Is a raw food diet good for my kitten?
I just got a 7 week old kitten and started him on the regular cat chow. But after visiting a pet food store was persuaded into trying a Raw food diet simular the the BARF diet. He seems to like it but I am conserned about feeding my kitten raw meat! They told me at the pet store that grains were bad for cats because they weren't able to diggest them. I'm very confused can anyone shed some light?
Tagged with: barf diet • cat chow • cats • food store • grains • kitten • pet food • pet store • raw food diet • raw meat
Filed under: Raw Food Diet
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This is absolutely correct, and GOOD FOR YOU (and your pet store) for considering this.
It sounds as if you're purchasing a raw food? True raw is really best, but if you're using something like Nature's Variety that's quite good as well.
The reason this is true is because cats are obligate carnivores. That means they are designed to and are required to eat diets high in meat-based proteins. Also high in fat, but not as high as the protein. Any grains they ingest are minor, few and far between – anything that might be found in a mouse's stomach, but they are not necessary.
In other words, the mouse is the perfect food for cats, and the raw diet attempts to recreate that by providing meat, organs and bones.
I've collected a lot of articles that will tell you the same thing in much more detail – but still easy to process.
You can learn more too by joining any or all of the raw food groups on Yahoo.
EDIT: Cats don't eat raw meat in the wild because they don't know how to cook as someone suggested. I've never heard anything so silly! Cats' digestive tracts are much shorter than humans. This is why they're able to eat raw meat and not suffer from the same bacteria humans would if they did the same. That doesn't mean your cat can eat rotten meat – you still want to take care with it – but it's much safer for them.
I'd never feed my animals raw meat of any kind. Kittens need "kitten food." Call your vet anytime you have a questions about diet, etc.
Raw food is very bad for cats, expecally for growing kittens. i would sugest purina cat food for kittens which is provided at many cat/pet stores. Mixes of soft and dry food is also good for kittens. Here is a website on kitten food.
http://www.catchow.com/home_milestones_kc.aspx
Good luck!
Yes a raw diet is very good for your cat. See the link below.
I am amazed at the advice you have gotten and you are very lucky. Grains are not good for cats and most cat foods contain them. Cats are obligate carnivores. A raw food diet if prepared properly is fine. High quality canned foods like wellness and merrick although containing some grains are human quality, low carb and are also fine. As far as I am concerned, dry food should be illegal. It is killing and causing many different disease in many cats yet the vets keep promoting it because the scientists that WORK FOR the pet food companies tell them what is good and bad. If they only read their own published articles and look at the rise in diabetes and kidney disease amoung others in conjunction with the rise of consumptions in dry foods.
Please read about cat nutrtion. This site also tells you how to make your own raw food
http://www.catinfo.org/
http://www.catinfo.org/#Home-Prepared_Diets
raw food is tonnes better i feed my 3 on raw and they re thriving tho i did loadsa research first so id stick to raw xx
I have no objection on feeding your cat human food (chicken, fish, egg, yoghurt, etc.) other than teh fact that you may not feed him all the nutrients that he needs (it is true that cats don't need many carbs, but they do need some substances from plants too). BUT I wouldn't feed the food raw, just cooked or boiled with no spices or salts. The reason is that raw meat has many bacteria, such as salmonella, trichinia and toxoplasma, which can be bad for your kitten and for you (especially toxoplasma is multiplied in cats if they eat raw food or rats and then it can pass to humans and it is a threat to pregnant women). So, although people may say that cats in nature would eat raw meat, well, so would we, but we choose to cook it to avoid diseases. Cats in the wild would live less due to the diseases anyway.
Just in support of Ken's and Rune's postings I will add that my cats have had a raw meat diet (also some canned) for over seven years now. The benefits are really great and it is so easy to get a kitten to take to it.
I have always gotten my meat from a local butcher – chicken and turkey that has no hormones or antibiotics in it. I mix up a "meatloaf" with two lbs of ground meat, raw liver and a supplement powder. Then I freeze that in muffin tins which I transfer to a gallon plastic bag and then take out a "muffin" to thaw for meals.
Human food is not good for your cat.
Raw meat has worms and samonella and e-coli. Raw eggs has samonella.
http://bellaonline.com/article/art1723
petconnection.com "Foods to Avoid"
http://www.cat-world.com.au/FeedingFish.htm
Cats should not eat human food because the foods that we eat would not be good for them. Some foods a very dangerous for them to eat and they could get very sick from them. When people say that cats eat raw meat that is like tigers and lions and others LARGE CATS not cats you find in the Home.