Is a raw food diet good for cats?
Most cats will tolerate raw food, but those with health concerns (such as immune-mediated disease) may need cooked food. Perhaps the greatest risk of feeding and handling raw meat comes down to cross-contamination. Feeding your cat a raw food diet can expose you and other people in your home to dangerous pathogens.
What raw food should I feed my cat?
Raw Meat Diet: A Recipe for Healthy Cats
- 3 pounds of whole fowl or rabbit, including bones, organs, and skin.
- 1 cup water.
- 2 eggs (use raw yolks, and lightly cook the whites)
- 2000 mg wild salmon oil.
- 400 IU vitamin E (powdered E in capsule form works)
Which is the best diet for raw feeding cats?
An NRC diet is the only raw diet which is a perfectly balanced diet. However, I think that for a beginner it can be quite complicated to start raw feeding by adopting an NRC diet, as it requires some knowledge about nutritions, and strict measurements of all the food you need to give your cats.
When to switch from canned to Raw cat food?
Halle suggests feeding home cooked, dehydrated raw, or canned food until six months, then switching to fresh and frozen raw. “Once the system is mature at six months they are ready to handle a raw diet,” she says.
Is it OK to feed my cat canned cat food?
Nutritionally inadequate cat foods are widely available, and this is true for both processed cat food (canned, dry, etc.) and raw cat food diets. Many of the benefits that are often ascribed to feeding cats a raw diet could be gained simply by switching to any higher-quality, more biologically appropriate cat food.
Are there any health issues with raw cat food?
Starches and sugars in cat foods may lead to health issues such as diabetes, inflammation, arthritis, urinary tract diseases, and obesity, she says. Erika Halle, DVM, agrees. “Obesity is still possible with raw food, but much less likely than with processed, high carbohydrate food.”
Is it safe to feed my cat raw food?
However, not all cats can tolerate raw food. Perhaps the greatest risk of feeding and handling raw meat comes down to cross-contamination. Feeding your cat a raw food diet can expose you and other people in your home to dangerous pathogens.
What kind of food should I Feed my Cat?
This type of food is sometimes called the BARF diet, which stands for “bones and raw food” or “biologically-appropriate raw food.” The ideal raw diet for cats is prepared based on a carefully designed recipe. Many cat owners choose to prepare these diets themselves at home, but commercial forms are also available.
Halle suggests feeding home cooked, dehydrated raw, or canned food until six months, then switching to fresh and frozen raw. “Once the system is mature at six months they are ready to handle a raw diet,” she says.
Can you transition a cat to a raw diet?
Transitioning a cat to a raw diet is something that the majority of us will have to do until the time comes when people grab a kitten from its mother’s teat and start raw feeding from the beginning!