The Feline Nutrition FAQ

 

 

Raw feeding is a way to feed cats a more natural and healthy diet. By natural we mean species-appropriate: a diet that fits their true nutritional requirements. All cats, small or large, are true carnivores, obligate carnivores. This means they must eat meat to survive. Cats cannot be vegetarians. Because they evolved to fill this top predator niche, their bodies are specifically geared for processing a raw prey-based diet. This is as true for a tiger as it is for the cat on your lap.

 

Cooking degrades nutrients in meat, causing losses of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Cooking also transforms nutrients, changing their chemical composition and making them less bio-available to your cat. Cooking bone locks the minerals in place, making them unavailable. Cooking also causes bone to splinter easily, which is very dangerous. Feeding the food raw is the best way to be sure your cat is getting the most nutrition from his food.

 

See "Just What is Raw Feeding, Anyway?" for more information.

 

 

Dry cat food has two basic problems: too little moisture and a high carbohydrate content.

 

Cats evolved as desert creatures and are not thirst driven. When fed a dry food diet, they are in a constant state of dehydration unless they drink a lot of water, which most cats will not do. When the water that cats actually drink and the amount that is in their food is added together, cats that eat dry food consume half the water that a cat on a canned or raw diet consumes. With this dehydration, a cat's urine becomes overly concentrated which can lead to feline lower urinary tract disease.

 

A cat's natural diet of rodents, rabbits, insects, birds, etc., is usually less than 2% carbohydrate. Dry cat food is about 25-50% carbohydrate. There is growing evidence that not only does all this excess carbohydrate cause obesity in cats, but also causes diabetes. The obesity itself doesn't cause diabetes. Rather, obesity and diabetes have the same cause, too much carbohydrate in the diet. A dry diet is also implicated as a cause of IBD in cats.

 

See "Species-Inappropriate: The Dangers of Dry Food" for more information.

 

 

Salmonella, particularly from outside contamination, is a concern. Safe handling practices must be followed, just as you would with meat meant for your own consumption. Care should be taken in sourcing the meat you feed your cats. Never buy meat ground at a supermarket, as it has the highest potential for contamination. It should be noted that salmonella isn't just a concern with raw meat. There have been recalls that involved salmonella contaminated dry food for cats, as well as a significant number of non-meat food products for humans.

 

Cats have a highly acidic digestive system that makes them pathogen-resistant. They also have short digestive tracts, which don't give bacteria much time to proliferate. Food passes through their systems in about 13 hours, compared to two to three times as long for a human. Even if a cat ingests salmonella bacteria, it may not be affected at all. Keep in mind this applies to a healthy cat; resistance can be severely diminished in an ill cat.

 

See "Spooked by Salmonella: Raw Food!!!" and "Just What is Raw Feeding, Anyway?" for more information.

 

 

Not at all. There are many commercially prepared complete raw foods available for your cat. They need only be thawed and fed. It's as easy as that. If you are so inclined, you can buy pre-ground meat/bone/organ mixes and add your own supplements, or make your own using a grinder. Whole pieces of raw meat can be added to your cat's diet, such as: chicken wings, necks, gizzards, hearts, liver, cut up pieces of turkey, pork, and many other meats that are readily available.

 

Because a raw diet is what your cat was designed to eat, they use most of the food they eat. When fed a raw diet, cats need less food than when fed a diet full of fillers. A ten pound cat will need about 5 ounces of food a day. This reduction in the amount of food helps make a raw diet more economical, as will feeding some whole meats and adding your own supplements to grinds or making homemade.

 

See "Easy Raw Feeding for the Busy Person" and "Making Raw Cat Food for Do-It-Yourselfers" for more information.

 

 

Some cats will take to a raw diet immediately; others may take a little persuading to adapt to it. For cats that have only been eating dry food, it is usually helpful to transition them to a quality canned diet first, then make a transition to raw. At that stage, it is important that you get rid of all the dry food. If it is in the house they will smell it, and it will make transitioning them more difficult, as they may have become habituated or addicted to dry food. Raw meat has very little odor. For cats accustomed to smelly food, it may take a while for them to realize that it is food.