Is Raw Food Necessary???

10009891

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There are many experts in cat nutrition that say raw food is the best and required form of cat food. That the kibble, regardless of the no grain/carbo contents, is detrimental to the cat's overall health. Is this true? I think it would take a lot of time and money preparing such meals, and I am afraid my cat will get an awful bacteria from raw meat. Which are the best 3 cat foods in the market without it being raw meat?
 
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lavishsqualor

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Perhaps you should look into Rad Cat, which is a commercially manufactured raw food, or one of the freeze dried raw foods available.
 
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10009891

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Thanks for the information. I will look into it.
 

5starcathotel

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I'm not a fan of kibble of any kind or quality, at least not as a primary food. First many cats are not natural drinkers, and wet foods help to keep them hydrated, always be a health benefit! Kibble also leads to lazy owners. :D

But raw food? I dunno. I'm certainly not gonna feel guilty about feeding my brood a quality canned food that avoids grains or "meals" as main ingredients. They get kibble (again, the best quality I can afford) only as a supplemental food.
 

Neo_23

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Raw food is not "necessary." Cat have lived long lives on pure kibble. But a lot of cats have also developed diseases as a result of eating a low moisture, high carb diet. So it may not be necessary, but it has many health benefits for cats, whereas kibble has many health risks. I personally refuse to feed my cat kibble knowing how harmful it can be to their system.

Also, the argument that cats will get a bacterial infection from raw food has been very overstated. It's mainly driven by pet food companies like Hills and RC because they don't want to lose their customers to raw food. In actuality, cats often develop bacterial infections from kibble and their systems are built to handle raw food. This doesn't mean that they will absolutely never get sick on raw, but the risks have been blown out of proportion.

I don't make my own raw food, but many people on this site do, and I think they will tell you that it's not as hard or time-consuming as you think.

As for the 3 best cooked cat foods on the market, I have done extensive research into this. The "best" would probably be a canned food. But, there are no perfect canned foods. Every single canned food on the market carries an unfavourable ingredient, so it's really a game of picking from the lesser of evils when shopping for cat food. This is why a lot of people opt to feed a home-prepared meal.

If you're interested in learning more, visit catinfo.org.
 

Blakeney Green

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Plenty of cats all over the world live on various diets other than raw feeding, so no, I think you'd be hard pressed to say it's necessary. If raw is your feeding preference, I'm sure your cat will do fine. If raw is not your feeding preference, I'm sure your cat will do fine on that too.

I don't personally feed raw but I have nothing against it. It's not mandatory for feline health, it's just one option.
 

cryptic

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There are high-quality kibbles out there... just avoid that cheap crap! (Anything Purina/IAMS/Meow Mix/Special Kitty/Rachel Ray, etc.) I prefer to feed my girls both high-quality kibble and raw, as well as wet food/toppers.

Also, personal recommendations for kibble are Fromm and Orijen! I feed my girls Blue Buffalo (not the best but we're transferring to Fromm soon.)
Personal recommendations to stay away from other than the SUPER cheapy crap... Hills Science Diet and Royal Canin will be recommended to you by your vet. Truthfully, it's overpriced crap full of fillers, just like the cheap stuff is. Vets aren't nutritionalists and that's what they're told to recommend during school. So, in short, avoid.
 
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Ardina

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I make my own raw cat food. I did a lot of research before settling on raw to feed my cats. No, it's not necessary to feed raw, but it's the closest to what cats evolved to eat. Raw food is a tradeoff in time and cost. You can pay more for convenience and get commercial raw. Or you could make it yourself and have it be cheaper than feeding Fancy Feast canned.

Cats can survive on kibble, but I don't think they thrive on it (at least most kibble that is full of carbs and fillers). Even the highest quality kibble is problematic because there's no moisture. But that's just my take on it. Definitely check out catinfo.org for more information as Neo_23 Neo_23 suggested.
 

Yanaka

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Raw food is the best—theoretically. I’m trying to feed my cats the best canned food as a lot of people recommend, and they have bad stools. So that’s that :lol: Research and do some testing and feed what’s best on your cat’s comfort and health. I think the golden ticket is not to feed only dry as it’s dehydrating.
 

Neo_23

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There are high-quality kibbles out there... just avoid that cheap crap! (Anything Purina/IAMS/Meow Mix/Special Kitty/Rachel Ray, etc.) I prefer to feed my girls both high-quality kibble and raw, as well as wet food/toppers.

