Is a raw meat diet safe?

[owneroperator]

All my life I've been told that raw meat is dangerous to humans and often deadly, but to my astonishment, I've been reading that many of you are feeding your cats raw meat. If a raw meat diet is safe and more nutritious than commercial food, I'm all for it, but can you people help calm my fears?

My concerns from previous human food preparation lectures:

1) Raw meat left out too long can have deadly bacteria.

2) Raw meat can have worms in it that we cannot see.

I've been reading this link about preparing raw meals for cats:
http://www.pet-grub.com/part3/how_to...emade_cat_food

The author makes it all sound amazingly easy: You just lay out some tri-tip steak on the counter for an hour to warm it up and then feed it to your cat.

 

[goldenkitty45]

We feed some raw, some canned and some dry. The raw does NOT sit out on the counter for an hour. I package up the raw into servings and its frozen. When I give them the raw, its thawed out the night before in the fridge and then you can either give it to them cold, or you can warm the package up in some hot water for a min.

They have had no problems eating raw this way.

 

[chris10]

Originally Posted by OwnerOperator

I've been reading this link about preparing raw meals for cats:
http://www.pet-grub.com/part3/how_to...emade_cat_food

The author makes it all sound amazingly easy: You just lay out some tri-tip steak on the counter for an hour to warm it up and then feed it to your cat.

IMO you shouldn't feed the diet listed in the link. While I feel a raw diet is generally pretty easy, it takes some knowledge before you attempt an alternative diet.

I would start by getting a feel of it by searching/reading in the raw sub forum. Double check all of our info and claims. Research more outside of this forum. Check with a qualified vet. Then make a decision on whether this is the right diet for your kitty

 

[mimosa]

Originally Posted by OwnerOperator

My concerns from previous human food preparation lectures:

1) Raw meat left out too long can have deadly bacteria.

Then do not leave raw meat out to long

Follow the rules for normal food hygiene, first and foremost to protect yourself. Humans are much more susceptible to infections from raw meat than cats are.

Have you ever seen wild cats use a stove ? They don't need to because they are designed to eat raw meat. They have a short digestive tract that processes the food fast so as not to give bacteria the time to multiply and infect them. The raw meat makes the environment in their digestive tract more acidic, that also deters bacterial growth. There also seems to be something in a healthy cat's immune system that protects them from these kind of infections.
When a cat has an underlying condition that weakens the immune system it could get susceptible to secondary infections by things like Salmonella. Again; follow hygiene rules and/or switch sick cats to another diet.

My cats are 5.5 and 4.5 years old. I've fed them exclusively raw for 4.5 years now without any problems. I live in a moderate climate which allows for meat to stay out for a relatively long time before it is no longer fresh. Ground meat has a bigger surface area for bacteria to grow on and will therefore go bad sooner than whole prey animals. I can leave prey animals out overnight and the cats will still eat them in the morning. My cats always have plenty of food available and will not eat anything that has gone off.

2) Raw meat can have worms in it that we cannot see.

When you feed raw meat you will often keep it in the freezer. Freezing kills worms and worm eggs. I don't know about where you live, but in my country meat has to pass a meat inspection before it leaves the slaughterhouse and raw meat intended for consumption by pets has to conform to the same standards because it is meant to be thawed in the fridge where people keep their food too.
Raw fed cats will have very acidic stomachs which will kill most worm eggs.

Most worm infections come from other sources anyway (fleas can carry worm eggs and are a common source of infection) My cats have never had worms even though they are one a completly raw diet.

I've been reading this link about preparing raw meals for cats:
http://www.pet-grub.com/part3/how_to...emade_cat_food

The author makes it all sound amazingly easy: You just lay out some tri-tip steak on the counter for an hour to warm it up and then feed it to your cat.

If I were a raw feeder just starting out, that page would confuse me to no end.

I try to follow the prey model as set out here http://www.rawfedcats.org/nature.htm:

Basic Proportions of a Prey Critter

These proportions of body parts are relatively the same in virtually every prey animal, and the percentages of these ratios are, approximately:

80–85% meat (besides boneless muscle meat, this can and should also include things like fat, skin, sinew, tendons, cartilage and any other soft connective tissue etc.).

