Extremely curious

[dannap5194]

I have read the forum and I am beyond curious. I want to do what is best for the health of my pets. I never brought processed baby food because it added stuff even thou it says all natural, it added so I made all their food from scratch. I am getting the impression that this raw feeding is similar to this not feeding my children baby food from jars. I am going back to the vets on the 1st of May for the kittens deworming and am going to ask about it. I was curious to whether my idea is correct? I am wondering about natural cat food you purchase and how you feed them. I mean it is completely RAW and not cooked like they hunted it? And it is meat from the post well 80% meat.Sorry I hope I have not offended anyone, I believe it is a great Idea and I was curious to find out how other felt, talked to my vet, and then my husband with all the information before we make the best decision for our family and lifestyle. Thank you

 

[nerdrock]

I'm not discouraging you from talking to your vet about it, however I did want to mention that there are still vets out there that are not educated on feeding raw food and may try to discourage you from doing so. One of my old vets was like that, she told me that I'd kill my dog if I fed her raw meat. I just stopped telling her what I fed. The raw diet actually helped to reduce the frequency of that particular dog's seizures. 

As for the actual meat, if you buy it from a grocery store you'll have to check and see if it's enhanced - many meats are. You want to avoid those ones. As far as I know, most of the meats used in raw pet food are not enhanced, although you would have to check with specific companies to make sure. 

 

[ritz]

I read a fair amount before I transitioned Ritz to raw in late September 2011.  In late October, Ritz developed constipation/blood on stool.  I needed to tell my vet I was feeding raw because one cause of constipation is feeding too much bone. He just kind of shrugged but didn't say much.  A few months later she went back to the vets because she developed a (stress-induced) UTI, and he asked how raw feeding was going.  I said fine; she'll eat any kind of meat instead of only Fancy Feast seafood.

In February 2012 I took Ritz in for a wellness check.  The vet remarked how shiny, healthy her coat was; I said that it must be due to the raw feeding.  I asked him about her teeth; Ritz had to have a dental cleaning in May 2011 for gingivitus.  He looked at her teeth, pronounced them fine, great; and I said, must be all that bone cause goodness knows I could never brush her teeth. 

This is my way of educating vets about the benefits of raw feeding--he sees something good, and I tell him why.

So, I would ask your vet his opinion about raw feeding.  If he is open to the idea, fine; if, on the other hand, he says it kills cats and people, then, IMHO, I'd find another vet.

Raw meat from the grocery store is fine; make sure it is not enhanced (look at the sodium level).   It is okay to buy the meat on super sale when it is at the "sell by" date.  (Prep and freeze as soon as you get it home.)  You can save a LOT of money that way.

 "Commercial" raw is found at most high-end pet food stores.  It is "enhanced" only to the extent that it is complete with bone, liver and non-organ meat.  (Unless the label specifically states, "supplemental" which means the owner mixes it with the appropriate amount of bone, liver, non-organ meat for his/her own cat.)

Let us know how your discussion with your vet goes.

 

[ldg]

Definitely, talk to your vet. But as nerdrock says, don't be surprised at the response you may get. Some are not anti-raw, but skeptical. We work with three different vets at three different vet practices. The most recent addition was a holistic DVM, and she is the reason we went to all canned from a mix of dry and canned, and she's the primary reason we ended up switching to raw feeding. But when we made the switch, we did discuss it with the other vets we work with. They are not trained in nutrition, but have a number of clients with dogs feeding raw, so weren't completely opposed to it. But some vets just... aren't current and just don't know enough about it.

Here's a very interesting exchange you may appreciate. The initial piece is an article about a local shop in Canada that sells a number of locally made raw foods for cats and dogs. The next piece is a vet's response. And the third link is a second vet's response to the first vet's reaction. Food for thought.

Awww.... the links on longer work. BUT... I found someone that posted the two vet letters. It's here: http://www.peterdobias.com/community/2012/01/2664/

And yes! Raw feeding is just that - feeding raw food, the way cats would eat it!

Some buy commercial (frozen) raw food - balanced and complete. Others buy commercial ground mixes (meat/bones/organs) and add some supplements. Others make home made. Some grind the food, other's don't. When you don't grind, the feeding is called "whole prey model" (or "frankenprey" ).

Basically, domestic cats in the wild (feral cats) eat a diet of primarily small rodents, maybe some birds, lizards, bugs, etc. The profile of their prey is essentially 80% meat, 8-10% bones, 5% liver, and 5% "other secreting organs." And a cat's GI system is designed to get everything it needs from... raw meat. In fact, their GI systems are so specialized as an obligate carnivore, that they don't even possess some of the digestive enzymes necessary to convert some plant-based nutrition into usable stuff. I love the example of carrots. Cats cannot synthesize Vitamin A from beta carotene. They MUST get vitamin A from animal flesh. Or added as a supplement to commercial food. Whenever you see carrots in a food, it is filler. Whenever you see beta carotene in a food, it is for coloring. Period. It has no nutritional value to a cat.

Some believe that you need to provide no supplements AT ALL. (Though most do provide at least eggs and sardines as diet supplements in addition to the meat/bones/organs they feed). Offering a variety of protein sources, "muscle organs" (not considered "other secreting organs") like heart (cats seem to all LOVE them!), and that small bit of various livers, kidneys, pancreas, spleen or whatever - arguably offers your cat the nutrition she needs.

I transitioned my cats to raw starting this past January. I now feed a whole prey model - I posted my menu if you want to jump to the end of my thread. I do include some supplements. And I am not comfortable feeding bones as my cats are all older and still working on the whole chewing thing. I'm sure they could handle it, the issue is only MY comfort level with it :lol3: , so I supplement calcium in a rather exact amount to get the right calcium: phosphorus ratio.

But I LOVE having control over their diet, and I LOVE not feeding them all the additives and often not-so-great ingredients used in (most) commercial canned foods.

And one amazing benefit of feeding raw? They use all the nutrition in the food. As you can see from the threads here, a number of us transitioned this year - and we all were amazed at the difference in their poop. :lol3: Given a raw-fed cat (that weighs 10 pounds) only needs 3.5 - 5 oz of food (depending on age and activity level), it makes sense there's less coming out the other end versus the canned foods, which typically require 7 - 10 ounces of food a day. :lol3: To me, that speaks volumes about the difference in nutritional quality. (And the pun was not intended!)

 

[carmina piranha]

Hello!

Since you ended up making your own baby food in order to control ingredients and keep out additives, I think that the more you research cat nutrition and standard commercial pet food "quality," you'll likely decide to make your own pet food.  (Or buy commercial raw).  Plus there's all the health benefits!

When you think about the gross "floor-scrapings" and leftover stuff that's turned into food for HUMANS (hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc) one wonders what's left as animal-grade food. 

The site I found most convincing as I researched was catinfo.org, as it's written by a vet who educated herself about pet food needs, and she goes into lots of detail explaining the whys of stuff.  We very closely follow her recipe in making our own food, the differences for us being that she part-cooks the chicken (but not the rabbit...) out of fear of bacteria, and we decided (after consultation with our B.A.R.F. group) not to worry about bacteria that much.  Also, we add gizzards and hearts to help reduce bone %