Also, personal recommendations for kibble are Fromm and Orijen! I feed my girls Blue Buffalo (not the best but we're transferring to Fromm soon.)
Personal recommendations to stay away from other than the SUPER cheapy crap... Hills Science Diet and Royal Canin will be recommended to you by your vet. Truthfully, it's overpriced crap full of fillers, just like the cheap stuff is. Vets aren't nutritionalists and that's what they're told to recommend during school. So, in short, avoid.
To be honest, even “high quality” kibble like Orijen is pretty low quality. Especially for the price, you might as well do canned or home cooked.
 

cryptic

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I think it's some of the best out there as far as kibble goes, personally. Of course home-cooked/canned is better but they DID ask for suggestions :p
 

himawari

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For me, it's Ziwi Peak in terms of "kibble" due to the fact that it's air-dried and NZ has stricter regulations than the US imo. Plus they don't really add vegetables aside from kelp. Orijen, at least for the US version, has declined in terms of quality. I don't believe it's as "fresh-caught" as they claim to be though I've never fed the Canadian version. My dog who is at times on Orijen (but mostly Ziwi Peak) has stinkier stools with it than without.

Currently I feed my cat two mixes of commercial raw: Rad Cat (which has been mentioned) and Small Batch. I much prefer the former over the latter due to the fact it doesn't contain any vegetables. Both, to me, are needed because of the price and the difference in their texture to keep my cat from boredom. Just because I feed raw doesn't mean I think this type of diet is necessary. Sure, it's great because it closely mimics what the big cats eat in the wild but if you can't afford it or you have a cat who refuses to eat raw then a wet, canned diet is just fine. Feeding just kibble is really the only thing I am iffy about. But my friend who has had his two male cats since they were kittens are timely-fed only kibble and they are quite healthy. I think it really just depends on the cat's genetics.
 

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I think it would take a lot of time and money preparing such meals, and I am afraid my cat will get an awful bacteria from raw meat.

You don't have to make your own raw food from scratch using a recipie. That's probably one of the misconceptions of raw diets. There are many commerically avaialble raw pet foods available in pet stores, typically the independent speciality pet stores. Chain pet stores (Petco, etc) don't have much of a selection of raw diets if they sell any at all. Stella and Chewy's Nature's Variety Instinct, Primal Pet, and Northwest Naturals are just a few brands of commercial raw food. I kow Stella and Chewy's has a pretty stringent quality control process and a special process to minimize bacteria risk.

Commercial raw food can be frozen, freeze dried, air dried, or dehydrated. It's up to you to decide what type to feed.

There are also pre-mixes avaiable so you can make your own raw from scratch easily. You basically mix raw meat of your choice with the pre-mix and some water. Then portion out and freeze. A 2 lb batch of food takes about 20 minutes to do. There are commerical suppliers for raw meat for pet food use such as Hare-Today.com You can also find chubs of meat at independent pet stores to use. Meat from a supermarket or butcher shop can be used as long as you buy whole cuts and cut or grind it yourself and the meat has not been enhanced with flavorings or broths or salt solutions and other stuff.

There's a forum here on TCS with more information on raw and home cooked diets: Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food

If you can't feed raw, thes best high quality canned food you can afford and your cat likes to eat is the next best thing.
 

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If you don't feel comfortable feeding actual raw food, there is freeze-dried and dehydrated raw food which sort of resembles dry food, but you can add water to turn it into a proper meal. In pet stores, they're not even kept in freezers, they're kept out with the other foods. I believe there is a brand called Primal that has lines of freeze-dried food. I know some owners also feed the freeze-dried without adding water as treats.

I personally have to feed kibble, otherwise my cats would starve. We are away a lot. When we are home though, the cats are fed wet/raw. They also hunt their own raw food while we are away.

For our raw food, we feed chicken thighs, gizzards and livers. They go wild over them and prefer wet and raw to dry food. We mix those in with wet food sometimes.
 

maureen brad

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Kibble is not healthy. Do your research and see what you think. Raw is not a rule or anything but, many (including me) believe a raw fed cat will live a healthier life. I have fed raw for years my cats are really healthy and I would never feed kibble or even a canned diet again.
 

marc999

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Best may be dependent on the particular animal.
I know some cats that were exclusively fed dry their entire lives and seemed to thrive just fine.
Who knows, maybe those cats were avid water drinkers and managed to get enough fluids into their diet.
Having said that, I'd say the 'best' way to limit potential health complications down the road, try to add in wet and/or raw to their diet.

I give 1 can of FancyFeast (~ 80 kcal) & 1/4 cup of premium dry (~120 kcal) per day.
My cat enjoys drinking water as well. Actually, she usually lays down and leisurely drinks but that's just her style.

Once in awhile, I'll try commercially frozen ground rabbit (couple of brands), or some raw chicken hearts/wings as a treat. Giving her some variety makes me feel better as well.

If you have the time and storage space to whip up a big batch of raw food weekly/monthly, then try it - but I'll be honest & say I can't be bothered to go that route.
Commercially prepared raw on a regular basis sounds pricey as well, but I'm really not sure as I haven't priced it out.
 
