09-17-2009, 01:47 AM
JanH Wrote: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.
Well Jan I am glad you understand why I feed it. I just wish I knew what it was to add back in.
As for the warning labels from the FDA those are to people not cats. Cats can be get food poisoning to be sure but I still feel the likelihood that they will from a raw food diet is exaggerated since that is what they would eat if left to their own devices. This is also borne out by the fact that all those folk out there feeding raw and doing it properly do not report a high incidence of poisoning.
