raw ground meat for cat

Is it safe to give a cat (3 yrs.) raw ground turkey or beef as an adjunct to her diet of dry food?

You can read about the raw diet for cats on the following website-
Biologically Appropriate Raw Food

http://www.barfworld.com/

Bailey3, I have the exact same question. I had a cat for 16 years (from when I was 6) and she only got fed raw meat. This was in another country where canned and dry foods are unheard of. Well, now with my 2 babies, I feed them wet (1 can each per day) and dry food (free feed). But whenever I'm cutting meat for cooking dinner, I'll let them have a taste and they go CRAZY!! Climbing my pants and all. I'm thinking of giving either meat or ground beef to them every once in a while in place of the wet food.... any thoughts on this? They really love it and it can't be harmful to them, it's absolute protein, plus they get the other nutrients from the dry free feeding, and the wet food the other times. What do y'all think?

I think you should talk to your vet first. I wanted to feed Cupid a raw food diet too. His breeder used to feed him some raw food especially for cats & dogs, that has all of the nutrients he needs added, but she quit b/c there were bone fragments. The vet tech. I talked to said she feeds her cats the same thing and the bones won't hurt them. So I was going to feed him that. Then my breeder told me about a new product she found that is a powder and you mix it with raw ground meat. It has all the nutrients in there. So she started feeing him raw ground turkey and chicken w/the powder mixed in it and he looooooves it. So when I get him back I'll be feeding him that too.

I don't think plain raw meat has everything they need, but I don't know why it would hurt as a treat. Just talk to your vet.

Hey Purr, could you please let me know what that powder is when you find out? Thanks! [email protected]

It's called Feline Instincts http://www.felineinstincts.com/
The raw food that had everything in there already, but has bones (it's up to you & your vet if you want to do that) is called Nature's Variety. http://www.naturesvariety.com/feline/

Raw foods are great for cats, and a bit of raw meat every now and again as a treat is only a good thing. You shouldn't feed it at the same time as commercial foods though, that may cause some digestive upsets as the foods are digested at very different rates.

I feed my dogs and younger cat a raw diet, based on raw meaty bones. I don't believe any powder or commercial product can replace all they get from bones. However, if bones is all that is keeping someone from feeding a raw diet, replacing those with something else that gives at least some of the same benefits is the next best thing.

The vet advice is usually sound, but in feeding it's not always the way to go. Most vets don't know much about feeding cats/dogs, it's not in their training (for most part) so it's basically up to themselves if they want to learn more.

Just curious; when you're feeding raw meat, do you just use the stuff from the supermarket or do you go to the butcher? The only reason I ask is because I've read that some who recommend this diet don't like the supermarket stuff. The only time I've ever fed raw meat is when I bought some chicken wings from Albertson's and gave it to the ferals; they loved it.

Wouldnt feeding raw meat pose a danger of ecoli and other germs in a household that has children? that would be my concern.

If you can't find ground meat w/bones around you, you can get it here. http://www.bravorawdiet.com/productdetail.html

Children and bacteria is a concern, but most people do have raw meat in their house anyway, they just cook it before they eat it so the bacteria is still "in the household". Basic hygiene, washing hands, knives, cutting boards, food bowls etc takes care of that problem.

Someone else might answer the supermarket thing, since over here, that's really the only option for getting meat. Not many butchers around here. But the meats are fine, look good, and sometimes I buy from this company that sells meat and bones for pets. Humans would never eat it, but good for pets (they don't care if there's gristle and fat in there, or if it's not ground up that well).

I wonder about the bacteria too, not in handling, but what's on them after they eat since some may get their feet into it or they may lick a kid's fingers or lay it on the floor to eat it and what about when they wash after eating? Our dog would take it from her dish and go to some other area of the room to eat it.
I'm all for the idea behind it, but I'm not ready for the extra work that might come with it.
I've also wondered if it would stop our one cat from going after rubber bands; thinking it would satisfy her need to chew on something. When she does manage to get ahold of one, she'll chew and chew on it. We usually keep them put away, but once in a while one will get left out.

