Have you ever thought about feeding your cat a raw diet? This dietary trend seems like a good idea on the surface, but it comes with risks that raw food advocates and pet food companies often fail to address.
With the prevalence of H5N1 bird flu in poultry and cattle across the United States, there’s now an added risk to feeding your cat raw or undercooked meat.
In this article, we’ll discuss why most cat health professionals recommend against raw cat food and what to feed your cat instead.
What is Raw Cat Food?
Raw cat food is any food for cats that is uncooked. Proponents of raw cat food claim that it’s a more natural diet for cats, with benefits including helping cats maintain a healthy weight and good dental health. However, it also comes with several risks. It’s important to acknowledge that something being more natural doesn’t necessarily make it better or healthier.
We currently don’t have enough scientific studies to prove which type of food is best for cats, whether it be raw, canned, or kibble. However, we do have data that shows a heightened risk of disease for cats who eat raw, as well as for their human families.
Do Professionals Recommend Raw Diets for Cats?
Every professional, whether it be a veterinarian or cat nutritionist, is an individual with their own opinions. However, there are several professional organizations that recommend against feeding your cat raw or undercooked food.
These organizations include the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Professionals who encourage raw feeding are going against the general consensus in their field as well as science-based recommendations provided by trustworthy organizations. They might also not be as educated or as official as they seem.
A Note on Pet Nutritionists
Did you know that, in the United States, anyone can call themselves a pet nutritionist? They may have no formal education at all, or have taken just a few classes on nutrition.
If you’re looking for trustworthy information, it’s best to consult with a board certified veterinary nutritionist. These professionals went to school for several years to specialize in pet nutrition, completed a residency training program, and passed a certification exam through the American College of Veterinary Nutrition.
Risks of Raw Food for Cats
Bird Flu
The most concerning risk of raw food currently is the spread of H5N1 bird flu. This strand of influenza is widespread in our livestock and there’s potential for it to become a human pandemic.
Cats are also susceptible to H5N1 and seem to have a high mortality rate. So far, the cats who’ve been infected have been exposed through eating raw meat.
There is also evidence that bird flu may spread between cats and people, according to since-deleted data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Other Disease Spread
Even before the heightened risk of bird flu, raw cat food came with a risk of disease to not only your cats, but to other pets and humans in the household.
According to VCA Animal Hospitals, almost 25% of raw foods tested by the FDA came back positive for Salmonella, Listeria, or both. While cats are less likely than humans to become extremely ill from these bacteria, both can be deadly.
In humans, the risk is higher. Hundreds of people die of Salmonella poisoning annually, and over 90% of people who contract listeriosis are hospitalized.
As the FDA points out in their recommendations against raw diets, it’s difficult to keep dangerous bacteria out of your environment when you’re feeding raw. Even if you disinfect your countertops and your cat’s food dish, bacteria on your cat’s tongue can infect anywhere they lick–including themselves or you.
This is especially risky if you have babies or young children at home, or if you or your loved ones are immunocompromised.
Nutritional Deficiencies
It can be more difficult to balance the nutrients in raw food, especially if it hasn’t been formulated by a board certified veterinary nutritionist. For instance, homemade raw diets have a high chance of being nutritionally unbalanced.
Long-term nutritional deficiencies can make a cat very sick or even cause death.
What is the Best Food For Your Cat?
There’s no right way to feed your cat, nor is there a known diet that is perfect for them. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple.
Canned, Fresh, or Kibble?
Some people prefer to feed their cats cooked, fresh food because they believe that cats should eat whole ingredients with as little processing as possible. Others feed canned food because cats don’t drink a lot of water, and they believe that added moisture in the diet is essential. Then, there are people who feed kibble because they believe it contributes to good dental health.
It’s currently a matter of opinion, because there are no long-term studies following cats on all of these different diets.
Choosing a Food That’s Safe and Nutritionally Balanced
What we do know is that your cat’s food needs to be nutritionally balanced. You can ensure this by purchasing a food that’s AAFCO-compliant.
To go a step further, you may want to look for a food that is compliant with WSAVA guidelines. WSAVA stands for World Small Animal Veterinary Association, and their guidelines include that foods are formulated by a board certified veterinary nutritionist and are scientifically tested to ensure cat safety.
Although WSAVA is somewhat controversial due to its funding by large pet food corporations, the organization does not approve pet food and its guidelines make sense. However, it’s important for everyone to do what they feel is right for their own cat.
Avoiding Guilt
When pet food companies are trying to sell their products, they often rely on guilt to do so! We all want to feed our cats the very best, but sometimes our budget doesn’t allow for it or we become overwhelmed with contradictory information.
If you can only afford to feed cheap kibble, the important thing is that your cat is fed every day. And if it makes you feel good to feed a balanced, fresh food diet, then that’s also great!
Advertisements can also guilt people into making the wrong choices while thinking they’re doing what’s best for their fur babies. For instance, the trend of feeding dogs grain-free food led to an increase in canine heart disease that the FDA is still studying today. There may also be a link between some grain-free diets and heart disease in cats, though it seems to be less prevalent.
It’s important to do your own research, listen to certified professionals, and decide what you think is best.
For more help determining what type of diet is right for your unique cat, speak to your veterinarian. They can take your cat’s age and health into consideration, as well as your lifestyle and budget.