Raising Raw Pets (raw diets for pets)

[askcassyfirst]

Feel free to move this thread, I wasn't sure if I was putting it in the right place! :)

This came up in a thread yesterday, and I was thinking that some might want to share their experience with feeding their pets a raw diet. (As opposed to the typical dry kibble bought from stores.)

My cat, M.Kitters has been fed a raw diet since the first of June. We buy premade packets from a local manufacturer here in FL. They are made with raw meat, bones and greens. Prior, we fed him an organic kibble from the health food store.

This diet has cured up some nasty skin issues, including hotspots, kitty acne (caused by caustic drool :), really, this is a real condition) , cured his overweigh condition, and returned his kitten energy. His fur is also much thicker, fluffier, and cleaner.

Because the diet is naturally wet and hydrating, kitters doesn't need as much water through the day.

Has anyone else noticed the health benefits of sharing the raw experience with thier pets? HEre is a picture of our baby, M. Kitters.

[Arky]

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5239

[askcassyfirst]

Thank you Arky. I knew there was a thread on here somewhere! I just wasn't sure whether to put in in the Raising Raw Kids board, since my kitty is like my baby! :) lol.

What you suggested in the other thread was a great idea. I have read the Pottinger's Cats study, and it was one of the key reasons I had been wanting to try Kitters on raw, for a while now.

As much as I would love to imagine little kitter's in the kitchen tossing a salad with me, (although he does adore to bat at my green leafies as they fall off the table) he was born in a place where there were a multitude of wild cats, and he still has that wild predatory side...He loves to chase and eat bugs, lizards, etc. Regardless, cats in the wild don't cook, :) so feeding them processed foods seems just as bad as eating such ourselves. :)

Cassy :)

[PixieGreen]

Cassy,

Your cat is beautiful! My sweet kitty Ivy enjoys gourmet dry food. I tried an all home made diet on my previous cat but handling the raw chicken seriously grossed me out. How did you find the raw cat food? I wonder now if I might find some locally if I call around to the vets. I suppose I'm rambling. Just wanted to say I think it's a fine idea and I'd like to do the same.

Christa

[askcassyfirst]

You can probably find it at a specialty pet store, or through your vet. It comes frozen. Some brands make what amounts to little tokens, that you defrost the night before, and just put in the bowl. Others make little pouches. Yes, I agree, I couldn't have done it if I had had to chop up the raw stuff and bones. That would have sent me over the edge. This way, I just take out enough for a day and put it to defrost in a small container in the fridge, and then portion it out accordingly.

I was thinking that sharing pics of our pets was a cool idea...THis is kitters pre-raw. He has lost 4 or so pounds, and his face is thinnning out. Kinda like what happens to us humans when we eat this way...I am guessing that if animals were to eat their natural diet, as in the wild, they would be long and lean... :)

Cassy

oh- yeah, ps:
We used to call him M.Stinky as a nick name before he went raw, as his litter was just awful. Since raw, it doesn't smell anymore. Go figure.

[PixieGreen]

Thanks, Cassy. I'll check around town in a few weeks when I rent a car. That definately sounds doable; defrosting is light years away from wacking a chicken carcass. :eek:

I used a closeup pic of Ivy for my journal pic since I don't have any pictures of myself. She's prettier than I am, anyway. :D

Christa

[MaxMarie]

In all likelyhood, my cat Murphy has had failing kidneys for some time. But after our Yoshi (his "brother" for 12 years) died suddenly, Murp took a spiral down.

His vet said he was just grieving. So I did everything I could to encourage his eating including finding him a raw food diet.

Feline Future isn't a diet. It's an additive. Murp has his own blender to puree his meats. We fill up those little snack size "glad wares" and they stay in the freezer until he needs on. We take out two a day.

http://www.felinefuture.com/

The interesting part? I decided to get Moo a friend. A companion. But on the off chance Yoshi had died of something contageous that Murphy now had, I took him for a second opinion. That's when I found out his kidneys had gone bye bye. They kept him a few days. They found it very odd that his toxicity levels got worse while he was in their care. I mentioned him having been on this raw food diet for the past three weeks. They sent him home with me and told me to continue with his raw foods. He's on sub-q fluids now. His toxicity came down rapidly. Since dry kibble takes so much of kitty's own fluids in order to be digested, Murp was in need of LESS fluids once he got back on the Future's diet.

The vet was shocked at his turn around.

[askcassyfirst]

That is so wonderful about the turn around your kitty had! I will read about that additive feline future! I agree also that pets can grieve. Mom said when I went away to college, my cat at the time would wander through my bed room and meow, looking for me everynight...

I am in such wonder that for years people have fed thier pets the dry kibble, and it was just par for the course, you know? Just normal. There is a huge industry behind dry kibble, so it is not unlike the junk food industry for humans. They even make those little pouches of treats for them! In shapes that only thier mommies and daddies would appreciate! Then there is the food coloring they add to make it look pretty...

A funny story about kibble: Last year we were trying different dry foods to find one kitters would like. We tried one, that had these little black pellets in it, that supposedly were "vitamin pills". We came home the first day, and the kitchen was covered with little black pellets, all over the floor! He had rejected them! Day two I watched him eat, and sure enough, he would pick them out with his tongue, and drop them to the side of his bowl! Cats can certainly be picky!

