Cats: Raw Food and FIP

Several cats helping clean the bowl after making the food

A friend asked me, as someone who has done extensive research on raw diets and who has fed raw for years, to comment on cats with FIP (feline infectious peritonitis) and raw diets.

One major arguments against feeding a FIP cat raw is with regards to the usefulness of raw diets.  No, there is no scientific research on the benefits of raw for FIP cats or any other cats because there are no scientific studies on raw vs. commercial.  There are the Pottenger's studies from the mid-1940s on raw vs. cooked diets and there are a lot of anecdotal evidence by long-term raw feeders, neither of which are rigorous scientifically.  But while there is no evidence to support it, there is, likewise, no evidence to not support it.  The concerns the veterinary community has against raw are not based on any scientific evidence to date. The lack of evidence can not and should not be construed to mean anything other than there is no research on the topic.

The second argument against raw is that no one has adequate training to judge the appropriateness of a raw recipe except a veterinary nutritionist.  I take offense at that.  I personally have the biochemistry, the statistics, the nutritional training, and, much more importantly, the experience of 25+ yrs of raw feeding to look at and analyze a recipe for the level of thiamine (1.4mg/1000 kcal ME).  It's not rocket science to take the food components and add up all the vitamins and minerals and then compare them to published requirements -- it's tedious, but this is how researchers do it.  (Many veterinary food researchers are not veterinary nutritionists, but nutritional researchers, some without a veterinary degree.)  There is in fact one

THE book on nutritional requirements for cats

company on line that will analyze raw recipes for all nutrients.  So, if someone does have a recipe, they can have it analyzed, or they can do it themselves, or they can ask those of us who have been feeding raw for years to look at it.

I would remind whoever that the general vet has 1 semester of small animal nutrition (cats, dogs, gerbils, and parakeets).  Vet nutritionists are better trained, but there are only a handful of board-certified ones in the US in private practice (ones with 2 yrs of extra training) -- many of those that are calling themselves nutritionists are not certified.  I had the opportunity to talk to one and was left very unimpressed by his knowledge on feline nutrition -- he was brilliant on canine nutrition, but dogs are not cats.

On a side note -- concerning the whole idea that a layman can't make cat food, I have fed my present recipe for ~15 yrs with no nutritional problems.  The recipe I use is borrowed from Michelle Bernard at Blakkatz Raw Recipes.  (Michelle used that recipe for a good 10 yrs before publishing it and raised champion American Shorthair cats on it.)  I have done nutritional screenings on my cats and there are no deficiencies or excesses.  I have analyzed this recipe and someone else had it analyzed by the company mentioned above -- it's fine.  This recipe also has been 'blessed' by my vet, 3 other vets of friends, and was deemed 'perfect' in terms of nutrition. While there are some whacko raw food recipes out there (ones that claim no supplements are required), there is at least one that is fine.

The third argument against raw is the issue of pathogens in the raw food.  Yes, this risk is there.  Given the number of recalls for canned and kibble foods, the risk is also there and of a much more serious nature since the pathogens found in commercial food seem to be of more virulent strains. But back to raw -- not only is the cat digestive system shorter so the bad 'bugs' have less time to colonize, the acid in the stomach is stronger so many of the pathogens that would sicken humans are destroyed by the cat's stomach acid.  I deal with medically fragile Persians from large public shelters and they all get transitioned to raw.  In the 25 yrs I've done raw, not one cat has had any food-borne illness from my raw.  Among my raw-feeding friends including owners of FIV and FeLV cats, not one of them have had problems either.  If you start with human-grade meats and handle it properly, the risk is minimal.

With respect specifically to pathogens, raw, and FIP, the argument is that the cat's immune system is already stressed so the pathogens are more problematic.  That sounds good, but the immune system in a FIP is over-reactive, not under-reactive.  Cats die from FIP not from secondary infections as they do with feline leukemia, but from the immune system destroying the cells of the body.

So, the bottomline is this -- if I had a cat with dry FIP, would I switch the cat to raw?  Probably yes.  I do not see any harm in a raw diet and I have seen major benefits from it in cats with IBD, diabetes, FeLV, and FIV.  If the cat was already showing symptoms, then maybe not if the cat was hesitant to eat the raw -- I would prefer to have the last weeks of the cat's life to be as free from stress as possible.  As for the wet FIP, no, I would just love the cat until it dies.

Cats: Where the Meat Comes From

As I've mentioned before, probably far too much for some, I make my cats' food.  I buy meat from the grocery store, grind the meat, grind poultry bones, and add supplements, so I have total control over the making and mixing of the food.  With cats with multiple dietary issues, this has solved most of their problems.

