The raw food pet industry is in full bloom.That is a wonderful thing because raw food can help your pet thrive in ways you could not imagine. A raw diet can help your pet get off insulin, heal their inflammatory bowel disease and we could go on for a week.
But…before buying what you believe is a “balanced” diet for your pet, especially if it is your cat, you need to get just a bit educated. Cats and dogs have vastly different dietary needs. Feeding your cat raw food designed for a dog, (and many manufacturers will not make the distinction) can be harmful to your cat.
Therefore, when purchasing raw food for your kitty, (and we applaud you for doing that!) You do need to look out for a few things:
1.Calcium/Phosphorus ratio. Felines have quite a narrow range of the calcium to phosphorus content of their diet. The best range for cats is 1.2 – 1.4:1 Calcium is found in bone and phosphorous is found in muscle meat and organs. Not only will Various types of meat have various levels of phosphorous, but thigh meat will have different amounts than breast meat.It is essential that the raw food you buy follow the above mentioned ratio. If the information is not readily available on the manufacturers web site, nor on the package, (which is all too common) you will need to email or call them. Make sure you get a definitive answer with the exact numbers including how they arrived to them. An imbalance of Calcium and Phosphorous can cause a serious problems. Then we have the:
2.Percentage and Type of Vegetable matter. Adding some vegetables to a feline diet is OK as long as it is a small percentage. 3-5% is OK. The food you feed should contain max 10% veggies. No grains, of course! The percentage may not be readily available and you may need to contact the manufacturer. Garlic and onions can cause anemia in cats and should never be used. Tomatoes can exacerbate arthritis and most vegetables will raise the urinary pH which can cause urinary tract issues. Herbs should never be used long term and are frequently added to raw prepared diets. We would avoid any pet food containing herbs. Many herbs safe for dogs and humans are toxic to cats. Next We Have:
3.Organ meats. Does the food contain organ meats and at what proportion? Feline diets should contain approximately 10% organ meats. Organs provide important vitamins and other nutrients vital for the cat.
4.Taurine. Taurine is an essential amino acid to the cat. Cats are unable to synthesize Taurine so it needs to be provided in the food. Mice are naturally very high in Taurine. A cat eating plenty of mice would be assured of their Taurine requirement. While all meats contain Taurine to some degree, handling and freezing the meat diminishes the amount. Some meats, like rabbit have a dangeroulsy low amount of Taurine while chicken hearts have a high amount. We recommend you add Taurine to ALL raw food you give your cat. A deficiency could cause blindness and fatal heart problems. Taurine is not only inexpensive, it is taste and odorless and can be added to the food at feeding without your cat noticing… 1000 mg per pound of meat is ideal.
Feel free to contact manufacturers if information is not available on their websites or on the food package. If the food does not meat the standards, then find a food that does.
