feeding my cat raw liver

[blarson]

I have a 21/2 yr. old male cat. He loves raw liver. I give him a little everyday, will this harm him?

[blarson]

Originally posted by SpencerTheLion:
Short answer: I free feed Nutro or IAMS dry food with fresh tuna 1-2 a week.

When it comes to pet nutrition, I am by no means an expert. If liver was a once in a week treat (which is what I do with tuna), it would not seem to be a problem. Keep in mind the better cat foods have the vitamins and minerals cats need. Taurtine, for example was discovered in the late 1980s to be good for a cat's eyes & heart. So taurtine was added to cat food. A rescue webite in Colorado recommends a lot of fresh meat, but I'm afraid to try. What they are doing may be very sound, but it would seem vitamin supplements probably should be added.

[gini]

Every time I have asked the vet about a suggestion for putting some weight on my cats I have gotten the same answer - a good commercial brand is the best because it will have all of the vitamins and minerals they need. So I guess we need to look at tuna or turkey or liver as a "treat" to be given occasionally, but not their regular diet. I have found if you give the treats too frequently they won't eat their regular food hoping that a treat will soon show up.

[ktreva52]

Originally posted by blarson:
I have a 21/2 yr. old male cat. He loves raw liver. I give him a little everyday, will this harm him?

The main difficulty I see with this is parasites that might be in the liver and get into the cat that way. The organ meats ARE very nutritious, but raw runs a risk of bad things. I would suggest talking to your vet about it and discuss where you might find really "clean" liver. Maybe switching to liver-flavored treats or teaching him to like cooked liver would be possible???

[blarson]

Originally posted by ktreva52:
The main difficulty I see with this is parasites that might be in the liver and get into the cat that way. The organ meats ARE very nutritious, but raw runs a risk of bad things. I would suggest talking to your vet about it and discuss where you might find really "clean" liver. Maybe switching to liver-flavored treats or teaching him to like cooked liver would be possible???

[blarson]

Originally posted by gini:
Every time I have asked the vet about a suggestion for putting some weight on my cats I have gotten the same answer - a good commercial brand is the best because it will have all of the vitamins and minerals they need. So I guess we need to look at tuna or turkey or liver as a "treat" to be given occasionally, but not their regular diet. I have found if you give the treats too frequently they won't eat their regular food hoping that a treat will soon show up.

[Troy]

Firstly I must say that I'm not a animal nutritionist. When it comes to feeding my two cats, Joe & Typha, I try to think about their natural eating habits. Felines are predators and as such gain the required vits/mins from their prey which they eat whole. I guess this way they are assured of getting a broad spectrum of nutrition. Raw meat alone will not replace a cats natural diet. If you were to feed your cat whole birds, fish, and mice then you might be close. I tend to feed my cats fresh raw meat at night including fish (sometimes pan fried fish when I'm feeling pathetic), lamb, beef, chicken and pork and a canned/tinned food in the morning. As with us I think variety is very important, I don't think any one food diet is good for a cat.

[blarson]

Everyone should read the article submitted by Spencer on cat nutrition. It is very informative, and makes alot of sense. Bette

[4 feline house]

Not an expert, either, but I trust any of the pet store brands, because they either have done the research or formulate according to the research (I forget the name of that large animal nutrition research center in the UK). I fed Friskies (which is probably one of the best grocery store foods - and I would still recommend it for people who cannot afford or choose for other reasons not to feed pet store foods) for years and always had FUS, tooth, and skin/coat problems. Then I started feeding Hills after k/d was prescribed for a kidney patient and I first read about the above mentioned nutrition research center. All nutrition related health problems ceased. Since Iams has come to the grocery store I've started using it, and like it even better than Hill's (although "best" can vary from cat to cat so this is certainly no indictment of the quality of Hill's). My cats are very active and healthy with very glossy coats (even the cat that doesn't have the "glossy" type fur), good skin and strong, clean teeth. One is overweight but he got that way on mother's milk, so I attribute it to his genes. I find it is in the long run no more expensive than Friskies, first of all because a smaller amount fills them up faster, also because there is less waste in the litter box so less litter needs to be purchased, and I have fewer vet bills. I buy the eight lb bag for about $13 and it feeds four cats for two weeks. I occasionally will give treats of cooked meat because I feel nothing in moderation will do any harm.

A good website for any pet concerns is Iam's: http://www.iams.com
but of course, they could be accused of being biased since they do sell pet food.

[lhg0962]

In regards to Iams, have you heard anything about them changing their formula when they decided to sell in the grocery store? I read it in a pretty rough discussion on another site. I'm so glad people don't take things so personally on this site!!
On our veterinarian's advice, our cat gets Purina Kitten Chow, even thought she is 11 years old. She is very small (6 pounds) and likes the dry formula. She does eat canned food everyday too. Plus, she catches many wild things and eats them too! Yuck!

[4 feline house]

I specifically asked my vet if the grocery store formula was the same as that sold at the pet stores and vets, and he says it is the same. I had not heard any rumors, but it made sense to me that it might have been what Iams was doing - creating a third market as such. My cats are doing so well on it, though, that I would tend to agree with my vet.

Adding this note the next day-just noticed that the Iams website that I cited in the previous post addresses this rumor.


[This message has been edited by 4 feline house (edited December 05, 2000).]

[ktreva52]

Just an FYI -- the UK research facility is Waltham Foods. They put out their own brand and also own Pedigree.

[Bastet]

From what I have read, liver is high in vitamin A and not good for a daily treat. I used to feed my kitties raw liver like once a month. I would wash it off first with a little hot water, don't know if that did anything or not for cleanliness.

I only stopped feeding my kitties raw liver because the butcher stopped carrying it.

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=^..^=

[lhg0962]

My veterinarian sells all kinds of specialized food himself, but he told me that Purina was as good as anything since they spend so much on research. My cat eats Purina Kitten Chow as mentioned earlier. I have decided to switch my dogs to something new (we've been on Pedigree) to work with their shedding problems and try to shine their coats up a little. My brother feeds his two black labs something called Diamond that he buys at a pet food store. They are lean and their coats are just gorgeous. Right now we are using the grocery store version of IAMS, but I'm going to do some research before settling on something. Cost is an issue with two big dogs who eat a lot. Sorry to get off on dog food, but I know there are so many choices for dogs and cats and you can just get so much misleading information.

[4 feline house]

To sum it all up-
Every cat is as different as every situation. I agree that the best is a pet/vet brand, the next best would be a name grocery store brand, and the ABSOLUTE worse is an off-brand. I also understand that there are some situations in which a full belly of anything is better than an empty belly. I almost always give Iams, but lately have fallen on some hard times and have had to switch to name-brand grocery store food. I forsee having to downgrade to an off-brand from there in the next few days. But my other choice would be to let my cats go hungry. I have never had a cat that would tolerate any Purina variey, and I also read a book written by a pet nutritionist that said Friskies was the best grocery store food, so that's what I've been feeding for the past few weeks. But that's what works for me, it's not that I think Purina is inferior. Over the years I have occasionally fed strays or ferals, and they got the cheapest brand available, because I couldn't afford to feed the wild animals premium cat food, but at least they were not going hungry. So what to feed is a very personal decision, based on financial considerations, the animal's situations, and the animal's tolerance and preferance.