I'm thinking of switching my cats to a raw food or BARF diet. Does anyone here have any experience with it and could recommend any resources? Several years ago my eldest cat (Big Kitty) developed allergies and proceeded to pull all of the fur out of her hindquarters and tail. I fed her the diet from "The New Natural Cat" for a while and it did seem to help, but I just didn't have the time to keep up with it. After we moved to a flea-free environment her fur grew back, but her coat has always been greasy, dull, and flaky. I'm currently feeding IAMS dry and canned 2X daily. Big is almost 16 years old now, and I want to keep her healthy as long as possible. One of my younger cats (Kira) vomits after eating at least once a week, so something's not right there either. Wenna, on the other hand, cheerfully Hoovers down anything put in front of her and more!

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001

Answers

Sherri, one of my cats had a greasy, dull, flaky coat. The vet said it was seboria -probably didn't spell that right. Anyway he gave me some shampoo for it. This same cat vomited about once a week like yours. This went on for a couple of years. We didn't think too much about it although we did change his food to a different protein base. This helped for awhile, but then he started again. I hate to say this but one morning recently we found him dead with a pile of barf beside him. You might want to ask a vet's advice as I'd hate to see this happen to your kitty.

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001

Sherri, I had trouble keeping up with making the "natural diet" too. Plus, one cat would eat some of the recipes but not the others, and the second cat wouldn't eat any of it. He is not much of a meat eater -- likes his kibble. I feed him Wysong and Nutro-Max, mixed. I think I'll be cutting back a bit on the Nutro-Max in the mix.

I just ordered a bag of cat food from Sojourner's Farms. It is a grain and herbs mix that you soak with water or meat broth (I suppose you could use veggie broth too!), then add meat (raw or lightly cooked, your choice. I have some Missing Link supplement that I plan to add to it (not at the recommended level, as I believe the meat mixture will have better nutrients than commercial food). This will be my starting point. Then I will try adding it very slowly to their usual diet. The kibble eater will get his amount cut back so that he is hungrier. I will just have to put up with the overnight howling and cranking (and dashing about and making noise). If they get bad enough, I'll crate them overnight. I gotta sleep!

Anyway, assuming this is a success, then I will try adding veggies and fruit in SMALL amounts. When I have them switched over, I'll try adding other things and varying what I put in. The Sojourner's Farms mix is rather expensive and it's not organic. They list the ingredients, and I am thinking about trying to duplicate their mix by obtaining the ingredients, then experimenting with the proportions until it looks like their mix. That way I can (hopefully) make it for less AND make it organic. If I am successful at making the mix, I'll probably either freeze the dry mix or seal it into canning jars.

I'll also want to make up the soaked mix with meat somewhat in advance (particularly when I have to go away), so will probably make servings of that and freeze it.

I plan on using "human grade" food. Yes, it is more expensive, but I am hoping that I will eliminate the need for vet care in later years. Both cats have already had bouts with feline acne, which is a real pain to treat. I'd like to prevent that coming back.

My male (kibble eating) cat came from the local humane society last August. He was found abandoned in an apartment with no food or water. He'd been at the shelter for two months. Maybe he hadn't been on better rations long enough to make a difference, but his coat was too short, harsh, greasy feeling (including the beginnings of "stud tail"), and I swear his bushy tail was so harsh, I could have scrubbed the floor with it. Now he is fluffy, soft and smooth, and his tail, although still bushy, is also soft. No greasy feel either (neutering probably helped that). And that is just on good- quality kibble. I hope a good, varied raw diet will keep both of them from tooth problems and kidney failure in later life. And other yucky diseases I have yet to experience.

The cats are also on a less-frequent vaccination schedule. They have to get the rabies shot every 3 years, but I will be discussing discontinuing the other vaccines with my vets. I also don't plan to give them the heartworm medicine. My ten year old cat got it regularly and he died at age ten. Conclusive? I don't know. I do know that the other two cats who were born before it became available lived to 17-1/2 and 21 years! I won't use the flea/tick treatment junk either. Maybe if they ended up with fleas, I'd change my mind.

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001

Well, wouldn't you know, I forgot some stuff!

First, Debra, my condolences on the death of your cat. It's never easy.

URL's:
Sojourner's Farms -- http://www.sojos.com/
They have a bunch of interesting links that I haven't entirely explored yet.
Missing Link -- http://designinghealth.com/


-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001

Debra I'm really sorry to hear about your cat. My cats are like my kids, I don't even want to think of losing them.

Joy, I should have known with your email address that you'd have an answer. I think maybe I should change my address to CatMinion. I swear, if they ever figure out how to run the can opener my days will be numbered! I found a discussion group on yahoo groups called CatBARF and I posted my question there. I'll share any good resources I get with you.

Earthmama, are you still here? Didn't you talk about this on the CS forum? I may have to wander over there and search the archives.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001