Questions about raw feeding

arcadian girl

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My Wonton eats dry in the morning and wet at night, and if he needs a midnight snack it's usually a bit of dry. I've noticed people talking about raw feeding here. Now, I already know that I don't have the time to totally switch to a complete raw diet..but if there are health benefits to my cat eating raw meat, I'd like to feed it to him a few times a week. Would that be ok-would it still have some health benefits? What exactly ARE the health benefits? Are there any good websites about this? Will he take a while to get used to it? One time my friend's cat was over, and my bf and I were making shrimp dumplings. I had a big bowl of raw shrimp, and Sarah was SO interested. So I thought cat. shrimp. Should be natural, right? I tossed her a shrimp and she wolfed it down, and I smiled at her and gave her a scritch. Five minutes later she started doing the "oof, oof" retching sound, and sure enough, up came one partially chewed shrimp. I admit to being a bit bewildered (and I felt like an arse - I didn't know it would make her tummy feel bad
). Since then I've never given a cat anything raw.

Any info at all would be good. Wonton is overweight, and I"m trying to get him healthier, and that includes modifications to his diet. My bf half-jokingly just said "are you sure you want to feed him raw meat? he's going to turn into a straight-up predator!". so, for his own piece of mind-feeding a cat raw meat won't make it more aggressive, will it?


thanks for any and all info
 

sharky

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My "kids " coats were great looking but with raw food they feel good too... I have less eye goopies less digestive trouble.... Agressive umm no
 
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arcadian girl

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thanks sharky.

anyone at all got any info for me? eh maybe I'll just stick to canned and dry.
 

sharky

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I still dont have ALL the info ... but if you have specific questions many of us are very willing to help./...

Best advise for raw is find a VET that is like minded or at least willing to find answers to your questions .... Pm me if you would like
 

gizmocat

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Raw food sounds tempting but if you have a cat who, like Gizmo, picks at her food throughout the day instead of eating all in one sitting it is better to use canned or dry to prevent salmonella poisoning. My vet recommended I not feed Gizzy raw so she has the next best thing, a top brand of food that makes her coat soft and shiny and has cured most of her health problems.
 

huffypeg

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My cat just seemed to build up an allergy to canned food. It didn't seem to matter what brand I bought (premium or otherwise). She loved it but it didn't love her - and the consequences were ickie. So I had no choice but to go to raw food at night. She gets dry food in the morning. It's just prepackaged raw kangaroo meat, and the vet is a bit dubious about its nutritional value. But she seems okay. I don't know if this is technically the raw food diet (cos I agree it seems to be very complicated and time consuming)
 
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arcadian girl

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Originally Posted by sharky

I still dont have ALL the info ... but if you have specific questions many of us are very willing to help./...

Best advise for raw is find a VET that is like minded or at least willing to find answers to your questions .... Pm me if you would like
thanks
I have plenty of specific questions
As I asked above:

Would there still be health benefits if i only fed him raw food a few times a week?

What exactly ARE the health benefits?

Are there any good websites about this people could recommend?

Does it take cats a while to get used to it?


Thanks.
 

malena

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Here is a link that has been very useful to me: http://cats.about.com/gi/dynamic/off...ingcatfood.htm

My cats love raw food and they don't want anything else but I have done quite a lot of research before I began. They will not be okay if you only give them raw meat. I have had greate advice on this site and one of them was not to combine raw food with dry food since there is a higher risk of bacteria infection because dry food increases the time it takes for the cat to melt the food.
If I need to feed them something else I by canned wet food.
 

vanillasugar

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Originally Posted by arcadian girl

thanks
I have plenty of specific questions
As I asked above:

Would there still be health benefits if i only fed him raw food a few times a week?

What exactly ARE the health benefits?

Are there any good websites about this people could recommend?

Does it take cats a while to get used to it?


Thanks.
Yes, feeding him raw a few times a week would be better than none at all. Just like adding canned food to the diet helps to reduce health problems, I'm of the opinion that raw does the same thing, better.

The health benifits are pretty simple to explain. There are so many health issues that are common in cats these days, that are caused or aggrivated by feeding a kibble diet. Obesiety, diabetes, UTI's and crystals, allergies, stomach sensitivities, on and on. The health benefits are that you'll be avoiding these and other health issues. By feeding raw, which is the optimum diet for you cat, you'll be helping your cat be in perfect health.

http://www.rawfedcats.org/ is an interesting site. They promote prey-model raw instead of ground up and supplimented raw, which some people don't agree with, but it's interesting to read.

http://www.holisticat.com/rawdiet.html Has some interesting reading as well.

Some cats take to raw very easily, others need some coaxing to realise that they CAN eat this stuff
 
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arcadian girl

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thanks to both of you, am checking out those sites now
will run it by my vet first I think, as well, but if he gives the green light I think I may try it
 
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