But I don't control what goes into the meat while the animal it comes from is still alive.

Honestly, I never expected that I would have to be concerned with what the cow was fed before it became steak.  My expectations and reality seem to be different now.

Robbie has allergies and intolerances to poultry and canned food.  So, he gets raw pork, beef, lamb, etc.  He still scratches some, but not as much, and I had assumed this was from environmental allergens.  And then I ran out of beef.  In an effort to clean out my freezer, I pulled 3 pounds of buffalo out to make his food.  Well, even discounted, it's $6 per pound so he gets it and mostly no one else does, so it lasts a week or more.

And then it struck me -- he was barely scratching!

That got me thinking what the difference was between beef and buffalo.  I know cattle and buffalo are genetically similar because they can interbreed.  Thus, I assume the actual protein structures are very similar.  So it had to be something else and the only thing I can think of is how the animals are raised.

Beef predominately is raised in large feed lots.  Because of the crowding and because of the desire to get them to market weight as soon as possible, most cattle are given a variety of antibiotics and growth hormones.  Also, one of the main feeds for the cattle is corn, which may or may not be GMO corn.

Buffalo on the other hand are grass fed without added antibiotics or hormones.

I wonder if Robbie is very sensitive to the traces of antibiotics, hormones, and/or "corn" in the normal beef?  Would he stop scratching on organic grass fed beef?  Is this why he's marginally better on lamb, since a lamb is exposed to less of this?  Is this why when I buy venison and feed it to him every other meal he seems a bit better?

For now, Robbie will get buffalo, venison, and rabbit.  After a month or so, I may try the organic beef.

It's things like this that make me stop and wonder.  How safe is the normal food we buy in a grocery store?  I understand Robbie's body is much smaller than a human's so the effects are easier to see, but still.  Makes me glad I'm a vegetarian.

Cats: Picky Eaters

I am somewhat shocked by the number of people that have cats who are described as picky eaters.  I feed mine a variety of meats and they quickly eat their portions (and look to steal food from other cats).  Once I get a cat transitioned to raw and barring a medical/psychological problem (like Clancy's mouth or Isabel being hand-fed for a while), I've never had this problem in ~20 years of feeding raw. My cats eat all their raw quickly, with no hesitation.  I only have one cat, Anya, who doesn't eat with gusto and there are other issues with her. 

So, I got to wondering -- why?  What do I do that these other owners do not do?  Or vice versa.

I think they have ignored a few basic ideas:

1. Cats prefer kibble because of the crunch. If they have access to kibble, they will gravitate to it instead of raw. James and Tolstoy grew up on raw but they go nuts over kibble as a treat. So when owners try raw and kibble, eventually the raw loses because it's not crunchy. Most raw feeders I know feed only raw with occasional treats of crunchies.
2. Cats like stability. If you present a cat with a new food every day or two, the cat gets confused. By constantly changing food, the cat learns that a new food may appear in a day, so if it is not fond of the first food, wait a day and it's a different food.
3. Cats need time to adjust to new food. It does take 5-14 days for a cat to fully adjust to a new food. If the owner gives a new food and then replaces this food before the cat is adjusted to it, the cat's body never fully adapts to any one food. When a cat’s body is not adjusted to the food, the cat is not comfortable and so comes to associate food and being uncomfortable.
4. Cats' appetites vary for a variety of reason. A cat will not eat the same amount each and every day. If a cat doesn't eat everything for one day, so what? In the wild, cats do not eat 2 meals a day, every day. It’s not uncommon for small cats to miss meals for 1-2 days, yet domestic cats are ‘required’ to eat constantly by owners.
5. Specifically with raw, cats will overeat raw when first introduced. This I believe is a response to the nutrient-rich nature of the raw and the nutrient-deficient state a cat is in when put on raw. The cat's body discovers the raw has all the nutrients the old food did not, so it eats more to catch-up. After a while, once the deficits are filled, the cat resumes eating a more normal amount. But then the owner panics because the cat is eating less. (This nutrient-deficiency may also be related to cats going from one food obsession to another -- when the shortage becomes severe enough, the cat refuses to eat it, knowing it will get something else, which hopefully will solve that shortage.)
6. Cats take months to years to break the grazing habit. With grazing, a cat never develops an appetite because it never is hungry. Many cats will eat out of boredom. When transiting a cat, breaking the grazing habit is the hardest -- much harder than kibble to raw actually. It takes firmness from the owner not to sneak extra treats or small snacks or only leave the bowl of kibble out at times.
7. Cats do pick up on owner’s anxiety about food.

