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.If the food is not spoiled, and probably even if it slightly were, just feed it to them raw and don't worry about it.
Your vet will not know the answer as he probably sells expensive prescription diets that would better be "the answer"... for him $$$
Any type of cooking will make the food harder for he pet to digest and lose nutritional value (just like for us), but it's the digestion part that bothers me. You are defeating one of the main reasons for feeding a raw diet to do any type of cooking.
Please tell me more.I use bleach.
I don't understand what point you are making. (And what language is "Cui Bono", and what does it mean? Google translate was no help.)Taxlady said about her veterinarian:
"The vets sell a book with cat food recipes. They are all cooked and contain vegis, fruit, and grain."
There's your answer in Bold letters. Bazinga! Cui Bono.
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.
I don't understand what point you are making. (And what language is "Cui Bono", and what does it mean? Google translate was no help.)
Taurine is "killed" by heat. It is found in good quantities in organ meat. Cats cannot produce it, which is why it is added to commercial cat food.Taurine is found naturally in a lot of proteins. Unfortunately, lamb isn't one of them. That's why in the past 4-5 years you have seen taurine beinging added to lamb and rice foods. Taurine is needed to keep the heart strong.
I don't know a lot about cats I will admit. Other than they are true carnivores. The veggies and grains thing is throwing me.
But being a realist I just want to say you are talking about an 18 yo cat. Really, I wouldn't change whatever it is you've been doing.
It's worse than just profiting from sales of the book. All the recipes in the book include a blend of supplements called "Hilary's Blend" (If I remember right) and that can only be bought from a vet office.Sorry---- Cui Bono is Latin and is used to mean 'for whose benefit?'
My point is if someone makes money from selling a book about cooking pet food then I have to look at it closely and skeptically.
The author may truly believe she's correct, however. That would be more believable if she offered citations (references) to scientific articles that prove her point/premise.
I've spent many a year researching medical articles by researchers/doctors etc and testimonials by patients. Human, not pets. I've learned to be skeptical.
I hope that answers your questions.
(Oh, and that 'bazinga'? Just a nod to Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory.)
"Meal" can contain beaks, feathers, and other stuff. In principal it might be okay, but the reality...?Taxy, chicken meal is a good thing. It is better than simply saying chicken.
Anything with the word "meal" after it means the protein has been processed into a useable form. If chicken meal is listed first, second or third it has a lot of useable protein in the food. If it lists a couple ingredients with meal in the description; as in fish meal, chicken meal, all the better.
If it simply says "chicken", that is the wet weight before being processed. A food that lists chicken first, second or third really should list it in the seven or eight area, as by the time it was processed that's where it fell to.
But yes, by products = bad. So does "animal fat" "or poultry" equal bad. You want it to define the animal and the poultry.
Craig, Dogs and cats who are pets have exactly the same digestive system as their wild cousins. It's why they can go back to being feral, cats more quickly, if they are abandoned.
Thanks for the link. It was well written. However, it just makes the point that what most people are using as raw food may be nutritionally lacking and full of micro-organisms. There was no indication of what happens when clean, balanced raw food is the only food source for a critter.Taxy, this should help.
Raw food diets in companion animals: A critical review
Agreed.I said nothing about the digestive system per say. They simply don't have the exact same gut flora/fauna. If they started eating carrion they are going to get sick. They may eventually re-aquire the needed gut contents.
"Meal" can contain beaks, feathers, and other stuff. In principal it might be okay, but the reality...?
I said nothing about the digestive system per say. They simply don't have the exact same gut flora/fauna. If they started eating carrion they are going to get sick. They may eventually re-aquire the needed gut contents.