FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
About Feeding Cats a Raw Diet

My cat refuses to eat the raw food. Is it OK to withhold all food until it gives in?
No. You should NEVER leave your cat without food for more than 24hrs, unless on veterinary advice, as it may lead to liver problems. If the cat is being finicky, try adding more of the regular food to the raw - don’t be in a rush to start reducing it. There’s no prize for the shortest time taken to switch a cat to raw feeding!

I’ve been told that the bacteria in raw meat is harmful, both to my cat and myself - is this true?
As far as your cat is concerned, it is well able to handle the bacteria in raw meat. As far as members of your human family are concerned, normal hygiene precautions, such as those you would use when preparing meat for your family, are quite adequate.

There are no carbohydrates in the raw food diet. Should I be adding some biscuit to the diet?
No - cats have no dietary requirement or need for carbohydrates.

How do I know whether I’m feeding my cat the right amount of raw food? On the can or packet it tells me how much to feed, so how do I work it out?
A rough guide is to take the ideal adult weight of your cat and feed around 20% of that figure per week. As an example, if your cat should weigh 5 kilos (11 lbs) then the cat should have about 1 kilo (2lb 2oz) of food over a one week period. But don’t get stuck on weighing things - some cats will do well on slightly less food, some cats will need slightly more. Just use your common sense, as you do when feeding your family.

If a raw meaty bone or whole prey diet is so good for cats, why don’t vets recommend it?
If you read vet Tom Lonsdale’s book Raw Meaty Bones you’ll begin to understand why the majority of the veterinary profession don’t recommend feeding raw. Simply put though, much of the reason is to do with the significant influence that pet food companies have over the training of veterinary students - especially when it comes to teaching nutrition.

Surely a domestic cat is very different from a wild cat. Haven’t their digestive systems changed since man domesticated them?
Externally, mankind has modified cats considerably. However, internally our domestic cats are identical to their wild forebears and counterparts.

Isn’t it very expensive to feed a raw diet?
Not necessarily. By shopping around, buying in bulk and maybe investing in a bigger freezer, feeding a more natural diet often works out cheaper than feeding processed food. Plus of course, with a cat brimming with health from being fed a proper diet, visits to the (expensive) vet are drastically reduced, thereby saving money.