Raw pet food

[Nancysgoingraw]

We just switched one of our cats over to raw food. Our vet highly recommends it but I'm still not sure if we're doing the right thing. I don't have to worry about things like Mad Cow disease or any other bacteria issues but what about my kitty? But I know the processed foods are horrible too. Any thoughts?

Nancy

[shakti17]

i feed my dog raw chicken patties. the brand is called "stella and chewies," they make cat food too. it is organic chicken blended with fruit/veg such as kale, sweet potato, apple and flax. i also feed him raw fruits and veggies when i eat them. he adores bell pepper! also apples and nut butters and grapes.

i do not give him the beef patties, though they do also make those. i just could not imagine my little pup eating a cow in the wild! cats eat birds. i would give your cow raw chicken, skip the cow, then no mad cow disease for kitty! (organic, of course)

i have tried to give my dog sushi, but he doesn't like it - i know cats eat fish too though.

[D'vorah]

I've been raw feeding my dogs for about six months now and they are happy, happy puppies.

The thing is, no dog (or cat) would walk through a wheat or corn field and say, "Mmmm, I'm hungry, think I'll have THIS." Processed foods have stuff in them that aren't their natural diet.

I don't do beef often, they don't respond to higher fat meats well, we do more chicken and turkey. Once in a while they get beef feet for chew bones, but that's about it. I also do veggies and yogurt several times a week, mixed with ground food. I tried eggs, but one or more of them always gets sick.

The hardest thing about raw feeding is getting past all of the fears, the next hardest is handling all the "parts." yuk.

A book I got, written for dog folks is Raw Dog Food: Make It Easy for You and Your Dog by Carina Beth Macdonald. It's not written for cat people, but for me, what it did was take much of the mistique out of the process and made it do-able. Much of what is written is done so from a mindset of micro-nutrients. Face it, we're not doing that with our diet. You don't have to have a balanced diet every meal, every day. Diet needs to balance over a period of weeks to months, through the course of a seasonal year. Much of what is written for raw pets is so heady that you practically need a college degree in animal nutrition to make sense of it, and that's just not necessary.

There are packaged raw foods available in the freezer at one of my local pet stores, that would make the handling issues easier, but I've gotten used to it, as much as I can.

Good luck,

Deborah

[Kris]

I'm struggling with this issue too. I've been feeding my 6-month old puppy raw since I got her 3 months ago -- or trying to. I'm finding more and more often that she just won't eat the food raw. This morning, for example, I tried to feed her some ground lamb, but she wouldn't touch it. Then I cooked it and mixed in some cooked white rice (because she's had an upset stomach for the past couple of days and people kept telling me to give her rice), and she gobbled it right up.

Now, let me tell you, I have been vegetarian for most of my life, and the first time I have ever cooked meat was a couple of days ago for this doggie. It has to be the most disgusting thing I have ever, ever done. The smell made me gag. It's hard enough for me to BUY meat and keep it in my house!! I'd love to get away from cooking her food, but she just doesn't eat it raw, and I don't want to risk her not eating. She is quite skinny and I'd like for her to gain a little weight as she is still growing. The only sure-fire way I know to get her to eat her food raw is to mix a bunch of tripe into it, but I don't think she should be eating tripe at every meal.

Any suggestions?

[shakti17]

on the stella and chewies bag they recommend transitioning your dog, like mixing half raw half cooked. maybe she got used to cooked before you got her. mix it up, then gradually add more raw.

they do have healthier canned options, which i feed my dog sometimes (rarely) if i have not defrosted his raw meat and he is hungry. i know anything canned is inferior to anything fresh, but it is better than commercial dog foods.

you can also buy meat already cooked, if there is a place near you that sells cooked organic meat, that can be expensive though (i have given my dog that sometimes)

i can relate to the gross cooking meat experience. i too have been veg for almost half my life. i cooked a chicken breast for my pup when i first got him (before he was raw), that was weird and smelly!

[levamssg]

I tried to switch my cats to raw, and they went on a starvation diet until I caved in, so I'm back to that nasty dried stuff in a bag.

Any suggestions on making the switch?

[ryana]

i'm vegan and I couldn't justify buying dead animals to keep my domesticated dog alive. that being said she's been on a vegan dog kibble since she was a puppy. She looks great. but i know the kibble is iverly processed. anyone have any experience feeding their dog a raw vegan diet?

[Dancer]

I've tried to switch my 3 cats over into a raw diet and like levamssg, they didn't adapt too well. My vet said that can food was better than anthing dry so we just feed them lots of Fancy Feast.

