability.

Raw food for cats has no fillers or preservatives and is full of water. That's why you feed them raw. Cats evolved to digest raw foods and they even let their kill marinate a little (burying to hide from others) where it'll go a little off but they'll still eat it.

Fillers and preservatives add bulk, but insure shelf life and make it easier to portion out.
This is not accurate IMHO- here's why.
1- Cooking is NOT akin to partial digestion. When you cook, you cross-link proteins, you do not break them down. Think of what happens when frying an egg.
2- Carbohydrate is not a part of a cat's natural diet, beyond the 1-2% of what is in their prey's digestive system, which would already be partially digested anyway. Vitamins and minerals are not easier to digest when cooked (The exception is a few things like lycopenes, found in tomatoes, and some nutrients in heavy leafy greens)- in fact, many are destroyed by heat. Where is your data supporting this? We do not digest vitamins and minerals anyway- we absorb them as they are directly into the bloodstream in the small intestine. Digestion is defined as the process by which food is mechanically and chemically broken down into its constituent parts.
3- Humans generally DO eat raw food. As a vegan, about 50% of my diet is raw fruit, vegetables, greens, nuts, and seeds. Some things are rendered more mechanically digestible such as cruciferous vegetables, (due to the softening of the structure caused by heat) so that would be correct. but of course we can eat them raw. We can also eat most starchy root vegetables raw if we want to; it has simply become normalized to cook them. Humans can also eat raw meat- again, it's simply become normal and expected in modern society to cook and prepare it, some of which has to do with modern agriculture and rendering causing bacterial exposure over time- if you go out and kill an animal, you can eat most of it raw while it is fresh. Traditional-living Inuit still do so as there is no firewood in the Arctic. Cooking does destroy some anti-nutrients present in some foods such as oxalic acid and phytates in spinach etc, so that is a good thing. But none of this point really applies to cats- we cannot place the same framework around a species with an entirely differently evolved digestive structure.
4- Bioavailabiity is not the same thing as digestibility.
5- I'm sorry, but you contradicted yourself when you say that cats evolved to eat raw foods. Exactly. EVERY animal did, therefore raw is the most digestible.

My apologies if this came across as very direct- it's not my intent at all to raise anyone's ire, simply to point out a few things I don't agree with in your post. Have a good day!
 
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