Author Topic: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats  (Read 20611 times)

Tomacco

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #50 on: August 05, 2015, 03:37:13 PM »
Yes, I know that there have been outbreaks of salmonella and ecoli in commercial pet foods. The risks of those infections in raw vs. conventional diets is specifically addressed in the article I linked to. Did you read it?

If you do, you will notice that the presence of infectious pathogens is significantly smaller in commercial pet foods when compared to raw foods. Canned food is particularly safe compared to raw diets. This makes sense because, as the CDC explains, cooking meat is one of the most effective tools at eliminating salmonella and ecoli.

Really, the review article covers all of the arguments- better nutrition, infectious disease, etc. If you haven't read it, please do. It is quite informative.

For those considering a raw-food diet, remember that a yearly nutritional panel is not enough to protect against infectious disease risks. You should have frequent testing for infectious pathogens, and should be extremely careful about having your animals around others, particularly the elderly or young, who can die or have permanent health issues upon infection.

I'm not trying to knock on people that feed their animals raw, although I do think they should warn guests of the risks when they enter your home or touch your animals. What does bother me, however, is when people attack those of us who have decided that canned food is better than raw. Particularly when they make scientific claims about raw food that just are not backed up by the science.

Cats have salmonella naturally in their gi tract.. So putting it in their food doesn't make any difference. If anything some salmonella strengthens their gi tract. Thousands of years of eating raw food makes their lil tummies pretty tough 😃
What they don't like is rendered, processed, chemically ridden, overprocessed, inorganic, grain-based food, which is what has come about in the last 100 years
They can survive on a commercial diet, but not thrive.

Sibley

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #51 on: August 05, 2015, 05:21:21 PM »
There are millions of cats being fed commercial pet food and I haven't heard of any huge epidemics of failure to thrive. Clearly, you're a proponent of raw food diets. That's fine, but it's not for me.

My cats have plenty of opportunity to chow down on mice, birds, chipmunks, voles, bugs, and probably many other things I don't want to know about. They don't, so clearly they're feeling satisfied by the food I give them.

Tomacco

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #52 on: August 05, 2015, 05:57:45 PM »
Just because your cat isn't sick right now, doesnt mean he is thriving. They just survive on commercial. Just like the millions of other pets eating an improper diet.
Cats love junk food- mine always try to lick the butter, it stays in the fridge now 😁. They are not too smart, I wouldn't trust their judgement on proper diet 😄
You could eat mcdonalds every day, and not be sick. But you wouldn't thrive as a human.
I was a vet for 13+ years before I retired, and I saw countless pets get sick that didn't have to. On the flip side I saw lots of people that really cared to feed their pets properly, and it showed in their behavior, looks, and lifespan.
The good news is it's never to late to start feeding your pet properly.

Valencia de Valera

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #53 on: August 05, 2015, 07:20:50 PM »
I have one large-ish (and somewhat overweight despite being on a restricted diet) cat. I don't have his exact food cost breakdown but between food and litter we spend about $12 per month, it's probably about half and half. He eats Science Diet food from the vet. I just looked on the bag and the main ingredient is chicken, although it does have wheat in it too along with a bunch of other ingredients (pork lard, chicken liver... yum).

On the topic of water intake, a vet told me that along with cat fountains and keeping water away from their food, putting out water dishes throughout the house encourages them to drink more. It also helps raise the humidity in your house slightly, which is good for their skin (and yours, but as the vet told me, you can put on lotion and they can't).

I hate to wade into this home-made/raw food argument but I would like to add, according to Consumer Reports testing something like 60% of pork and 97% of chicken sold commercially in the US is contaminated with things like salmonella, MRSA, listeria, E. coli, etc. I'm sure cats in the wild often eat contaminated food as well, but according to the ASPCA feral cats tend to have about a two-year lifespan. Just because that's how things are in the "wild" doesn't automatically mean it can't be harmful to their health. I'm not trying to say that one way is better or worse, just that there are health risks involved either way.

partgypsy

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #54 on: August 05, 2015, 08:42:13 PM »
I personally wouldn't feel comfortable feeding my cat raw meat I got from the supermarket. Factory farming has really increased both drug resistance and also contamination, commercial meat is more likely to be contaminated than what cats in their ancestry would have been exposed to from killing and eating freshly killed animals. I'm sure they have a much higher tolerance than we do, but it can still sicken and kill them.