Check the Barf Diet for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BARF_Diet

Peace and Love,
Dancer

[Kris]

I haven't tried, and wouldn't try, putting my dog on a vegan diet, raw or otherwise. I completely understand the desire to live harmlessly, without causing pain or injury to other creatures. I also feel like I have been entrusted with the care of one particular creature, my doggie, and it is my responsibility to make sure she has a warm, nurturing environment, a comfortable place to rest her doggie head, plenty of opportunity for doggie and people play, proper training for her own safety, and access to healthful and biologically appropriate food.

While I would never choose to eat meat myself (for many reasons, one of which is the fact that is not biologically appropriate human food), I do think it is one of the things my dog should be eating. As much as it grosses me out! I continue to struggle with buying it, supporting a ridiculous industry, harming innocent creatures, having it in my home, and cooking it no less, but I don't see an alternative that both makes me happy and lets my dog eat the "right" foods. :rolleyes:

My husband suggested that perhaps the reason she doesn't go for the raw food as much as the cooked is because the cooked food is way smellier. I can attest to this, because when I cook meat in my house (eww!) it definitely stinks. Anyone know of any raw, "stinky" foods that would attract a dog to the raw food in her bowl? I think I mentioned that she loves tripe (for the stink factor I think), but it shouldn't be an every meal sort of food.

[jenna rose]

I've tried to switch my 3 cats over into a raw diet and like levamssg, they didn't adapt too well. My vet said that can food was better than anthing dry so we just feed them lots of Fancy Feast.

Check the Barf Diet for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BARF_Diet

Peace and Love,
Dancer

Oh, please don't feed them fancy feast anymore! That's one of the worst brands out there.

And I've never heard a vet say that wet food is better than dry. Wet food contains about 70-80% water so they aren't getting all the nutrients that they need.

[ryana]

kris: I agree raw meat (organic) is ideal however this little friend of mine seems great on her vegan kibble. well that is so far. also I had a friend of mine who feed her dogs raw organic meat and a couple of them developed cancer i'm not sure if there was a link or not but none the less. We have domesicated these animals so they are alread not in a natural enviroment. i do concider buying her meat but since she is doing fine on her vege kibble I suspose I haven't proved to have to.

[sigtau66]

I tried to switch my cats to raw, and they went on a starvation diet until I caved in, so I'm back to that nasty dried stuff in a bag.

It's a slow process. You have to start out with a high % of dry food and add in a little raw food. Then over a period of weeks add more and more raw food until one day they're completely on raw.

Or you could use this advice (use at your own risk). :D As I tell my wife, no animal will purposely starve itself to death. Your cats will eventually eat, you just have to be strong and not cave in. :)

[Nancysgoingraw]

Thanks all for the info, I feel much better about it now. And thanks Shakti, I wish I had a cow ! (you said to “feed my cow”) ;-)

I should have specified, I actually have been using a product that is chicken based, comes frozen like little hamburger patties and has lots of veggies added in it too. It’s so convenient and doesn’t smell or anything. The only problem is you want to discard it quicker than canned food because its just basically gross after an hour or two sitting out. We switched our little girl Sophie in about a 2 week timeframe. We first took a very, very, very tiny bit of the raw food and completely hid it within the regular canned food. And then very gradually we kept increasing the raw and decreasing the canned until one day we put down a whole “patty” and we checked a few minutes later and she had eaten the whole thing. They say some cats are more fussier than others but keep at it and be patient.
I’ve also been told that wet food is better than dry. The dry is so overprocessed and cooked and dehydrated until every possible nutrient is just baked away.

I’ll get back to you all later when I check the name of the food we buy. Its for cats and dogs and I love the ingredient list. Its basically chicken, peas, carrots… things like that and that’s it, no additives.

[rawpriestess]

Well, I have the ethical challenges as well with being vegan, I would never harm a living thing, however I must have faith that our creator had some kind of plan.


So, I allow my cat to catch what ever he chooses and I feed him vegan everything else, same with my dog, who only eats what I give him or what the kitty brings him, he does not catch anything (thank Goddess) but our kitty does, I don't want to know what he catches, or how, I know that Goddess had a plan, and I've got complete faith in that plan.

So, I live and let live, and if a live being gets into our house, I set it free, but if kitty chooses to eat a mouper then that is his choice, I do not try to stop him, unless I can find him with a live critter.

