Feeding raw to FIV+ cats

Hi Minka - The American Association of Feline Practitioners in their feline Retrovirus Management - Says no, you should not, due to the greater risk of food-born bacteria and parasitic diseases in immune compromised cats. This seems to be the consensus with the veterinarian community and FIV publications and guidelines, as well as the ASPCA.
I am sure some will show up here and say otherwise.... There are people who feed their FIV cats a raw diet and they thrive. This is a fine line to cross though as you ARE dealing with an immune compromised cat - whatever you do, all I say is do not do this alone, do it with the guidance and support of a holistic vet.

Hi, Minka!

I don't have an FIV+ kitty, but I've thought about this topic a lot. I'll tell you how I weigh this issue and what I'd do, but in the end, this is one of those comfort-level decisions that has to made by the person involved.

So, point one. FIV+ kitties need to have the best nutrition to support and strengthen their systems as much as possible. As you must be aware (or you wouldn't be considering this option), that means a balanced raw diet of whole, fresh meats, etc.

Point two. Cats can handle very large bacterial loads in their foods. In the studies I've read, only cats who were undernourished and actively ill were ever affected by the bacteria in their food (in that particular case, it was Salmonella) and that bacteria was present at a level far in excess of what would normally be found in nature.

Point three. There are, to my knowledge, more recalls on commercially-prepared pet foods for bacterial contamination (usually Salmonella) than there are on fresh whole meats in the human food chain.

Given this information, I believe I would feed raw to my FIV+ kitty. I would make sure the meats, etc. were as fresh as possible and I would prep it as expeditiously as possible to maintain that freshness, but I would feed it and feel safer doing so than offering anything commercially-prepared.

The truth is, I believe we've been conditioned to be scared to feed our own cats without the pet food industry's help, and to believe that raw meat is deadly dangerous; I believe the perceived danger in feeding raw is far greater than the truth.

AC

My nutritionally trained, holistic DVM that treats Chumley (our FIV+ kitty) feeds her own animals a raw food diet, and does not want me to feed Chumley raw anything.

AC, the testing done on the meat by the USDA indicates that meat in this country does generally carry loads of bacteria like salmonella well above something you'd find in a natural prey diet in the wild. I don't know that I'd classify raw meat as "deadly dangerous," but it sure can be for immuno-compromised animals.

I don't have an immuno-compromised cat, Laurie, and I've not as thoroughly studied this subject as I have feline nutrition in general, so while I know there are other FIV+ cat owners who feed raw, and believe I would also do so were I in the same position, I can only offer my (current) reasoning without any actual suggestions.

Knowing how often commercially-packaged foods are being recalled for salmonella, and knowing that contamination is pretty much confined to the surface of the local grocery store meat products typically purchased for raw diets, and that one can mitigate potential contaminations by choosing sources carefully and mitigating it further by rinsing and searing the outside of the meats, combined with how much healthier a raw fed cat is... yeah, I'm still coming down on the side of feeding it.

I am, however, open to learning more (about this and anything else related to feline nutrition!). Perhaps this should be something decided more on a cat-by-cat basis? I expect I'll have to do a lot more research before I feel comfortable making any suggestions on this topic, if ever.

AC

The idea that the bacteria in a freshly caught bird is higher than in the chicken in your grocery store is outright dangerous IMO. A freshly caught bird has not been given time to decompose, and it did not pass through a constantly reused slaughter-house and rendering plant touching various surfaces as it is processed and packaged before shipment where refrigeration can only delay the natural microbial growth in the meat. The chicken you buy at the grocery store did however, and the FDA readily admits that salmonella is in fact to be expected in raw meat shipped to consumers, which is why it is to be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165oF or be considered hazardous.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3...?dopt=Abstract

Below is an excerpt from the FDA:
And also:
Further the American Veterinary Medical Association states:
Surely there isn't any debate that an immune compromised cat is not able to combat bacterial infection as readily.

I posted this in this thread, Best diet for cats?, but frequency of recalls is not indicative of size/impact of recalls.

This would just be another concern for feeding immuno-compromised kitties raw food: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=235501

The high prevalence of MRSA in commercial meat.

I agree with the ones suggesting not... Having a few nutritional trained vets ( ie masters degree or equivalent in companion animal nutrition) there are a few times not to feed raw and this is one of them...