Vet Says Possible Bacterial Infection From Raw

Cats&Coffee

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Hi again guys. I've made multiple threads because I haven't really received many responses! So Stella went to the vet today. She was dehydrated and needed sub q fluids. Also high in potassium (sign of dehydration re: vet) she basically told me she most likely has a bacterial
Infection from raw food and consumers should be more informed. She was given an antibiotic and anti nausea shot. She was refusing her wet food but liked the royal canin they sent me home with (go figure!) Now I'm scared off raw. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Did I have a bad batch? Would a probiotic help? So many questions it really sucks because it seemed like the vet just
Blamed the raw food right off the bat.
 

mschauer

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If your cat had a bacterial infection there is no way to know where it came from. It is possible it came from raw food. It is possible she got it from any number of other sources. Cats walk on and lay on surfaces then groom themselves so that they ingest anything they may have picked up from those surfaces. Cats that have never had a nibble of raw food in their lives get bacterial infections. And there are cats who have eaten raw food all their lives and have never had a bacterial infection.

Where are you getting the raw food you feed? Are you getting it from a reputable source?
 

kittens mom

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Were any tests run to determine what the bacteria was ? What was the antibiotic ? If this was commercial raw food have you contacted the company ? I don't feed raw but I know many cat owners here do with great success.
Veterinarians tend to look at the dark side of human behavior they've seen just about everything. Quite honestly the biggest danger of raw is probably a pet owner with bad food handling habits.
 
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Cats&Coffee

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Hi guys thanks for the responses. I purchased commercially
Prepared raw food from pet stores. Natures Variety Instinct and RadCat. As far as I know there wasn't a specific test done to see what the bacteria was. They did an I-stat blood test to test glucose and other levels. I didn't contact the pet food companies or the pet stores because I'm not sure if the food was actually the problem or not. She was still throwing up 4 days after I stopped feeding the raw. I suppose I'll continue to monitor her for the next few days since she had the anti biotic and see how things go.
 

kittens mom

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Have you told the vet your cat is still throwing up ? Cats can be at risk of fatty liver disease if they go long enough without eating.
 

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Hi again guys. I've made multiple threads because I haven't really received many responses! So Stella went to the vet today. She was dehydrated and needed sub q fluids. Also high in potassium (sign of dehydration re: vet) she basically told me she most likely has a bacterial
Infection from raw food and consumers should be more informed. She was given an antibiotic and anti nausea shot. She was refusing her wet food but liked the royal canin they sent me home with (go figure!) Now I'm scared off raw. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Did I have a bad batch? Would a probiotic help? So many questions it really sucks because it seemed like the vet just
Blamed the raw food right off the bat.
I wouldn't go near that vet again. It sounds to me like Stella had a bout of sickness, just as humans can, and the vet took the opportunity to try and bring you back into the commercial food fold by immediately putting the blame on raw food. That's classic confirmation bias and something I saw time and time again from my own vets when I frequently took my previous cats to get treatment for kidney disease.

Here's a brilliant article that all cat owners should read:

Is the food you're feeding your pet killing it? (and making your vet rich) | Daily Mail Online

If the vet suspected an infection she should have ordered a urine culture to determine which bacteria so you could taylor the antibiotic to suit. And anti-biotics need to be given over a course of a couple of weeks at least.

Did the vet order full bloods done? And did she give you a copy of the results? Always ask them to give you one.
 
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Cats&Coffee

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I wouldn't go near that vet again. It sounds to me like Stella had a bout of sickness, just as humans can, and the vet took the opportunity to try and bring you back into the commercial food fold by immediately putting the blame on raw food. That's classic confirmation bias and something I saw time and time again from my own vets when I frequently took my previous cats to get treatment for kidney disease.

Here's a brilliant article that all cat owners should read:

Is the food you're feeding your pet killing it? (and making your vet rich) | Daily Mail Online

If the vet suspected an infection she should have ordered a urine culture to determine which bacteria so you could taylor the antibiotic to suit. And anti-biotics need to be given over a course of a couple of weeks at least.

Did the vet order full bloods done? And did she give you a copy of the results? Always ask them to give you one.
I did get a copy of her blood results. I was also curious what you would need to do to find out what type of bacterial infection she has if she does. She got a shot of penicillin if I remember correctly. Stella did seem much better this morning, she pooped ate a big meal and was running around like crazy. I thought this vet would be better because it's a cat only hospital but no such luck.
 

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I'm happy to read that Stella is feeling better. :sickcat: :cutecat:

Without specific tests there are millions of bacteria in the world, and you'll never know which one infected her.

