I have finally decided to post an article I wrote last year on raw feeding.
I have two cats:
Pico (a 9 year old female calico)
Harley (a 3 year old brown tabby)
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ALSO APPLIES TO DOGS AS WELL~
In fact, the raw feeding movement started with dog owners!
You will find that often breeders of purebreds are fed raw if you ask. Most do not disclose because of The Looks. See second post.
======================================================
THE BEGINNING:
Two years ago, I've never heard of raw fed dogs or cats. I simply assumed that they ate kibble. I decided to so some reading on the subject of raw feeding and came across several articles. I was able to read critically and sort through these articles and their choice words, biases and an obvious appeal to emotions (that does the movement a large disservice). If you're able to ignore the guilt tripping, you will see that the message is still valid and strong.
I began to wonder what went into my cats' food? Pico was morbidly obese and Harley was a sickly kitten. Let me say now that a fat cat is not a happy cat, or a spoiled cat. If your cat is naturally "big boned" that's a different story, but if your cat is simply overweight, you NEED to trim it back.
What goes into dog/cat food kibble:
In short, it's the parts of a dead animal that doesn't make it into packaged meat fit for human consumption. This means that rotting meat, feet/hooves, head, sometimes undischarged packaging, some diseased meat all get put into a pressurizer. They heat it up so much it KILLS the bacteria, but at the same time, it kills any nutrients in the meat as well. The machines dry up any moisture so that the kibble becomes this nugget or dried crap, literally. To market it, they throw in some "nutrients" or "vitamins" and flavour. Liken this to fast food for us humans. It tastes really good, makes you keep going back for more, but there is really NO nutritional value and in fact, the additives make your cat really THIRSTY. They eat then drink then BLOAT. -- There are studies in the works but no results yet, some theorize that many dogs/cats illness near the end of their lives are a result of feeding dry food and that it is NOT natural to pass that way.
Bottom line... why does cat poo STINK!? Because their really isn't any nutrients in the food to be absorbed so it all get ejected out of the system.
After my research, I knew I wanted better for my babies. I needed to make the switch to raw. I started by immediately changing them over to wet food. However, wet food is still not the solution. There is no "hardness" in wet food so your cat is unable to maintain healthy teeth and strong jaws. There is nothing to "crunch" of gnaw on. It's like giving them baby food all the time.
Switching was easy, I gave my cat's meal times. Once in the morning, and once at night. It seemed to make sense to me, as humans, being healthy consists of several SMALL meals a day rather than an open 24 hour buffet of processed food.
I spent hours each night reading on raw feeding. But ultimately, I decided to consult my own vet. I wanted opinions where I could get them so that I could come to my own conclusions. However, as I would find out and most of the raw community warned me against was that most vets DO NOT condone raw feeding. Generally there are three reasons for this: 1) they are conditioned to think that raw food contains bacteria like salmonella that would harm your animal. 2) "nutrition" only made up a small part of their education. 3) vet schools are sponsored by the commercial pet food industry so their education only teaches them to recommend/sell these kinds of foods.
The raw feeding community knows only a handful of vets who support the cause. Thus I concluded that I trust my vet to diagnose my kitties, treat them, and give them the medical care that I cannot provide but I have come to accept that vets are human and that diet is not a main component in their curriculum. So if my kitty needs medical attention, I will seek a vet, but not for nutritional advice.
A balanced partnership between medicine and a natural lifestyle is what I concluded would be the best for my cats.
If you want to switch, you MUST be prepared to be patient, persistent and be able to put up with nay-sayers.
