There seems to be a misunderstanding about how and when it is OK to knowingly feed nutritionally unbalanced raw food (or cooked food for that matter) to a cat. In general it is only acceptable within the following guidelines:
- It is for a short time only (weeks, not months).
- The unbalanced raw makes up no more than 10-15% by weight of the total diet.
- The remainder of the diet is commercial processed foods that meet AAFCO recommendations.
- You warn that even when the above requirements are met the overall diet may be nutritionally unbalanced.
As far as I can tell the idea that it is OK for cat's diet to include some portion of raw food that is nutritionally unbalanced originated with guidelines provided for transitioning a cat from a diet of commercial processed foods to a raw diet. During the transition period it can be difficult to get a cat to accept an unfamiliar food. Mixing the raw food in small amounts to the cats existing diet and slowly increasing the raw amount over time can be a way to familiarize the cat with raw food in a gradual manner.
In some cases the transition process can be made easier by not being concerned about whether the small amount of raw added to the commercial processed food is nutritionally balanced. This is believed to be acceptable only because it is assumed that the commercial processed foods generally contain more than the minimum amount of nutrients as recommended by the AAFCO and so will at least partially, perhaps wholly, make up for the lack of some nutrients in the raw.
Unless we know for sure that the nutritionally balanced portion of the diet contains enough nutrients to make up for the lack of nutrients in the unbalanced portion, and in the vast majority of cases we can't know that, the diet resulting from mixing the two may be unbalanced and unsafe to feed for more than a relatively short time.
Think of it like this: When you add nutritionally unbalanced food to nutritionally balanced food you are effectively diluting the nutrients in the balanced food. If the balanced food contains an excess of nutrients the overall diet may still be balanced. But if the balanced food contains close to the minimum required nutrients the overall diet may well be unbalanced.
I don't want to be overly alarmist here but I've seen many posts where the concept of adding some nutritionally unbalanced raw to a diet is misstated and in some cases grossly misstated to the point of advising an unsafe practice.
In summary, please bear in mind that when a diet consists of some nutritionally unbalanced food and some nutritionally balanced food the overall diet may be nutritionally unbalanced and unsafe for long term feeding.
- It is for a short time only (weeks, not months).
- The unbalanced raw makes up no more than 10-15% by weight of the total diet.
- The remainder of the diet is commercial processed foods that meet AAFCO recommendations.
- You warn that even when the above requirements are met the overall diet may be nutritionally unbalanced.
As far as I can tell the idea that it is OK for cat's diet to include some portion of raw food that is nutritionally unbalanced originated with guidelines provided for transitioning a cat from a diet of commercial processed foods to a raw diet. During the transition period it can be difficult to get a cat to accept an unfamiliar food. Mixing the raw food in small amounts to the cats existing diet and slowly increasing the raw amount over time can be a way to familiarize the cat with raw food in a gradual manner.
In some cases the transition process can be made easier by not being concerned about whether the small amount of raw added to the commercial processed food is nutritionally balanced. This is believed to be acceptable only because it is assumed that the commercial processed foods generally contain more than the minimum amount of nutrients as recommended by the AAFCO and so will at least partially, perhaps wholly, make up for the lack of some nutrients in the raw.
Unless we know for sure that the nutritionally balanced portion of the diet contains enough nutrients to make up for the lack of nutrients in the unbalanced portion, and in the vast majority of cases we can't know that, the diet resulting from mixing the two may be unbalanced and unsafe to feed for more than a relatively short time.
Think of it like this: When you add nutritionally unbalanced food to nutritionally balanced food you are effectively diluting the nutrients in the balanced food. If the balanced food contains an excess of nutrients the overall diet may still be balanced. But if the balanced food contains close to the minimum required nutrients the overall diet may well be unbalanced.
I don't want to be overly alarmist here but I've seen many posts where the concept of adding some nutritionally unbalanced raw to a diet is misstated and in some cases grossly misstated to the point of advising an unsafe practice.
In summary, please bear in mind that when a diet consists of some nutritionally unbalanced food and some nutritionally balanced food the overall diet may be nutritionally unbalanced and unsafe for long term feeding.
