Raw Food

[fancypants]

I have had an extremely sick cat who came back from surgery Monday and have been searching on the net for food alternatives because it was a colon problem. I came across some info about feeding raw being so much better because of the enzymes, but of course it would be very much more difficult, although I could feed both the cat and my Cairn the same food. Just wondered if any of you know anything about this issue? It's so stressful because I have the conviction that feeding him exactly what he wanted led to his illness!

[bradl]

We feed raw (ground). We don't have cats so haven't done any research about them. I suspect they don't eat exactly the same things since cats are apparently obligate carnivores and dogs seem to eat anything that isn't nailed down. There is probably some overlap, though. Until you've done sufficient research to feel confident, if you want to try raw I'd suggest trying a commercially prepared raw food. One I'm familiar with, Steve's Real Food, has a feline version. I'm certain there are others. Note: it is not cheap.

[fancypants]

Brad - thank you so much for your reply! I have been so worried about preparing the food to be exactly balanced and finding obscure things at health food stores - this would be such a wonderful, and healthful solution! Thanks a million!

[Milopup]

What do people think about the frozen raw beef marrow bones? I hear they last longer, and are less likely to splinter than that sterilized cooked ones.

[CallisMom]

I don't do raw - the prepackaged is too expensive and I don't trust the grocery store meat - it is not fresh like a fresh kill and I know there are chemicals in the processing - even the "organic" free-range meats . . . I have taken to cooking Calli's food. I take the chicken bones and pressure cook them for about 45 minutes - the marrow seeps out into the broth and then I "blend" the bones into a pulp (they are really soft after being pressure cooked) and add that to the rest of the ingredients (tuna, chicken, spinach, carrots, yams, yellow squash, garlic (verly little), cheese, wheat bread, oats).. I thought that Calli had an allergy to wheat as she was scratching terribly and when I eliminated wheat from her diet she stopped. I have since added the wheat and she is not scratching . . .

Waggintails.com has a bunch of different raw diet products for felines as well: Abadys, Sojourner Farms, Steve's, and Wysong. Scroll down on link page to view