Raw as snack?

[Draco]

Hi all,
'
I stumbled upon this thread section and started reading on Raw. I've heard of raw feeding, but never really looked into it until now.

I don't think I have time or patience to feed my cat raw every day, and I certainly don't think I can handle giving him rabbit!

Then I got thinking.. when I make chicken dinner or fish, it's okay to let him snack on the raw pieces of meat, right? or does it have to be a consistent thing if I feed him raw?

Kinda a silly question I am sure, but Im not sure if snacking is a bad way to go.. a treat once in a while.

 

[furryfriends50]

A treat occasionally is fine. But try to not give much fish, and when you do, limit it to things like sardines.

Just make sure that you don't feed dry within twelve hours before giving raw. Dry is hard for a cat to digest, so they take much longer to digest it. You do not want the raw to get stuck behind in dry in the digestive tract, because then it could potentially grow bacteria.

 

[Draco]

thanks for the advice! It'll be hard to give him raw before dry since he free-feeds. I dont know when he actually eats at work.

 

[ducman69]

Originally Posted by furryfriends50

Just make sure that you don't feed dry within twelve hours before giving raw. Dry is hard for a cat to digest, so they take much longer to digest it. You do not want the raw to get stuck behind in dry in the digestive tract, because then it could potentially grow bacteria.

Generally speaking the more processed a food is, the more readily it is digested. Typically its raw food that is more difficult and slower to digest, which is a well known fact for humans, hence the advent of cooking meat/veggies. When we (girlfriend and I) transitioned to raw food I got gas and bloating which is a common side effect during transition. Benefit is that you don't lose some of the nutrients by processing, and you can lose weight since digestion is less complete. The main reason its slower to digest is that no cell membranes have been broken down in advance and its still very cohesive compared to pre-cooked and ground food such as kibble or commercial wet pate.

So no doubt that a kitty might need a transition on raw, but it should be because its more difficult to digest, not the other way around.

 

[Draco]

now I am confused, lol. Digesting raw is faster or slower?

 

[Draco]

lol. I gave him a piece of raw chicken leg. He totally ignored it. I tossed it out after 10 minutes.. didn't want it sitting around long. guess he wont be having chicken as snacks!

 

[ducman69]

The answer is likely just academic either way, as the answer is the same... space the commercial and raw food apart.

My knowledge comes mostly from raw diets for humans. A highly processed white bread will be digested far faster than nice german traditional (less processed) bread which in turn is far faster than eating seeds and grain (some of which won't be fully digested at all before leaving your system). There are also documentaries I've watched on the evolution of humans and food sources where scientists are pretty clear on when fire was discovered for cooking meat and boiling vegetables which resulted in decreased jaw/tooth size and increased longevity and theres a reason just about every tribe cooks their meat. Quite simply, grinding up and cooking food destroys cell membranes and breaks down the food in advance of chewing and digesting making it easier for your body, at the sacrifice of some nutrient loss (meat when ground or cooked loses taurine for example).

I think some are confusing digestibility with nutrition. High fructose corn syrup is digested almost instantly, causing a blood sugar spike, but its not nutritious. Likewise, high carb kibbles have been attacked by animal nutritionists as a contributing cause of diabetes, since its digested quickly and leads to blood sugar spikes.

 

[ducman69]

Originally Posted by Draco

lol. I gave him a piece of raw chicken leg. He totally ignored it. I tossed it out after 10 minutes.. didn't want it sitting around long. guess he wont be having chicken as snacks!

Without tasting it?

Try putting a bit on your finger, my cats will eat anything I present that way. Then once he realizes, "hey, this tastes awesome", then put the rest down. Otherwise he may just not have recognized it as food by smell since its different.

 

[Draco]

Originally Posted by Ducman69

Without tasting it?

Try putting a bit on your finger, my cats will eat anything I present that way. Then once he realizes, "hey, this tastes awesome", then put the rest down. Otherwise he may just not have recognized it as food by smell since its different.

He took one bite. took the chicken and just dropped it and walked away. never went back to it

 

[furryfriends50]

Originally Posted by Draco

now I am confused, lol. Digesting raw is faster or slower?

Raw is digested faster - many people agree with that. Dry food is slow. Wet is about the same pace as raw so feeding those together is not an issue.

Cats aren't humans

They have a way differant digestive tract than we do - which is why they can eat raw meat no problem, when people would have health issues if they did that.