BARF Raw Feeding for Cats
Cats, Food and History
For thousands of years cats have roamed the plains, woods and savannas of the ancient world. Cats of a variety of shapes and sizes live in every type of climate and environment in the world. They live mainly on hunted herbivores such as rats and rabbits and larger animals for the larger cats.
They devour their prey completely apart from the gall bladder the dark green thing we sometimes find left after our cats have caught and eaten a mouse. The soft organs or viscera are the first to go followed by gut contents, which in most cases contains chewed and part digested vegetable material and small amount of cereal. Then the muscle meat would be eaten next with skin, bones and even hair to finish acting as natural teeth cleaning after a meal.
In this way they get complete nutrition. Protein from muscle, calcium from bone and essential fats from the fatty parts. They also get a certain amount of carbohydrate and plant material from the gut contents of their prey. The gut contents of the rabbit includes part digested grass and cereals but this is only a small proportion of the diet compared to us or even canines.
There you have it the cats complete meal containing all the vitamins and minerals the cat needs in the right proportions out fresh in a field near you.
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Commercial diets
In the 1950 food producers in the US and UK hit on the idea of selling the large amounts of left over poor quality meat, gristle viscera and cereal by products which they were not able to hide in sausages and pies. They put it in tins and called it cat food. For the first time in history, people could buy food specially made for their cat and the idea soon caught on. Over time people have simply forgotten that they used to feed cats on raw bones, meat scraps and vegetable left-overs – a wide variety of foods which being minimally processed retained their nutritional value.
Today we are bombarded with pet food advertising for this brand of tinned food, the other brand of dried food or that brand of chew to keep teeth in order. There are so many brands to choose from what should you should for your companion?
If this food is as great as they say why don’t they give it to people to eat it might be idea for astronauts for example or more nutritious than Jamie’s school dinners may be? Would you eat it?
So why do we feed processed food to our pets?
In a word Convenience but how convenient is it when because of the diet your pet develops a persistent itch, eczema, dental problems and smelly breath. Flea allergy dermatitis, cystitis, food allergy, a dull, greasy or scurfy coat or possibly kidney disease are all in my opinion more common in cats fed on processed foods.
Raw food: In my opinion cats should eat as far as possible a raw food diet: Raw meat, pureed raw fruit and vegetables and raw bones (chicken wings and necks). It’s simple to feed and it what cats have evolved to eat.
Here are the basic rules for raw feeding:
The Rules
1. Cats should be fed on a variety of raw meats and chicken wings as their staple diet. Just sticking to one type of meat or offal can deprive him of nutrients. Poor quality cuts including fat and gristle are better than pure meat. The AMP or Forthglade pet minces contain about 5% bone ground up so make a simple way to achieve the need for calcium and bone marrow. They will not of course clean teeth as well as chicken wings or similar cuts do. Do not feed pork.
2. Never give COOKED BONES: they are prone to splinter and cause internal problems
3. For every 100g of meat give 5-10g of pureed raw vegetables and or fruit*. Cats will normally avoid veg at all costs but mixing thoroughly with the raw meat will usually ensure it is eaten. If this is impossible then you can use one of the following supplements: Pet Plus for Cats, Missing Link for Cats, and Udo’s Pet Essentials for cats. You can get this from us at the clinic or on line. Do not give onions or garlic to cats.
4. Quantities to feed This will vary depending on the amount of exercise, growth etc. but as a guide feed similar amount to a wet cat food or 11/2 times the volume of dried food previously fed.
5. Feed raw chicken wings at least once or twice a week. RAW chicken wings are easily chewed and digested. It is very unlikely but not impossible for a bone to get stuck in the intestines but it is very likely your cat will need an anaesthetic to do dental work if you do not give them bones throughout their life.
6. Feed viscera or offal once or twice a week in place of the meat. (Liver, heart, kidney and lung) Viscera is a better source of Taurine than meat. Fresh not frozen viscera is the best source of all.
Use heart most frequently as this is the best source say once weekly with alternated with one of the others. If you cannot bring yourself to do this use the Supplement ‘Pet Plus for Cats’ which contains taurine along with vegetable extracts. Taurine is an amino acid cats cannot live without.
7. Do not feed cereals
Treats: Freeze dried liver, meat or fish (Thrive or Burns) dried or fresh fruit but not raisins.
*Take any vegetables especially green leaves fruit and salad items and place in a liquidiser. You can use just one item or multiple but ensure a variety over a period of time. Blend to a rough broth if necessary adding a little water. Pour onto the meat ration until you have roughly a meat to veg ratio of 10:1. You can feed 2-3 times daily
How young? You can introduce kittens as young as 1 month to the BARF diet. Little and often 4 meals a day is the way to start off. Only the size of pieces is important. Variety is doubly important in the growing kitten
Cheats: How you may bend the rules:
o You can cook meat briefly by frying in olive oil briefly to seal the meat or brief immersion in boiling water. Meat however should in general be served rare.
o Liquidised veg will last for up to 48 hours in the fridge so can be prepared just 3 times a week. If you cannot find a wide variety of vegetables or are worried about your companion needing supplements then use one of the following: Pet Plus for Dogs, Missing Link for Dogs, Udo’s Pet Essentials. These are available from Pilgrims
o An additive free complete food such as Burns. May not be as good but if you regularly feed raw chicken wings and regular raw meat and veg (or Pet Plus) with Burns it is a reasonable second best.
Food Poisoning Scares: Some authorities are concerned that feeding cats raw food may cause both them and their handlers to become infected with pathogens such as E. coli. In our hands this has not proved to be the case. The individuals feed on the diet are healthier than dogs fed on commercial foods and more able to cope with the occasional bug. You should always though when preparing foods wash hands after handling raw meats and in particular if you are next preparing food to be eaten raw by people. If any member of the household is very young, old or immuno-compromised then seek advice from your vet or other health professional.
Further reading:
The BARF diet by Dr Ian Billinghurst an Australian vet with over 20 years experience is possibly the best. You can get it mail order or through the internet. Also see the web site www.rawmeatybones.com
See also our page of books and articles
Also read this article about Chicken wings from the Australian Canine Journal by a veterinarian References:
(1)Lonsdale, T. (1995). Periodontal disease and leucopenia. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 36, p542-546.
(2)Pottenger, F.M. Jnr. (1995). Pottenger's Cats. Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, San Diego, California.