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orange&white

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Processed cat feed takes the scraps which are unsuitable for the human food chain and cooks those leftovers at high heat to kill any possible life-threatening germs (and most of the nutrients), then they add a bunch of vitamins and supplements developed by scientists which won’t kill the cat for 10-15 years. Amazingly, cats can live on man-made vitamin supplements plus whatever protein and sterilized fats survive the process.

You are mainly paying for a multi-vitamin in a can or bag with processed feed. And yes, the cheapest cat feed on the market will put a lot more inedible human food waste into the product (what remains of corn, wheat, soy, peas, potatoes, etc that people can't eat), increasing the risk that the kitty will live fewer years. Very rarely will you be able to directly associate a cat’s health problems to any commercial diet.

So, no, a raw or home cooked diet with ingredients you select, is not necessary. Your cat is likely to live an approximately normal lifespan on processed pet feed. The more expensive brands of vitamins-in-a-can will have less trash than inexpensive brands, so buy the best food you can afford.
 

Yanaka

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Processed cat feed takes the scraps which are unsuitable for the human food chain and cooks those leftovers at high heat to kill any possible life-threatening germs (and most of the nutrients), then they add a bunch of vitamins and supplements developed by scientists which won’t kill the cat for 10-15 years. Amazingly, cats can live on man-made vitamin supplements plus whatever protein and sterilized fats survive the process.

You are mainly paying for a multi-vitamin in a can or bag with processed feed. And yes, the cheapest cat feed on the market will put a lot more inedible human food waste into the product (what remains of corn, wheat, soy, peas, potatoes, etc that people can't eat), increasing the risk that the kitty will live fewer years. Very rarely will you be able to directly associate a cat’s health problems to any commercial diet.

So, no, a raw or home cooked diet with ingredients you select, is not necessary. Your cat is likely to live an approximately normal lifespan on processed pet feed. The more expensive brands of vitamins-in-a-can will have less trash than inexpensive brands, so buy the best food you can afford.
I think you could have been talking about human food as well, here ;)
 

Merlin77

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Processed cat feed takes the scraps which are unsuitable for the human food chain and cooks those leftovers at high heat to kill any possible life-threatening germs (and most of the nutrients), then they add a bunch of vitamins and supplements developed by scientists which won’t kill the cat for 10-15 years. Amazingly, cats can live on man-made vitamin supplements plus whatever protein and sterilized fats survive the process.

You are mainly paying for a multi-vitamin in a can or bag with processed feed. And yes, the cheapest cat feed on the market will put a lot more inedible human food waste into the product (what remains of corn, wheat, soy, peas, potatoes, etc that people can't eat), increasing the risk that the kitty will live fewer years. Very rarely will you be able to directly associate a cat’s health problems to any commercial diet.

So, no, a raw or home cooked diet with ingredients you select, is not necessary. Your cat is likely to live an approximately normal lifespan on processed pet feed. The more expensive brands of vitamins-in-a-can will have less trash than inexpensive brands, so buy the best food you can afford.
I've read about this, and can't say this is thrilling/surprising news, but definitely not in the best interest of the cat. However, I'd like to point out that it's a pretty effective way to reduce waste. Plus, a lot of things unsuitable for humans are suitable for cats. Brains, kidneys, lungs, spleens, all that gross stuff most humans don't want to touch, are actually an important part of a cat's diet. That's why they eat the entire mouse, not just pick out the clean meat. I'm not saying the methods used to make cat food are good, but they have benefits... not much of them...

Ideally, I think all cats should get at least some wet food or raw food a day. Dry food is the most processed out of all foods, and even though wet is still processed it isn't as bad.
 

Neo_23

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I've read about this, and can't say this is thrilling/surprising news, but definitely not in the best interest of the cat. However, I'd like to point out that it's a pretty effective way to reduce waste. Plus, a lot of things unsuitable for humans are suitable for cats. Brains, kidneys, lungs, spleens, all that gross stuff most humans don't want to touch, are actually an important part of a cat's diet. That's why they eat the entire mouse, not just pick out the clean meat. I'm not saying the methods used to make cat food are good, but they have benefits... not much of them...

Ideally, I think all cats should get at least some wet food or raw food a day. Dry food is the most processed out of all foods, and even though wet is still processed it isn't as bad.
It would be great if pet food companies included more organ meats in their foods like brains and kidneys but that's rare. And actually these are delicacies in a lot of cultures around the world and people enjoy eating them.

When we say pet food companies use scraps we don't mean they decide "oh look, an entire brain we'll just give it to cats and dogs since humans don't want it." It's more like the bits and pieces that aren't considered good enough for human consumption.
 
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