======================================================
MY LEARNING/EXPERIENCE JOURNEY:
Eating healthy, just like for humans, is an important part of living a more fulfilling life. It isn't just about exercise and playing with your kitty, it's about what you feed them. To first address the fear of bacteria or salmonella in raw feeding, you have to remember the BIOLOGICAL differences between cats and humans. Cats (and dogs) are CARNIVORES. That means they ONLY NEED TO EAT MEAT. Contrary to the ridiculous ads you see on TV, Fido and Fluffly DO NOT needs veggies of any kind in their diet. They will get those nutrients from the "prey" they eat. A carnivore's digestive tract is also a LOT SHORTER than a human's, this means that they can eat raw meat and even old meat without much fear of getting sick. It takes a less time for the food to travel through their system, hence not having enough time to absorb the bacteria into their bodies. Logically, think about it, lions and leopard in the wild hunt and eat off the ground, some even scavenge. Why? Because they are naturally equipped to handle it. Human's cannot, we are omnivores.
The nutrients found in raw food can help build a stronger immune system, in addition, cats will get natural moisture from the meat!! You will noticed after switching to raw that your cats will consume LESS water. Why? This simply means they are getting it directly from their food like they are supposed to!
In time, you should be able to feed your cats meaty bones (meat with small bones, nothing larger than a chicken thigh). The bones contribute calcium which aids in the development of bones and teeth. While your kitties are gnawing the meat off the bones, they get nutrients from bone marrow, blood and not to mention it keeps their teeth clean as well! Cats will also be strengthening their jaws this way. This is why it is important to avoid feeding wet food or GROUND MEAT. Grinding meat introduces air into the meat with destroys many valuable nutrients in the meat. Unless you're feeding an old cat with no teeth, your babies should be more than capable of eating meaty bones (yes, even kittens!!)
Again I say, Pico was fat (everyone commented on her weight when they visited me) and lazy. Harley when we rescued him from the shelter was sickly and threw up all the time after eating. I wanted to test out raw feeding to see how it went. If anything, I could always switch back, right?
After beginning the transition between wet food to raw (about a week into), I noticed HUUUUUUUUGE changes almost immediately.
Pico had more energy, she began to play like a kitten again. There was a renewed interest in her toys. Her coat was noticeably softer and she was beginning to be much more affectionate.
Harley gained more strength, he was still throwing up but not daily anymore.
BUT the BIGGEST CHANGE what their POO.
I have two cats:
Pico (a 9 year old female calico)
Harley (a 3 year old brown tabby)
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ALSO APPLIES TO DOGS AS WELL~
In fact, the raw feeding movement started with dog owners!
You will find that often breeders of purebreds are fed raw if you ask. Most do not disclose because of The Looks. See second post.
======================================================
THE BEGINNING:
Two years ago, I've never heard of raw fed dogs or cats. I simply assumed that they ate kibble. I decided to so some reading on the subject of raw feeding and came across several articles. I was able to read critically and sort through these articles and their choice words, biases and an obvious appeal to emotions (that does the movement a large disservice). If you're able to ignore the guilt tripping, you will see that the message is still valid and strong.
I began to wonder what went into my cats' food? Pico was morbidly obese and Harley was a sickly kitten. Let me say now that a fat cat is not a happy cat, or a spoiled cat. If your cat is naturally "big boned" that's a different story, but if your cat is simply overweight, you NEED to trim it back.
What goes into dog/cat food kibble:
In short, it's the parts of a dead animal that doesn't make it into packaged meat fit for human consumption. This means that rotting meat, feet/hooves, head, sometimes undischarged packaging, some diseased meat all get put into a pressurizer. They heat it up so much it KILLS the bacteria, but at the same time, it kills any nutrients in the meat as well. The machines dry up any moisture so that the kibble becomes this nugget or dried crap, literally. To market it, they throw in some "nutrients" or "vitamins" and flavour. Liken this to fast food for us humans. It tastes really good, makes you keep going back for more, but there is really NO nutritional value and in fact, the additives make your cat really THIRSTY. They eat then drink then BLOAT. -- There are studies in the works but no results yet, some theorize that many dogs/cats illness near the end of their lives are a result of feeding dry food and that it is NOT natural to pass that way.
Bottom line... why does cat poo STINK!? Because their really isn't any nutrients in the food to be absorbed so it all get ejected out of the system.
