Hello all,

I am thinking of transitioning my cat to raw food. My only problem is with raw meat and bacteria. Is there anything I should be aware of when feeding my feline raw meat? i.e. any meat that is not recommended to be given when raw etc?

Thanks in advance

true carnivores have very short, very acidic diggestive tracts that are not susrptible to bacteria like ours. nothing obviously rotten of course but salmonella isn't an issue for cats and dogs.

My daughter-in-law was just telling me that after she gave her lab a raw bone some years ago he developed an infection and bled a lot thru mouth and rectum..he went to the vet and got costly meds for it, and the vet told her to never do that again.

I said well..maybe due to his age and his usual diet of regular type dog foods, and table scraps he didn't tolerate the bacteria of the raw bone, or it cleaned him out the hard way, or rather what was not good for him at that time.

So, if you cat is outdoor he is probably fine with raw foods since he probably catches live things on occasion anyway as my cats were. On the other hand if it's an indoor cat, not used to eating anything raw or wildly caught you might want to first boil for maybe 5 minutes at first and then give it to your cat, and make the transition slower and easier for him?

As they are then used to eating rare and then raw foods, it might go easier on both dogs and cats that are older, or not used to anything raw?

Love,
Prism

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies! My cat is a bin-raiding feral monster (rescue cat). I've been giving him and my other cat small amounts of raw meat and all seems well.

Thanks for the info, I needed to hear something to put my mind at ease

being as we aren't used to dealing with meat,
i just wanted to mention to be sure to protect
yourself and home from possible bacteria. i like
to keep alot of vinegar around.

I've been washing surfaces/hands like crazy (going to clean the whole kitchen in a moment)! It sounds kind of gross, but yesterday I fed my cat and I could taste the smell of the meat in my mouth and it made me want to throw up.

There was some documentary I watched years ago saying how most people's sinks contain more bacteria than their toilets. YIKES!!!

the bacteria thing is controversial in the raw feeding
word. the raw chat egroup i read discussed it and so many long time
raw feeders admitted they rarely clean up with anything beyond
water.

im not any more anal about it than my usual ocd cleaning tendancy,
but i def agree about the kitchen sink. i like to scrub it every
day after a vinegar spritz and also pour boiling water
over it every morning. a friend of mine only handles raw meat with gloves on.

im fortunate my pup finally learned to keep her meal on the cloth placemat i keep
on the kitchen floor. at first she'd run under the bed with it!

I like to keep a small squirt bottle of clorox bleach at sink and that's what I've always used to clean knives, counters, and much more and I've had no problems with bacteria feeding raw meats to my dog for 5+ years.

I don't dilute mine, but you can add some water if you want. I make sure to rinse very well though.

Love,
Prism

i used to use bleach too but i think the toxicity was
affecting my health. my eyes burned and possibly it
contributed to increased nearsightedness. not sure.

i heard vinegar is just as effective as bleach. it
def is more pleasant.

prism, i gave the pup a chicken foot today. wonder if
it has enough bone to help clean the teeth. it gave her
at least 30 minutes of pleasure though. and they are
like $.15 each.

I gave my dog his first ever meaty raw pork rib bone and he ate it all gone! He didn't want to eat the rest of the day, although I tried a small hunk of beef a couple times which he ignored.

Although I clean well, change sponges often, and use my home-made soaps, and sometimes the Lugol's Iodine mixed with water, I think using the clorox bleach is safer. The vinegar is not my fav. smell really, but it should work, as will lemons.

You can mix the bleach 50-100 parts per million..I think that's like 2 teaspoons to 1 gallon of water which seems weak to me, but I know it doesn't take much though.

Love,
Prism

hi prism,
you are doing so well with your dog. can you tell
how his teeth are doing yet?
my girl had a tangerine today for the first time.
we played catch/fetch with it til it was gone.
fruitgirl

I know that some of the tarter and infection on the loose back tooth came off, and I took a pic of the 5th day of doing the raw bones. I will take a closer look in the next few days again, it's just been so busy here with family, house, remodeling, work related things, etc..I'm kind of stressed. I need a couple days rest really.

My family is staying a couple more days in town, and will be doing some of the house remodeling here to get it done. The first thing when I get money in a couple days from childcare is taking my dog to the groomers..which he needs badly!

Today he ate raw beef, tomorrow I have beef rib bones, or beef, and beef hearts. I froze the port ribs and once the beef ribs are gone, I'll start the pork ones again. He also has frozen meaty chicken thighs. So for now, he's got enough good raw food sources. I hope his teeth vastly improves quickly. I'll keep track, take pics and post them...and let you know how's he's doing.

Love,
Prism