There are definitely some distasteful things about commercial cat (and dog) food, which I won't get into (can look it up if you want to). Despite that, I know of numerous cats, who lived to 18-20 years of age on commercial cat food. Their vets seemed to think they were doing just fine too. I don't think there are any commercial catfood that are grain-based, which means the majority of calories, etc comes from grain.

I know my lil kitty probably won't live that long. She was a rescue and addition to her mouth issues had pretty much everything you can treat for when we got her, including (corrected - tapeworm), so I don't think she will reach maximum life span. But she has a good quality of life for what she has. 
« Last Edit: August 05, 2015, 09:14:30 PM by partgypsy »

Cromacster

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #55 on: August 06, 2015, 07:12:45 AM »

You do realize that commercial pet foods kill thousands of animals every year from salmonella and ecoli poisoning. 

I feed raw and I'm willing to put the time and effort to ensure my dog gets the proper nutrition.  It's really not that much work.  Proper nutrition can easily be monitored by yearly bloodwork. 

Plus, he looks so damn happy while he is crunching on a duck carcass.

Yes, I know that there have been outbreaks of salmonella and ecoli in commercial pet foods. The risks of those infections in raw vs. conventional diets is specifically addressed in the article I linked to. Did you read it?

If you do, you will notice that the presence of infectious pathogens is significantly smaller in commercial pet foods when compared to raw foods. Canned food is particularly safe compared to raw diets. This makes sense because, as the CDC explains, cooking meat is one of the most effective tools at eliminating salmonella and ecoli.

Really, the review article covers all of the arguments- better nutrition, infectious disease, etc. If you haven't read it, please do. It is quite informative.

For those considering a raw-food diet, remember that a yearly nutritional panel is not enough to protect against infectious disease risks. You should have frequent testing for infectious pathogens, and should be extremely careful about having your animals around others, particularly the elderly or young, who can die or have permanent health issues upon infection.

I'm not trying to knock on people that feed their animals raw, although I do think they should warn guests of the risks when they enter your home or touch your animals. What does bother me, however, is when people attack those of us who have decided that canned food is better than raw. Particularly when they make scientific claims about raw food that just are not backed up by the science.

I'll start this with a caveat that I have not read the cited sources.  I'm also speaking from my experience with dogs as I don't have a cat.

Nutrition:  This section discussed the poor nutrition as a results from a raw diet.  What I gather from this is the diets given to the animals were completely inadequate.  The cats of focus recieved pig brain and oily fish, one received mainly pork liver, the puppies had 80% rice and 20% meat, the other stated had meat and bone.  A balanced diet will have a good mix of meat, bone, and organs.  If you are feeding an inadequate diet of course there are going to be nutritional deficiencies. 

Diseases:  Yes there is salmonella and ecoli on raw meat.  Part of this is the ways it's processed.  If you butcher your own animals you might be able to limit some of this, but these pathogens do live inside of animals.  The main reason that dogs don't have issues is that their digestive tract is designed to process meat, bone, and animal flesh.  It's a very short digestive tract that is highly acidic (much more so than humans).  It's not designed to process grains and starches.  Even grain free food is full of fibrous vegetable matter that dogs are not equipped to digest well.

Danger to others:  Listed right in your article

Quote
However, there have been no studies conclusively documenting the risk to either pets or owners.

This is just scare tactics.  A dog that eats raw meat isn't going to be anymore dangerous to others.  Clean the surfaces and areas you use to prepare and serve your food.  Wash your hands.  Don't play with the dogs poop.

Then the article nicely ends with:

Quote
What is lacking, however, is level 1 evidence from randomized controlled trials or strong level 2 evidence from large cohort studies to evaluate risks or benefits of raw meat diets in pets.

If I were to write the abstract of this article it would be:

Quote
Could a raw diet be bad for an animal if done improperly?  Yes.

