Very Very Confused About A Raw Diet For Cats..

[iheartsammy]

Ok...soo..here's my problem..

After researching a raw diet for dogs I've come to find it a very easy diet to feed and Samm has done wonderful on every single raw meal I've given her.

Now, I plan on getting a cat at some point(not for a while) and I like to plan ahead, so I've been researching the diet for cats. I joined a cat forum and asked a simple question about raw feeding and almost every post was them telling me I NEED to have a vets help and they made it seem like it would be impossible for the diet to work without a vet's help. Then they started going off about how hard the diet is and how many supplements would be needed and commitment..etc etc..

Now I'm almost completely discouraged to feed the diet to my cat. I know it's best, but they are making me kinda uncomfortable and hesitant. I thought feeding a raw diet would almost be the same, if not easier, for cats.. because they're obligate carnivores..I was planning on doing a whole prey and RMB type diet, not a ground mix..


Is what their saying true? or do I just worry too much? I mean, I know it's best to have a vet's help and I'm on the search for a vet who supports the diet, but is it really 100% needed?!

EDIT: I've also researched on websites about raw diets for cats and what i've learned conflicts a bit with what these people are telling me. That's why I'm a bit confused..

 

[skKi]

Perhaps I should have looked into it more before starting my cat on raw, but I do it about the same as I do for the dogs, just on a smaller scale, without the help from a vet. He doesn't get veggies, vitamins, supplements or anything like that.. just meat, bones and organ.

I might be doing something wrong, but he's doing marvelously! He used to have bloody stool on a daily basis and vomit all the time (vets gave him laxatives in hopes of helping!) and everything just kind of.. went away when we started raw, so I must be doing SOMETHING right.

I think people like to make raw feeding harder than it is. I think go for it, but check with a vet first if you really think you should.

 

[iheartsammy]

Thanks for the advice..

I was planning on feeding just like you feed your boy.

And your probably right about people making it harder then it is =P

 

[vanillasugar]

Honestly, some people think raw diet is SO hard and SO complicated, and on that same note, so dangerous.

It's none of these things.

The only thing that makes raw feeding for a cat different than raw feeding for a dog is portion sizes. And they don't need any veggie matter.

 

[Maxy24]

Supplements are usually needed for a ground diet,a prey model generally does not. Just make sure you are feeding everything (meat, bones and organs). I have heard that you need to supplement some Omega three fatty acids by adding some fish or fish oil to the diet.

I have also heard some people say to try and avoid the larger animals and sick to ones closer to what a cat would eat, birds like Chicken and pheasant, rabbit, game hen and mice (some people do whole mice but that would make me sick, I like mice) as opposed to beef, lamb or venison which has much larger bones.

I like this site (some of it is under construction): http://www.rawfedcats.org/

 

[Criosphynx]

I give my cats whole rodents and then i don't worry about it

Just have to make sure they don't hide pieces

 

[Romy]

I give my cats whole rodents and then i don't worry about it

Just have to make sure they don't hide pieces

That's the benefit to having pet snakes.

Sammy doesn't get 100% raw, but we give her some everyday. Unless your cat has UTI issues or something else weird going on, I don't see why you'd need a vet to help you balance it.

Our cat is pretty much free fed Nature's Logic rabbit dinner (of rabbit, not for rabbits). She gets a fish oil capsule mixed with 1/8 tsp. solid gold seameal 2x day, and raw. The raw depends a lot on what we are eating for dinner. Sometimes it's trimmings from our beef. Sometimes a few shrimp, or a piece of sturgeon . When I thaw the rodents for my snakes sometimes one will not be hungry and rather than re-freeze I give it to Sammy..or I will thaw an extra one for her.

She eats enough raw for it to be her only food, but we leave the kibble out because she has a hard time keeping weight on and if we leave raw out all day for free feeding it spoils.

ETA: I used to have a young iguana, and Sammy ate him. She also killed and ate many wild lizards when we lived in Tucson, but I doubt you'd be able to find an affordable supply of reptiles for your cat. It really ticked me off too, because I loved that iguana and the wild geckos on our porch.

 

[Criosphynx]

That's the benefit to having pet snakes.

