Raw Food Diet For Cats

Some cat owners like to feed their cats a raw food diet or supplement commercial cat food with raw food. The rationale behind giving a cat raw food is to replicate what a cat would eat in the wild. Cats are naturally carnivores. There are some problems with commercial cat food, especially dry cat food. Dry cat food typically has too many carbohydrates and not enough water. This can cause health problems for some cats.

A raw food diet for cats contains raw meat often with a few grated vegetables added. Onions and garlic are dangerous for cats and need to be avoided. Ground beef from the grocery store is not generally recommended due to the risk of e. coli since the meat is served raw to the cat.

Cat owners who prepare their cats’ raw diet often include muscle and organ meat. Some cat owners use a commercial grade grinder to ground non-splintering bones such as chicken neck bones to add to the raw food. Grated vegetables that grow above ground are added. Carrots are also safe to use. Some cat owners will include minimal amounts of nuts or seeds to the cat’s raw food diet.

The veterinarian may assist a cat owner in devising a raw food diet. Feeding a cat certain foods can cause health problems. For example, too much tuna has been linked to fatty liver disease. Pregnant women should avoid handling raw meat or litter used by a cat that is fed raw meat. Those activities increase the pregnant woman’s risk of developing toxoplasmosis.

If a cat owner likes the idea of feeding the cat raw meat but it uncertain of what to include in the raw meat diet or does not have time to prepare it, there are commercial raw food diets that come packages frozen. This can be a real time saver for busy families. Supplements in the form of pills are also available to supplement a diet of commercial cat food.

Some people are concerned about bacteria. Remember that cats in the wild often eat meat from dead animals that has actually started rotting. Though I would not suggest leaving raw meat to sit in a cat’s dish throughout the day, a cat owner need not be paranoid about bacteria exposure for cats. A cat’s digestive tract is designed to handle this eating behavior better than humans.