Raw hamburger meat?

I'm posting this here rather than the 'raw food' forum, because I don't strictly feed Cappy a raw food diet. Rather he gets Purina Pro Plan turkey and rice formula for Indoor Cats. I know, I know, it's Purina, but I've tried some other more expensive brands - some he liked and some he did not - and have decided that this is a medium price range food that we can afford and that he loves.

He also gets some wet, and also canned tuna drippings when we have tuna, and when I'm cooking, I always save him a bit of raw of whatever meat i'm cooking - chicken, beef or fish. So, I think he's getting a pretty rounded diet, and he's healthy and his coat is good.

My question concerns raw hamburger meat. We've been told how dangerous it is for us to eat undercooked hamburgers - but do these same warnings apply to cats? So far, I've only given him cooked hamburger.

lin

Originally Posted by Linni

...My question concerns raw hamburger meat. We've been told how dangerous it is for us to eat undercooked hamburgers - but do these same warnings apply to cats? So far, I've only given him cooked hamburger. lin

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Not at all, Lin. Cats evolved to process raw foods quickly and efficiently and it's quite unlikely that anything in ground hamburger will cause him any difficulty. I wouldn't hesitate to feed it as a treat here.

My only concern with hamburger is the same I have for me... When was it ground?( ie I do not eat it unless the grinding was within 24 hours Unless I myself froze it) and what did the cow eat? Note : many cats do not like or react well to beef

I buy lean or extra-lean ground beef from the supermarket and freeze it right away when I get home. I asked, and the grocery store butcher grinds it there. When I go to our local farmer's market I buy local beef. I prefer that, but sometimes it's just as easy to head to the grocery store.

lin

We feed ours raw hamburger or stew beef and have been for about 2 yrs now - no problems.

Most pre-packaged ground beef has really nasty stuff added to it. Best to get freshly ground beef, or just don't use ground beef. Stew beef should be fine.

Interesting topic! I've been very curious about giving Neko some raw and will get ground beef or stew beef every once in a while

Originally Posted by Willowy

Most pre-packaged ground beef has really nasty stuff added to it. Best to get freshly ground beef, or just don't use ground beef. Stew beef should be fine.

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The more often you feed this product, the more important this becomes.