You're right about that. I didn't mean the kind of overcooking involved in commercial cat food processing. I meant in the case of home cooking when the meat is just cooked until it's no longer pink inside and that's it. Processed commercial pet food is way overcooked.
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- Thread starter bella713
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Raw was a life saver for one cat in my house. and she will never again eat anything but. She has IBS and was nothing but skin and bones with massive runny stools, until we switched her over to raw. my vet, while not overly excited about the switch, had no other opitions for me to give her relief and to get some weight on her.
This is Maia now on her Raw Diet:
Shes healthy and getting healthier everyday. I have seen the diffrence it has made in her and it does my heart good. She gets a mixture of premade, and homemade raw. and my vet, well he is now doing all the research he can on Raw for his knowledge and to be able to pass the info on should he run into another case like Ms. Maia.
when done correctly, Raw can be a very good thing.
This is Maia now on her Raw Diet:
Shes healthy and getting healthier everyday. I have seen the diffrence it has made in her and it does my heart good. She gets a mixture of premade, and homemade raw. and my vet, well he is now doing all the research he can on Raw for his knowledge and to be able to pass the info on should he run into another case like Ms. Maia.
when done correctly, Raw can be a very good thing.
My vets are not too keen on it either, but I suspect it's because they are losing so much money by my animals not needing dentals anymore
I have an update regarding raw feeding and avian flu. To date, three cats have died of it in Germany, and following a "break" of several weeks' duration, poultry is again considered at risk due to migratory birds, and must be confined inside starting on August 16th.
If I were in certain parts of the world I'd be terrified as a raw feeder right now. I might even make the switch back to commercial, high quality canned for the duration of this virus. Bird flu is a scary thing, and poultry is a significant part of my cats diets. And I know having outdoor cats is much more relaxed over there, but I'd be super careful about keeping them in
We got our cats from a breeder who only fed raw. One of the problems our male kitten had (among many) was worms which was likely caused by the raw food.
I have no problems with owners who choose to feed a raw diet but breeders should be discussing in detail the food transition with any new owner.
In our case the two kittens went from raw to a wet/dry mix with no transition. Our breeder never said that there could be a problem. I now know that you need to transitions cats slowly.
If breeders are feeding raw, they need to help with the transition starting at the breeders home - not all owners are going to be sticking with raw for a variety of reasons & the transition should start before the kittens leave the cattery.
I have no problems with owners who choose to feed a raw diet but breeders should be discussing in detail the food transition with any new owner.
In our case the two kittens went from raw to a wet/dry mix with no transition. Our breeder never said that there could be a problem. I now know that you need to transitions cats slowly.
If breeders are feeding raw, they need to help with the transition starting at the breeders home - not all owners are going to be sticking with raw for a variety of reasons & the transition should start before the kittens leave the cattery.
While that's possible if the breeder was feeding raw wild food -- roadkill or something like that -- if he was feeding "grocery store" meat -- ie meat produced in controlled conditions on a "factory farm" -- that's so highly unlikely that's it's about negligible. Fact is, your kitten mostly likely aquired its worms from its mother, as it's quite common for kittens to have worms, and that's why they're routinely dewormed before adoption. Roundworm larvae, for example, can live in a dormant encysted state in a cat's tissues for long periods of time, and come out of dormancy during a period of stress, such as a pregnancy. Whence they migrate to the mammary glands and are passed to the kittens during breast feeding.
Your kittens' digestive problems that occurred as the result of the transition were attributable to the processed cat food the kittens were transitioned to, not to the raw food they had been eating. I suppose your point about them being transitioned before adoption is a valid point, considering the adopter is a "customer" of the breeder and the kitten is a "product" that is supposed to be ready when it passes from producer to consumer. But that's a customer-relations problem. Has nothing to do with the pros and cons of a raw diet.
coaster said:
I didn't make that clear. What I meant was that the transition was made necessary by, and G-I problems are the results of, the characteristics of manufactured cat food: grains, additives, processing, etc that a cat's digestive system isn't naturally accustomed to, and must be adapted gradually. The gradual transition wouldn't be necessary if the food is something the cat's digestive system is built to digest. You don't see cats in the wild switching gradually between rabbits and mice and birds.
To be clear, my main concern is that breeders need to work with owners to develop a reasonable food transition plan that takes into account not all owners will feed raw. This transition then needs to start at the breeders
As a new kitten owner we put all our faith in the breeder assuming that since we were paying a large amount of money for the product & their expertise we would be given all the required information to ensure a healthy happy kitten.
