This is exactly why I am asking. I have gotten into arguments about this with two vets' nutritionists. They are convinced that I will put my cat at incredible risk if I feed him raw food. I am a little concerned because he is 18 y.o. I would like to have some scientific info to tell these nutritionists. The vets sell a book with cat food recipes. They are all cooked and contain vegis, fruit, and grain. Yes, cats get a bit of vegis, fruit, and grain in the digestive tracts of their prey, but it comes with the appropriate digestive enzymes. Those are enzymes that cats don't produce. The proportion of non-animal ingredients in the book's recipes is also a lot higher than what a cat would get in prey.
This subject came up again yesterday. Obviously the person was closed-minded on the subject. She insisted that taurine, as a supplement, is almost impossible to find. I told her that I had found it at Popeye's, a store that sells supplements for humans. Apparently weight lifters take it. She repeated how hard it is to find taurine.
She also kept on about how horrible it is to see an animal with a bacterial infection. She doesn't believe that dipping the food in boiling water would kill the germs. I should have asked if she eats all her meat well done.
This vet uses a compromise between raw and cooked:
Making Cat Food by Lisa A. Pierson, DVM :: homemade cat food, cat food recipes. She bakes chicken a bit. I tried that, but I have no idea how long to bake it. She used to dip in boiling water, but believes that one loses too many nutrients. But, she doesn't really cook for herself, so I don't think she has ever heard of making your own chicken stock, which I would add to the food instead of the water in the recipe. Yes, it would make the skin less digestible, but at least the cat would be getting mostly raw food.