Raw food for cats and dogs is the new house-hold word. It may have been at least one positive benefit of the many pet food recalls the past few years. Suppliers making raw food have been sprouting up like mushrooms. While that is a terrific thing, you will need to conduct some research of the food, especially if your pet is a cat. Many manufacturers will make the same raw food for dogs and cats with the problem that cats have very specific requirements which are different from dogs.

Therefore, when purchasing raw food for your kitty, (and we applaud you for doing that!) You do need to look out for a few things:

1.Calcium/Phosphorus ratio. Felines have quite a narrow range of the calcium to phosphorus content of their diet. The best range for cats is 1.2 – 1.4:1 Calcium is found in bone and phosphorous is found in muscle meat and organs. Not only will Various types of meat have various levels of phosphorous, but thigh meat will have different amounts than breast meat.It is essential that the raw food you buy follow the above mentioned ratio. If the information is not readily available on the manufacturers web site, nor on the package, (which is all too common) you will need to email or call them. Make sure you get a definitive answer with the exact numbers including how they arrived to them. An imbalance of Calcium and Phosphorous can cause a serious problems. Then we have the:

2.Veggies. Cats can take some veggies in their diet. Around 5% is ideal. More than 10% should be avoided. We would never feed our cats food with 10% or more of vegetables. Raw pet food manufacturers can add excessive amounts of veggies in order to cut their costs. Then there is the type of vegetables added…Garlic and onions can be toxic to cats and should never be in cat food. Period. Tomatoes can increase the effects of arthritis, potatoes add too much starch,,, Most vegetables cause an increase in urinary pH which can be detrimental to cats with frequent UTI’s. (Which is one reason kibble is the cause of a majority of urinary tract problems in cats) Herbs are often used in raw food as well. Herbs are potent agents and should never be used long term. Many herbs which are perfectly safe for a dog could kill a cat. I’d stay away from any herbs in my cat’s food!

3.Organ meats. Does the food contain organ meats and at what proportion? What types of organs are included? Feline diets should contain approximately 10% organ meats. Organs provide important vitamins and other nutrients vital for the cat.

4.Taurine. Taurine is an essential amino acid. Cats are unable to synthesize Taurine, therefore it needs to be provided in the food. In the wild cats naturally consume meats and prey high in Taurine. Mice are naturally very high in Taurine. A cat eating plenty of mice would be assured of their Taurine requirement. But what cat eats fresh mice regularly? While all meats contain Taurine to some degree, handling and freezing the meat diminishes the amount. Some meats, like rabbit have a dangeroulsy low amount of Taurine while chicken hearts have a high amount. Why keep track of all that when it is so easy to add some taurine yourself? Not only is taurine inexpensive it takes a second to add some to the food at the time of feeding. We recommend about 1000 mg per pound of meat. In the early days of commercial pet food, thousands of cats died before the pet food companies discovered that they have to add taurine. Taurine deficiencies can cause blindness and heart disease which can be fatal.

Raw food is ideal for dogs and cats. They are carnivores after all…but buyer beware. Make sure what you feed is properly balanced. Ask until you get the answers, and move on if the answers aren’t coming, or don’t provide the information you seek.

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