🥩 Raw feeding factsI know you probably have some questions, concerns, doubts, and fears when it comes to raw feeding cats.

This section will ease all of that.

Andrea Tasi, VMD of Just Cats, Naturally has had a lot of success resolving health issues in cats using raw food diets.

“I now recommend raw diets to virtually all my clients, and have seen wonderful improvements in my patients’ health… I will never go back to recommending or using processed pet foods.”

Heath problems she’s helped improve or completely resolve with raw food diets:
  • Diabetes
  • Asthma
  • Lower urinary tract (bladder) problems
  • Chronic vomiting and/or diarrhea (IBD-type symptoms)
  • Skin and ear problems
  • Other health issues

Dr. Tasi says, “Every cat will respond in their own way, but I now view real, fresh, raw food as the ‘best medicine’ for many of my patients.”

But what about Salmonella?This is the most common objection when it comes to raw feeding. Especially from traditional veterinarians.

That's because the major institutions advise against raw feeding.

But even the FDA says that Salmonellosis is uncommon in cats and dogs.

The issue is that healthy animals shed Salmonella through their feces. 

So what's the solution? Practice clean litter box habits. Easy!

The CDC advises against raw feeding pets due to potential germ contamination.

But then the very next block of their flyer states, "Dry and canned pet food also can be contaminated with germs."

So why do they only advise against raw feeding?

How to feed raw safelyVeterinarians sent out a survey to raw feeders to find out how to avoid contamination risk.

They received 5,611 responses from 62 different countries.

The three main risk factors associated with pathogen transmission were:

  1. Lack of feeding protein variety
  2. Preparing raw pet food in separate areas with separate utensils from human food
  3. Mixing raw pet food with dry food

They explained that cat parents feeding much more protein variety were more experienced and educated on raw feeding properly.

Numbers 2 and 3 both came down to a lack of proper hygiene. 

Preparing food in separate areas makes cleanup more difficult. Keep food in the kitchen so all you have to do is clean the kitchen.

And most cat parents who feed dry food do not clean food dishes after each meal. Yes, kibble grows bacteria too!

"We conclude that potential or probable cases of pathogen transmission is likely dependent upon hygiene and food safety measures, and more education surrounding food safety should reduce risk."

So the solution is education and proper hygiene. Easy!

Resources mentioned in this section:
🔗 cdc Pet Food Safety.pdf
🔗 FDA Salmonella.pdf
🔗 Frontiers in Veterinary Science survey

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