Raw food

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Do you fix raw food in your kitchen for yourself and family? It's as safe as that. If your utensils aren't cleaned well, if your counters are messy, you could get contamination when fixing human food. Bacteria is not unique to raw food for cats. The pet food industry doesn't want people to realize how beneficial raw food is for cats, so they claim the potential for bacteria is higher. Most cats eat it all in one sitting, so as long as it's not left out over several hours, it's fine.

I've been feeding Feline's Pride raw premade foods for 2 years now. No problems for myself nor my cats. I have one who is 19 years old and that's about all she wants to eat now. Just freeze unused portions once divided up, thaw in refrigerator and only have 1 or 1/2 cup or so thawed at one time (depends on # of cats eating it).
 
I just tend to be on the paranoid side lol.....Any idea why at one feeding the cat will eat the whole dish of food, then at the next feeding wants nothing to do with the SAME food?!?!? Cats drive me CRAZY sometimes!!!!
 
christina52388 said:
Thoughts on raw food? Both commercial and home-made. Is it really safe?
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I feed my civies Nature's Variety raw. I trust the NV brand to be safe for my civies. They have pretty stringent quality control measures and policies in place to keep potential harmful pathogens and stuff from getting into the food. Occasionally I'll feed one civie a few pieces of plain raw chicken and I've never had a problem with him getting sick.
 
Christina,
I am playing with the raw food switch w/ my girls. Lil Sista LOVES raw food, Sugar Bean likes the NV chicken and Civvie Slappy wont touch anything but a/d. But we are trying and it is going to take a while.
Lil Sista eats raw chicken, chicken livers, pork, deer and the NV chicken. I have also purchased trial paks of Primal and they will eat that too. I will be purchasing (complements of my boss) a grinder that I have seen on here (Tasin) soon and the vit. that are recommended and try to do my own.
I have been baking chicken semi raw for the last couple of weeks. Lil Sista will eat pea size pieces and Sugar Bean will if I put it in the Magic Bullet and mix w/ a small bit of ff. But again, this will take a while and I am not going to rush it.
Yesterday, I cut some semi raw chicken up into small small pieces and put in with Beans ff. She ate it but I put that in a different bowl so if she did not want to eat it or did not eat all of it, I could throw it away and not waste a bunch of ff.
Good luck with the raw. I personally think it is worth the work to change. I know that Lil Sista has such beautiful coat and I think that is from all the raw/semi raw food she eats! I am following Dr. Lisas information.
I did inquire about the pork and the deer. I dont think I will have a problem with the deer as it does not have time to hit the plate before she eats it up, and it only takes minutes to cut up smaller. I am using round steak that was in the freezer for me to eat. The pork, I will cook next time. It does scare me that they could contact the bacteria etc. from this type of feeding but I wash my hands so much while I am doing this that I think the first layer of skin is gone and I also use a brush w/ soap to clean under the nails. I think the more I prepare this for them, the better and quicker I will get (fingers crossed).
 
There is one thing that isn't often mentioned here but my vet brought to my attention when I was looking into raw food for my cats. She pointed out that I have young children, and that while cats aren't affected by salmonella, they can 'shed it' and we can get exposed.

I think raw food is an excellent option but has to be researched. I had a great bit of info my vet sent me on some of the potential drawbacks but lost it in a crash. So do consider all options and views when making your decision, especially if you have kids.
 
Christina,

I have been feeding raw to my kitties for the past three years. I make the food myself and know exactly what goes into my kitties' tummies I disinfect my kitchen counters, utensils, fridge/freezer door handles, food processor/grinder and any place where I may have touched during the food making process afterward. While we can never be 100% sure, it is possible to minimize contamination if we take the proper precautions. I try to buy organic meat whenever i can. My kitties seem to eat less when they are on raw diet while still maintain the same weight.

I was very reluctant to go down the raw diet route initially but after doing a lot, a lot of research, I decided to give it a try. I haver never looked back. All my kitties have beautiful and healthy coats. Two of my kitties that were dx with IBD are doing well on the raw diet. I know for sure that one of my kitties is still with me today is because he is on raw food diet.
 
Thanks all. There's no children in the house so that's not a concern. And I work at daycare so I've become very obsessive about washing my hands frequently for any reason lol. I did some math today and I figured that if (4 times a day) I give her 1/2 oz of raw mixed with 1 oz of fancy feast..or maybe I'll use a Merrick food instead for health reasons..she'll eat the food. She will also then get all the calories she needs as well. She wouldn't go for the raw by itself after that first time so I don't know what her deal is. Maybe eventually I can get her completely on raw or if not, even mixing raw with canned is still healthier than just the canned I assume. One frustrating day at a time I suppose...
 
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