Could the improper handling of raw meat or animals feces be bad for a human? Yes.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2015, 07:17:22 AM by Cromacster »

Sibley

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #56 on: August 06, 2015, 07:19:00 AM »
People, you do realize that this is a first world problem? And really not even then, given the number of stray and feral cats in the US alone. I'm more concerned with making sure animals get an adequate amount of food so they don't STARVE. The nature of that food is really the lesser concern.

And on that note - make sure you get your animals spayed or neutered and choose to adopt rescues.

Samsam

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #57 on: August 06, 2015, 07:38:02 AM »
And on that note - make sure you get your animals spayed or neutered and choose to adopt rescues.
+1

I think what I've learned from living with tons of cats as a child, is that the the evil ones live the longest....lol

Sibley

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #58 on: August 06, 2015, 11:37:36 AM »
And on that note - make sure you get your animals spayed or neutered and choose to adopt rescues.
+1

I think what I've learned from living with tons of cats as a child, is that the the evil ones live the longest....lol

I know! My mom had a cat when I was really little, I think I knew by about 1 year old to leave that cat alone. Ghia (the cat) was old, sick, and grumpy.

Tomacco

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #59 on: August 06, 2015, 02:11:45 PM »

There are definitely some distasteful things about commercial cat (and dog) food, which I won't get into (can look it up if you want to). Despite that, I know of numerous cats, who lived to 18-20 years of age on commercial cat food. Their vets seemed to think they were doing just fine too. I don't think there are any commercial catfood that are grain-based, which means the majority of calories, etc comes from grain.

You don't think they make grain based cat food? Cheap food is mostly grain based.Check out the ingredients in meow mix. The first 2 ingredients are corn. And cats don't eat corn. You can feed your cat this for awhile, your vet could easily think he is doing fine. But your cat won't live up to their full potential. They will get kidney stones from dehydration, which is very painful for cats, and kills them very quickly without surgery.
you can pay for good food now, or vet bills later

MinimalistMoustache

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #60 on: August 08, 2015, 12:08:17 AM »

[/quote]Don't feel too bad. My cats refuse to eat anything that remotely resembles real food. Including wet food that resembles real food. Except cheese. They will eat cheese right from my mouth, if I was willing to engage in that behavior.
[/quote]

Ha ha ha ha .... please don't tell my cat about this.
He loves cheddar and already quite spoiled :-)

MinimalistMoustache

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #61 on: August 08, 2015, 12:16:48 AM »
Our 3 cats drink quite a bit of water. The secret for our cats was using a big glass bowl (2 qt) and keeping it very clean. We have other smaller drinking bowls, but they use the big one exclusively. They like to be able to put their heads into the bowl to drink.

This sounds like a good idea and worth trying. I keep their food and water bowls very, very clean but have noticed they sometimes rarely touch the water -- which is currently in two small bowls placed aside their food bowls of the same size.

MinimalistMoustache

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #62 on: August 08, 2015, 12:24:02 AM »
what is the consensus on giving cats milk/cream?

Taken mostly from: http://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/cats-and-dairy-get-the-facts as well as personal experience.

Does anyone know or have experience with cats and pureed pumpkin? I've done some basic reading and it might help with my chubby one's diet, but I'd love to hear someone's first hand experience if possible!

Lis,

My older cat likes pumpkin if it's mixed with his grain-free wet food. He also likes sweet potatoes -- straight up from my plate :-)

This guy is also a big cheddar cheese aficionado; the vet said giving him a little bit now and then is A-okay. I brought him home as a feral kitten. He's now a healthy "old man" and just celebrated his 14th birthday.

MinimalistMoustache

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #63 on: August 08, 2015, 12:29:28 AM »
.... And on that note - make sure you get your animals spayed or neutered and choose to adopt rescues.

Yes, yes, yes.
Excellent point Sibley!

Lis

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #64 on: August 10, 2015, 09:41:37 AM »
Haha my skinny one LOVES cheese. My cats usually don't beg, but if I make anything with cheese he's sitting right next to me on the couch and pawing at me. He also loves cheesecake. When he was a kitten, my dad had a plate with cheesecake and left it unattended on the dining room table. Now as kittens, we taught them not to go on the table and didn't give them much human food. My dad returns to the table to find the little fluffball chowing down, happy as could be. Anytime he had cheesecake after that, kitty was like a bird, constantly on his shoulder, swatting at the fork. He was successful a few times too - my dad is not much of a disciplinarian when it comes to pets.

