Raw meat & worms?

babywukong · Oct 20, 2008

Hi all,

I've been following everyone's advice here and am feeding Ariel (my foster kitten) raw chicken/mutton/beef supplemented with Nutripe canned food.

Someone told me that raw food causes intestinal worms. I just wondered if this is true, and if so, how should I prevent this problem?

Ariel has been dewormed by the vet when she was there, but I don't know how dewormers work - I know the medication kills existing worms, but does it prevent future instances of worms?

Any advice from experienced folks appreciated!

sharky · Oct 20, 2008

it can depending on the meat ... it is advised to do regular stool checks with raw feed animals

laureen227 · Oct 20, 2008

don't know if this will help you... but the only worms i've ever heard of being transmitted in raw/undercooked meats are tapeworms. found this:

Feed cats only canned or dried commercial food or well-cooked table food, not raw or undercooked meats.

link here: toxoplasmosis prevention

babywukong · Oct 20, 2008

Thanks for the advice so far. Sharky, I assume by stool-checks, you mean break up the stool and check for worms?

I don't really want to take her off the raw meat diet since a lot of TCSers swear by the benefits of it.

I've also been feeding raw meat to dogs, and I have seen the wondrous effects. Whisky, my good friend's 10 yr old Shitzu, had a small lump on his shoulder for the longest time. Within a few weeks of being on raw, the lump began to shrink dramatically. And the best part is that his breath really freshened up a lot.

Looks like I'll stick to raw meat and just check Ariel's stool often then!

sharky · Oct 20, 2008

Not you check though I do this on the advise of a few vets( yup I am a bit strange

)

A vet stool check , I do them about 4 times a year

mimosa · Oct 21, 2008

I've fed raw for more than three years now and my cats have never had worms. And I must say I don't worm them very often. When I'm at the vet I have their stools checked too, she says they're fine.

If you get meat that is fit for human consumption (as I hope most people will, in my country regulations say any pet food that should be thawed in people's fridges with people food in them should be human grade) parasites shouldn't be a big issue. I don't know about regulations in the US, but in the Netherlands all meat has to be tested at the slaughterhouse for tapeworm cysts. If it is badly infected, it is excluded from the human food chain (guess what they cÃ¡n do with it; make kibble

because they cook that thoroughly). If it is a little infected, the meat has to be frozen for some time, it kills the cysts.

Most raw feeders keep all their meat in the freezer.

rone · Oct 21, 2008

Originally Posted by Mimosa

If you get meat that is fit for human consumption (as I hope most people will, in my country regulations say any pet food that should be thawed in people's fridges with people food in them should be human grade) parasites shouldn't be a big issue.

Ditto what Mimosa said. The meat should be as fresh as possible. I got mine from Hare Today where they euthanize with CO2 & then flash frozen in -30 degrees.

Originally Posted by Mimosa

Most raw feeders keep all their meat in the freezer.

Same here. I use 16 oz containers to freeze all raw food. There are always 2 containers in the fridge- one I'm feeding to the cats and the other defrosting. One 16 oz will satisfy my two cats for 3 meals. As soon as the jar is empty another one is remove from freezer so there's always one defrosting.

goldenkitty45 · Oct 21, 2008

One dose of worming only kills what is in the system at the time. There is no way the medicine can prevent future problems.

If you are gonna feed raw, get your cat checked a few times a year. I've never fed raw and only a few of my cats were ever treated for worms (and that was only the one time). The rest never had them to begin with

babywukong · Oct 21, 2008

Thanks for the wonderful advice, everyone. Sharky, I really thought you meant I had to dig through her stool

Yes, I freeze all raw meat.

I suspect that Ariel's future owner would not want to feed her raw, not many Singaporeans are into that... But I'll let him/her know that if they're going to continue feeding raw, they'll have to get her checked out for worms every quarter.

Raw meat & worms?

babywukong

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sharky

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laureen227

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