Cassy :)

[MaxMarie]

Read this article on Feline Future about how bad kibble is...

http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4.php

Yes, animals grieve. But our vets should listen to us when we tell them these symptoms are not normal. These symptoms are not "just the grieving process."

[squidly]

Hi

I have a 3 year old cross bishon mini schnauzer who has been raw for about 6 months now. He had chronic grass allergies which made him get lumps, bleed and ooze puss so I changed hime to completely raw. He was never overweight really but he certainly lost weight for the first few months and got rather skinny but I did not worry and only yesterday the neighbours commented on how good he looked and I too then noticed he had put weight back on but different - he looks great. He has sSOOOO much more energy, is full of life and looks great. As for the allergies they are good at present but we are yet to see when spring hits in a month or so (in am in Aussie land) - fingers crossed.

I just bought a 2 month old puppy yesterday and would like to start her raw so need to do some investigating about raising raw puppies - any leads would be great.

Have an awesome day

[squidly]

My three year old gets whatever veggies I have made for dinner and usuallybit of diced meat with a bone of some sort - he is not vegetarian but I have to laugh as the other night he moved the meat aside so he could get to the raw pizza piece I had given him. He loves any fruit especially apples, the stem of broccoli, carrot if I grate it up.

Do NOT give any dogs anything from the night shade family as they can harm them - capsicum, eggplant, potato and tomato.

So basically my boy (Shaggy) gets some fruit of a morning and for dinner diced veggies and meat. We give him a raw egg once or twice a week for a good coat. Also a tablespoon of any oil once a week and a good herb mixture is slippery elm , kelp and brewers yeast - 1/2 - 1 tablespoon a night . If adding the herbs give small doses and work your way up as it has a very strong taste that they may night like.

Hope this helps

[VeganVixen]

love your cat!


I feed my pets the "barf" diet -basically food processed kale ,carrots ,garlic ,olive oil, and some eggs thrown in .......my poodle loves it!

[Arky]

Poodles eating garlic - whatever next? I'm amazed! ;)


J.

[VeganVixen]

yes , but mines special -shes a RED-HEADED poodle ,btw where not talking about Autumn ;) - :p !

[LNdolls]

I had two cats that I fed as I had all cats that lived with me - the best canned and dry food.. Asia developed an aversion to the kibble in her third year of life and died of kidney and digestive occlusion (doctor talk).
I got a new kitten because Rio and I went into a depression. Rio got sick rather fast shortly after Asia died .. she was diagnosed with diabetes and given two months to live. I hunted online for a better way to feed them and found Feline Instincts, too. Without any medication a year later Rio was still pretty comfortable - from eating raw. The kitten had lung problems, that never bothered her at my house because of eating raw. Rio lived another 18 months and played with her buddy up until the last month.
Seeing how different their kitty box smelled on raw, how much more peaceful they were with each other and how shiny both of their coats and eyes got on raw.. well, they lead me to raw thinking.. and now I am doing it for myself. Albeit slowly.

[shakti17]

I have 2 poodles , one is 1 (his birthday is today!) and the other 16 1/2. i feed them frozen raw pattties (blend of organic meat, fruit and veg) and i mix it with organic kibble (i want to switch to veg - does anyone live in NYC and know where to get veg dog food?)

i did notice, especially in the older one who can barely walk, a lot more energy since eating raw. also she LOVES it, and didn't really like or eat her prior canned "food".

my baby loves grapes that i chew up and then give to him. they both love raisins.

[RawTruth]

Here's some info on BARF (Bones and Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food), which I'm not yet using with my 2 dogs but which I'm considering. I know a few people who are doing this and the results are fabulous. At this point, I'm not willing to devote the time needed in preparing it, and I haven't located a butcher or fish monger near me at this point. Also, I'd want to have a separate food processor to use for their food. However, knowing that there's ground up diseased animal carcasses in their kibble has me sooooo close to doing this.

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/barf.html

http://www.barfworld.com/html/learn_more/what_is_barf.shtml

http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/nutritioninformation/a/QandA_barf.htm

I'd love to hear from others who have committed to BARF and who've been feeding their animals exclusively this way.

[askcassyfirst]

Raw Truth,

You might be able to find what you want at a holistic pet store or vet. There is a store near me, (although I do have to drive 20 minutes to it) where they sell a locally made raw pet food for cats. It is just meat and bones and greens all ground up and packaged in little pouches. They sell the major players as well, (like the Praire frozen raw which is even sold at places like whole foods) but we opted to start kitters on a local company. I have spoken with the owner of the company, and it is nice having that relationship, seeing as we aren't ready to do it ourselves. Someone Pm'd me that there is someone who does something similar and sells it through their vet.

My husband, like you, wants to move toward buying direct from a butcher or fish monger as well for our cat, but agrees that it means time and yes, additional appliances! We often wonder & discuss, however, which types of animals kitters would eat if he were wild. Certainly fish would be a long shot...(Insert image of kitters with waders and a pole...) and large game animals is another one of those "hummm" moments. (Insert image of kitters chasing down a bull or lamb~) I guess the biologically appropriate natural food for a small cat in the wild would be small rodents and reptiles... It is an interesting thought though! :)

This is I guess the key to raw for both humans and animals. Despite our species, a raw diet in its proper form IS natural.

Good thoughts.

Cassy :)