Do you feed raw food?

I was looking into feeding raw meat to my cats because that's what they naturally would eat and would like input from those who have fed or are feeding raw. Do you find that your cats are healthier? Have there been any negative effects from it?

I have certainly seen/treated far more sick animals on raw food diets than I have healthy ones! Choking on bones, nutrient defiencies, SALMONELLA, to name a few problems.
Your bengals will do just fine on a high-quality cat food. (btw the kittens are gorgeous!! as a Bengal owner, I can't resist looking at those baby pictures!!)

I have seen dogs on a raw diet they dont look to good... my cat does like some raw red meat from time to time... but as she is nearly 17 I am very careful... evan her veggies are cooked now.. With your bengals I wouldnt think it an option unless you got an f1 or f2

I just can't figure out how come they can eat raw in the wild then....any thoughts?

bengalbabe, if you do some searches on the forums there have been quite a few threads on feeding a raw diet to cats - it was enough to put me off!!! although i guess there's two sides to so many stories.

i just feed my boys premium dry food some junky wet food that they like (and the vet is happy with) and every few weeks i give them a chicken wing as a treat - but i'm very fussy on where i buy it from, they get it straight away, I monitor them, and it gets taken away after 10/15 minutes if it's not all gone!!

Actually, feeding your cat an all raw meat diet is one of the best things you could do for them. But, the problem comes from not knowing what to feed them. Just giving your cat all muscle meat will not be good, this diet is not complete. The best would be whole prey, but most people would find this not very easy to do. My domestics get commercial food and they get raw meat for treats. However, my bobcats get nothing but an all raw meat diet, they would not do well without it. Their primary source of food is raw chicken with bone. I add a vitamin supplement designed for wild felines. This supplement would work for domestics as well. If I feed the bobcats meat without bone, I add a calcium supplement as well. I also give them chicken gizzards, hearts and livers and they get raw turkey and beef as well. I have even given them feeder rats for treats. The problem with salmonella usually comes from feeding raw GROUND meat like hamburger. The problem with the bones comes from feeding them chicken that has been cooked. Never give your cat cooked chicken with bone, because the bones become very brittle. The raw bones are not brittle and my bobcats chew them up like they are crackers. I am not sure if I would give a domestic cat chicken with bone, the bones may be too big for them to chew, except maybe the wings. You can get frozen baby chicks however and this may be easier for a domestic cat to chew. The main thing with a raw diet is that it must be a balanced diet. Many people believe they can just go to the store and buy big chunks of beef or liver for their cat, but this is not good. It isn't properly balanced and does not contain calcium or high levels of taurine and other nutrients that whole prey would provide. The supplements I add to the meat makes the food balanced and complete.

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

I just can't figure out how come they can eat raw in the wild then....any thoughts?

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Wild cats have all the enzymes and gut load to kill off the bad bacteria , domestics on the opther hand no longer have these... That is why your domestics will have less sucess on the raw than cooked.. Same principal with humans.. Can you eat raw chn??? About a million yrs ago you could... Amber The Bobcat gave very good info for the wild ones..Amber I will have to talk to you about the pixies since around here they are considered wild .

... Amber I will have to talk to you about the pixies since around here they are considered wild

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Are you talking about PixieBobs or Bobcats being wild? My Pixiebobs are domestic cats, but Amber and Boris are bobcats. Yes, they are wild cats that have been tamed

I live in the pacifis northwest and on display as a wild animal was a pixie bob.. I did look up the pixie site and saw they were domestic.. not sure if someone let a few lose and now we have a wild pop... pixie bob are about half the size of a bob cat??

I'd cook it first!!!! never feed your cat raw meat.

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

I don't believe that man used to be "cavemen" and eat raw meat, so that idea is out the window for me.
Bengals are not very far away from wild blood anyway so what about them?

