BARF (diet)

Ok, so....

I'm putting my cats on a raw food diet. Actually, I'm transitioning them to a raw food diet. I've been reading a lot on the web recently about how horrendous dry food is for cats and how all the grain and carbs in even most wet food is not digestible and has been causing a myriad of health problems for cats.

I believe what they say, honestly, having lost three cats just this year. Black Kitty, who is still alive, has diabetes, bad dandruff and likes to pull his hair out. Shady is obese. Rabu is neurotic but I'm not expecting the food to help with that lol. I am expecting, however, to hopefully see some improvement with the other two.

Here are some links if you are wondering about a raw food diet for your dog or cat. Well, first, here is the link to the company we buy our raw cat food from:
www.felinespride.com

Now, read these:
cats.about.com
www.catnutrition.com

For dogs, read this:
barfworld.com

We just got five pounds of the raw chicken diet in today. We are in the process of transitioning them. I put a little out and neither Shady nor BK wanted to eat it, but it was still a little bit cold. They say I can mix a little bit in with wet food for a while until I get up to a 50/50 mixture to get them used to it and then they can go 100% raw.

Used to be for cat food, you had to make your own. This seemed like a monumental pain in the ass, which was a deterrent for me. Then I found the company that makes it to sell, which is great for me. I like to order things and have them show up on my door. Especially cat food. So, we're giving this a try.

It seems much more logical to me that we should feed our animals something approximating what they eat in the wild. I don't see many lions eating kibble really. At first I was worried about the raw aspect of the food. Then I read (and remembered) that carnivores eat dead uncooked meat all the time. They have special enzymes in their systems to handle it. And, they have good noses so they can smell when something is bad.

I will keep posting on their progress.