Does any one here feed their pet a RAW diet?

[KewlKat]

My fur kid (cat) is very sick and I've read on many forums about others with the same problem getting great results with a raw diet. Anyone here feeding raw?

[elleng]

1. Sick how?

.

[KewlKat]

2. She has pancreatitis and inflammatory bowel disease

This began a few weeks ago, but initial blood tests, done "in-house" at the vets office showed everything normal. Then I hear about a better test for pancreas and had some blood sent and it showed the problem. She's dropping weight fast, now isn't eating much, have spent 600 this week aready and she seems worse. She was overnight at the hospital but she's home now, taking 3 prescriptions, and won't eat. Didn't eat at the vets either. I feel like I'm losing her and need to try something. I talked to the vet about it today and she wasn't against it. Just wondered if anyone here feeds raw. I'm not sure she'll eat it either, but I need to do something.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. i have not used the raw diet, but have friends who love it and have had

a lot of success using it....
Do some online research...and see what is best for you.

There have to be forums that you can join to discuss this...

http://www.holisticat.com/forum/
http://www.holisticat.com/forum/index.php?c=5&sid=508f0f0b0fc5487587e3e3c3ab8cd236 <<<<< raw diet prep

http://groups.yahoo.com/phrase/feline-pancreatitis

http://www.catster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/532203

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/petdebate/msg110107055587.html

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187728 <<<< has good links

http://cats.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/rawfooddiet_2.htm
http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=ab-cats

http://felineoutreach.org/EducationDetail.asp?cat=Pancreatitis

Cats with pancreatic insufficiency (malabsorption) generally do best on low-fiber diets. While a low-fat diet seems to work best for dogs and humans with pancreatitis, there’s no scientific evidence to indicate the same for cats. However, some caregivers report that a lower-fat diet seems to benefit their cats. As carnivores, cats are most suited for a low-carbohydrate diet, and tolerate animal fats well. As pancreatitis occurs so often in conjunction with diabetes, and diabetic cats do best with an all-wet low-carbohydrate diet, and cats with pancreatic insufficiency do best on a low-fiber diet, it may be best to feed cats with pancreatitis a highly-digestible all-wet (canned or raw) low-carbohydrate/low-fiber diet. Monitor your cat to see what foods it seems willing to eat and seem to make it most comfortable.

http://groups.yahoo.com/phrase/diet-for-pancreatitis <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,

[KewlKat]

6. Thanks for the research

I'll check them all out this morning.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. My one cat has IBS/IBD and he goes great on EVO canned

I feed him the vension one usually. It's based on the raw food diet. It's the only thing besides the prescription food that doesn't make him sick (he can eat Tiki Cat too, so he gets that as a treat). The prescription food was filled with garbage and made him fat.

[Tab]

4. Not cats, but dogs...

Used to, once upon a time. It can be a pain in the ass, but actually if you buy it right, you can get stuff REALLY cheap. Mainly raw chicken (you can't do cooked - the bones get brittle and could cause them to choke). We did it for a while (used to breed Icelandic Sheepdogs).

But there's something to be said for a bag of dogfood.

I can't imagine that cats would be harder, and they're a fraction of the size (most of them) and they eat raw meat in the wild, so... ?

I'd think the big problem - and it wouldn't take long to overcome - would be to adjust their digestive system. Gradually introduce raw chicken or whatever, and make it an increasing percentage until they're fully on it. Otherwise expect all sorts of lovely cat excretions, which I won't go into here. But with any animal on a fixed diet, change them gradually and you'll get there.

[KewlKat]

7. Change gradually is the best but I feel like I'm running out of time

She's never been a huge eater. I'm going to sprinkle a bit of catnip on the food this morning and see what that does. Thanks.

[AirmensMom]

10. My kitties had no adjustment problems.

We had to change them quickly because they were so sick. The raw food actually stopped the diarrhea and vomiting.

Yeah, it's easier with cats ... unless you have 9 of them! :rofl:

[AirmensMom]

5. I have for 4 years ...

Ever since my Abyssinians almost died from IBS. They are healthy now. They get sick on commercial food.

[KewlKat]

8. Do you make your own?

or buy frozen? I've seen some sites that offer it ready to scoop and eat with everything they need. I thought I'd try the pre done stuff to start then learn how later.

[AirmensMom]

9. I get mine from

www.hare-today.com in 5-lb. tubes. Then I thaw the tubes, add some vitamins, and divide it up into 1-lb. boxes and re-freeze it. I had the recipe adjusted for my kitties. I'll be glad to give it to you. It's very easy to do.

Be careful of the pre-done stuff. Make sure there are no veggies in it.

[KewlKat]

11. I was thinking of one of these

What got me started on RAW was reading a site from a vet: http://catinfo.org/

She has a couple recommendations for the predone stuff if you don't want to grind yourself.

