Prescription Diets and Supplements:

 

MeOW-llo Welcome to Service Cat Furiday. Thank you fur your patience over the last few weeks. We’ve been discussing Feline Nutrition, specifically, Prey Model Raw. Ifin you’ve missed any of the posts in this mini-series or any of our Service cat posts, you can see them by clickin’ the links on our Training Tips and Everything Feline page. Purrlease let us know what you’d like to see here by leaving your questions and blog topic suggestions in the comments section below or send us an email via our Contact page. Today, we’re going to talk a bit ‘bout Prescription diets and Supplements. 

 

 

 

 

 

The following post will be written in human English for reader and translator ease. Our Service Cat posts aren’t intended to be an all inclusive Training Manual but rather Tips, Tricks and Techniques used/developed by mommy A thru her many years of animal training, cats in purr-ticular. And to offer insight into your questions about Everything Feline. Always remember, successful Training is all about Repetition and Rewards.

     First up we’d like to talk a bit about the supposed dangers of feeding kitty a raw diet. Each week someone has asked about the safety of Raw and the dangers of Salmonella. Each week, we think we have successfully debunked those thoughts and proved that a Raw Diet is not only healthy for kitty, but safe and ideal for the Obligate Carnivore. If you have Netflix, you might want to watch the documentary Pet Fooled. It discusses big Pet Feed and the benefits of a Raw Diet. As for Salmonella and other pathogens, the dangers are far less with a Raw diet than they are with commercial pet feed. If you’re preparing your own Raw meals, the meat you’re handling/feeding is the very same meat you’d prepare for yourself. A little common sense and cleanliness will keep you and kitty safe. Always wash your hands and counter tops after handling raw meat; whether it’s for kitty’s consumption or the humans.

 

 

 

 

 

Salmonella Risk:

 

     As we discussed previously, kitty’s digestive tract is extremely short so food moves thru the body very quickly, less than 1 day. But, if that’s not enough to convince you that Salmonella poisoning isn’t likely to occur from kitty eating a Raw food diet, let’s look at how you disinfect/clean the counters and your hands after handling raw meat, eggs, etc. and compare them to kitty’s digestive tract. Bleach, often used to clean and disinfect has a pH level of 13. Dawn dish detergent has a pH of 7.6, an orange, 3.0 and a lemon, 2.0. Cleaners often contain one of the above items as a disinfectant to kill pathogens/germs like Salmonella. Kitty’s tummy has a pH of 1.0. It doesn’t get much more acidic than that. So, the danger of Salmonella actually living inside kitty’s tummy long enough to make kitty sick is relatively impossible. However, if you’re preparing kitty’s food and implementing some standard of cleanliness, the risk drops even lower than relatively impossible. The beauty of preparing kitty’s meals yourself is that you know exactly what’s in it and the quality of the ingredients. 

 

     Mommy remembers a time when all pet feed had a warning on the label that said, Do Not wash pet dishes with human dishes. Do Not use human utensils when preparing pet food. Wash hands thoroughly after handling pet food. She said that’s when she started wondering just what was in the food that made it so toxic and why then was it okay to feed kitty. The fact is, kitty is far less likely to get Salmonella poisoning from a Raw diet than commercial pet feed.

 

  

 

 

 

Prescription Diets:

 

     So, kitty has an ongoing health issue and according to the V-E-T “requires” a Special diet. The V-E-T, who has no real training in Feline Nutrition and gets cut backs from big pet feed for selling and recommending prescription diets, tells you kitty must eat said prescription kibble for the rest of his/her life. It’s up to you, kitty’s caretaker, to make the right decisions or at least, the best choices you can for kitty’s health. We are NOT Veterinarians’, so please do your research and be an educated and informed consumer and pet parent. As we’ve previously posted, kibble is the absolute worst thing kitty can be fed, regardless of formula. All prescriptions diets are based on a study done by Hill’s and modified to be nutritionally complete according to AAFCO standards for felines (And don’t get us started on the AAFCO-mol). These studies were performed for dogs, not cats. Each prescription food has an active ingredient to combat whatever illness it is being fed for. 

 

     We pointed out last week, that Lecithin is the active ingredient in hairball control formulas. Instead of feeding a hairball control kibble, egg or even Lecithin powder can be added to kitty’s Raw diet and not only be effective but healthier.  If kitty is prone to UTI’s, you can add d-Mannose to their Raw food to help prevent occurrences. We get a dose of d-Mannose every day for one week each month as a preventative. And of course, kitty’s fluid intake should be increased. Water or broth can be easily added to kitty’s Raw food. The active ingredient in prescription diets for Struvite crystals, the most common issue in feline UTI’s, is added Vit. C, often in the form of cranberries, and/or DL-Methionine to help acidify kitty’s urine. A Raw diet will also help acidify kitty’s urine in general. 

 

Dried crumbled egg yolk: to be sprinkled over food (1 tsp.daily)

 

 

 

     Cats with kidney/renal disease do very well on Raw diets. Contrary to the prescription diets, Cats must get their nutrients from Meat. Lowering a cat’s protein/meat intake will lead to muscle wasting and other problems. CKD kitties need a high quality protein/meat source (Not necessarily more meat, just high quality meat). You may also replace 1/4 pound of Meat with 1/4 pound of cooked egg white for a low phosphorous, high quality protein source. CKD kitties need additional hydration, a phosphorous binder and egg shells substituted for the bone. CKD kitties also lose a lot of Vit. B in their urine, so adding Vit. B may become necessary. 

 

 

 

 

     The point is, a little research will result in being able to feed kitty a species appropriate diet no matter what their health condition may be. Often times the switch to a Raw diet may just clear up kitty’s health issues. When feeding a healthy kitty a Raw diet there’s no need for additional supplements. Raw meat, organs and bones contain all kitty’s nutritional requirements. Cooking, bleaching, and processing are the reasons the bag or can of pet feed has such a long list of supplemental ingredients. 

  

 

 

 

Well, hope we haven’t overwhelmed ya’ with infurmation today. And we hope you’ll join us next week fur our look into whole prey, also known as frankenprey. This could get innerestin’. MOL Don’t furget, you can see all the posts in our Service Cat series by clickin’ the links on our Training Tips and Everything Feline page. And, let us know what you’re thinkin’ or would like to see by leavin’ your comments and questions in the comment section below or send us an email via our Contact page. We luv hearin’ from you.

 

We’re linkin’ up with Comedy Plus fur Feline Furidays.  

 

Till the next time……………………………………………………………Be Blest!!!   

 

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses  

 

Deztinee and RaenaBelle  

 

 

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