Raw Feeding For Felines: Benefits & Transition Tips!

RAW FEEDING CATS 

Felines are obligate carnivores, which means cats thrive on uncooked animal products such as muscle meat, organ meat and ground bone. They digest raw foods better than humans because they have shorter, more acidic digestive tracts. Many pathogens will pass through a cat without any issues.

A cat’s digestive tract contains few enzymes capable of digesting carbohydrates. They thrive much better on high-protein, high moisture diets that are rich in nourishment provided by meat including fatty acids, essential vitamins, minerals and Amino Acids such as Taurine.

Taurine is a type of Amino Acid, which are the building blocks of all proteins. Taurine is exclusively found in animal-based proteins and is crucial for normal vision, digestion, heart muscle function to maintain normal pregnancy and fetal development and to maintain a healthy immune system.Cats require 35 - 250mg of taurine per day. Darker meats have a higher amount of taurine than light meat. Organs are also a great source of Taurine also. 

The best way to make sure your cat is getting all the nutritional benefits of a raw diet, is to rotate between 2 – 4 different protein sources every week. This will ensure your cat is getting a plentiful variety of nutrients on a regular basis which helps maintain their overall health and wellbeing.

You’ll see the benefits in your cat in the first few weeks. The first two benefits you will notice is a shinier coat and smaller, firmer stools, followed by a few other amazing benefits such as:

• Cleaner teeth
• Reduced allergies
• No stinky litter boxes
• Stronger immune system

TRANSITION TIPS FOR CATS

If your cat is new to a raw diet, we suggest introducing them to our Pure Formulas such as our Pure Turkey or Pure Chicken. After, you can slowly wean in our other pure proteins. You can use our calculator to determine how much to feed your cat each day. 

• If your cat is healthy and over a year old, fast them for 12 hours before introducing their new raw diet.
• As cats and dogs who are new to raw aren’t used to cold food, allow it to come to room temperature the first 3 days of feeding. Once they’ve adjusted for a few days,  then you can serve straight from the fridge.
• Cats and dogs require an Omega 3 fatty acid added to their raw diet as they cannot produce Omega 3 (fish oil) and Omega 6 (meat). Add a fish oil such as our herring oil or sardines. 

NOTE: If you’re feeding our Salmon or Turkey Salmon, they do not require added Omega 3 on those days.