Feline Raw Diet Cautions - What You Need to Know

Many feline experts expound the benefits of the raw diet (also known as BARF for “bones and raw food” or “biologically adequate raw food”). Raw food most closely approximates a cat’s natural diet in the wild and provides cats with the nutrients they require. Proponents explain that commercial pet food is processed at such high temperatures that much of the nutrients are destroyed. In fact, some years ago, cat foods were found to be lacking in the amino acid taurine; thus, cat food manufacturers were required to add taurine to their formulas.

In effort to preserve those nutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids) that are lost during the processing, manufacturers supplement their formulas. But raw food proponents feel that’s not enough and there is no way of knowing what other nutrients may be lacking and to what degree from the high-temperature processing.

Martin Goldstein, DVM, author of “The Nature of Animal Healing,” Knopf, feeds his own dogs and cats a raw diet, including raw bones, but he does not feed raw fish for fear that it may contain toxins. He does serve cooked fish as well as other cooked meat because his cats prefer cooked meat.

Others who feed raw diets to their pets steer clear of raw pork because of the potential for parasites.

Some raw food fanciers advocate feeding raw eggs, but Dr. Goldstein prefers to cook the eggs and prepares omlettes with brown rice, chicken and organic cheese for his dogs and cats. He feels that the egg whites at least must be cooked because it contains a substance that destroys biotin. He also adds garlic and yogurt to their diets. Garlic, which naturally repels fleas and yogurt for its acidophilus and lactobacillus—healthy bacteria.

Dr. Goldstein recommends a cat’s meal be one-third to one-half meat with cooked grains and vegetables. But he warns that cats have become so accustomed to commercial foods that getting them to eat a new healthy fare could take some patience and they may initially appear sick as they adjust.

To ease the transition, he recommends mixing a bit of new with the old. Sometimes, some cats may never entirely make the transition and still require just a small taste of the familiar.

Dr. Goldstein talks about the importance of enzymes that help breakdown nutrients in the digestive process. He says that a nutrient-poor diet can wear down a pet’s system, specifically his pancreas, which is the body’s main enzyme producer. Pets suffering from enzyme deficiency are lethargic with poor skin and coat. For these animals, he recommends a raw natural diet because uncooked foods have a large amount of enzymes, which will help the pet break down its food. And more enzymes, according to Dr. Goldstein, mean greater digestibility. For severely debilitated pets, he adds enzyme powder to their food.

Nina Anderson and Howard Peiper, authors of “Are You Poisoning Your Pets?” Avery Publishing, note that only raw or uncooked food contain enzymes. Since most commercial pet food is cooked, pets aren’t receiving adequate amounts of enzymes. They cite the Price Pottenger Foundation study of Dr. Francis Pottenger’s cats in which the a group of cats were fed cooked or processed foods over a series of generations. They found that cats developed kidney, thyroid, heart and gym diseases as well as allergies and infections, among other illnesses. They believe that the lack of enzymes leads to arthritis as toxins lodge in the joints. They also found that the illnesses appeared in cats at younger and younger ages.

If you would like to feed your cat a raw diet, check with your veterinarian as to recommendations with types of food, frequency and quantity of food and whether supplements are recommended. If you are interested in feeding your cat a raw diet but are concerned with the safety of raw meat, you may consider trying premium cat foods that are manufactured to the be the next best thing to raw food. Those products are high in protein and low in carbohydrates.

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