Cats that eat raw diets will receive all the essential proteins they require for good energy levels, plus it’s easier for them to digest than conventional pet food.
Raw diets offer many digestive advantages for cats. They don’t experience excessive hairballs, diarrhea, vomiting and constipation caused by traditional kibble’s high carb content; and because desert-dwellers don’t crave water.
1. Increased Energy
Raw diets provide cats with closer alignment with what they would eat in nature, helping to address digestive issues such as vomiting, constipation and hairballs while simultaneously increasing energy and decreasing lethargy in their felines. Pet owners have found this change beneficial.
Cats are obligate carnivores and depend on protein for energy. Carbohydrates offer limited nutritional value and should only account for a portion of their diet. A raw diet will ensure your cat receives all of their protein without extra fillers found in dry kibble or canned food products.
Raw diets offer another advantage in the form of their high water content in fresh meat products like poultry and seafood. It hydrates cats without forcing them to drink liquid, something which is important given that many cats have low thirst drives; an insufficient thirst drive could result in dehydration and other health problems for cats.
Before and after feeding a raw diet to your cat, make sure to thoroughly clean all equipment used and dishes used to serve their food. Separate and label their raw diet. As you transition towards providing only raw food over time, start small by gradually increasing its quantity in their regular meals over several weeks.
2. Improved Digestion
Raw diets provide your cat with all of the protein he or she needs without adding extra carbohydrates to be stored as fat, improving their digestive system and giving more energy for exercise.
Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning that they must consume meat to stay alive. Their digestive systems have evolved to efficiently process meat rather than other sources like vegetables or carbohydrates; feeding your cat a raw diet provides him with both protein and other essential vitamins and nutrients found elsewhere.
Raw foods contain more moisture than their kibble counterparts, providing greater relief for constipation and inflammation of the digestive tract. Furthermore, increased moisture can provide additional hydration benefits in urinary issues as it offers additional hydration opportunities.
Supporters of raw diets believe it provides their pet with enzymes which would otherwise be destroyed during the cooking process of most commercial dry food products, thereby aiding digestion and improving overall health. Though not scientifically supported, this theory may prove fruitful.
Some pet parents opt to prepare their own raw diets for their pets, however this requires time and expertise in order to ensure a complete and balanced meal is provided for your pets. Ready-made raw food products also exist which consist of various meats and supplements ground together into an edible mix; these may or may not include high pressure processing (HPP) step to ensure safety.
3. Better Skin & Coat
Natural raw diets provide essential vitamins, minerals, and enzymes for maintaining a healthy skin and coat. Furthermore, quality raw diets contain ample proteins while being relatively low in carbohydrates that could contribute to weight gain; in addition, Omega-3 fatty acids help fight plaque and gum disease more effectively than any other substance.
When wild cats (or your housecat) catch and kill mice, they don’t just consume the flesh; they also chew on the bones to take advantage of all of their essential calcium and other nutritional values. Most quality raw pet foods contain bone meal or ground animal bones to give your cat all of these advantages in real life.
One of the main motivations for choosing a raw food diet for their cats or kittens is to give them as close an experience as possible to their natural prey diet, while they often find that this approach helps clear up digestive issues such as excessive hairballs, diarrhea or constipation.
If you’re considering feeding your feline companion a raw diet, make sure the food was designed and approved by a veterinary nutritionist and has undergone rigorous testing in order to provide them with all of their required vitamins and minerals. Furthermore, consider providing additional supplementation such as taurine supplements which are often depleted during grinding, freezing and thawing processes commonly employed when producing commercial raw foods.
4. Weight Loss
Many cat owners choose a raw diet for their felines because it offers more natural nutrition that replicates what the animal would find in nature. Cats are obligate carnivores; in nature they hunt and consume rodents, birds, fish, insects and reptiles for protein, fat and nutrition in their daily hunts and meals.
Cooking depletes many essential vitamins and minerals found in meat, so advocates of the raw food diet recommend feeding cats a variety of protein sources that also include bones (raw is best!), liver, organs, as well as other foods to ensure they get all of the nutrition they require for good health. Bones provide essential calcium and phosphorous essential for maintaining a balanced diet.
Cats that switch to a raw diet often experience positive outcomes, including weight loss and decreased allergies and inflammation. Proponents claim a raw diet can also help manage conditions like diabetes, arthritis, urinary tract issues and inflammatory bowel disease.
There are various approaches to transitioning your cat onto a raw diet, but it must be done slowly for their comfort. Begin by gradually adding small amounts of raw to their regular kibble meal; over the next several weeks gradually increase this percentage until they’re entirely eating raw food.
