Raw/Homemade diet for cat on Royal Canin SO?

Hi all,

I have a 4  year old male indoor cat who had urinary tract issues as a kitten (crystals - may have been struvite, not sure) so he's been on Royal Canin SO (dry) since then.  I'd love to get him to a more natural diet if this is safe for him, because he's hungry all the time and is getting heavy.   So I've been researching raw/cooked homemade food, but am concerned about whether this is a safe thing to do.  I'm hoping it would be a help/cure but of course don't want to consider if this is dangerous for him. 

So would appreciate any experience or advice.  And is this something to discuss with my vet?  Just not sure how open vets are to the raw diet thing. 

Many thanks!

Clay

It was precisely because one of my cats had struvite crystals that I switched to a raw diet.  She has been crystal free for 7 years on the raw diet.

morecowbell said:

 
Hi all,

I have a 4  year old male indoor cat who had urinary tract issues as a kitten (crystals - may have been struvite, not sure) so he's been on Royal Canin SO (dry) since then.  I'd love to get him to a more natural diet if this is safe for him, because he's hungry all the time and is getting heavy.   So I've been researching raw/cooked homemade food, but am concerned about whether this is a safe thing to do.  I'm hoping it would be a help/cure but of course don't want to consider if this is dangerous for him. 

So would appreciate any experience or advice.  And is this something to discuss with my vet?  Just not sure how open vets are to the raw diet thing. 

Many thanks!

Clay

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Raw food is safe if done correctly. The easiest way to start is by feeding a commercial raw pet food such as Nature's Variety Instinct. Commercial raw diets are available as frozen, freeze dried, air dried, and dehydrated. Many are complete diets but some are not so be sure to read the label.

If you want to make your own raw food, please read these articles for more information:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263955/helpful-resources-raw-home-cooked-cat-food-forum

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources

Some raw resources outside of TCS:

http://catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood

http://www.catnutrition.org/

http://feline-nutrition.org/

Home cooked diet info: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264153/home-cooked-cat-food-resources

Don't expect much support, if any, from the vet. Many vets are against feeding raw food for many reasons. The AVMA discourages raw feeding. If you want to feed a raw or home cooked diet, then go ahead and feed it. It's your cat after all and you make the decisions, not the vet.

Some cats may always be prone to urinary issues no matter what the diet.

Many thanks for the replies!  The catinfo site is where I got started and is great - and am learning a ton from all the recent posts on crystals and diets. 

I am thinking of starting raw/homemade with a premix trial size to see how things go. Alnutrin, TCfeline, Know Better, etc. - any recommendations? 

morecowbell said:

 
I am thinking of starting raw/homemade with a premix trial size to see how things go. Alnutrin, TCfeline, Know Better, etc. - any recommendations? 

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I've used all of those pre-mixes. Honestly, I can't tell if one is better than another. One important thing to know is that Better in the Raw and TC Feline are for boneless meats only.  Alnutrin has two different pre-mixes, one for boneless meat and one for meat with bone and organs. Make sure to use the correct one for the type of meat you are using. A pre-mix for boneless meat contains calcium so if you use meat with bone, your cat is going to get way too much calcium and may end up with constipation.

Thanks again.  In the meantime I've switched him to grain-free wet with extra water and now am reading comments that Wellness wet can cause struvite crystals - what?!  Yikes, what wet food should I feed him during the transition?

morecowbell said:

 
Thanks again.  In the meantime I've switched him to grain-free wet with extra water and now am reading comments that Wellness wet can cause struvite crystals - what?!  Yikes, what wet food should I feed him during the transition?

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I think it's just Wellness Core that can cause issuse, not the regular Wellness. There seems to be  something in the food that causes the urinary issues.

Try any other canned food for the transition to raw. I like Nature's Variety Instinct.