What I would do is contact the pet store, Natures Variety Instinct, and RadCat and report that your cat had a bacterial infection which the vet blamed on the raw diet. They will likely have the same reaction most of us here have had and say that there isn't any way to know. However....what if there is a contaminated batch of food out on the market and nobody reports it to alert the store and manufacturer's of a potential problem? Lots of cats could end up sick.
 

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I am happy Stella is better. It is scary when they get sick. I hate to say it but, it sounds to me like your vet heard Stella was raw fed and latched on to that.I think some vets really hate raw feeding. A cat (or any living thing) can get a bacterial infection from numerous sources, including contaminated commercial diets.I have bee feeding raw for a few years now and have never had any kind of problem.
 

orange&white

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I suppose the only way you'd know would be to test the food, not the cat.
 

kittens mom

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The cat should have gotten antibiotics to start, a culture to refine the treatment and yes if the vet really thought it was the raw food asked to have it tested. Something the company that processes the food would probably do with the batch number to protect themselves.
 

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I'd try and find a vet who's pro raw food. I did a search for stockists of the raw food I buy and was surprised to find a couple of vets listed near me as suppliers, and found this one:

Raw Food Feeding - Hyde Park Vets

This is in stark contrast to my local vet, a certain regal organization which is actually a training practice for most UK vets. I found them appalling when I needed their help most with my last two cats. The vets there are utterly indoctrinated to promote the interests of the major pet food companies. One - also regal sounding - in particular. They actually have a research centre for cats with kidney disease and I thought how lucky I am to have that on my door step. Free health checks every two months and free bloods every four. But it's all funded by that certain regal pet food company and it became ever clearer to me that the deal was that 4 vets at time get their PHDs funded and in return their food is never blamed for causing kidney disease, and the effectiveness of their renal food is over stated. The whole thing is unethical and the organisation responsible for training UK vets has allowed itself to be hijacked by the pet food companies, and they're turning out pet food salesmen instead of vets.
 
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IVe tried to check around my area to find a more sympathetic to raw vet with no luck. I thought a cat only hospital might have a better chance but they were very pro royal canin dry for kittens and that's it!
 

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Highly, highly unlikely your cat got a bacterial infection from raw food. Commercially prepared raw foods are independently tested for bacterias, and specifically Rad Cat has very high standards for their foods and testing. Sometimes cats get sick. Unless your vet ran additionally testing and can link that to raw food, s/he is simply using raw food as a scapegoat, get a new vet that supports raw feeding.
 

kittens mom

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Highly, highly unlikely your cat got a bacterial infection from raw food. Commercially prepared raw foods are independently tested for bacterias, and specifically Rad Cat has very high standards for their foods and testing. Sometimes cats get sick. Unless your vet ran additionally testing and can link that to raw food, s/he is simply using raw food as a scapegoat, get a new vet that supports raw feeding.
Or get a new veterinarian that supports diagnosing your pet instead of making an assumption that could have been fatal.
 

missmimz

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Or get a new veterinarian that supports diagnosing your pet instead of making an assumption that could have been fatal.
I didn't read all the comments, but yeah, sounds like a subpar vet for sure. I have a lot of cats, and a couple of times a 'virus' has moved through some of them. It's just something that happens sometimes in multicat households. I had to take my senior to the ER vet because he was vomiting and had diarrhea and I wanted to get him a cerenia injection and fluids, and the ER vet automatically tried to blame raw, even though my senior wasn't even eating the same raw food as my other cats.
 
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Cats&Coffee

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Hi guys just wanted to give an update on Stella. She seems to be doing
Sooooo much better. High energy
Loves her food seems back to normal in those aspects. However her poop seems a little off. She has been pooping more frequently and usually it's half normal with a little bit of really wet looking poop. Also she seems to burp or possibly gag after eating. I'm not sure if whatever was causing her to throw up is still affecting her and the anti nausea is just keeping her from throwing up? I finally caught it on camera tonight not sure how to link it though... gosh I'm at a loss here. She's been on wet (with some kibble at night since I was so worried about her eating/gaining weight) and I threw out all the raw I had just in case. Any ideas what my next step should be?
 

orange&white

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Is she still taking the anti-nausea medication? You wouldn't think it's possible, but maybe the medication is having the opposite effect? I'm not sure. Stella's so young, that I wouldn't think she'd have kidney problems or IBD this young. Maybe she's just adjusting to a lot of diet changes in a short period of time. Those are the only things I can think of.

I wish you could have had that food tested, if for no other reason than to say "Nah, nah" to your vet. :D Did you happen to contact the food manufacturers to see if there were others reporting any issues?
 
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