Can cats eat raw seasoned meat?

Answer 1

This is a highly controversial issue among animal enthusiasts everywhere...However, the answer is YES. Dogs, cats and ferrets all benefit tremendously from a raw diet. Further research online will point you to many sites that are big proprietors of a raw diet. It will improve their health in more ways than you can imagine.

Another Answer:

I agree with the first answer. Here is some more detailed information:

Contrary to popular belief, feeding a cat or dog a diet of raw meat, organs and bones is said to be incredibly beneficial to the the animal, and with limited risk. However, creating a nutritionally complete diet takes a lot of research in order to get the balance right.

Cats and dogs have evolved to digest raw meat. Even our furry friends are not all that different from lions, leopards and wolves; they are all perfectly adapted to eat raw meat, organs and even bone and to digest it all quickly and efficiently. Fresh, raw meat provides them with all the nutrition they need, especially essential fatty acids such as Taurine which cats cannot synthesize on their own. Cooked meat, in comparison, has little to no nutrients in it as all the nutrients are easily destroyed when the meat is cooked or even heated for a short period of time. It is highly advisable to never feed cooked meat as part of a dog or cat's diet as this will not provide your pet with the nutrients it needs and can cause severe health problems.

What about bacteria? Cats and dogs are carnivores. They are made just the same as their wild cousins and ancestors; even pet cats will often kill and eat mice and other small animals they catch, all with no ill-effects. The feline and canine digestive system is not like ours; their stomach and intestines quickly break down the meat, organ and bone to the molecular level and absorb them, and the leftover parts are expelled as waste. Meat does not stay in the animal's intestines long enough to allow harmful bacteria to grow and harm it. In comparison, a human's digestive system is much, much slower and food spends most of its time in the gut where the food is processed. This allows harmful bacteria to multiply which makes us vulnerable to salmonella and ecoli.

Harmful bacteria such as salmonella can and has been found in processed pet foods - causing brands to recall their products. While raw has a small risk (as with feeding all foods), you can control where the meat you feed your pet comes from and greatly limit the chance of buying contaminated food.

Many commercially-processed meats are full of bacteria due to the animals kept in cramped and unsanitary conditions which is never a good idea to feed raw. If you wish to feed raw to your cat or dog, Organic or Free Range meat is the safest choice as the meat would have come from hormone-free animals kept in sanitary conditions. Freezing the meat for several weeks will help kill off any bacteria.

Always practice safe food handling techniques when handling ANY raw meat - whether it is for you or your pet. It might be advisable to take extra care with very young, very old or cats with compromised immune systems.

The benefits are said to far outweigh any small risk:

• Glossy coats, healthy skin, bright eyes.
• Teeth & gums are kept healthy and free of plaque as the chewing action rubs off any plaque and keeps the blood flow in the gums active.
• Allergies & sensitive stomachs can become non-existant as raw food is not packed with cheap filler such as grain or corn.
• Smaller/less frequent bowel movements that do not smell as much compared to some cats and dogs on commercial diets.
• Many cats are fussy eaters, and many cats and dogs will just gulp down their food. Raw food stops that, as they have to work at the meat to get mouth-sized pieces. Pets that quickly get bored of their food rarely get bored of raw as the taste and texture is different for every meal.
• It has been said that a raw-fed dog is rarely hyperactive. Instead, they have a healthy amount of energy. This also has said to help behaviour problems with adolescent dogs and are much easier to solve the issues due to the lack of hyperactivity.

Answer 2

It is not recommended. They can, in fact in the wild a cat's diet is of course all raw, but cats in the wild usually are infested with the sorts of parasites that are found in raw meat. Note also that some seasonings can have ill effects on cats.