Dogs and cats, eating (raw) together!

November 8, 2:07 PMDenver Alternative Pet Medicine ExaminerMeg Wittenmyer

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Both dogs and cats will benefit from raw feeding

If you feed your dog raw and have done any amount of research, then you probably already know that they are not the only companion animals caring pet owners feed a raw diet.  Cats, ferrets and even birds all benefit from raw meat.

A cat’s jaws and teeth are designed to shear and tear meat. Period. Ancestors of the modern-day domestic cat did not eat grains, vegetables, sugars, or carbohydrates. They eat rats, birds, rabbits. In other words, they are carnivores.

The proponents of a dry kibble diet for cats couldn’t be more wrong.  Not only does kibble not approximate either the ingredients or texture of a natural cat diet, it is full of things that could be making your cat ill, such as species-inappropriate grains, preservatives, or rancid fats.  As for keeping teeth more healthy with a dry diet, did you know that most cats swallow pieces of kibble whole because their teeth are just not made to crunch down on the hard nuggets.

Optimally, the best cat diet would be a raw, or species-appropriate diet. For many cat owners, that is not desirable or practical.  The next best choice is feeding a prepackaged raw food, many of which can be found in most independent pet stores in your area.  Finally, an adapquate compromise is to feed a high-quality, canned moist food, along with a piece of muscle meat which the cat can really chew on and tear at. It is essential that cats have taurine in their diet. This is found most abundantly in heart meat, so buy chicken gizzards and hearts, beef heart and any other heart meat you can.

Pre-packaged raw food for cats:

Only Natural Pet Store, both online and at the Boulder location, carries a wide variety. 

High-quality moist cat food:

Innova  

Wellness Core by Waggintails  

Instinctive Choice  

Wysong

Buffalo Blue  

Pet dental hygienists will tell you that the cavities and gum disease they see so often in cats could be avoided, or at least minimized with a moist(er) diet than most cat guardians feed. And the benefits in feline health don’t stop with teeth. According to Dr. Will Falconer, of Alternatives 4 animal health, the high rise in feline diabetes is due in large part to the increased corn and corn gluten found in most commercial dry food.

And if you don’t believe that’s what you’re feeding your cat, here is an eye-opening editorial about a “leading cat food” sold in just about every grocery store across America, written by Susan Thixton in September 2008.

Cigarettes, Lies and Pet Food Advertising

Franny Syufy has been writing about cats for About.com for over ten years.  She explains how pet food companies have tried to suppress how good a raw food diet is for cats and what we can do to make ourselves feel better about feeding raw meat. 

“[They] will tell you of the dangers inherent in feeding raw meat to pets, such as salmonella, e coli, listeria, and other bacteria... While cats' stomachs are said to be more acidic than ours, and while cats often eat day-old carcasses in the wild with no ill effects, human-induced bacterial contaminants in processed meats can be problematical. However, thousands of people are successfully feeding their cats and dogs raw food diets, by taking certain precautions:

·  Buy from a trusted butcher instead of commercially-packed meat in supermarkets.

·  Use the meat immediately, or freeze the meat mixture in individual serving-sized packets for future use. (Freezing also destroys many bacteria.)

·  Add probiotics to the mix, for enhanced intestinal tract health (available in health food stores and online pet stores).

·  Use safe food handling techniques - clean and sterilize all equipment, including cutting boards and food dishes after each use (I use a hand-held steam cleaner from Bissell, for the cutting board).

·  Always take up and discard any uneaten food after thirty minutes.

·  Consult with your own veterinarian before offering a raw meat diet to an immunocompromised cat.”

For more info:  Yahoo Groups that will help with the how tos of preparing and transitioning your cat to a raw diet:

 Do you use an alternative therapy on your dog, cat or horse and think we should write about it? Know someone who is an alternative medicine practitioner/therapist? We'd love to profile them.