Raw Pet Food for Cats, Healthy Diet?
I do not own a dog so I am more interested in learning about it for cats. I recently ordered Wild Kitty raw cat food and one of my cats just loves it. However, it is not sold in my area and costs a lot – up to almost $50 just to ship for the raw frozen though it is free shipping for the freeze dried.
Also – I read that the chicken kind of Wild Kitty came up positive for salmonella during a random federal inspection in February 2007 and that salmonella can have wicked effects not just on the animal(s) but on the human handling them.
So – what are the options for GOOD nutritious food, meaning healthier than store bought junk. I have read up on this and have read that pets now have more health problems due to all these carbs and all this junk in the basic pet food, that there is a ton of byproducts, like the parts of other deceased animals, including ones who died from various diseases. Any idea on healthy diets for cats that is also cost effective? Raw? Organic? Best Kind?
Jan 27, 2010 | 6 | healthy pet food
January 28th, 2010 at 12:22 am
A properly done raw diet is healthy. One not correctly done would be unhealthy. The same would go for any diet.
“WHAT ABOUT SALMONELLA AND E-COLI?
These are more worrisome to humans. Cats are much better able to resist these organisms. They eat their prey raw. Their digestive systems are designed to handle raw food. Their stomach environment is highly acidic, helping to break down and digest meat. Also, their digestive tracts are shorter than ours, and food spends a lot less time being broken down, digested and absorbed or eliminated.
If after you do some more research about cats and raw food you’re still concerned, an option is to treat the raw meat with something like a solution of grapefruit seed extract (GSE) or food-grade hydrogen peroxide at first to get you and your cat used to the idea of raw food. Of course you should always buy the freshest meat, organic if you can find it, and freeze whatever can’t be eaten in 2-3 days. Remove whatever your cat doesn’t eat after 20-30 minutes, and clean up after him.
Take proper precautions when preparing the food, and your cat shouldn’t have any problems with a raw food diet. It also helps to talk to people who have been feeding raw for awhile. “
January 28th, 2010 at 12:33 am
Hi
Good for you for researching this and not feding dry food aka kitty crack. I do not feed a raw diet but have dealt with many that have and it has helped this cats immensly especially cats with irritable bowel syndrome, pancreats and yes, even kidney disease.
You can make your own raw diet and this link tells you how as well as giving you other ideas
http://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htm
Here is a link about quality canned foods
http://www.catinfo.org/commercialcannedfoods.htm
Best to you
January 28th, 2010 at 12:36 am
There are quite a few raw frozen diets for cats in pet stores now. I have made my own for seven years. I use organic ground chicken and organic ground turkey. I also buy a supplement powder to mix with the meat for the calcium and fiber necessary with the ground meat. I add two salmon oil capsules per two lbs of meat and I use the liver from the turkey and chicken (4 oz. per two lbs of meat). The powder has B vitamins too.
I get the meat from a small market and know that the meat is ground as needed and never is packaged so I don’t worry about contamination.
It works well for me. I also use canned food and the raw is dinner every night.
So I have excellent control over the quality of the food. I would feel there would be some risk in buying a “ready-made” product simply because the size of a commercial operation would be riskier than doing my own.
I mix up my “meatloaf” combination, freeze it in muffin tins and then put the ‘muffins’ in a large gallon storage bag to take out and thaw as needed.
January 28th, 2010 at 1:27 am
How about you try SCIENCE PLAN for cats? Its worth trying….
I heard raw wet food would just makes the cat POO more smellier haha….
January 28th, 2010 at 1:37 am
The very very best would be raw meat. Depending on your area, you may be able to find local suppliers (you may not want to get the meat at the grocery store). If you’re anywhere near Wisconsin, you might be able to use Taylor Pond Farms (http://www.taylorpondfarms.com/). I have used them, and I have to say the prices seem quite reasonable.
Other alternatives are buying online from suppliers such as http://www.hare-today.com. There are tons of them – you should find one closest to you to cut down on shipping costs and of course thawing. I’ve ordered from hare-today as well and was quite happy with their prices. If nothing else, you can go there and check out the costs.
If you go that route, you do need to do some research because raw diets must be properly balanced. It can be as simple as getting the correct proportions of meat/organs/bone, or you can make it more complicated by just serving meat and using supplements such as Instincts TC.
I recommend going to Yahoo Groups and searching for raw feeding. There you’ll find several groups, all with different theories on the best way to feed raw. Just choose what works best for you and your cats – don’t get bogged down in the details! There’s also a group dedicated to suppliers, so that should be helpful as well.
Other than that, there are a few other brands of commercially prepared raw diets. Nature’s Variety is one, Bravo is another, and there are several more.
These are good foods for sure, although I think true raw is really best. But you won’t go too far wrong. I’m not aware of the prices on the various brands, but there are a lot to choose from.
For instance, go to the link below. I searched on the word “raw” and came up with a few different brands of commercially prepared raw.
January 28th, 2010 at 2:07 am
I am a cat person, I do rescue and have had my kitties on holistic diets for 10 years.
Raw would be so great *in the wild*, but in real life, as you’ve learned, there are all kinds of issues with contaminations and keeping the food fresh. Plus, it’s just plain cost and convenience prohibitive.
I spoke with another rescuer in Florida who wanted to be totally raw, but they had such issues with power outages during storms that she just couldn’t stay with it. A Golden Retriever rescuer in Virginia found it costly to ship and hard to keep enough on hand for all her Goldens.
I’ve tried lots of holistic brands. Since you’re asking for other options, I’d say, try out my favorite, Life’s Abundance. It’s done by a place called HealthyPetNet and has been around for 9 years.
I’ve also really like Canidae (for dogs) and Felidae (for cats), although the pets don’t seem to like the taste as much as Life’s Abundance. Also Wysong and Solid Gold are good but you have to find a natural foods store that stocks them. (Life’s Abundance is shipped to your door).
Whatever you choose, take a look at the video on the website below. “Do You Know What’s In Your Pet’s Food” It’s the only thing like it on the web and it will educate you about pet foods. Go holistic, that’s the only way.