With the popularity of raw food for both dogs and cats, not surprisingly we have now a number of options to make it easier for us pet lovers to feed our cats and dogs a nutritious species appropriate diet. Or at least they should be species appropriate... many manufacturers will lump cats and dogs together when in fact cats have very specific requirements that may not be met when purchasing a commercial raw food.

When you decide to buy prepared raw food for your kitty, here are some things you HAVE to look out for:

1.Calcium/Phosphorus ratio. Cats, as opposed to dogs, have quite a narrow range of the calcium to phosphorus content of their diet. The ideal range for cats is 1.2 - 1.4:1 Calcium is found in bone and phosphorous is found in muscle meat and organs. Various types of meat will have various levels of phosphorous. When purchasing a raw prepared diet it is a must that the food has the correct ratio of calcium and phosphorous. If the information is not readily available on the manufacturers web site, nor on the package, you will need to email and call them. Make sure you get a definitive answer with the exact numbers including how they arrived to them. An imbalance of Calcium and Phosphorous can cause a serious imbalance. Next is the:

2.Percentage and Type of Vegetable matter. Adding some vegetables to a feline diet is OK as long as it is a small percentage. 3-5% is OK. The food you feed should contain max 10% veggies. No grains, of course! The percentage may not be readily available and you may need to contact the manufacturer. Garlic and onions can cause anemia in cats and should never be used. Tomatoes can exacerbate arthritis and most vegetables will raise the urinary pH which can cause urinary tract issues. Herbs should never be used long term and are frequently added to raw prepared diets. We would avoid any pet food containing herbs. Many herbs safe for dogs and humans are toxic to cats. Next We Have:

3.Organ meats. Optimally felines should consume somewhere about 10% of organ meats. Does the food contain organ meats and at what proportion? What type of organs are included? Organs provide important vitamins and other nutrients vital for the cat.

4.Taurine. Taurine is an essential amino acid. Cats are unable to synthesize Taurine, therefore it needs to be provided in the food. In the wild cats naturally consume meats and prey high in Taurine. Mice are naturally very high in Taurine. A cat eating plenty of mice would be assured of their Taurine requirement. But what cat eats fresh mice regularly? While all meats contain Taurine to some degree, handling and freezing the meat diminishes the amount. Some meats, like rabbit have a dangeroulsy low amount of Taurine while chicken hearts have a high amount. Why keep track of all that when it is so easy to add some taurine yourself? Not only is taurine inexpensive it takes a second to add some to the food at the time of feeding. We recommend about 1000 mg per pound of meat. In the early days of commercial pet food, thousands of cats died before the pet food companies discovered that they have to add taurine. Taurine deficiencies can cause blindness and heart disease which can be fatal.

Feel free to contact manufacturers if information is not available on their websites or on the food package. If the food does not meat the standards, then find a food that does.

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