Does anyone feed raw?

[Pickybrow]

Just wondering what your experiences are? The kitten I’m getting has been brought up on raw food so I’d like to continue it and see how we go. It’s expensive though so I will try and make my own soon.

Yes, we do. We have two rescues who had a dreadful time with their stomachs (lots of vomiting and very smelly runny poo) and whose coats were dull and coming out in handfuls. So it was recommended about 6 months ago that we try raw and what a difference!! No more vomiting, beautiful shiny coats and the best bit is the poo is tiny and like little crumbly pellets (because they use more of the food) so no more gagging at the stench (we would change the tray the second they finished, but god it lingered!!)

One thing is to make sure the gave LOTS of fresh water available as they can get a little constipated if they don't drink enough

Please don’t feed raw if there are any immunocompromised people and children in your household. Just google raw feeding and zoonosis first.

I used to raw feed my cats. I started as I had a cat with skin problems, and going onto raw feeding cleared that up completely. My cats loved their raw food diet, and looked really well on it. They were on this diet for years.

Unfortunately a few years ago one of my cats got really sick - turned out he had a liver problem that had been caused by bacteria tracking back from his intestines. This may or may not have been caused by raw feeding. At the time he had to go onto a very specific diet, and we ended up putting all of the cats onto a commercial diet again, as it was easier to have them all eating the same. I don't think I would ever risk putting him back onto a complete raw meat diet.

We now still feed a commercial diet, but I read the ingredients on bags really carefully - I don't feed diets with grains in, or anything I think would be artificial for them. So it's a pretty natural, high quality diet. We also supplement with some fish, eggs, etc.

I tried Harry on it once and I was very grateful that he didn’t like it as I didn’t want raw meat hanging around. I now feed him a high meat content pouch twice a day with biscuits in between.

I foster and all of the cats I have are raw fed (they usually have medical issues and we are last chance saloon as no one wants to deal with a cat who has IBD, CKD etc). It is more cost effective and I feel far better feeding them a similar diet to their wild cousins. If you've ever seen what happens when they render livestock for pet food it would turn your stomach.

Without exception it has done them all good. More energy, better coat, tiny, non-smelly poos, those who have been underweight have gained, those overweight have lost weight without them being starving etc. The important thing about raw food is to make sure that you are fastidious about cleanliness (I wouldn't leave raw out all day, which is why it is important that your cat has mealtimes rather than allowing them to free feed throughout the day), and that the raw is properly balanced (approx ratios are 80% muscle meat, 10% organ, 10% bone). The issue with constipation usually comes into play because the bone content is too high.

I DIY my raw using human grade meat from the supermarket and butcher. The cats eat better than we do

You could try natures menu pouches they are not raw but the next best thing to it, I toyed with raw but couldn't really commit to the process so compromise with this food, if you google natures menu they have some really useful info regarding raw feeding.

Yes, I feed mine Natural Instinct. I wouldn't make my own, I haven't got the stomach for that and I'd be worried about getting the nutrition right. I'm sure if you do your research though it'd be fine. I don't think it works out expensive, I was feeding high quality pouches before we went raw and that was more costly. It's probably more expensive that supermarket cat food or a dry diet though. There is a farm shop near me that makes and sells raw pet food. It's dirt cheap but unfortunately my cat isn't really into chicken, which features heavily.