Mixing raw with canned is this ok

[lestaterys]

Hi everyone,

Just like to get some views on what foods are good. I live in the uk so alot of the brands mentioned in other posts i cant get here. I am a ragdoll cat breeder and i have 4 cats at the min.

I feed them on royal canin dry which is available all the time and all my cats love it. Then i feed raw minced beef 3 times a week. I have a prob as two of my cats wont eat the raw food. They like canned cat food. Most of the tined cat food over here isnt very good for the cats as it contains very little meat, even the expensive stuff so i was wondering if i can put raw minced beef in with the canned food and mix it together, at least then i know they are getting some meat in their diet as i can never be certain with the shop bought tins.

Any guidence would be helpful.

Thank you

amanda

xx

 

[ldg]

Well, the problem with feeding raw and foods with carbohydrates together is that they're digested at very different rates. Raw food digests at a much more rapid rate than any food with grains or carbohydrates. There is almost always bacteria in kibble, and depending on the food chain there, there can be bacteria on the raw. Cats are well equipped to deal with this IF the raw is digested properly - but if digestion is slowed down with the kibble or carbohydrates in dry or canned food, this can cause GI problems for them.

Raw can be fed with high-protein, low-carb, grain-free foods. But that's not what you're describing. I don't know canned options there, but Royal Canin dry food also has very little in the way of meat and animal protein in it. I don't know which formula you're feeding, but most of them have corn, corn gluten meal, rice, rice hulls, wheat gluten... and Royal Canin tends to love soy in its formulas, and soy is an ingredient that IMO just has no business being in any pet food.

It is safe to feed up to 15% of their diet unbalanced, so I definitely wouldn't add more plain meat than that. Meat is high in phosphorus, and really needs to be balanced with at least the proper amount of calcium if it's more than 15% of the diet, even if you're feeding otherwise balanced foods.