Raw Food And Vinegar?

[Ramses]

So I really want to switch to raw and can’t wait to buy and prep a healthy meal at home, but I have a serious parasite phobia and I can’t stop worrying. There are articles that say some pathogens come out stronger once frozen and can only be killed off by high heat, not cold.

Are we 100% sure freezing for 72 hours kills everything? Raw community is literally the only place I hear freezing kills bacteria.

So I’m wrecking my brain thinking of solutions like surface baking but that would make the bones dangerous to chew on so hear me out, what if we just soaked the meat in a vinegar&water bath for 20 minutes before prepping it? That’s what we do with leafy greens so why not do it with meat? Does anyone do it? Would it take away anything nutrition wise?

 

[Azazel]

So here's the thing... raw food contains bacteria. You can't stop that and you probably will not be able to eliminate all of the bacteria in raw food (freezing doesn't kill off all bacteria). This is why we feed it to our cats and don't munch on it ourselves. They have short digestive tracts that are made to handle the bacteria in the food.

The best thing you can do is to source your raw food from a reputable place. Make sure to purchase it whole and grind it yourself. Follow rules for how long you can keep it in the fridge before throwing it out. Your cat will be completely fine.

In terms of sanitizing, do the same thing you would do when handling raw meat for your own food. Make sure the raw food doesn't cross-contaminate with any other food, wipe down counters, etc.

I would not put raw meat in a vinegar bath. Your cat will probably not eat it afterwards because it will smell disgusting.

There is risk with serving any kind of food. We are so high anxiety about bacteria and germs in our society that the fear mongering of anti-raw feeders can really get to us sometimes. JUST RELAX!! Imagine all the crap cats step on and lick off their paws on a daily basis. They can handle the bacteria. I would only be worried if you had a cat with an immunodeficiency.

 

[kittyluv387]

So here's the thing... raw food contains bacteria. You can't stop that and you probably will not be able to eliminate all of the bacteria in raw food (freezing doesn't kill off all bacteria). This is why we feed it to our cats and don't munch on it ourselves. They have short digestive tracts that are made to handle the bacteria in the food.

The best thing you can do is to source your raw food from a reputable place. Make sure to purchase it whole and grind it yourself. Follow rules for how long you can keep it in the fridge before throwing it out. Your cat will be completely fine.

In terms of sanitizing, do the same thing you would do when handling raw meat for your own food. Make sure the raw food doesn't cross-contaminate with any other food, wipe down counters, etc.

I would not put raw meat in a vinegar bath. Your cat will probably not eat it afterwards because it will smell disgusting.

There is risk with serving any kind of food. We are so high anxiety about bacteria and germs in our society that the fear mongering of anti-raw feeders can really get to us sometimes. JUST RELAX!! Imagine all the crap cats step on and lick off their paws on a daily basis. They can handle the bacteria. I would only be worried if you had a cat with an immunodeficiency.

Not to mention taste disgusting.

 

[Ramses]

So here's the thing... raw food contains bacteria. You can't stop that and you probably will not be able to eliminate all of the bacteria in raw food (freezing doesn't kill off all bacteria). This is why we feed it to our cats and don't munch on it ourselves. They have short digestive tracts that are made to handle the bacteria in the food.

The best thing you can do is to source your raw food from a reputable place. Make sure to purchase it whole and grind it yourself. Follow rules for how long you can keep it in the fridge before throwing it out. Your cat will be completely fine.

In terms of sanitizing, do the same thing you would do when handling raw meat for your own food. Make sure the raw food doesn't cross-contaminate with any other food, wipe down counters, etc.

I would not put raw meat in a vinegar bath. Your cat will probably not eat it afterwards because it will smell disgusting.

There is risk with serving any kind of food. We are so high anxiety about bacteria and germs in our society that the fear mongering of anti-raw feeders can really get to us sometimes. JUST RELAX!! Imagine all the crap cats step on and lick off their paws on a daily basis. They can handle the bacteria. I would only be worried if you had a cat with an immunodeficiency.

Ok but would it

Not to mention taste disgusting.

Why would it taste disgusting? It’s not a dressing, it’s a soak. You’d run the meat under water as a final step which would get rid of all the vinegar. I always prepare my greens like this and they don’t taste like vinegar ‍

 

[Ramses]

So here's the thing... raw food contains bacteria. You can't stop that and you probably will not be able to eliminate all of the bacteria in raw food (freezing doesn't kill off all bacteria). This is why we feed it to our cats and don't munch on it ourselves. They have short digestive tracts that are made to handle the bacteria in the food.

The best thing you can do is to source your raw food from a reputable place. Make sure to purchase it whole and grind it yourself. Follow rules for how long you can keep it in the fridge before throwing it out. Your cat will be completely fine.

In terms of sanitizing, do the same thing you would do when handling raw meat for your own food. Make sure the raw food doesn't cross-contaminate with any other food, wipe down counters, etc.

I would not put raw meat in a vinegar bath. Your cat will probably not eat it afterwards because it will smell disgusting.

There is risk with serving any kind of food. We are so high anxiety about bacteria and germs in our society that the fear mongering of anti-raw feeders can really get to us sometimes. JUST RELAX!! Imagine all the crap cats step on and lick off their paws on a daily basis. They can handle the bacteria. I would only be worried if you had a cat with an immunodeficiency.