[Nancysgoingraw]

In case anyone wanted to check it out, the food I get is NaturesVariety and that is their website too. Its for dogs and cats and some of the ingredients are chicken, eggs, bok choy, blueberries, carrots, flaxseed oil and its all organic

[Drawn]

Or you could use this advice (use at your own risk). :D As I tell my wife, no animal will purposely starve itself to death. Your cats will eventually eat, you just have to be strong and not cave in. :)

This is a bit off topic from the topic of raw feeding but I have to warn that the above is not true with cats. Cats can quickly develop a disease called fatty liver disease (feline hepatitis lipidosis) if they don't eat for as little as two to three days; and this means more than just licking gravy or having a few treats. They are not like dogs or any other animal which can go longer periods of time without eating. What happens is that their bodies start to feed on their own fat and it clogs their little livers, making them not want to eat, continueing the cycle. Its even worse for cats which are larger and have more fat to feed on. My cat lost almost half its weight while I had to assist feed him, every few hours, for six weeks before he recovered and started eating on his own again. Many cats never recover and virtually starve to death. Cats stop eating for many reasons, sometimes its as simple as changing their food, sometimes its something psychological, sometimes its an occasional virus and most of the time, its really difficult to figure out why they stop.

I am not advocating any specific diet for anyones cat, only that you need to make sure they eat. So if you are trying to make your cat switch foods, just be careful that they take to the new food. Do not think that they will eat eventually because you can start the starvation cycle and they will get FHL. I too believe that it's best to transition them. Put out two different bowls and let them transition at their own pace.

[shakti17]

ha ha nancy! i meant "cat". i wish i had a cow too. and a lot of chickens! :)

[Dancer]

Oh, please don't feed them fancy feast anymore! That's one of the worst brands out there.

And I've never heard a vet say that wet food is better than dry. Wet food contains about 70-80% water so they aren't getting all the nutrients that they need.


I just tried the Paul Newman Organic brand on them and they dug into it.

And as far as dry vs. wet, you must be talking about regular vets liking dry. Our vet is a holistic vet that follows Chinese herbs and medecines. He's great and he says that all the other vets are wrong. Dry food is just filler. So I'm going with what he says.

[hameyjane]

Our cats have been stictly raw for almost a year and they are thriving. One of our cats is allergic to chicken which is in just about every cat food out there. His health has done a total 180 since the switch. Our favorite brand is called "Prarie"-- they seem to be ethical and their product comes in patties which are more convenient than the tubes.

[Nancysgoingraw]

Amy - what kind of meat is in the Prairie brand? And what happened for you to know your kitty was allergic to chicken?

Nancy

[hameyjane]

The Prairie comes in several different flavors (lamb, venison, beef, turkey and chicken). We have sphynx cats (cats without hair) and our baby boy was first not digesting his food well (horrible b.m.s) and second his skin was flaky and dry and had bumbs all over--he would even be allergic to his own saliva when he cleaned himself. He had been on a RAW diet since we had him as a kitty but the food of course had chicken. Our vet suggested a dermatalogist who said that a lot of animal allergies can be traced to a protein source--most often chicken. We elliminated it from his diet and voila! a new boy.

[watersole]

I have also spent the last few days doing research on this, and found this website that I think is a very good and informative source:
http://www.catnutrition.org

I'll be attempting the recipe on this site as soon as I can locate all the necessary meat components.

[sunshine star]

Hey Watersole-
Thanks for the great link - I am transitioning my cat to a raw food diet - and they had so much great info on their site!! Love to hear how your cat progresses!! I have a feeling it'll be awhile til my cat fully transitions -but I am excited!!
CHEERS!!

[Raene]

I haven't tried, and wouldn't try, putting my dog on a vegan diet, raw or otherwise.

I won't disagree with you that dogs are meant to eat meat, but aren't dogs also meant to live outside and not be housepets, or any type of pets really? Things change...
I was really against getting a pet for a while b/c I'm vegan and I didn't want to have to buy food for my pet made out of another animal. I thought vegan diets were inappropriate for dogs but my research has led me to believe otherwise. Did you know that the oldest dog in the world is a 27 yr old VEGAN collie? The owners make her/his food every day--lentils, rice, and organic veggies. http://www.murmurs.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-37087.html
Anyway, I'm completely convinced through research that dogs can be very very healthy on a vegan diet if it's well-balanced (like us they need the b-12 supplements). There are many types of vegan dog foods but I plan on mixing my own raw stuff with the stuff that's on the market now that we're getting a puppy.
Sometimes it's important to research things...
*And ye harm none, do what ye will*

[Spectatrix]

I won't disagree with you that dogs are meant to eat meat, but aren't dogs also meant to live outside and not be housepets, or any type of pets really? Things change...
Dogs are easily domesticated (much more so than cats), so I would disagree with your assertion on that front. Besides, your "things change" rationale could just as easily be used to justify humans eating cooked food as it could be used to justify dogs eating a vegan diet.

[Raene]

No, I didn't mean dogs have evolved to be vegans. I just meant that with all of the info we have in the world now we don't need to feel like we have to feed them meat.