If you choose to feed a commercially prepared raw pet food, you must do some homework. One specific issue to look at is the percentage of vegetables, and occasionally fruits, that the product contains. My favorite commercial raw diet is Feline's Pride. It is grain-free and vegetable-free. Nature's Variety raw food is another quality product. NV contains 95% meat/bones/organs and only 5% vegetable/fruit matter. This is a reasonable blend although some cats with IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) do not do well with any amount of vegetable matter in their diet. Other cats will do just fine with up to 10% vegetables or more, although I do not feel that diets containing more than 5% - 10% vegetables are optimal diets for a carnivore. Many products do not list this value on the packaging so a call to the company will be necessary or ask your local raw pet food retailer for product literature which may, or may not, list the breakdown of ingredients on a percentage-basis.

Some commercial raw pet diets are prepared without any vegetable matter. They are simply meat, bones and organs. Be aware, however, that a diet prepared with a large amount of necks and backs (common ingredients in commercial products) does not have an optimal calcium-to-phosphorus ratio. There is very little meat, when compared to the amount of bone, on this part of the animal. This leads to a diet that is too high in calcium relative to the phosphorus which can cause constipation in addition to other medical problems.

These are the links in the paragraph above:

http://www.felinespride.com/aboutus/mission.aspx
grainfree and veggie free

http://www.naturesvariety.com/
5% veggies, but I think I can get this one locally so it would cut down on my lead time.

[AirmensMom]

13. I know her.

Haha! That's what got me started, too! A search for something led me right to that site. She sent a recipe specifically for my kitties. Somewhere she also recommends hare-today.com. She gets her pre-ground somewhere else b/c she's on the west coast. (Can't get on her site at the moment.) It's been a few years since I've ground my own. It's a bit of work for 9 kitties. Oh, and as far as lead time goes, I order from hare-today on Monday and it gets here on Wednesday. You'd have to look at the shipping options to see if you're within that time frame.

I would stay away from the one with veggies. IBD kitties have a very hard time, even with a small amount of veggies.

I can't wait to read the update saying that your kitty is improving and eating you out of house and home on her new food. :hug:

[Holly_Hobby]

12. I feed 4 dogs raw food

Turkey necks, boneless pork loin, various organs, salmon oil for Omega 3's. All are healthy. Even one dog stopped having seizures. They have great coats and clean teeth. They're calm.

My dogs had "physicals" at the vet in December, all blood work was normal.

Join Raw Cat at Yahoo groups, they will guide you through transition.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawcat/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1

There are plenty of cat owners there feeding raw with the same health problems you mention.

Prepackaged raw contains too much bone and too much bacteria. Not good for animals with compromised immune systems. Whole pieces of meat contain much less bacteria. And prepackaged is WAY more expensive than grocery store or butcher meat. No grinding is necessary, cats are carnivores and know how to eat meat.

Contact me privately if you like.

[Lorien]

15. I feed freeze dried raw to my guys

by Prairie Nature's Variety. They love it! Prairie also makes a frozen raw diet that my neighbor's cats love.

[japple]

17. Yes!! The freeze-dried raw turkey medallions helped my

dear cat, Tiny, who had CRF, live for many more years after he was diagnosed. He was very healthy until about 3 months before he died. But he loved the turkey medallions, mixed with a bit of warm water. Every morning, he would eagerly await his "cereal." The dog also eagerly waited for Tiny to finish eating so she could lick the bowl.

[Lorien]

18. My guys love it too. My dear old 17 year old cat Miro had cancer for three

years. His vets couldn't believe that he survived three months with such an aggressive cancer, but they credit his raw diet and acupuncture for extending his life and making it a happy one. Seeing so many improvements with my pets health inspired me to give up processed foods and eat more raw, organic veggies and fruits. I feel much better for the change!

[InvisibleTouch]

16. Partially, for my dogs.

I don't feed raw to puppies who won't be staying with me, since I realize most new owners won't be feeding raw, but I do for my older dogs. I imagine it's a lot easier for cats, who don't eat as much.

Over this past holiday season I found a fantastic book which I gave to a relative with several cats. It discusses raw diet and gives hints on how to get picky eaters to switch, as well as other aspects of holistic health for cats:

Whole Health for Happy Cats

I browsed through it before wrapping it up as a gift, and liked it so much that I ordered the dog version for myself (Whole Health for Happy Dogs). I didn't like it nearly as much. The cat version focused more on diet, so it might be helpful to you.

[Seedersandleechers]

19. I've been feeding my cats raw since they were weened.

They are now 4 and half years old, and, very healthy tho a bit on the chubby side. My bf told me I could feed them all the raw they wanted and they would never get over weight. Wrong. Good luck. I believe a raw natural diet is the best way to go.