I've fed the raw diet for almost 4 years now, and these days I just get the urge to laugh when someone talks about how time consuming or a lot of work it would be. It couldn't be easier! I don't have to go to pet shops to buy my pets' foods, I get it when I shop for myself. Buy some for right then, some to the freezer. If frozen, take it out the night before. Then open the packet, throw it to the dogs on the floor or put to cat's plate, and that's it. Very occasionally I feed pureed veggies, so when I make a big batch that takes a few hours, it lasts for weeks. When I feed that, I need bowls for the dogs too, and add a little oil plus vits. Honestly, no work at all once you get the routine going. In the beginning when I didn't really know what I was doing (I mean the routine) it did take longer, but now it's so easy.

As for the dogs taking it elsewhere, I taught mine to eat on their pieces of plastic table cloth- or whatever it's called in English. If they tried to take it elsewhere, I took it away. So they eat on those, and they're easy to wipe down or even wash in the machine. The cat eats at her place, so I just wipe the table down after she's done. And yep, that's my kitchen table that I eat on too. Not dead yet.

As for the bacteria on them... Well, dogs eat poo. Cats and dogs sniff each others' butts. Walk outside in who knows what. Cats dig "around" in a litter box! My point is, there's always bacteria around. As long as you don't give french kisses to them right after eating, it's not all that risky in terms of bacteria. This goes for healthy people. If I had a disease which lowered my immune response dramatically, I'd take some precautions.

But I'm not saying jump into this. It takes a lot of reading and doing your homework to get it right, and it's definitely not for everyone.

Originally posted by Eeva
As for the bacteria on them... Well, dogs eat poo. Cats and dogs sniff each others' butts. Walk outside in who knows what. Cats dig "around" in a litter box!

Click to expand...

Well, dogs eat poo.

We dont have dogs

Cats and dogs sniff each others' butts

sniffing doesnt transmit bacteria

Walk outside in who knows what

We dont let our cat out

Cats dig "around" in a litter box!

we wash the litter box frequently we check the cats paws for fecal material and wash often.



I think if people want to do this its their decison , but I would think long and hard if you have children .

I don't feed raw meat but from what I understand pre-ground meat may harbor more bacteria because much of it has been exposed to air where only the surface of whole meat has been exposed and can be trimmed off and then you can grind or chop up the rest of the meat yourself.

Some people soak whole chunks of meat in water with grapefruit seed extract before grinding it to kill off the bacteria and others cook it lightly, just a thin outer layer, to do the same thing. I've heard before also that grinding meats mixes the bacteria that's present on the outside throughout all the meat.
The only bacteria I'm concerned about are the resistant strains than may be on their face or elswhere right after they eat. Dogs especially lick people a lot.
Good idea on training a dog to keep it's food in one area! Maybe I'll see if our bull headed alpha dog would learn.

My ferals get raw chicken wings once a month and they love it. I have very little problem with teeth and gum disease because of this as well. The cats scrape their teeth on the bones.

But I wanted to address the rubber band chewer. Take it from me rubber bands are a big draw for cats, and a big no-no unless you want a hefty vet bill. Swallowing even little pieces of these bands can cause blockages inside that are slow in forming and require surgery to correct once they do occur.

Dana, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this issue. I'm not trying to convince you, since obviously you've already made your mind up, just offer some alternative points of view for whoever might be reading this thread. So when I talk about dogs eating poo etc, wasn't referring to you particularly. Just something to think about. I just think society treats bacteria in an increasingly hysterical way today.

I've always been told not to mix raw and kibble together because they are digested differently. When I give raw things to my dogs, I always keep it separate from kibble and would assume to do the same for cats (mine won't eat anything raw and I don't push it on them). I would also have concern about ground beef because, like Nern said, it is more likely to harbor bacteria.

Thanks Hissy. I know rubber bands are a big concern and we keep them put up 99% of the time, but with 2 kids it doesn't always happen. It's just one of our cats that is attracted to them, thank goodnes.