NO. The cat nutritionist and health views on raw food are not at all mixed. Are there ANY vet school professors who advocate raw meat? Certainly not enough to describe it as mixed.
The difference between tainted commercial foods and raw meat in the US is that it is accepted that the raw meat supply is contaminated and needs to be cooked TO HIGH TEMPERATURES to be safe and the effort and expectation is to keep the pet food free of contaminants.
It is like the difference between drinking from the Hudson river at its worst and drinking New York tap water. It is true that sometimes tap water gets contaminated, but there is an effort to keep it drinkable while the Hudson was accepted not to be drinkable. Would a problem in New York tap water cause one thereafter just to give Hudson river water to your cat?
The problem is that you do not know what about the new diet, something that is present or absent, that works and how to give it to Snowman without the risks. It may well have nothing to do with the rawness. I understand choosing an alternative with risks for a cat who is very sick without taking the risks. That is no reason to take the risks with other cats.
As for an MD not seeing problems in cats, vets do - and this string shows you that cats can be affected just as people to food contaminants - even human grade food. ; )
Danni- I am happy you are all feeling better. Food poisoning is very scary, and I'm glad Titan is doing better.
Yes, he obviously saw those problems in human patients... but it would apply to cats as well, as we saw with Titan's food poisoning.
I'm not saying that feeding raw is never a valid choice, obviously it worked for Snowman and that's great and I'm really happy that he's doing so much better. I'm just saying that I wish that pro-raw proponents and promotional materials (both official and unofficial) would address the risks as well as the benefits.
They do. They claim cats have "natural" protections. (This is not to say such protections, to the extent they do exist, are enough.) They also note that the dangers are of greater risk for those with compromised immune systems or other health characteristics or problems, as if they can tell if their cat is in this category or has moved into the category at some time other than by turning them into a lab rat by feeding the contaminated source food to them to see if they get sick. One could do the same experiment with Hudson River water, but few would do it. (I guess unless someone pointed out that river water was in the original diet of cats. And, yes, the "original" river water may have been contaminated, including by animal waste, including their own. ; ) )
I think you make a very valid point about the Hudson River Jan, afterall, you have even had aircraft in there this year
That would be the least of it. ; )
Danni sorry about the thread highjack. I do hope Titan bides well.
Regarding raw I am not saying there are no risks involved. Clearly there are but I think the representation of those risks is largely overblown. I do try to minimise them for the cats by proper handling and preparation as well as sourcing it from someone I know as opposed to using commercially prepared offerings.
Jan you are correct in that I don't know what there is about the raw that works as opposed to cooked. I believe along with many others that something is lost when the meat is exposed to high temperatures whether it be some essential enzyme(s) or whatever much like vegetables lose a portion of their nutritional content when they are cooked. The assumption being made here is that all raw is contaminated and hence bad for cats. That is a mistake as is assuming that all commercially prepared foods are good for cats.
We know things are lost by heating, such as vitamins. We just research that, identify it and ADD IT BACK IN as needed for proper nutrition. ; )
One of the major risk factors of undercooked meat is whether it is ground or minced rather than steaks, because the surface area is increased, microbes on the surface and in the equipment are spread throughout the meat in the grinding process where they can overbloom, etc. That is why undercooked hamburger meat is often the cause of human food poisoning. Guess what raw meat proponents buy and feed to their cats?
The risk is the reason that one wants proof of any nutritional benefits in order to feed it. Folks who feed it based on snake oil type claims, it preventing every single health and appearance challenge, are not being responsible it seems to me. In your case, I understand why you feed it, but that it showed improvement in a cat with an extremely compromised GI tract does not mean it has ANY health benefit for a healthy cat (or even a cat ill from some other reason), just as some cats will do well on venison and nothing else. That does not mean a healthy cat fed venison is going to do better. It just means the cat is allergic to something not in the venison diet being offered.
You wrote: "The assumption being made here is that all raw is contaminated and hence bad for cats." In the US, the risk is such that the FDA has a general warning on every package of meat and even in every restaurant menu - cook it to a high temperature to assure safety. The argument is like saying that a line of canned pet food is accepted to be contaminated and you just do not know which lots are bad enough to make your cat sick. What PROVEN benefit does there have to be to keep feeding that brand? To return to my analogy, the observation is like saying that Hudson river water is potable SOMETIMES (or even often). Do you give that to your cat? Not when all the benefits of water are available in a source intended to be made safe. Do you feed the melamine contaminated lots recalled because not all cats fed it have gotten sick and you understand not all cans have dangerous levels of contamination. Of course not. You switch to a food without that acknowledged risk because those safer foods are just as good.
I hope you all are on the mend and you are all feeling much better.
everyone but me if fine!!!
my diet at the moment consists of powerade and whatever i can handle. which isnt much.
i have to go back to doctors tomorrow. im in trouble my cholestrol is a bit high and my iron is too low LOL.