Ok but would it be dangerous to kiss your cat, have it roam around the house wherever he wants, like I can understand it’s harder for cats to get sick but do I have to be change the way I snuggle with my cat and be extra careful after he eats? I honestly have zero fear of death or sickness, so I’m not even thinking salmonella or e coli but the idea of worms inside me is like god no. Just no.

 

[Ramses]

Why isn’t there an edit button on this website?

 

[kittyluv387]

Ok but would it


Why would it taste disgusting? It’s not a dressing, it’s a soak. You’d run the meat under water as a final step which would get rid of all the vinegar. I always prepare my greens like this and they don’t taste like vinegar ‍

I feel that the meat would soak it up like a marinate. Even if you soak it in water. Then again by that point the meat's just gross after all that soaking. It's different with veggies. I do the same thing with veggies. As long as you don't buy pre-ground meat and utilize safe food handling your cat will be ok. As mentioned they have much shorter digestive tracts and I believe their system is more acidic as well.

 

[kittyluv387]

Why isn’t there an edit button on this website?

There is. Click on the bottom left (3 lines).

 

[LTS3]

Raw meat absorbs liquids. Think marinating meat for your own meals. Even if you rinse off the meat after soaking, the meat will retain some of the soaking liquid.

There is no special care of the cat if you feed raw meat. Cuddling, kissing, handling the litter box waste etc is no different.

If your phobia of bacteria and whatnot is bad, maybe consider a home cooked diet instead or just sick with commercial cat food. A raw diet is great but it's not for everyone and doesn't necessarily mean a cat will live any healthier.

 

[Azazel]

Ok but would it be dangerous to kiss your cat, have it roam around the house wherever he wants, like I can understand it’s harder for cats to get sick but do I have to be change the way I snuggle with my cat and be extra careful after he eats? I honestly have zero fear of death or sickness, so I’m not even thinking salmonella or e coli but the idea of worms inside me is like god no. Just no.

I kiss my raw fed cats on the mouth daily, they lick my face, wipe their butt on my pillow. I guarantee you that outdoor cats kill and eat raw prey on a daily basis and also probably step in lots of other really nasty crap. People don't treat their outdoor cats any differently.

Again, I'm not concerned unless there are small children around or someone with an immunodeficiency. But even then I honestly don't think it's a huge concern.

US sourced meat should not contain worms. That would be in violation of USDA regulations.

I think you're over worrying. Kibble is also high in bacteria.

 

[Azazel]

Why isn’t there an edit button on this website?

You have to make a certain number of posts before you are given editing privileges.

 

[kittyluv387]

You have to make a certain number of posts before you are given editing privileges.

Didn't know that, good to know.

 

[Ramses]

Thank you all so much for your replies. This forum is shockingly active, I’ve never got so many quick replies on a cat forum ever. I’ll probably start with cooked meat+bone meal and then move on to raw if I can.

 

[sabrinah]

One more thing since you mentioned rinsing the meat: don't do it. Rinsing raw meat just spreads around bacteria. If you ever decide to make raw, you don't have to "clean" the meat in any way.

 

[kittyluv387]

Thank you all so much for your replies. This forum is shockingly active, I’ve never got so many quick replies on a cat forum ever. I’ll probably start with cooked meat+bone meal and then move on to raw if I can.

Just a FYI, you probably know already you can't cook the bone.

 

[Ramses]

Just a FYI, you probably know already you can't cook the bone.

You mean because it’s dangerous to consume when it’s cooked? Yeah that’s why I said bone meal.

 

[mschauer]

Raw community is literally the only place I hear freezing kills bacteria.

I don't think I've ever heard that freezing kills bacteria. My understanding is that freezing de-actives (stops growth) bacteria for the duration of the freeze but once the food is thawed the bacteria become active again.

Freezing does kill some parasites. Some parasites will be killed with a relatively short freeze. Others require lower temps for longer times to be killed.

 

[LTS3]

. I’ll probably start with cooked meat+bone meal and then move on to raw if I can.

Cooked meat with bone meal isn't a complete diet for cats. It would be ok as a treat. You need to add more than just bone meal. See Home-Cooked Cat Food Resources for recipes and resources. A premix such as EZComplete makes it easy to turn meat into a complete diet.

 

[Ramses]

Cooked meat with bone meal isn't a complete diet for cats. It would be ok as a treat. You need to add more than just bone meal. See Home-Cooked Cat Food Resources for recipes and resources. A premix such as EZComplete makes it easy to turn meat into a complete diet.

I haven’t even looked at home cooked meal tips yet. Only researched raw so far, so I’m not planning to just use meat and bone meal. I just meant that I wouldn’t try to feed my cat cooked bones and would substitute with bone meal. I keep hearing this EZComplete thingy and everyone’s raving about it. Does it cover ALL the additional vitamin&nutrition stuff you need? Because I keep seeing people recommending a foot long list of supplements and and it’s exhausting me to just look at them

 

[Ramses]

One more thing since you mentioned rinsing the meat: don't do it. Rinsing raw meat just spreads around bacteria. If you ever decide to make raw, you don't have to "clean" the meat in any way.

I mean yeah I heard that but it’d be just the sink which is supposed to be the dirtiest place in a home anyway, I feel like I could disinfect later easily with vinegar and bleach.