Bacon. Bacon is another with both of them. And shrimp with the chubby one. Oh man, the stories...

For those of you who buy your canned food - where do you buy it, and what do you get? I thought I was getting a good deal from ~$0.47 a can, but I have no idea how some of you are getting by on less than $10 a month...

Sibley

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #65 on: August 10, 2015, 10:30:37 AM »
Honestly, I went the easy route. Ordered 4 cases of Fancy feast from Petco, set up the repeat delivery. So I'll get a $30 gift card for setting that up. I did check a couple other sites, and no one else had a better price yesterday.

totoro

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #66 on: August 10, 2015, 10:32:58 AM »
Our dog has been fed home-made food for seven years and has never had any medical issues.  We started making her (cooked not raw) food plus a marrow bone a day after their was a pet food recall and a bunch of dogs died in Canada due to contamination from melamine.

I'm a fan of making your own pet food but I can see that some people wouldn't enjoy it - especially raw food recipes.  I'm not really interested in grinding my own meat and bone or cleaning the grinder after.

We are planning on getting cats so I've looked into recipes.  For those who don't want to feed raw due to fears about pathogens and grossness there are cooked recipes available for cats too that have supplements like taurine and Vitamin A added at the end.  Given the fact that canned and dried commercial cat foods are cooked and cats survive on this I think this is a good compromise for us.

In my unscientific study of my own experiences with a cooked recipe it is easy, cheap to make in batches, freezes well, my dog loves it and at nine she appears more energetic than her littermates fed commercial food. 

snuggler

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #67 on: August 10, 2015, 01:50:56 PM »
Yes, I know that there have been outbreaks of salmonella and ecoli in commercial pet foods. The risks of those infections in raw vs. conventional diets is specifically addressed in the article I linked to. Did you read it?

If you do, you will notice that the presence of infectious pathogens is significantly smaller in commercial pet foods when compared to raw foods. Canned food is particularly safe compared to raw diets. This makes sense because, as the CDC explains, cooking meat is one of the most effective tools at eliminating salmonella and ecoli.

Really, the review article covers all of the arguments- better nutrition, infectious disease, etc. If you haven't read it, please do. It is quite informative.

For those considering a raw-food diet, remember that a yearly nutritional panel is not enough to protect against infectious disease risks. You should have frequent testing for infectious pathogens, and should be extremely careful about having your animals around others, particularly the elderly or young, who can die or have permanent health issues upon infection.

I'm not trying to knock on people that feed their animals raw, although I do think they should warn guests of the risks when they enter your home or touch your animals. What does bother me, however, is when people attack those of us who have decided that canned food is better than raw. Particularly when they make scientific claims about raw food that just are not backed up by the science.

Cats have salmonella naturally in their gi tract.. So putting it in their food doesn't make any difference. If anything some salmonella strengthens their gi tract. Thousands of years of eating raw food makes their lil tummies pretty tough 😃
What they don't like is rendered, processed, chemically ridden, overprocessed, inorganic, grain-based food, which is what has come about in the last 100 years
They can survive on a commercial diet, but not thrive.

Where is the evidence for your statement that cats can't thrive on commercial? People always say that, but I haven't found any raw food proponent whose beliefs were not entirely based on anecdote. And why would someone like me trust someone else's anecdote when my cats have only thrived on commercial diets, and became very ill when I tried out raw diets?

Also, btw, cats most definitely are affected by salmonella.  Just ask any vet.  That is why there are recalls on cat food based on salmonella deaths. The health consequences of salmonella infection in cats is also well documented in the scientific literature.

It is important to remember that just because something may be present somewhere in the GI tract, it does NOT mean it is ok to eat. For example, ecoli is present in virtually any animal's feces, including your own. However, this does not mean that it is safe for you to eat feces. Certain parts of your GI tracts are built to handle such bacteria, and others (i.e., your stomach) are not so well-equipped.

