Don’t let labels deceive you…
One of the biggest hurdles with telling people about feeding raw to their furkids is this ingrained idea that pets can only be fed pet food. When people bring a furkid into their home, one of the immediate questions they ask themselves seems to be “which commercial canned food/kibble should I buy for my furkid”. You see it on pet forums where there are tons and tons of threads asking what is the best brand of pet food to buy.
Even people with the best intention and immense love for their furkids. Mummy knows…that’s what she did when Daddy first brought me home. Research into what was the best brand of pet food to feed me when I was old enough (she eventually decided on mostly Wellness Core canned food and occassional Wellness Core kibble). It didn’t even occur to her then that food for pets does not necessarily have to be pet food. That’s why spreading the word about other alternatives like a raw diet is so important. So that people can make informed decisions.
Isn’t it strange that people immediately associate a pet with commercial pet food? It seems to be a very successful brainwashing which the pet food companies have done. It’s become “natural” for pets to be fed pet food when that’s probably the least natural thing! So few question why it has to be pet food, is pet food really nutritious and suitable and is it really safe. Well..in my own opinion…it doesn’t have to be pet food, pet food is not necessarily nutritious or suitable (especially kibble) and from all the pet food recalls we’ve been hearing about, they’re definitely not always safe.
would you eat this? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Imagine eating processed canned food or biscuits every single day of your life. You wouldn’t be very healthy. That is what you condemn your furkid (and yourself) to if you buy into the pet food companies’ idea of food for pets equals pet food. What’s sad is that many do it unknowingly. There is so much literature out there these days about nutrition for furkids, it seems such a shame that so many still make blind decisions about how they feed their furkid. Some stuff you can start reading (and these are written by vets) are:
- Your Cat: Simple New Secrets to Longer, Stronger Life by Elizabeth M. Hodgkins (Mummy has read this book and thinks it’s pretty informative)
- Natural Heating Solutions
(If you have any other resource suggestions, please share with us by leaving a comment 
)
If not for your furkid’s wellbeing, then I have a “selfish” reason for pawrents to consider. A healthy furkid means saving tons of money and trouble for a pawrent. One of the key reasons why Mummy and Daddy feed me raw is that a healthy me means less time at the vet and less money spent on the vet. Vets can cost a ton of money especially when it comes to major illnesses and the amount of time spent at the vet can be ridiculous (Mummy and Daddy once spent FOUR hours just waiting for our turn at a vet). And then having to deal with the problems illnesses bring at home such as not using the litter box properly and having to force feed medicine can be very stressful on a pawrent. A pawrent’s life is easier and happier with a healthy furkid.
I know a lot of people think that nothing is as easy as opening a can and plonking the contents in a bowl or scooping out a cup of kibble. But before I was put on a raw diet I was eating a combination of mostly canned food and some kibble between the age of 1 month to 3 months old, and Mummy doesn’t remember my meal times to be instantaneous and zero effort either. The recommendation on the canned food was that I be given about 1 can a day and I was fed tw0 to three times a day. So Mummy would scoop out 1/4 of canned food in the morning and put the rest of the can in the fridge. The next time she fed me, she had to scoop out another 1/4 can, boil water and warm up the food over a bowl of hot water because cold canned food is pretty gross. That took time man….
Don’t let labels deceive you and make your decisions for you. Just because something says it is “pet food” does not mean it was made with your furkid’s best interests in mind. Just because a raw meal prepared at home by your own hands and with your full knowledge of exactly what your furkid is eating does not have the label “pet food” on it doesn’t mean it is not good for your furkid.
i don’t look this good by eating junk…
(Photo courtesy of Tanya Jie Jie. Please support Metta Cats!)
Related Meowzings
I absolutely agree with you, would always try to spread the goodness of raw feeding. Unfortunately many have the misconception of rawx bacterial and the conveniences of leaving the food out the entire day is stripped away with raw.
I would always tell my friends with cats: Imagine eating cereal ur entire life and how that would affect your body… however its still not enough to convince them to raw feeding. I guess everyone has difference believes of what is best for their cats and its hard to convince them otherwise
i think it’s also really hard to fight the pet food company “brainwashing”. And it doesn’t help that raw diet is often not advocated or supported by vets in Singapore. Although I think more and more are becoming neutral towards raw diet as opposed to against so that’s a start.
But results will speak for themselves. I was very ill once and I recovered with the help of raw diet. I also have awesome shiny soft and silky fur!!!
Keep spreading the goodness of raw feeding!
hehe.. after much difficulties, myjoey is fully raw-fed now (but mostly prawns and other fish) currently, except for her freeze-dried treats.
Btw, I like like The Natural Cat by Anitra Frazier. I am just halfway through though
I bought the Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins from iBookstore since a few months ago but have yet to start reading it. Will try to see if it is a better book.
Yaaaay!! I’m so happy to hear that all your hard work has paid off and myjoey has transitioned to raw.
Mummy will go check out The Natural Cat. Thanks! Dr Elizabeth’s Hodgkins book is pretty good although not solely on the subject of raw diet. It’s more on nutrition in general, discusses the ills of pet food and kitty health/well-being. The discussion on pet food is good for those who want to read about why pet food is not good for animals. Let me know which book you think is better!
Misty, do you eat vegetables for fiber in your raw diet? Myjoey had constipation and I had to increase the amount of psyllium husk in her daily supplement powder.
I don’t eat any vegetables or supplements…Mummy follows the whole prey/frankenprey/RMB model of feeding which doesn’t feed any veges and very minimal to no supplements (actually they say just omega-3 if not feeding grass fed meats).
I don’t really get constipation…wet poo is more my problem. how many days did myjoey not poo? 2 days of not pooping is not considered constipation when feeding raw…i normally only poo once every 2 to 3 days.
She used to poo once daily when she was on canned tuna and RC Aromatic dry food.
When she is totally fed raw, she didn’t poo for 1-2days then we were worried and gave her Laxapet and then she pooped immediately. Haha.. But laxapet is not a good choice because it contains mineral oil. I read from The Natural Cat that we should never feed cats mineral oil because it would cause vitamin and mineral deficiency.
After increasing the psyllium husk amount, in the homemade supplement, she now poo once every 1-2days.
I read from TNC that natural raw contains some roughage in the tummies of the animals that cat eat for fiber and Anitra’s supplement actually used oat bran. I also bought Anitra’s supplement sold by PetGuard for myjoey but she doesn’t like them at all. So I continued making my own. (note to self: I better write this down in our blog as well before I forget the details.
)
On canned food or kibble, kitties will definitely poo everyday. But on raw they poo less and that’s perfectly normal. I think even if poo once every 3 days also not a cause for worry yet.
Just to confirm, misty’s raw diet doesn’t contain any supplements? Thanks!
No supplements. The occasional omega-3 oil or chia seeds but not very often.
If you don’t feed grass fed animals then it’s good to also give omega-3. But try to get pure omega-3 without any flavoring or mixed with omega-6 or 9.
If you worry about taurine, try to feed more dark meat (like chicken thighs) and hearts.