10% edible bone

5-10% organs (with half that amount being liver)

These percentages, although approximate, should serve as the basic guidelines for your catâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s diet. These exact proportions do not need to be fed at each and every meal, but rather should combine to comprise the overall diet over the course of time.

To make up for the fact that most all of the raw meat thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s readily available to us to feed our cats does not come from wild, pastured or foraging animals, (whose flesh would naturally contain a greater concentration of the vital nutrients that cats require for good health) but instead is farmed for human consumption, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s important when feeding a prey model diet to provide as much of a variety of different kinds of meats as possible.

I feed a lot of whole prey (mouse, pigeon, quail), because it doesn't get any more "prey model" than that

I do not have to work with percentages that way either. It really is as simple as taking the prey out of the freezer at night and giving it to the cats the next day.
But you can also use parts of bigger animals (eg cow, chicken) to mimick the proportions of meat, bone and organ in smaller prey animals. In the beginning you could make a menu for a week or two weeks and calculate if you got your percentages right, but after a while you will find you can say whether it's time for a meaty bone or some organ meat. At first you will weigh things but soon you will be able to eyeball a portion.

There are also certain premade ground raw mixes that have all the nutrients a cat needs. They are really easy to use and could be combined with bigger pieces of meat/meaty bones for dental health.

The most important things are;
- as chris says; to educate yourself
- to remember cats need not only meat, but bones and organs too.
- do not feed cooked or heated bones
- always use common sense and proper hygiene.

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by chris10

IMO you shouldn't feed the diet listed in the link. While I feel a raw diet is generally pretty easy, it takes some knowledge before you attempt an alternative diet.

I would start by getting a feel of it by searching/reading in the raw sub forum. Double check all of our info and claims. Research more outside of this forum. Check with a qualified vet. Then make a decision on whether this is the right diet for your kitty

 

[mschauer]

Raw feeding is safe and beneficial to the long term well being of your cat if done in a knowledgeable and responsible way. While it is preferable to have a vets guidance you will find the vast majority of vets in the US know little about raw feeding and discourage the practice despite it being actively *encouraged* by vets in other countries (like Australia). The knowledge you need is readily available from sources other than a vet.

Rule of thumb: If you have any doubts about the safety of raw feeding, don't do it. Such doubts indicate you haven't done enough research and don't yet fully understand what is required. A good test is to seek out any and all sources that discourage raw feeding. If for every objection they give you can't respond with "Yeah but I know that isn't really a problem because..." then you aren't ready for raw feeding.

These are much better links to information about raw feeding than the you you posted:

http://catinfo.org/

http://www.catnutrition.org/index.php

This page from the second site addresses the safety issue:

http://www.catnutrition.org/faq.php#safety

 

[gloriajh]

http://www.rawfedcats.org/nature.htm:
link is dead

 

[chris10]

Originally Posted by GloriaJH

http://www.rawfedcats.org/nature.htm:
link is dead

There is a colon at the end thats not suppose to be there
http://www.rawfedcats.org/nature.htm

 

[owneroperator]

GoldenKitty45
chris10
Mimosa
sharky
mcschauer
GloriaJH


Thank you all very much.

 

[taryn]

Since mine have leukemia and therefore have a compromised immune system I can't feed raw to them. If I had a cat without a compromised immune system then I would be more likely to at least try raw. My biggest thing is their immune system being compromised and that anything I read about feline leukemia stresses about not feeding them raw.

If they didn't have a compromised immune system I would think about it, but since I'm in the position I'm in I don't know much about it.

That said, the outside cats eat whatever they want and it isn't always the cat food I put out. Caught them eating a squirrel, guess it tasted good since all that was left after they were done was the empty skin. Found another one eating a bird, guess it tasted good as well since I never found any of it left(it was being eaten feathers and all). I think Goldie Jr is the one who catches it and eats it and leaves the leftovers for the others to eat. It's gross if you over think it but they're cats and they are eating like cats do. I figure if they caught it they can eat it, who am I to take it away.

Taryn

 

[gloriajh]

Originally Posted by chris10

There is a colon at the end thats not suppose to be there
http://www.rawfedcats.org/nature.htm

Thanks! Glad to have the resource.

 

[ut0pia]

Raw food is good both for cats and for humans (vegetarian for humans of course). It takes some learning though.
Bacteria in raw meat that is dangerous in humans generally isn't as dangerous to cats..