Help me sort fact vs. fiction re: raw diet

[zelda25]

Hi, folks--I'm a CEP regular, but thought this was more appropriate over here.

We have two 9mo old cats, one of whom we took to the vet last night for something mostly unrelated to urinary issues. Decided to do a baseline blood panel and urinalysis (urinalysis was because he seems to drink more water than we think is normal), results of which showed that he has crystals. No blockage, just crystals. He's also a bit overweight, so we were sent home with a bag and some cans of Hills metabolic + c/d. 

I know Hills is crap; we've been feeding Solid Gold since we brought them home at 8 weeks. We're doing the c/d for now with the hope of at least dissolving the crystals while we figure out what to do in the long term. I've been reading, reading, reading, trying to figure out how to tackle this without keeping him on Rx (and expensive, crappy) food for the rest of his life (which I want to be VERY long!).

Almost everything I read leads me to the same conclusion: that as obligate carnivores, cats should be on a raw diet, which is nutritionally complete for cats and keeps them at optimal pH levels that should stave off crystals. The only thing I read that gives me pause was something about raw diets being at high risk for bacteria like campylobacter, ecoli, etc., which, even if it doesn't make them sick, they can shed and transmit. 

So...thoughts? Advice? Counterpoints?

thanks!

ETA: here's a link to something I read about raw that concerned me: www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/AnimalHealthLiteracy/ucm373757.htm

[mich1]

I had a cat that had regular urinary blockages. The ONLY time he didn't have blockages was when I took him off the prescription food (at which point, it became an expensive experiment for me and a painful one for Monster). If you think the food is expensive, having a regular $400+ vet bill makes the expensive food seem cheap. I never tried a raw diet, but the way that I looked at it was that it was imperative that I kept him unblocked and he remained unblocked as long as he ate this food. He lived to the ripe old age of 16+ (he was a young adult when I adopted him, and I had him 16 years).

I also had a cat that wound up with a gut infection - the vet said likely Clostridium. I damn near lost him, he was a very sick kitty for a couple weeks.

I'd probably just ante up the $$ for the prescription diet.

[charlatti]

We did Rx food for a while and then switched to food that had the same target pH as the prescription food. Our cat is now 11 and issues started when he was a little over a year. Raw wasn't on our radar at the time, so we focused more on getting him to eat wet food and on the target pH to prevent crystals. He hates changes in his food, so we've just stuck with that since it has worked well (Wellness chicken wet plus Fromm salmon dry). The target pH was not easy to find but if you want to go that route the good food companies will be able to tell you.

ETA he had crystals but never a full blockage. 

[zelda25]

Aug 10, 2016 19:47:24 GMT -5 mich1 said:

I had a cat that had regular urinary blockages. The ONLY time he didn't have blockages was when I took him off the prescription food (at which point, it became an expensive experiment for me and a painful one for Monster). If you think the food is expensive, having a regular $400+ vet bill makes the expensive food seem cheap. I never tried a raw diet, but the way that I looked at it was that it was imperative that I kept him unblocked and he remained unblocked as long as he ate this food. He lived to the ripe old age of 16+ (he was a young adult when I adopted him, and I had him 16 years).

I also had a cat that wound up with a gut infection - the vet said likely Clostridium. I damn near lost him, he was a very sick kitty for a couple weeks.

I'd probably just ante up the $$ for the prescription diet.

Do you mean that the only time he had problems was when you took him off the Rx food?

I still haven't figure out what to do long-term, and I have a lot of reservations about raw. He won't eat the Rx food, so my primary concern now is to figure out what I can feed him that he will actually eat and that will prevent the crystals 

I've sent an email to the vet asking what our options are if he won't eat the Rx food. Thanks for the feedback, both of you.

[mich1]

Aug 11, 2016 16:43:28 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

Aug 10, 2016 19:47:24 GMT -5 mich1 said:

I had a cat that had regular urinary blockages. The ONLY time he didn't have blockages was when I took him off the prescription food (at which point, it became an expensive experiment for me and a painful one for Monster). If you think the food is expensive, having a regular $400+ vet bill makes the expensive food seem cheap. I never tried a raw diet, but the way that I looked at it was that it was imperative that I kept him unblocked and he remained unblocked as long as he ate this food. He lived to the ripe old age of 16+ (he was a young adult when I adopted him, and I had him 16 years).