I don't care what anyone says but there is not enough clinical data to prove that a raw diet is better. I do believe people who claim that their cats were "saved" by a raw diet, but in order for it to gain widespread acceptance there needs to be some long term clinical trials done. Until then it will never be an accepted diet by most vets & owners - especially now with concern for salmonela, avian flu, etc. on the rise.
As a new kitten owner we put all our faith in the breeder assuming that since we were paying a large amount of money for the product & their expertise we would be given all the required information to ensure a healthy happy kitten.
I don't care what anyone says but there is not enough clinical data to prove that a raw diet is better. I do believe people who claim that their cats were "saved" by a raw diet, but in order for it to gain widespread acceptance there needs to be some long term clinical trials done. Until then it will never be an accepted diet by most vets & owners - especially now with concern for salmonela, avian flu, etc. on the rise.
But there will never be clinical trials on a raw diet.
Who would sponsor such a costly endeavor? Trials are paid for by companies with a hopeful product to sell, and there is no commercial outfit that stands to profit by trials on non-proprietary, non trademarkable foods. Just like herbs, or other "natural" products- if no one stands to gain trials are wishful thinking.
Could I have a cite on the this?
Last night I emailed a cat breeder friend in Germany to get his take on all of this and he was unaware of any current issues. He remains a raw feeder and said "Avian flu is out of the media here. I don't think there have been more cases of Avian flu since spring, neither in birds nor in any other living being. ...snip......Well, anyhow I am ten times more worried that my cats get hurt by a car, fox or dog than I am worried about Avian flu. Of course it would be different if I'd been living in an endemic area with many affected birds."
cats in the wild consistently eat all of those things as a part of their regular diet. if the kittens had been fed a mixed diet of raw and kibble, they wouldnt need to switch gradually between each meal either. a cat used to eating a kibble diet would have to switch gradually to a raw diet or you would wind up with the same problems.Originally Posted by coaster
I didn't make that clear. What I meant was that the transition was made necessary by, and G-I problems are the results of, the characteristics of manufactured cat food: grains, additives, processing, etc that a cat's digestive system isn't naturally accustomed to, and must be adapted gradually. The gradual transition wouldn't be necessary if the food is something the cat's digestive system is built to digest. You don't see cats in the wild switching gradually between rabbits and mice and birds.
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Actually they would ... it has to do with protein mixing and enzymes used to digest ... if you give raw and dry you are prolonging the digestive process, which alots for fermentation of stuff that shouldnt ....
http://www.handelsblatt.com/news/Def...=ft&_b=1114175
http://de.news.yahoo.com/29072006/3/...siko-hoch.html
The links are in German, but your friend might be interested in them. I assume he's not in either eastern or southern Germany if he's so unconcerned.
Thanks- I'll pass them on.
You're welcome.
There have been other articles the past two weeks. Apparently, new cases of avian flu have just turned up in Eastern Europe, specifically Romania and Hungary. My state (southwestern Germany) is imposing "house arrest" on poultry as of August 16th, and cat owners are being warned that finds of birds that have died of bird flu will result in local house arrest for cats, and leash-only outings for dogs, too. I don't think the problem is going to go away here.
Your friend might also want to check out discussions of BARFing and avian flu on the forums at this German-language site: www.zooplus.de It's a commercial site, meaning it's connected with an online pet food retailer, but there is a lot of discussion of nutrition and health.
I appreciate the suggestion, but he's a professional homeopathist by trade, and raises both his dogs and cats with extremely natural methodology. I doubt he will be changing his opinions over this one disease.
But I'll definitely post his reply.
OK- all he had to say about the articles I forwarded to him was:
"The article is telling that avian flu will probably come back in fall when the migratory birds are leaving the north and going down south again. I just heard in the news yesterday that there was one swan in a zoo that had died of avian flu. It has been the first recognised bird since 3 months here. We will see in fall if this virologist is right with his prognosis."
So I don't get the impression that he is overly concerned, but as I said he practices very "natural" husbandry and relies on immune systems to do their jobs.
"The article is telling that avian flu will probably come back in fall when the migratory birds are leaving the north and going down south again. I just heard in the news yesterday that there was one swan in a zoo that had died of avian flu. It has been the first recognised bird since 3 months here. We will see in fall if this virologist is right with his prognosis."
So I don't get the impression that he is overly concerned, but as I said he practices very "natural" husbandry and relies on immune systems to do their jobs.
