Going RAW (with your cats diet).

Raw diets  are quite popular with some  people, and with many cats.  There are those who believe that a raw diet is the best thing since sliced bread.  Many veterinarians however extol the dangers of raw diets with words of Salmonella poisoning and zoonotic disease potential.

My opinion has changed with my recent study of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  You see, the Chinese have believed for 1000's of years that "you are what you eat".  In  Chinese Medicine, it is believed that different foods and herbs have varying potentials to help keep the body balanced.  Some foods support a deficient condition (like chronic renal failure in an old cat) and some foods are more appropriate for an excess conditions (like some types of cancers).   Balance is an essential key to good health, and our diet is a large part of what keeps us healthy. 

The face is that raw diets are a feline's natural diet.  The healthy gastrointestinal tract of the cat is specifically designed for this diet, with a very acidic stomach and relatively short intestine, allowing a shortened transit time.  This decreases a cats risk of infection from eating a raw diet.  However, a raw diet, being unprocessed, requires a very healthy GI tract to breakdown, and also requires more energy to metabolize.  Therefore, while being a VERY APPROPRIATE diet for the young healthy cat, it is not an appropriate diet for EVERY cat.   For example, cats that have gastrointestinal disease  may not tolerate a raw diet, until the imbalance in the GI tract is addressed.   Cats that have a weakened GI tract due to old age or chronic disease may not have the extra metabolic energy required to break down and utilize an  unprocessed and "cold" raw diet. 

Raw diets, if fed as a sole source of nutrition for your cat, need to be well balanced with essential vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids for health.  Some premade raw diets ARE balanced and some ARE NOT.  Be sure to label read. If its nutritionally balanced, it will say so.  If your inspired to make your own raw diets, do your research thoroughly first, including consultation with a veterinary nutritionist.  How to contact a Veterinary Nutritionist.

When chosing a raw diet, it is best to stick to the motto "feathers and hooves".  This means chicken, turkey, duck, beef, venison, lamb.  No raw fish -there are a variety of reasons for this: about feeding your cat fish.

Transitioning to a raw diet, as with any new diet, should be done slowly, over a period of 2-4 weeks.  This allows the gut's flora to accomodate to the food change.

At my house, my 2 young healthy cats, Posie and Peabody, enjoy a meal of Nature's Variety raw medallions as part of their diet 3 times a week.  My dog Franklin, who I am managing for a cancer condition, has been on an  exclusively raw diet for over 1+ years, and doing very well!  Consider adding a raw meal into your weekly rotation of food for your pet.
Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic

The Scary World of Pet Food Recalls

We live in a global ecomony. What that means for pet food is that ALL pet food manufacturers are buying some  ingredients from inexpensive overseas suppliers.  And, just about EVERY CAT FOOD manufacturer has had at least ONE recall in the last 5 years.  That is a scary fact when you think about it.  They have left out  essential vitamins, they have  added  mineral at 10 times the recommended level, they have used ingredients that were laced with  toxic ingredients.  The most recent recall involved Salmonella contaminated meat. 

How can we protect our pets?  What can we feed that is safe?  I am now recommending to my clients to chose at least 3 or more reputable pet food companies (that are not owned by the same parent company) and rotating foods.  Specifically feed a different canned food every day if possible.  Rotate from one SMALL bag of dry food to another brand.  Consider rotating in a home made diet, or balanced raw diet.   Just rotating flavors from the same company is not enough.  Most of the recalls have included a large percentage of foods from the same company.  For example, the last wellness cat food recall, ALL their canned  cat food was lacking essential B vitamins except their 2 flavors of Wellness Core.

What does rotation do?  It reduces the likelihood that you will be feeding an unsafe food over an extended period of time.  The key is ROTATION and VARIETY.

More on home made diets and raw alternative diets next time.

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Dr. Maureen Flatley
Fox Valley Cat Clinic