A raw food diet for kitty?
Hi there,
I’m interested in switching my cat over to a raw food diet. I currently feed him Innova kibble during the day and Wellness wet food at night.
Is it best to switch my cat over to raw gradually or should I just go "cold turkey"?
Any tips you have about switching kitty over would be much appreciated!
Also … I’ve also read about some commercial brands of frozen and freeze dried raw foods. Are these brands any good and if so, what would you recommend?
Thanks!
Tagged with: cold turkey • commercial brands • kibble • kitty • raw food diet • raw foods • wet food
Filed under: Raw Food Diet
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If you’ll notice my profile, I state that my cats are on a raw diet. If you can email me, I’ll be happy to give you more info. I’m very glad that you’re considering a raw diet. Binnie who’s almost 1 yr old and Marble who’s 15 weeks old. I’ve had Binnie since she was 14 weeks old and started her on raw at 9 mos old. She immediately took to the turkey but didn’t care for any other meat. I’ve had Marble since 10 weeks old and the same exact thing for her. So I allowed them to eat the turkey but continued to feed the canned for other feedings. I have to mix the turkey with the other meats (chicken, duck, etc) to get them use to the taste and gradually put less turkey in. They did NOT have loose stool. But rather, their stool is smaller, lighter in color, and doesn’t have much of a smell. When you first start, it will be a trial and error to see what meat the cat likes the best. Then you should buy the majority of that meat and feed it to the cat all of the time and gradually mix in other meats that you want the cat to eat. Other benefits are their coats are very shiny and healthy looking. I haven’t had any health problems. They haven’t gotten any parasites or viruses from eating raw. The likelihood of them contracting something from the raw is about the same likelihood of a human getting something from cooked meat. I can’t recommend any particular brand of frozen raw since I don’t do a name brand. I order my food from mypetcarnivore.com who’s supplier is Taylor Pond Farms. They grind the entire carcass without adding any preservatives, fillers, veggies/fruits and such. I’m very satisfied so far. Binnie has been eating raw since January and Marble since I first got her in February. In the five weeks I’ve had Marble, there’s a very noticeable difference in her coat. Again, please email me if you want more info. Good luck and please do LOTS of research and googling.
Gradually or you’re going to have a messy cat box! It’ll also probably make your kitty not feel well because it’ll be hard on her stomach to digest at first. If you do switch I recommend making sure to do research and make sure it has enough protein and vitamins. Cats need even more protein then dogs and if you give them only one type of meat they won’t get all the vitamins they need, you may have to add some in.
Raw meat will give your cat diarrhea. It could also contain parasites like Toxoplasma. Why would you want to give your cat raw meat?
If you want to give your animal human food at least cook it as it wil be easier to digest.
Please do not give your cat raw meat, especially pork! These days there are a lot of bacteria in meat, and feeding it raw won’t kill off the bacteria. With cats being so small, food poisoning is often lethal to them! You’ll probably also find that raw food will give them severe diarrhoea! Yes, wild cats eat raw meat, but over time domestic cats have evolved to cope better with cooked meat, just like us!
If you’re not happy feeding them commericial foods, try boiling chicken or fish for them, and ask your vet to receommend a healthy diet. They can’t always get the vitamins they need from these foods alone.
My kitties are not on a raw food diet but they do occasionally have raw meat. I don’t suggest giving them any chicken unless it has been lightly steamed, eggs should be cooked too, only freshly ground beef and thin slices of lean pork or beef any cut is fine. I think pork should also be cooked until medium. Unfortunately meat will make your kittie’s poo the stinkiest. I suggest easing into it with bits of meat in the morning kibble. If you want to give your kitty fish it also has to be the freshest or lightly steamed. The problem with raw meat is that you can’t always be sure that is fresh and so always give small amounts of meat to your cat. I don’t recommend that you stop feeding them dry food it is very good for their teeth. Here are some meals your kitties may enjoy 6 ounces seared salmon or tilapia fillet with two hard boiled egg yolks one tbls mashed potatoes with salt and nonfat butter, 4 ounces thinly sliced chuck or ground beef with your brand of kibble and two slivers ( about as large as your finger tip and as wide) nonfat cheddar. My cats love mashed potatoes with steamed chicken as well. Your kitties will also fart a lot but if the quantities of the meat and dairy are small they should not have runny poos.
It’s always a good idea to make dietary changes gradually. I don’t feed my cats raw food, but I have stumbled on some resources that may be useful to you. Here is a website – mostly it is about how to get the best commercial cat foods possible, but also, the author feeds her cats raw, and she details the steps she takes in preparing their food: http://alter-idem.smartmonkey.org/cats/ and also here is a forum for cat nutrition moderated by the same woman: http://catfood.tribe.net/ it is not strictly for raw feeding, so there is lots of talk of commercial cat food, but also there are several experienced raw feeders there, that may be useful to you if you have any further questions.
Here’s some great resources for researching raw feeding:
http://www.rawfedcats.org/ (Raw Fed Cats)
http://community.livejournal.com/rawdogs/profile/ (Raw Dogs Livejournal Community [not just for dogs despite the name!], excellent raw feeding information on the profile page and overall helpful community for raw feeding questions)
http://www.rawlearning.com/ (Jane Anderson’s Raw Learning Site)
http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html (Raw Prey Model Diet Vs. BARF Diet)
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html (Myths About Raw Feeding)
Darksong~
Good thinking!
Any dietary changes should be made slowly to allow your cat’s digestive system time to get used to the new food. So that answers that.
The commercial raw foods are ok – there are several brands. I *believe* the consensus is that Nature’s Variety is perhaps the best. They offer a variety – chicken, venison, rabbit, perhaps others. I believe they use good cuts of meat as well for the most part. On the other hand, Bravo uses "chicken frames" and "ostrich necks" as the main source of meat on some of their products.
The nice thing about commercial raw is that most brands are convenient since they’re completely balanced and you can find them in some pet stores. The downside is sometimes the ingredient and the cost can be high.
The bottom line is that you should use whatever you feel good about and that agrees with both you and your cat in all the important ways.
As for tips, see my blog. It details some of the different ways to feed raw, where to find more info, and I’ve included what I personally have chosen to do (along with what I used to do).