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I am not speaking of caveman there are still tribes of native people who eat raw meat... As for your bengals mine does well with some raw but I dont do it often.... Since spring is here I am sure shell supplement and I will have to clean up the vomit... If you have a "foundation"f1 or f2 try what AmberTheBobcat said .. I correct the million should have been a few hundred...lol.. my bad

Feeding cats a well balanced raw diet is great for the cats, feeding them raw food witout having enough the knowledge needes can be disastrous.

I raw feed my cats and they do really well on it and yes, they do seem healthier than before. My overweight cat started to lose fat and build muscles, my (used to be) underweight cat gained weight and is now in great shape, the youngest one have been fed homemade food since I got her and she's a very healthy young female.

I personally do not believe that out domestic cats handle raw meat less well than wild cats, I mean many of our domestic cats still go outside and catch their own food and they handle it just fine, at least the cats I grew up with.

I know many cats that have gone from dying (vets can do no more) to completely healthy when switched to an all raw diet. I don't know of any cat that haven't become healthier when raw food have been introduced to its diet, but I'm probably one of the lucky ones that only know well educated raw feeders.

Raw food have been to great benefit to my Devon Rexes. The vets have nothing but good things to say about the health of my cats and I (as well as others) have seen the change in their health. They weren't sick when fed dry food, but they weren't in optimum health either.

Note that we do not have Salmonella in Swedish meat (less than 1 % of the Swedish meat is contaminated by Salmonella and this meat never reaches the market since the meat is tested), we don't have Trichinella or Pseudorabies in our pigs, our "meat animals" are not fed antibiotics or hormones... in other words, our meat is very safe so the risk for us and/or our cats/dogs being contaminated with these diseases is close to zero.

Originally Posted by eburgess

I'd cook it first!!!! never feed your cat raw meat.

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This is not true. Cooking will destroy all the nutrients in the raw meat.

I live in the pacifis northwest and on display as a wild animal was a pixie bob.. I did look up the pixie site and saw they were domestic.. not sure if someone let a few lose and now we have a wild pop... pixie bob are about half the size of a bob cat??

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The Pixiebob is a domestic breed that resembles a bobcat. Legend has it that they came about from the breeding of a bobcat with a domestic cat. As domestic cats go, Pixebobs do get on the larger size, but not as large as a true bobcat.

I just have to comment on this raw diet thread.

I definitely am not knowledgable enough to try a raw diet for my crew, but decided I would give them a special treat with some raw chicken wings once.
I bought a package of chicken wings at the store and hurried home thinking the cats would be so happy to have such a treat.

Yeah, right!
I gathered them around and said "look what mom has for you!"
They looked and sniffed and then gave me a look like "What are you, nuts?"
One of the outside guys gnawed a little and left it lay. The dog loved them.

I also tried some packaged frozen raw meat by Prairie that has all the balanced num-nums and only one of the outside cats ate a little bit of that.

My guys are definitely very domestic and seem to feel I was treating them shoddy by offering them such a fare.

They too like their quality dry food to go along with their junky canned and their vet sees no problems with their health and usually comments on their thick shiney coats.

They also catch their rodents and bugs to torture and some consider them snacks, but this mom of many furbabies has given up on bringing home any raw treats.

Originally Posted by sharky

I live in the pacifis northwest and on display as a wild animal was a pixie bob.. I did look up the pixie site and saw they were domestic.. not sure if someone let a few lose and now we have a wild pop... pixie bob are about half the size of a bob cat??

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You are remembering the earlier years of the Pixiebobs..when the breed was first being introduced, they were claimed to be from a cross of domestic and bobcat, that was later retracted from breed descriptions as I recall.

And I do recall a county north of me, where there was or was about to be an ordinance outlawing cats with wild blood and pixiebobs were an issue.

They are an exquisite breed I think.

They are an exquisite breed I think

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Yes the Pixiebob is, I live with 4 of them

Lucky you! Having once shown my American Curls, and living in WA, I got to see some of these lovelies in the show hall

Was the breed founder there, Carol Brewer? She lives in WA as well