Anyone know anything about Raw meat diets for cats?

i have heard this makes the cats very health.
i have also heard that this stops humans that are allergic to cats from being allergic to these cats on the raw meat diet.

Sunshine

While waiting for my business parter to have her amalgams removed in July of 2000, I viewed a number of videos relating to experiments with cats who were fed raw meat diets.

This was fascinating as the video showed that cats fed all raw (never cooked) meat where far healthier and reproduced more often than cats fed cooked meat. In fact, many of the cats fed cooked meat became ill and gave birth to deformed kittens.

It was a difficult-to-watch yet amazingly informative video.

Hi Russ, yes i believe that is the Pottenger cats video, which i have ordered and is in the post.

http://www.ppnf.org/catalog/product...;osCsid=7a1aa8ce159027533e66441bd61ab409

just wondered if anyone knows about the cats becoming less allergic to people?

Sunshine

My cat won't eat raw meat. I tried giving it to her once and she turned her nose up at it.

She loves barbecued chicken though, kind of spicy is her flavor. we get along real well.

I'd be careful of raw meats these days, parasites and stuff. Also aren't they spraying meats these days with some sort of viruses to keep them on the grocery shelf longer? Does that apply to ALL meats does anyone know?

I have been looking into it, so far what I find says packaged meats only, cold cuts, sausage etc. Hopefully that's true (for the viruses).

I will wait for the Pottenger Cats video, see what that’s got to say for it’s self. With this video I intend to use it to persuade the Wife that this is a good idea! That having a “trial period” of “only 5 weeks” is “not the end of the world” and that “I” will buy “all” the raw meat and all she has to do is continue sitting around drinking Gin and Tonic’s, chatting with her mates and twice a day feeding the scraggy mogs, as per usual! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

From what I understand “Raw meats” means just that, “raw” & “meat”. No packets, no cold cuts, hams, salami’s. Just raw chicken, beef, lamb, fish.

But…..i need to see the video first. I will report back.

If my wife sees this post, I will be in deep deep trouble. LOL <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Yea, that sounds like the same video I watched.

I think you will be amazed.

Let us know.

Hey everyone!

Having recently become the owner of a kitten -- now aged 4 months as of this post -- I've considered a raw meat diet for her. I believe that it probably is more healthy as you say, Russ. Overall, that is.

My concern is how does one avoid things like parasites? How can I be certain?

Not sure if you always can. They can pick up worms pretty easily, as my cat did. I wormed her only when I recognised that she had worms. I did not do "regular" worming, as I didn't like medicating my cat.

Same with fleas, only "deflead" her when she showed signs and eventually it became less and less anyway and I barely had to treat her for either.

I would see the worms coming out of her backside (excuse this, I know it's gross), so that was obvious! Also they can get a pot belly sometimes and/or show signs of being underweight, even if they are eating excessively. Maybe show signs of itching and try and rub their backside on the floor etc (though dogs normally do that).

My cat did excellent on raw meat by the way. I found canned catfood tended to not do so well with her. She did excellent on beef and things like that. Lamb, chicken livers, etc.

Wow, Bex. How often did you feed your cat raw meat? Once per day? Was her diet restricted to raw meat only or did you include the canned food along with it at certain intervals?

I'm beginning to think the decision of what to feed your cat (from raw food to canned to dry) is all about a lesser of two evils. There's potential disaster and hazards which accompany each choice.

I guess that's what makes it so difficult for me to decide. For the time being I've opted for a local high quality brand kibble designed for kittens.

Hi Mordrid, well I figure that it's the closest to the cat's natural diet. I have seen what dry biscuits can do when feed by themselves to some cats. One cat I know of used to scream in pain when urinating and I told the owner try feeding the cat some wet catfood, instead of dry.

But first, they went to the vet and the vet insisted that they should keep feeing the dry cat biscuits (vet ones) and the problem continued and the vet was pretty much giving "medicated" solutions and leaving the cat in misery.

Finally the person in question decided to try wet cat food (just orindary canned) and the problem came right. Cat is happy

It is not natural for cats' to exist on dry biscuits in my opinion....Though I did feed good quality ones to my cat, mainly she did well on raw meat. Again, it's more natural for them. Cats who have been brought up on dry food or canned food, may take a bit of adjusting and it's probably wise to introduce a bit at a time, whilst you lessen or phase out the other.

At one stage, after my cat had been hit by a car, she became anorexic because of the internal damage done and loss of appetite. I was in tears. she would not eat anything I put in front of her and was becoming thinner all the time. ONe lady suggested I try feeding her "gravy beef" (which is just cheap cuts of beef). I cut it up for her and she ate it and began to put on weight again. She was always fussy though and it was hard for me to get her to eat anything, but raw food usually did the best.

I did vary her diet though and she had some canned and dry food too. In hindsight, I'd have fed her mainly raw if I could go back because I think they put stuff in the other foods that could build up in their system and cause problems with kidneys/thyroid perhaps. Just my view. I could be wrong.

