Myths about Raw Feeding - the Cat version

[Pookie]

http://rawfed.com/myths/cats.html   

[FurMonster Mom]

 

[Middle Child]

There are some things in that blog that I disagree with. She starts out sounding good  but it disturbs me that this person only feeds her cat once, or sometimes twice, a day. Cats, especially cats on a raw diet, need to eat more often than that. At least every 8 hours.  Cats on a raw diet have a very acidic digestive system.  If they go too long without food the acid builds up, causing stomach pain, vomiting and regurgitation. It is also better for their kidneys and bladder health to eat smaller more frequent meals.

She spoke very casually about what her cat is given to eat, making no mention of balancing anything. Very dangerous. Goes on and on about meaty bones, never mentioning the importance of balancing bone and organ with muscle meat.

(edit) I've read a little further.  Heart is NOT considered organ meat. Heart is considered muscle meat and cannot be used to fill the organ quota in the cat's diet.  This person should not be giving raw feeding advice.

(edit again) Okay, granted, the author does urge the reader to join a raw feeding group, which hopefully people will do.  This article is too incomplete, which makes it dangerous, in my opinion.  But I am tired and a little grouchy so not very receptive anyway.

[Pookie]

    Sorry.  I probably need to do a better job of reading the entire page before posting stuff here.  I did a very quick read of the first few paragraphs and VERY quickly skimmed the rest before posting.  I didn't catch what you did, MC, but you make very good points. 

I still occasionally have that vet's blog on my mind (the one that thought dogs and cats have evolved to eat kibble and wanted "scientific data" but ignored what was provided to her)  and keep toying with doing a thread on PFK that rebuts some of the things she wrote.  The dog version of this site kept coming to mind, so I posted that then just went with the cat version thinking it was ok.

[Middle Child]

No, it's good you posted that link Pookie.  It gives us a chance to refute the inconsistencies or out and out wrong information. The author seems to have a general idea of what is right for animals to eat, but should have stopped there and referred people on.  Feeding a cat once a day just flabbergasted me.  That is just so wrong.

 I am no expert and am very very careful about what kind of advice I give about raw feeding.  I get asked, a lot, because I bring it up a lot,  but I always suggest people join a raw feeding forum and ask their specific questions, because what works for me and my cats is not the mainstream way of doing things.

What has evolved to work for me and my cats' special needs is not what would work for most cats, and probably is not the best way to do things anyway.  So while I tell people raw is a good option, I don't tell them to do it my way.  I tell them to join one of the raw feeding forums where I know there are knowledgeable people posting.

[Pookie]

Thanks, MC.  I didn't see that part about feeding once a day, and that just makes no sense to me.  Cats are hunters.  I highly doubt they only hunt/eat once a day in the wild, and raw feeding is about keeping things as close to what nature intended as possible.  So I fail to see the logic in the once-a-day feeding routine.   

[DeeDee]

I don't know if cats have some version of bloat, but I was told that it's dangerous to feed dogs only once a day--because ANY dog can get bloat though it's more common in large breeds. Plus, I was risking the proper activity of their pancreas and damaging it if I did that. Couldn't the same happen to cats too? Pancreatic damage if not some form of bloat?

That particular vet wanted them fed at least 2x a day, but would prefer 3 times since I'm always home with them just to prevent hypoglycemia from occurring. That's when I switched from 2x to 3x a day. He was just as concerned with Barkly's little 26# body becoming hypoglycemic as he was Dannyboy's. I can't imagine cats being any different like that. Are they?

When I first got Vlad, he wanted him fed 4x a day. He didn't go to 3x until he was 8 mths old (and the majority of his growth was finished), because the younger vet that I like agreed with him. This is just one of the areas where I compromise with them and they get part of what they want--and I get what I want by feeding them raw foods. So wouldn't kittens as well need food even more often than a normal, fully grown cat that would still need to be fed more than once a day?

[FurMonster Mom]

There are some things in that blog that I disagree with. She starts out sounding good  but it disturbs me that this person only feeds her cat once, or sometimes twice, a day. Cats, especially cats on a raw diet, need to eat more often than that. At least every 8 hours.

My furmonsters get 2 meals a day, and they do fine.  I think if you stick to a schedule, their systems will adjust.

She spoke very casually about what her cat is given to eat, making no mention of balancing anything. Very dangerous. Goes on and on about meaty bones, never mentioning the importance of balancing bone and organ with muscle meat.

I think the author is not quite as focused on the meat/bone/organ ratio balance because she is running off of what she's written previously for the dog section.  Her focus is to stress the exceptions for cats from what she's already established in previous articles.  She does mention the percentage of body weight as a measurement for meal size.

I've read a little further.  Heart is NOT considered organ meat. Heart is considered muscle meat and cannot be used to fill the organ quota in the cat's diet. 

I agree, this is a mistake. 
It may have to do with how long ago the article was written, as early raw feeders made this mistake quite commonly.  She may have just never gotten around to correcting it.