After my research, I knew I wanted better for my babies. I needed to make the switch to raw. I started by immediately changing them over to wet food. However, wet food is still not the solution. There is no "hardness" in wet food so your cat is unable to maintain healthy teeth and strong jaws. There is nothing to "crunch" of gnaw on. It's like giving them baby food all the time.
Switching was easy, I gave my cat's meal times. Once in the morning, and once at night. It seemed to make sense to me, as humans, being healthy consists of several SMALL meals a day rather than an open 24 hour buffet of processed food.
I spent hours each night reading on raw feeding. But ultimately, I decided to consult my own vet. I wanted opinions where I could get them so that I could come to my own conclusions. However, as I would find out and most of the raw community warned me against was that most vets DO NOT condone raw feeding. Generally there are three reasons for this: 1) they are conditioned to think that raw food contains bacteria like salmonella that would harm your animal. 2) "nutrition" only made up a small part of their education. 3) vet schools are sponsored by the commercial pet food industry so their education only teaches them to recommend/sell these kinds of foods.
The raw feeding community knows only a handful of vets who support the cause. Thus I concluded that I trust my vet to diagnose my kitties, treat them, and give them the medical care that I cannot provide but I have come to accept that vets are human and that diet is not a main component in their curriculum. So if my kitty needs medical attention, I will seek a vet, but not for nutritional advice.
A balanced partnership between medicine and a natural lifestyle is what I concluded would be the best for my cats.
If you want to switch, you MUST be prepared to be patient, persistent and be able to put up with nay-sayers.
======================================================
MY LEARNING/EXPERIENCE JOURNEY:
Eating healthy, just like for humans, is an important part of living a more fulfilling life. It isn't just about exercise and playing with your kitty, it's about what you feed them. To first address the fear of bacteria or salmonella in raw feeding, you have to remember the BIOLOGICAL differences between cats and humans. Cats (and dogs) are CARNIVORES. That means they ONLY NEED TO EAT MEAT. Contrary to the ridiculous ads you see on TV, Fido and Fluffly DO NOT needs veggies of any kind in their diet. They will get those nutrients from the "prey" they eat. A carnivore's digestive tract is also a LOT SHORTER than a human's, this means that they can eat raw meat and even old meat without much fear of getting sick. It takes a less time for the food to travel through their system, hence not having enough time to absorb the bacteria into their bodies. Logically, think about it, lions and leopard in the wild hunt and eat off the ground, some even scavenge. Why? Because they are naturally equipped to handle it. Human's cannot, we are omnivores.
The nutrients found in raw food can help build a stronger immune system, in addition, cats will get natural moisture from the meat!! You will noticed after switching to raw that your cats will consume LESS water. Why? This simply means they are getting it directly from their food like they are supposed to!
In time, you should be able to feed your cats meaty bones (meat with small bones, nothing larger than a chicken thigh). The bones contribute calcium which aids in the development of bones and teeth. While your kitties are gnawing the meat off the bones, they get nutrients from bone marrow, blood and not to mention it keeps their teeth clean as well! Cats will also be strengthening their jaws this way. This is why it is important to avoid feeding wet food or GROUND MEAT. Grinding meat introduces air into the meat with destroys many valuable nutrients in the meat. Unless you're feeding an old cat with no teeth, your babies should be more than capable of eating meaty bones (yes, even kittens!!)
Again I say, Pico was fat (everyone commented on her weight when they visited me) and lazy. Harley when we rescued him from the shelter was sickly and threw up all the time after eating. I wanted to test out raw feeding to see how it went. If anything, I could always switch back, right?
After beginning the transition between wet food to raw (about a week into), I noticed HUUUUUUUUGE changes almost immediately.
Pico had more energy, she began to play like a kitten again. There was a renewed interest in her toys. Her coat was noticeably softer and she was beginning to be much more affectionate.
Harley gained more strength, he was still throwing up but not daily anymore.
BUT the BIGGEST CHANGE what their POO.
! I love reading raw success stories!