She died at age 14 after going to the vet and being vaccinated by an incompetent vet, who I think gave her too much (she wound up with a disease - the bone in her front leg began to enlarge to where she started limping) and then medicated for "thyroid" issues, to which she then went blind, they then put her on blood pressure drugs to try and reverse the blindness and she stopped being able to walk properly or feed herself and the issues were then irreversible. Admittedly she was petite and ageing, but they absolutely finished her off and for a hefty sum of money too. I then had to have her put down. When I laid a complaint to the vetboard, It was pretty much made out to be my fault. They well and truly shifted the burden of guilt onto me and told me that I had been offered more help and I finally refused......um when your cat is pretty much dying after all the medicating, would you let them continue? She was so far gone, I had to feed her by hand, because she wouldn't get up....she only forced herself to move when she need to go toilet. I finally took her to her to the SPCA animal shelter, the guy told me "This cat is too far gone". He was quite surprised at the bone in her leg and I said to him, she had no sign of a problem until after vaccination and overnight stay at the vet. Came back next day and was not the same. She wound up blind, crippled and miserable/depressed after what they did.

So though I had her vaccinated in the past, without issues, obviously the last vaccination, done by a vet who I feel is incompetent, she just didn't come out of it normally....whether it was her age, or he overdosed her, I don't know. She was kept in overnight too for thyroid tests, so who knows what happened to her? I collected her the next day and she wasn't the same. Very quiet and kept holding her front paw up. Later of course, the bone started enlarging and then of course, after thyroid meds, she went blind and the rest you know.

But I can tell you this. Before all of that? That cat was a ball of ongoing energy and I attribute that to her diet, which was mostly raw meat. I also gave her the odd raw egg mixed in some milk. However, I do feel water is the best daily, but the odd milk/egg drink she loved.

Interesting and heartfelt story, Bex.

Sorry if you've already mentioned but how long was your cat on a strictly raw meat diet? Or anyone else who's given it a try.

Thanks!

my cats been on the raw meat diet for about 12 months. raw meat only. they are the fittest, sleekest coats, healthiest, most beautiful cats around. totally relaxed happy cats. ultra fast killing machines too...constantly catching birds, mice and we get the odd squirel too.

Giving the cats their natural diet, that they would eat in the wild, makes them very health cats. the healthier they are the less parasites they get. i use a parasite cleanse on them from humaworm...cost $10 and lasts for a long long time. they get done when i do a parasite cleanse myself.

my cats get fed twice a day.

i just changed them over, no faffing about, no giving them a bit of the old tinned crapfood...cold turkey....litrally! LOL.

my cats where already really heathly, but the change after 2 weeks was most noticable. they because sleeker, happier, friendlier and ultra fast. at first they where bringing in much more kills...showing off their new fast reflexes.

seeing is believing.....was a great thing to do for my cats. i also started getting better too, which was what it was all about he the first place anyway....the healthy cats was an added bonus.

Hi Mordred,

It's hard to say how long....I'm trying to think when it started. It was sometime she had been hit by a car (believe it or not). She survived it, but all her internal organs had been shunted (pushed) right up and her gut area was caved inwards. It looked like she had lost alot of weight the same day. I had no idea she had been hit, until I saw her that way and her eyes were slightly moving from side to side. I figured something horrible had happened and was scared to pick her up.

I took her to the vet and they confirmed she had had trauma from probably being hit by a car and surviving it. They operated and pulled the organs back down but she was never quite the same after that. I think the scar tissue or the trauma did a bit of damage and her appetite was a big issue from that point on. She wasn't just a fussy cat, she was now a cat who wasn't overly hungry.

So though it seemed ok for a wee while, it started to take effect and she became basically anorexic. I remember being in tears not knowing what to feed her to get her to eat. I tried everything and nothing worked. a friend of my father's suggested raw gravy beef......so I got it and cut it up and this pretty much saved her life.

I fed her on that stuff for years and only bits of canned food and biscuits inbetween. Mostly raw food. So I'd say she started to get mostly raw food from about the age of .... 4 onwards. 10 years worth of it. But I got lazier later and she got more canned food and biscuits, which I now regret. I think she was much healthier on raw food and I should not have deviated, but sometimes she was a pain in the b*tt with her appetite and fussiness and she would too easily go back to almost anorexic state.

In the end, with age, that tendency became much worse and I was very worried. At any rate, as you know, the vet treatments finished her off. No doubt she was in a very weakened state and ageing and that did not help.

Thanks for the replies, Bex and Sunshine!!

Just to verify, when you say biscuits, Bex, do you mean the crunchy dry food? Kibble...

no problem Mordred.

Yeah, by the biscuits I mean the dry crunchy catfood. I tried to get the best ones I could, inbetween feeding the raw foods and other wet catfood. I'm concerned a bit regarding some canned foods for cats, as to the salt/preservative content etc...some maybe better than others.

I used to feed her canned salmon too, but again, I wonder how much salt was in there that maybe very bad for animals. If I had the time again, I would probably be more careful and read the labels.