Why is it safe to feed my cats raw meat and fish?

[Dr. Christina]

thank you so much for sharing his passing out of his physical body into the wonderful place where he will be with you always!
Dr. Christina

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Oh, Keath, sorry to hear that, but we knew it was coming. I'm glad I could help ease his last days. Love you lots, and sending big hugs!

 

[KeathS]

Thank you everyone for all your love and care.

 

[DayshaG]

Hello everyone,
I wanted to let you know that my beloved Gayliecze passed away last week at age 13. Because of all of your support and especially @Dr. Jean Hofve his last few months were really special. He died at home in my arms surrounded by his family and my son got to spend lots of time with him who9le home from college over the holidays before he crossed over the rainbow bridge.

@KeathS I am sorry to hear of the loss of your sweet kitty.

 

[DayshaG]

I think you're on the right track with the raw meat. Make diet transitions gradually to minimize tummy upset. Fish, however, are wild animals and can carry a variety of parasites, I don't recommend feeding raw fish. (Once I learned more about this I quit eating sushi and sashimi, which I loved!)

Much of the meat you get at the store has already been frozen once, but it is safe to thaw and feed. When making whole raw meals, it's common to thaw, combine ingredients, and re-freeze one more time. All just fine!

Cooking does not change the *nutrients* in meat very much, but it does alter the proteins and creates some not-so-great chemical by-products. B vitamins are fragile, and because they are so important for managing stress, you want to add a bit extra if you're cooking, for example, a commercial raw food. Moisture is the other thing that is lost with cooking, and with cats it's important to add that back too.

Vegetables, if you're using them (but as Ginny said, cats don't need them), must be cooked or pureed to break down the plant cell walls, otherwise cats can't digest them at. But cancer loves sugar, and even complex carbs in veggies (and worse, grains) all break down into sugar eventually.

If you want to go completely raw, and your kitty enjoys it, I recommend Dr. Lisa Pierson's website, www.catinfo.org, for complete instructions on how to make and balance the diet. Raw meat alone is not an adequate diet.

@Dr. Jean Hofve I was catching up on recent posts in the Forum after I just posted myself re-visiting a thread I had comment in a year or two ago that someone else started (topic was bird flu), but it was based on my current brand Viva is changing over to HPP products. I was wondering what other commercial balanced products for my cats Bella and Maya the docs here could recommend. I felt better feeding my kitties what looked like real meat as opposed to a wet, mushy gray block. Thanks!

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

I answered this in the other thread, but I am fine with HPP. Safety first!