I also had a cat that wound up with a gut infection - the vet said likely Clostridium. I damn near lost him, he was a very sick kitty for a couple weeks.

I'd probably just ante up the $$ for the prescription diet.

Do you mean that the only time he had problems was when you took him off the Rx food?

I still haven't figure out what to do long-term, and I have a lot of reservations about raw. He won't eat the Rx food, so my primary concern now is to figure out what I can feed him that he will actually eat and that will prevent the crystals 

I've sent an email to the vet asking what our options are if he won't eat the Rx food. Thanks for the feedback, both of you.

Yes.....sorry, I missed this.  

[mmp]

I know nothing about cats, but I was at the pet store today and they had freeze dried raw for cats. I noticed it bc I feed freeze dried to my dogs.  I  can check it out later this week for you if you want.

[Deleted]

I know this is a few days old but I fed my dogs raw for 8 months and they loved it. It took me around 5 hours to prep two weeks worth of food. I would freeze the portions and feed out on my back porch as they would often touch the floor with the raw meaty bone. Once they were done eating, I would spray with vinegar solution after I noticed they touch the floor with the meat. Animals can handle digesting the bacteria.

I still feed my dogs raw eggs every week. If you feel uncomfortable feeding your cat raw, you can ask the vet advice on what other food besides Hills. most vet programs that teach nutrition are paid for BY the shitty food companies.

Also, so what if they eat less than perfect food?? If your cat is loved and cared for then this helps the kitty. My BFF rescued her dog and started on a grainfree diet with high quailty food. Nope the dog couldn't tolerate it so she had to go from a 5 star food to a 3 star rated food. It isn't the end of the world.

[mcmel]

We fed our dogs and cats raw for about 2 years but stopped last year due to money. With cats it would be a breeze. I personally would even look into the freeze dried raw or the prepared raw at the pet store if I were just feeding cats. Use dogfoodadvisor.com to get a good feel on the best brands.

We did Prey Model Raw which is 80% muscle meat 10% bone 10% organ. With 4 (now 5) animals it was a bit much to keep up with, but our cats were so easy- we just fed them scraps of whatever the dogs were eating.

The key is variety. Plain and simple. Go to preymodelraw.com and they'll give you a calculator to find out how much to feed, times that by .8 and go to the store and pick up a package of chicken drumsticks (for bone), chicken breasts (in case you need to add more muscle), and a tub of chicken livers. The only thing you need is a kitchen scale, which you'll only use a few times until you get the hang of sizing out portions, a knife, and a cutting board.

Feed them in a kennel because your cats might like to carry their food to the couch.

We fed all of our animals raw and they slept in the bed with us, kissed us on the mouth, etc. We never got sick.

If we had all cats, we would do it in a heartbeat. It was so fun watching our cats get enjoyment from eating.

Good luck and feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

[mcmel]

zelda25 here are some meals that I made. Remember, as long as you have a variety of meats- you're doing great.

First raw meal for her. She knew exactly what to do with it. Chicken breast.



Beef heart (I almost always used heart as their muscle because it was so cheap), egg, yogurt.



Chicken drumstick.



Deer heart. This was multiple meals. She would eat a little and I'd take it away, storing it in the fridge until the next day.



Canned mackerel, yogurt, egg, liver.



Duck

[cmeon]

When I only had 3 little dogs (and hadn't lived through triple hurricanes in a single summer- which ultimately killed this for me)- I fed raw. It was no big deal, I can't attribute any sickness to it, and I didn't do anything special (just normal raw meat handling cleanliness). I did feed everyone in the kitchen, and stayed with them (it didn't take long) while they ate- I had a very easy going crew- everything went from bowl to mouth.

If you're just not there, wet food is almost infinitely more healthy for cats than kibble- they really need the moisture content.

[katietornado]

zelda25

I haven't done like hours and hours of research on this. The only concern I have with raw food for our cats is cross contamination (we don't eat meat, and aren't used to cleaning up the germy messes it can create).

My cat was dx'd with crystals years ago. It was so so bad, and he was so miserable. We got him onto a premade raw diet ASAP (this one: www.primalpetfoods.com/product/detail/c/7/id/10) and he made an incredible turnaround. He's crazy healthy now, and he's been on this food for ~6 years. We couldn't be happier with it. He has had 0 crystal incidents since he started eating this.

Now that we have the funds, we are transitioning the other 2 cats onto this food also.