Raw or Cooked Food for Cats

[DogGoneGood]

Raw or Cooked Food for Cats

Unlike dogs, cats can't properly digest vegetables, grains and fruits. While it is an ongoing debate on whether or not dogs are carnivores or omnivores, there is no debate about cats. They are, without a doubt, carnivores.

Besides excluding plant matter from a cats diet, the only other big difference between feeding a cat a raw diet and feeding a dog a raw diet is that cats MUST eat Taurine to promote healthy functioning of the heart, retina, bile fluid and certain aspects of reproduction. Taurine isn't found in plant matter, and unlike dogs, cats can't convert Cysteine to Taurine.

• Feline Beauty - Taurine Related Issues
  
• What is the role of Taurine in Cats?
  
• Taurine
  

Below are links to information on cooked diets for cats, and Raw...

[/b]
[li]Raw Fed Cats
[/li][li]Homemade Rawfood Diet for Dogs and Cats
[/li][li]Myths about Raw Feeding - What About Cats?
[/li][li]Feline Beauty - Fresh Raw Diet for Dogs and Cats
[/li][li]Why Feed Raw?
[/li][li] Wild at Heart - Why Raw?
[/li][li] The Raw Food Diet For your Pet (PDF)
[/li][li]Cat Nutrition.org
[/li][li]Feeding Your New Kitten
[/li][li]Feeding Your Cat Raw Meat
[/li][li]How to Make Raw Cat Food
[/li][/ul]

[/b]
[li]Fresh Cooked Diet for Cats and Dogs
[/li][li]Lesson of the Pottenger's Cats Experiment: cats are not Humans
[/li][/ul]

See Also: Raw or Cooked Food for Dogs

[Sit Kitty]

Ahh! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[charmingnancy]

Just speaking for my dog, as I don't have a cat, have never had a cat, and will never have a cat... I doubt I would ever be able to keep Bo on a raw diet, because for one, that sounds like it would get expensive very quickly, and also, I barely have enough time and energy to cook and prepare food for myself, let alone my dog, too. But, having a dog that can't eat just anything because of digestive issues (I've learned that dog foods with corn or grains, which makes up most of the stuff on the market, or giving him table scraps that aren't mostly meat give him the runs), I could see how feeding raw would appeal to some pet owners that have the time and money to do it.

[DogGoneGood]

Actually, depending on where you get it and how many diet-related issues your pet has to begin with, Raw can be LESS expensive than a high quality kibble This includes both in price of ingredients and cost in vet bills going down

Time, energy, and money can be huge factors for everyone though. I have the time, and after more info on where I can get meat for cheap, I will have the money to switch my boys over. Am hoping to do so next month. I'm most certain it will help with a lot of issues with Coal (which should help the cost in vet bills a lot!), and even if it only helps with a couple it'll far be worth it.