Just like humans, most infected with salmonella that aren't elderly or young will not die, and some may not even outwardly show symptoms. However, that does not mean they are not shedding virus into their environments, or themselves affected internally.
« Last Edit: August 10, 2015, 02:41:40 PM by snuggler »

Tomacco

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #68 on: August 10, 2015, 02:41:25 PM »
I don't need to ask a vet, because I am a vet (retired) I've treated well over 20,000 pets.
Commercial food is bad because it fills your pet up with things they cannot process. Imagine adding rocks to your food as a filler. That's just what commercial does with carbs. Cats don't process carbs just like you don't process rocks. Carbs turn to fat, and dehydrate your cat, which gives them endless problems
If you can find a commercial food with less than ten percent carbs, then as far as carbs- that's okay. They make some, but you pay through the nose for it.

snuggler

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #69 on: August 10, 2015, 03:00:46 PM »
I don't need to ask a vet, because I am a vet (retired) I've treated well over 20,000 pets.
Commercial food is bad because it fills your pet up with things they cannot process. Imagine adding rocks to your food as a filler. That's just what commercial does with carbs. Cats don't process carbs just like you don't process rocks. Carbs turn to fat, and dehydrate your cat, which gives them endless problems
If you can find a commercial food with less than ten percent carbs, then as far as carbs- that's okay. They make some, but you pay through the nose for it.

I am quite skeptical that you were a vet, and somehow did not know that salmonella infection can be harmful or even fatal to cats. If true, that is the most shocking thing I have read in a long time. You should know that your own industry disagrees with you, and has done countless studies, published tons of articles, and even written entire books on salmonella infection in domestic animals, all of which discuss how salmonella infection can harm or kill cats.

And, if you are a vet, I would love to see the evidence for your statement that "They can survive on a commercial diet but not thrive."

Surely you wouldn't make such a sweeping statement without peer-reviewed scientific evidence, correct?

totoro

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #70 on: August 10, 2015, 03:27:16 PM »
Caveat: I am not a vet. 

Here is a statement from one though:

"these potentially harmful bacteria that naturally exist in your pet’s GI tract are there, whether you feed raw foods or not. Your pet is already contaminated with salmonella. Dogs and felines are designed to be able to handle these bacterial loads that are quite foreign to human GI tracts.

Pets have evolved to be able to handle heavy bacterial loads in food. They are well-equipped via nature to be able to handle heavy doses of abnormal bacteria because they catch and kill live food. Dogs’ and felines’ stomachs are highly acidic, with a PH of 1. We know that at that PH level, there’s nothing that can survive healthy stomach acid. That stomach acid is there in such high quantities to be able to effectively remove many of these potentially contaminated meat sources.

In addition, your dogs and felines are wired with a tremendous amount of bile. Bile is also anti-parasitic and anti-pathogenic. Bile is a secondary defense. Dogs and felines have strong pancreatic enzymes that help digest and break down food. Their bodies are given built-in, God-given resources to be able to effectively cope with heavier bacterial loads."

http://felineinstincts.com/dontworryaboutsalmonellawhenfeedingrawtoyourcats/

And another vet stating exactly the opposite:

"Ample evidence exists for the risk of Salmonella contamination in raw food diets; thus, it is advised that pet owners avoid feeding raw food diets to pets."

http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2011/06/salmonella-and-other-risks-of-raw-pet-diets/

Helpful hey?


snuggler

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #71 on: August 10, 2015, 03:28:27 PM »

I'll start this with a caveat that I have not read the cited sources.  I'm also speaking from my experience with dogs as I don't have a cat.

Nutrition:  This section discussed the poor nutrition as a results from a raw diet.  What I gather from this is the diets given to the animals were completely inadequate.  The cats of focus recieved pig brain and oily fish, one received mainly pork liver, the puppies had 80% rice and 20% meat, the other stated had meat and bone.  A balanced diet will have a good mix of meat, bone, and organs.  If you are feeding an inadequate diet of course there are going to be nutritional deficiencies. 

Diseases:  Yes there is salmonella and ecoli on raw meat.  Part of this is the ways it's processed.  If you butcher your own animals you might be able to limit some of this, but these pathogens do live inside of animals.  The main reason that dogs don't have issues is that their digestive tract is designed to process meat, bone, and animal flesh.  It's a very short digestive tract that is highly acidic (much more so than humans).  It's not designed to process grains and starches.  Even grain free food is full of fibrous vegetable matter that dogs are not equipped to digest well.

