Recently, the subject has come up in our household regarding
how healthy it is to give cats "raw meat." Actually, it was
suggested by a good friend of mine to use raw chicken to catch
our rather elusive outside kitty cat.
According to the vet, the answer to this quandary is "Good."
Raw meat, although repulsive to most of us, is very healthy for
cats. It is good for their teeth and overall fitness. They can even
eat bones so long as they are NOT cooked or microwaved, etc.
The reason for this is simple. When bones are cooked in any
fashion, it changes their density. Cooked bones are very hard
and brittle and will without a doubt either puncture your cats
stomach or cause them to choke!
Further, you should never feed your cat raw meat and kibble
Further, you should never feed your cat raw meat and kibble
(cat food) at the same time nor close together. Cats digest raw
meat very quickly unlike kibble which takes cats a few hours to
digest. Therefore, feeding them kibble too soon after giving
them raw meat can be extremely risky as the raw meat gets
digested quickly so the bacteria does not have enough time
to become a hazard to the cat. Mixing both the kibble and the
meat together will only slow their digestive system down,
causing the actual risk of the cat getting sick!
I, myself however, would certainly never presume to debate
these medical facts. After all, who am I to argue with Mother
Nature? Apparently, she knows what She is doing. However, I
must add that, personally speaking, I still do not feel completely
comfortable feeding my indoor cats raw meat.
Wow, interesting information!
ReplyDeleteFunny, this just came up on the news last night. Word from the vets for the news story was raw meat was not a good idea for pets. They used the same reasons humans don't eat raw meat as potential for food borne bacteria.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! I would not eat ANY raw meat myself, so why would/should it be good for animals. To me, it is just commonsense. ;-)
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