Sammy doesn't get 100% raw, but we give her some everyday. Unless your cat has UTI issues or something else weird going on, I don't see why you'd need a vet to help you balance it.

Our cat is pretty much free fed Nature's Logic rabbit dinner (of rabbit, not for rabbits). She gets a fish oil capsule mixed with 1/8 tsp. solid gold seameal 2x day, and raw. The raw depends a lot on what we are eating for dinner. Sometimes it's trimmings from our beef. Sometimes a few shrimp, or a piece of sturgeon . When I thaw the rodents for my snakes sometimes one will not be hungry and rather than re-freeze I give it to Sammy..or I will thaw an extra one for her.

She eats enough raw for it to be her only food, but we leave the kibble out because she has a hard time keeping weight on and if we leave raw out all day for free feeding it spoils.

ETA: I used to have a young iguana, and Sammy ate him. She also killed and ate many wild lizards when we lived in Tucson, but I doubt you'd be able to find an affordable supply of reptiles for your cat. It really ticked me off too, because I loved that iguana and the wild geckos on our porch.

you cat likes mexican food.


and yeah, i only have the rodents around because of the reptiles...

 

[iheartsammy]

I have rodents too for my columbian boa..I guess I could give some to my cat if Steve decides he isn't hungry..

How sad about your iguana. I actually want an iguana in the far far FAR future..hopefully mine doesn't get eatin ._.

 

[Romy]

I have rodents too for my columbian boa..I guess I could give some to my cat if Steve decides he isn't hungry..

How sad about your iguana. I actually want an iguana in the far far FAR future..hopefully mine doesn't get eatin ._.

Once it got big, or if you adopted an older iguana it wouldn't be a problem. My old man iguana lived with three cats for years. He was free roaming, and he pretty much treated the cats like furry speed bumps lol. The cats would stare at him all disgusted at first, but then they got used to him and would even snuggle with him under his heat lamp.

The only problem we had with the big iguana and a cat was when Boxcar was a kitten, and would try to play with his tail. The iguana was oblivious, but I was scared his tail would get scratched and infected so we had to squirt Boxcar so he would stop doing it. Sammy is so dumb she would have probably tried to attack him and he would have bitten her head off.

Luigi the baby ig was only a foot long from tail tip to nose though. He lived in the reptile room in Tucson where Sammy was absolutely not allowed. But one day Robert accidentally left the door open, and she got him. He was cool too, we were potty training him and that's partly why he was free roaming the herp room.

 

[cockers2]

Perhaps I should have looked into it more before starting my cat on raw, but I do it about the same as I do for the dogs, just on a smaller scale, without the help from a vet. He doesn't get veggies, vitamins, supplements or anything like that.. just meat, bones and organ.

I might be doing something wrong, but he's doing marvelously! He used to have bloody stool on a daily basis and vomit all the time (vets gave him laxatives in hopes of helping!) and everything just kind of.. went away when we started raw, so I must be doing SOMETHING right.

I think people like to make raw feeding harder than it is. I think go for it, but check with a vet first if you really think you should.

With cats you need to add a supplement with Taurine for sure or they can have heart problems. There may be some other needs also, I would check it out. Raw is good, you don't need a vet, but I would look into some of the studies. In one study the cats appeared to do well, looked good etc. but then started dying of heart disease. After adding Taurine and some other stuff they did fabulous. There are some companies that make a supplement to add to the meat. Feline Instincts is one.

 

[noludoru]

Oh goodness.. it's not THAT hard. If you can't feed prey model raw, you do have to have supplements, but yikes. Sounds like they're trying to scare you off it.

 

[cockers2]

I don't know what cat forum you went to but the one I belong to has a lot of good advice and there are plenty of raw feeders. Try TheCatSite.com .
Here are some good sites that explain raw very well:
www.catinfo.org
www.mousabilities.com
www.catnutrition.org

My two do not eat raw, it is something I am going to try but they have a parasite called Tritrichomonas Foetus that we can't clear, it causes chronic diarrhea. Because of this they constantly have a bad bacteria overgrowth so we don't know if thier systems can handle the possible bacteria in raw.

 

[Boemy]

I would definitely check with a vet. In "the old days" when zookeepers just fed the lions, tigers, etc chunks of meat, the animals would often go blind. From lack of taurine, I believe.