So, you take 2 or more of these, do it to a cat for a while, and you get a picky eater. I know some owners don't want to accept this, but I've seen it in newly adopted cats and I've seen it in cats owned by people I have helped with their finicky eaters.  A lot of the problem is what the owner does.  It's not hard once you understand the 'rules'.  I've taken in cats which I was told only will eat Brand X food or starve to death. Guess what? 6 months later, they are on raw and eating fine with gusto.

Now, I have had cats who are picky eaters because of energy imbalances. (Yes, I know it sounds New Age, but western medicine sure doesn't have all the answers for cat care.) I have used homeopathy to remedy energy imbalances. It may take months or even a year, but usually I have had success and in the process, it also got rid of other issues and the cat becomes more eager to eat.  But I believe these cats are few and far between.

Almost Over...

Well, another holiday season has come and is almost gone.  Sorry, but -- YIPEE!

I know I don't have the proper holiday spirit.  I think it has to do with me working until a few days before the big day, being so tired I can barely function, getting sick, and not finding chicken thighs at the store.

Okay, maybe the last one is not earth shattering to some, but since I make the kitties' food using chicken thighs, it is a major problem.  If you don't think so, read the previous post about Wendy.  Anyway, in an effort to make room for the hams and whole turkeys, they don't stock chicken thighs.  So I had to make due with the chicken 'Griller Pack', which had 3 legs and 2 breasts.  With cat food, the muscle meat to bone ratio is very important and chicken thighs are almost perfect in that respect.  This 'Griller Pack' probably is off, and if it was a matter of life-or-death, I'd calculate the ratios, but it is close enough for a few days.

Fingers crossed for Wendy...

Speaking of her, she had a good day.  No more vomiting, but then no poos either.

Anyway, back to the holidays... I guess I get tired of the sales and the faux cheer people have.  Christmas in its non-religious version should be about giving special present to special friends.  It's not a contest as to who gave whom the most or the best.  I want my presents to be special to the people that I give them to.

And therein lies my problem.  I barely had time to pick out a few nice presents for a couple of dear friends.  Two of my closest friends will have to wait a bit for their presents.  (I'm shooting for the Eastern Orthodox Christmas!)  It's all rush, rush, and rush.  I'm a slow person I guess...

So, maybe once the holiday madness leaves, I can finally finish my Christmas shopping for this year.

Wendy's Food

I was hoping to wake-up this morning, feed the cats, have a nice breakfast, and then relax before doing something moderately useful.  My plans never work out...

I went to let Wendy out only to find she had thrown up food last night.  Sigh...

Maybe I should explain.  Wendy is my white Persian who was scheduled to die at the shelter 21 Dec 2011.  I adopted her the day before.  She came home, thin, with persistent diarrhea and a pink tail.

Wendy on her first day home, with her pink dyed tail.

She could not keep food down and if she did, she had diarrhea.  A trip to the vet showed she had no blockage (good) but had signs of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (bad) and the beginnings of megacolon (very bad).  The prescription food didn't work either, so I put her on raw food that I make myself.  I also discovered that she's allergic/intolerant of beef, lamb, rabbit, or any non-poultry meat except salmon.

And for the last year, she has thrived.

Wendy all healthy and relaxing on the table.

Until someone got terribly busy and skimped on the food.  Okay, it was me, and I'm terribly annoyed at me.  The last week of school before Christmas break was a nightmare -- I was sick, I had major tests to give, the students were crazy, and the world was ending.  So, I fed her some canned food and some plain raw turkey, with no supplements except for pumpkin.  (The pumpkin helps her keep regular in the poo department.)

Graphic Details Forthcoming

Well, with Wendy, if she doesn't get the right food, she has issues.  Since what she threw up was undigested food and it happened 3-4 hours after dinner, I think this is an owner created mess.  The issues I created this time is I think she's somewhat backed-up in her intestines.  Her poos have been larger in diameter than normal, which means the megacolon is lurking.  She's also not pooing daily, which means things are moving slowly.

The alternatives of her developing another food issue is unthinkable.  But honestly, if it had been a food issue,  the food would have reappeared earlier -- not 4+ hours later.  Fingers crossed!

Wendy has become my snuggle kitty.  There is something magical about her -- if I just look at her, and I really mean look, not glance, I feel happy and get teary-eyed about how precious she is.  I almost wonder if she's a gift from another special kitty I had....

Wendy after a bath -- all sparkly white!