Are raw food diets good for cats? When it comes to choosing the perfect diet for cats, everyone gets terrified.
With the increase in popularity of raw food diet for cats, you must be wondering to buy it as you want to be the best cat parent. However, it’s very necessary to know even the tiniest details when it’s about the food.
Wild ancestors of domestic cats feed on the raw diet, even the stray cats prey on the other animals they hunt. Then why is it so controversial to do the same with our pet cats?
Let’s find out!
Can My Cat Eat Raw Food?
The short answer is yes, cats can safely eat raw food. In fact, raw food contains a decent amount of health benefits for a cat, mostly in the form of its promotion of good health, nutrient, and nourishment. And as always, you must ask your vet before switching to any food for your cat, including raw food.
As raw foods are easy solutions, they are gaining quite an of popularity these days.
Let’s hop on to a proper guide of raw food diet for cats because you only want the most desirable thing for your innocent feline friend.
Are Raw Food Diet Safe? Pros Discussed!
If you are meeting more cat owners who are switching to raw feeding diet for their cats from regular cat food. There got to be something very amazing about it.
Raw food diet includes muscle meat, organ meat, and bones, you can prepare it on your own or even buy it from a store. In other words, such types of diet are known as “BARF” which stands for bones and raw food.
Let’s focus on the pros of raw food diet for your cat.
Helps in Promoting Good Health
If you have a cat who is facing stomach issues or is prone to certain types of food items/ingredients, a raw diet can help your cat with this issue.
A portion of regular cat food has many ingredients such as raw meat from organs and muscles, raw bones, eggs, and add-ons to keep it preserved. But a raw diet is so much different from all of this, it doesn’t have any fillers! You don’t go out in the wild carrying canned food for all the cats out there!
Cats are natural hunters, they are more inclined towards the cat food raw.
You will witness noticeable changes like soft and shiny fur after switching to a raw food diet. Your cat will get more energy from the protein which raw food has. Even you could feel a noticeable improvement in the breath as her chewing activity increases.
Better Digestion
A raw diet is so much better in terms of digestion, so if your cat is having stomach issues, you should consider switching to a raw food diet.
For optimal digestion, this diet contains added probiotics.
Just like you start gaining noticeable changes after you switch to a healthier diet. In the same way, when you switch your cat to this raw food diet, you will notice that she is using the litter box less frequently, which means less stool.
The body is utilizing so much of the food. Due to a cat’s digestive tract being short and more acidic, she can easily digest raw food and maintain a healthy weight.
Fewer Processed Ingredients
If you want to understand the difference between the raw food diet and regular cat food, you should have a look at the backside of both of them.
You will understand that the raw cat food diet has fewer processed ingredients including meat. Which again is very beneficial for the health of your adorable cat.
Preserves Natural Nutrients for Healthy Cat
A raw food diet for cats contains a more nutritious value. Since there are no added preservatives or artificial flavors, a plus point. Complete and balanced nutrition for adult maintenance, growth, and reproduction, or all life stages.
Very Helpful with Allergies
The raw cat food diet is very helpful with allergies, many times when something fails to suit our cats, it comes out on her body through various allergies.
Tummy troubles, itching, dry and flaky coat are some common allergies. The raw food diet contains natural oil and quality ingredients which help the cat to gain healthy skin and shiny fur coats.
Less Stinky Stool: Fresh Environment
Cats that are given a raw food diet systematically have smaller, firmer stools than cats who are given canned or dry food.
This is because when cats follow the raw food diet for a longer period there are very positive changes noticed in them, including improved breath, less stool, etc.
Any positive change in the body starts from the stomach, which means digestive health.
So when you are giving your cats this wonderful raw food diet for cats, be ready to enjoy all these changes.
High-Quality Nourishment
Agree to it or not, a raw food diet is still better than regular cat food, canned wet food, or bags of dry grain-free kibble for your cat’s overall health. After all, they also work universally on the point, you become what you eat!
A raw food diet for cats is something that is saved from the unnecessary addition of harmful ingredients such as, artificial color and flavors.
When all the harmful things are removed, there is no room for regret, as you are giving your cat a diet full of high-quality nourishment.
Cons of Raw Food Diet for My Cat
As, it goes with the old saying every coin has two faces, just like that of our raw food diet for cats, there are a few points you need to look out for.
There are a few cases where the raw food diet is not that helpful for your cats. Let’s see how.
Problematic in Adaptation
From the beginning, we had been believing that the best form of food for cats is regular cat food, canned wet food, or dry kibble.
Switching from a normal diet to a raw food diet for your cat can be quite difficult.
As your cat won’t understand the importance of benefit getting from it, and changing in the diet is a major part for her. So you might face difficulty in the initial stage, but it will get better for your cats!
Lower Shelf Life
One of the most common disadvantages of the raw food diet is that it has a lower shelf life. If you compare it with the regular cat food, which can survive up to a month or two. Raw food diet for cats stays fresh only for a few days.
Less Convenient, More Expensive
Raw food diet for cats is potentially more expensive than regular or canned food. This difference is due to the majority of its ingredients being unusual.
Taurine is a natural cat supplement that is necessary for cats in order to keep good health of their eyes and hearts. Now the issue is that most of the food does not contain this supplement.
So you need to make sure that if you are switching to this diet, your cat should get an appropriate amount of taurine from other sources.
Increased Chances of Infection
In comparison to “normal” cat foods, studies show that commercially prepared raw cat foods have higher levels of contaminated pathogens like Salmonella, Listeria, and E. Coli. This raises the chances of infection in cats.
Conclusion
A raw food diet for cats is suitable for cats of all age groups, with whole, and balanced nutrition. Mostly consists of uncooked meat and unprocessed food. Your cat can enjoy the food in its original form, meat, organs, and bone. This provides a complete experience of eating their food in its original form.
Your cat might take a few days or weeks to get habitat while switching to raw food diet for cats. A slow transition of your cover 7-10 days would be enough, your cat might face stomach issues like diarrhea during this period. But don’t get scared.
Reference:
- Is Raw Cat Food Good for Cats? – PetMD
- Raw or undercooked animal-source protein in cat and dog diets – AVMA
- Homemade Cat Food and Raw Cat Food – Pet WebMD