Raw Feeding Cats – Getting the Benefits Without the Risks
- miriamm00
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Raw feeding is one of those topics that tends to divide opinion. Like most things in breeding, the truth probably sits somewhere in the middle. I've even been kicked off a raw feeding facebook page for having an opinion!
I have fed my breeding cats a mixed raw and biscuits diet for many years - Ideally a fully raw diet would be preferable but that's extremely challenging to achieve. However, overall I believe raw feeding is a more species-appropriate way to feed cats. Cats are obligate carnivores. Their digestive system evolved to eat prey, not highly processed carbohydrates.
Many breeders, myself included, have anecdotally noticed that queens fed a well-balanced raw diet seem to have larger, stronger litters, healthier coats and kittens that grow well. Whether this is entirely due to raw feeding or simply because these breeders also pay close attention to overall nutrition is impossible to know, but good nutrition certainly matters.
The important word in all of this is well-balanced.
Just because something is raw does not automatically mean it is safe or nutritionally complete.
Dogs Are Not Cats
One mistake I think many people make is assuming that raw food marketed for dogs is automatically suitable for cats.
Many commercial raw food suppliers primarily formulate their products with dogs in mind. Dogs evolved as scavengers. They have a relatively short digestive tract and generally tolerate bacterial contamination much better than cats.
Cats, particularly breeding queens and young kittens, are considerably less forgiving.
A bacterial load that produces no obvious illness in a healthy adult dog may cause reproductive losses, diarrhea, colitis or fading kittens in a breeding cattery.
The Hidden Risk – Bacteria
Raw meat is never sterile.
Some of the organisms commonly isolated from raw pet food include:
Streptococcus canis (Group G Streptococcus)
Campylobacter spp.
Salmonella spp.
Clostridium perfringens
Escherichia coli
Listeria monocytogenes
Staphylococcus aureus
Many of these bacteria can be present without making an adult cat obviously sick.
The problem is that they don't always stay quietly in the intestine.
As I discussed in my previous blogs on Group G Streptococcus (Strep canis), bacteria can contribute to infertility, pregnancy loss, neonatal disease, fading kittens and colitis (diarrhoea). Once these organisms become established in a breeding colony they can be extremely difficult to eliminate.
For that reason, I believe sourcing clean meat is just as important as feeding raw itself.
What About Chicken?
Chicken is probably the meat that most closely resembles what a wild cat would naturally eat.
Unfortunately, commercially processed chicken is also one of the meats most commonly contaminated with Campylobacter, and Salmonella contamination is also well recognised.
For that reason I rarely use chicken as the main component of my breeding diet. I have even recently removed raw chicken necks from their diet - which is a pity as it cleans the teeth and they really love them.
Mixing Biscuits and Raw
Many people feed both biscuits and raw.
There's nothing inherently wrong with this, but there is an interesting physiological point worth understanding.
The stomach kills many bacteria by producing highly acidic gastric acid.
Carbohydrates increase stomach pH (make it less acidic) and reduce the gut's ability to destroy bacteria entering via raw food.
Anecdotally we've noticed a difference between myself (who feeds a mixed diet) and another breeder with the same lines (who feeds a raw only diet). The 100% raw feeder never had anywhere the same issues we had when feeding from the more contaminated meat supplier.
What I Feed
My own preference is to use predominantly ground beef as this is usually less contaminated. We are fortunate to have a local raw food supplier who prepares cleaner batches specifically for cat breeders. Whenever possible I also use human grade prepared beef mince from our own home-killed cattle, where I know exactly how the meat has been handled.
Building a Balanced Raw Diet
Raw meat alone is not a complete diet.
Cats require numerous nutrients that need to be deliberately included.
My raw mix contains:
quality beef mince
fish oil
taurine
vitamin B1 (thiamine)
selenium
iodine
folic acid
vitamin D
magnesium
approximately 5% secreting organs
Our raw food supplier prepares a special 5% organ mix using liver and kidney, making this easy to include.
New Zealand soils are naturally low in selenium and iodine, so I pay particular attention to ensuring these are adequately supplemented.
My next blog will go into this raw recipe in more detail.
Eggs
I also add:
One egg per kilogram of meat.
Eggs provide:
additional high-quality protein
B-group vitamins (most importantly, thiamine or B1).
valuable micronutrients
Because we keep chickens, eggs are essentially free at our place. Our hens also enjoy the leftover cat meat and kitchen scraps and garden rubbish, so nothing goes to waste.
If you're buying eggs, you can reduce this to around ¼ egg per kilogram of meat while still gaining some nutritional benefit.
Calcium Is More Than Just Calcium
Growing kittens require both calcium and phosphorus in the correct ratio.
I add:
One level tablespoon of finely ground bone per kilogram of meat.
Ground bone supplies both calcium and phosphate—the natural building blocks of healthy bone.
One mistake I commonly see is breeders adding calcium gluconate to their raw mixes.
Calcium gluconate contains calcium—but essentially no phosphorus.
Without adequate phosphorus, kittens can develop serious skeletal problems including:
poor bone mineralisation - ie rickets which includes: flat chest syndrome (pectus excavatum), swimmer syndrome, greenstick fractures (a limping kitten after jumping).
more subtle metabolic bone disease
Adding calcium alone does not create balanced nutrition. Note that vitamin D promotes uptake of Calcium AND phosphate in the gut and assists all around the body in many other functions - many of which are still being discovered.
Food Hygiene Matters
Good hygiene probably prevents more disease than any supplement ever will.
Some simple rules I follow are:
Thaw food efficiently in the refrigerator.
Don't allow meat to sit at room temperature for prolonged periods.
Use thawed meat within 24 hours whenever possible.
Feed sensible portions.
Don't leave raw food sitting in bowls for hours.
Throw away leftovers.
If meat smells sulphurous or "off", don't feed it.
Be particularly careful during summer when bacterial growth is much faster.
Starting Kittens on Raw
I don't do anything particularly complicated.
Once the kittens are becoming interested in food, I simply leave out:
my raw mix
cooked kitten food in sachets (such as Whiskas or Oscars from the supermarket - but NOT Chef - even my chooks won't eat that!)
Mum continues eating her normal diet and the kittens naturally begin investigating both foods.
I find they generally learn very quickly simply by copying their mother.
A Documentary Worth Watching
If you're interested in understanding how commercial pet food is manufactured and marketed, I recommend watching the documentary Pet Fooled.
Like any documentary, it's important to remember that it presents a particular perspective rather than every side of the debate, but it raises interesting questions about nutrition, ingredient sourcing and the commercial pet food industry that are worth considering.
My Final Thoughts
I genuinely believe that a carefully formulated raw diet is one of the best ways to feed breeding cats.
However, "raw" should never mean "anything goes."
The safest raw diets are:
nutritionally balanced
made from high-quality ingredients
sourced from suppliers with excellent hygiene standards or use human grade meat.
handled safely in the home
discarded before bacteria have time to multiply
In breeding, we often blame genetics, bad luck or viruses when things go wrong. Sometimes the answer is much simpler.
Healthy kittens start with healthy queens, and healthy queens start with good nutrition.
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