Danger to others:  Listed right in your article

Quote
However, there have been no studies conclusively documenting the risk to either pets or owners.

This is just scare tactics.  A dog that eats raw meat isn't going to be anymore dangerous to others.  Clean the surfaces and areas you use to prepare and serve your food.  Wash your hands.  Don't play with the dogs poop.

Then the article nicely ends with:

Quote
What is lacking, however, is level 1 evidence from randomized controlled trials or strong level 2 evidence from large cohort studies to evaluate risks or benefits of raw meat diets in pets.

If I were to write the abstract of this article it would be:

Quote
Could a raw diet be bad for an animal if done improperly?  Yes.

Could the improper handling of raw meat or animals feces be bad for a human? Yes.

I think you missed a few of the important points:

"There are no published level 1, 2, or 3 studies of nutritional risk or benefit of raw meat feeding to dogs or cats."

For those who don't read these types of articles regularly, this means that there is not any good peer-reviewed evidence showing that raw food is any better for your dogs or cats than cooked food. If anyone tells you otherwise, their belief is probably based on pure anecdote.

"There are several studies that document the presence of infectious agents in raw foods and the potential for contaminating or shedding these agents in the pet’s environment."

Self-explanatory.

"[T]he study demonstrated that Salmonella can cause disease in pets and that humans in contact are at risk."

"Salmonella present in a pet’s food can affect humans in the household, with young children being at the greatest risk for exposure."

Self-explanatory.

"As there appears to be strong evidence that raw food can contain Salmonella, it is vitally important, if feeding a raw meat diet to a pet, that hygiene of the food preparation area and the feeding bowls be diligently maintained. This may, however, be difficult to achieve. A recent study found that standard methods of cleaning and disinfecting food bowls were minimally effective at eliminating Salmonella (35). This included soaking with bleach and cleaning in a dishwasher."

This means that not even bleach was able to effectively reduce the Salmonella risk from preparing raw food at home.

"Salmonella infections have been reported in cats (39–40). In one of the reports, the infection was associated with raw diet and the infection was fatal."

To help Tomacco start to read the evidence of how salmonella can harm and kill cats.

And the conclusion:

"Clearly, there is some compelling evidence suggesting that raw food diets may be a theoretical risk nutritionally. In addition, raw food poses a substantial risk of infectious disease to the pet, the pet’s environment, and the humans in the household. What is lacking, however, is level 1 evidence from randomized controlled trials or strong level 2 evidence from large cohort studies to evaluate risks or benefits of raw meat diets in pets. There is, though, sufficient evidence available that veterinarians should feel obligated to discuss the human health implications of a client’s decision to use a raw meat-based food for their pet."

Again, if anyone has any evidence that raw is better, I'm completely open to reading it. But I have been unable to find any evidence of that myself, and no raw-food proponent has ever been able to point me to anything peer-reviewed or trustworthy.

Tomacco

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #72 on: August 10, 2015, 04:08:51 PM »
While salmonellosis can be fatal for cats, it's usually secondary. It's not something healthy cats have problems with. you don't have to believe me- just google it

http://feline-nutrition.org/nutrition/spooked-by-salmonella-raw-food

That's a good website for people that don't know much about cats.. Read up! 😁

MrsPete

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Re: Pet Food - Cost of Feeding 2 Cats
« Reply #73 on: August 11, 2015, 11:44:30 AM »
This is a bit off-topic because it's about my dog.  I don't have a cat any longer.  Still, I think the point is relevant: 

My dog has a tricky stomach.  It's typical for his breed.  When I buy him cheap food, he throws it up -- aside from the health issues, no one wants to clean up dog vomit.  When I buy him the Blue Wilderness Simple Ingredients dog food, he's FINE.  He came from the shelter about a year ago, and it's amazing to see just how much he's changed since he came to us.  He's the picture of health, super active, and such a loving dog. 

As for cost, each bag is expensive -- $35 if it's full price, but I can usually get an online coupon -- but I noted on the calendar when I opened a bag, and it's lasting him TWO FULL MONTHS.  My inclination was that he was going through it faster, but now that I realize I'm only buying six bags per year, I'm fine with paying for the better stuff.