Raw feeding a cat with no teeth and chronic digestive disorder. Is it possible?

[schrody]

Hello raw feeders and fellow cat lovers!

I am the proud mom of a beautiful adopted young (approx 1 year old) siamese cat called Schrödinger.

Since he has been with me he has been eating Orijen kibble (he does not digest canned food well, not even the very high quality ones as he is FeLV positive and suffers from chronic digestive disorder due to that. His stools are perfect and regular when he eats orijen softened up with a bit of water and sprinkled with brewer's yeast on my vet's suggestion (it has done wonders).

The other thing is that he has terrible dental health and gum infections (also probably caused by FeLV) and is he will be getting all of his teeth removed in september.

When I got Schrody one of my goals was to eventuall have him on a raw food diet.

But considering his health issues and soon lack of teeth, is this still possible or even a good idea?

My vet is sadly not very experienced in pet diets (she still disagrees with the fact that I give him Orijen and says cats need a base of carbs for enery *sigh) so I can't count on her for advice.

I live in Spain and here there are very few to no vets willing to look into raw feeding, which is why I'm turning to online communities for help.

Can't wait for your tips and advice! Thanks in advance.

 

[ritz]

Welcome to The Cat Site. My vet said the same thing when I told him I was feeding raw: "where are the carbs?".....
I don't know enough about FeLV or FeLK to address the health issues and corelation with digestive and gum issues. I do know of the two 'bad' diseases--FIV (feline AIDS) and FeLK (leukemia), FIV is the lessor of the two evils. Raw feeding---as much and as strongly as I support it--won't cure everything or solve world peace.
I started feeding Ritz commercial raw to get her use to the taste and texture and then settled on prey model raw; it suits my lifestyle better.
No teeth in and of itself is no reason NOT to feed raw, in my opinion. You can feed ground raw, the form of raw feeding most similar in texture to wet food.
Do you now have a good quality grinder or can you buy one? Altneratively, can you get a butcher to grind meat. Can you source kidney and liver? Schrody might have a hard time handling bone; you can either use egg shells as a substitute (lots of information about that in TCS) or have the butcher grind bone (egg shells are probably the easier method).
You might also consider cooking your food. Here is an article that discusses this and here is a link to more specific resources

Finally, since your cat is currently eating Kibble, he and you might need help transitioning him to raw food. Here is an article you might find useful.

 

[schrody]

Hi Ritz and thanks for your welcome and reply!

Of course I am aware that raw feeding won't cure Schrody, and I don't expect it to. I just want him to have the best possible diet.

I am happy to know that having no teeth will not prevent him from eating raw meat. Grounding it is a good idea, I do not own a grinder but buying one or asking a butcher should be easy here, as well as buying a variety of meat and organs, as there are a few local butchers with all sorts of meat that I couldn't even name. 

 (I myself don't eat meat at all).

About the egg shells, is there not an important risk of salmonella? Would buying bone powder be as good for his calcium needs? I would prefer as it seems safer.

My issue remains with his digestive problems.

Firstly, since transitioning to raw food implies first transitioning to wet food, I'm stuck because like I said he does not digest it. It goes straight out in the ugliest wet poops. 

So I'm afraid that raw food would have the same effect, and if it does, it would be complicated to transition him without first doing wet food wouldn't it?

 

[ritz]

The wet food probably has more ingredients than raw food would. It is possible that Schrody is allergic to one of the additives or even the type of food the animal (beef, chicken) is fed. Start off very very slowly (say one teaspoon or tablespoon at a time) added to his regular food, and see how he reacts.
I do not believe there is a risk in salmonella. Here is a rather long, but very informative, thread about egg shell versus bone meal. Here is another thread.