Despite their current status as domesticated pets, cats are natural-born hunters who evolved eating a raw, prey-based diet. Cats in the wild devour the entire animal – basically a combination of raw meat, bones (a valuable source of calcium) and offal.
Different parts of the cat’s prey provide the nutrients they need to remain healthy, and while these are all included in a high-quality processed cat food, commercial cat food includes extras (such as fillers, vegetables and grains) that your cat doesn’t need.
As obligate carnivores cats need a meat based diet, and preferably raw meat as the cooking process destroys essential nutrients. Below, we outline the many benefits of feeding your cat a raw food diet similar to the one that nature intended.
1. Improved Digestion
Cats evolved eating a predominantly meat based diet and their bodies are design to digest raw meat far more efficiently than plant based carbohydrates. They have short, acidic digestive systems which means a protein meal usually only takes a short 12 hours to pass through.
Feline bodies are not designed to eat and digest carbohydrates (often a mainstay of commercial pet foods) in the same way that humans or dog can and in fact, they don’t produce the enzymes required to efficiently process carbohydrates. In the wild, the only carbohydrates cats eat are found pre-digested in the intestines of prey animals.
Feeding your cat a biologically appropriate raw food diet allows them to process food more efficiently and eat the way nature intended.
Image: Konstantin Merenkov via Flickr
2. Smaller, Less Smelly Poop
When cats are fed a species appropriate raw food diet, their bodies utilise more of their food, so there is less waste to eliminate and less poop to scoop. A poop problem with Charlie was our primary reason for switching to a raw food diet (he has subsequently been diagnosed with IBD), but we have since transitioned the entire Pawesome Cats family to raw.
Let’s talk stools for a second. When our cats ate commercial, processed cat food their stools were bigger, smeller and more regular (daily in most cases). Now, on a raw food diet their stools are much smaller (half the size), dry and crumbly and with minimal smell. They also use the litter-box far less frequently, usually only every 2-3 days.
Image: Bruno Cordioli via Flickr
3. More Energy
Have you ever felt lethargic and tired when you’ve eaten too much sugar or unhealthy food? And then, when you make a conscious change to focus on healthier food options, you notice your energy levels improve — it’s no different for cats.
When your cat eats the diet that nature intended for them, they become physically and mentally more stimulated. Charlie is the perfect example, a former couch potato he has become a lot more active and interested in play since we switched him to a raw food diet. The combination of a raw food diet and increased activity has also resulted in him shedding those extra kilograms. So, it’s a win-win situation for us.
Image: yoppy via Flickr
4. Better Oral and Dental Health
Dental health in cats is part genetics and part diet. When your cat eats carbohydrate-loaded kibble as part of their diet, they get that furry feeling on their teeth which leads to a build up of plaque and tartar, just like us humans.
Cats who eat a raw food diet usually have stronger jaws, clean teeth and healthier gums. They often have better smelling breath too! When a cat tears and chews chunks of raw meat and eats raw meaty bones (we feed the tips of chicken wings and quail pieces) these act like a toothbrush – it’s a bit like brushing and flossing in one.
Oral and dental health is more important than you might realise, as bacterial infections that start in the mouth often spread internally to other organs and parts of the body.
Image: Quinn Dombrowski via Flickr
5. Overall Improved Condition
Besides improved digestion, smaller and less smelly poop, more energy and better dental health you’ll probably notice a few other changes in your cat when you switch to a high quality raw protein diet. Your cat’s skin will benefit from the fatty acids found in a raw food diet, and their fur will be softer, shinier and less prone to shedding. You’ll probably notice a reduction in hairballs too.
Since transitioning our cats to a raw food diet I have seen first-hand all of these benefits which is why I am now such a strong advocate for raw feeding cats. For Charlie, the result has been a huge improvement in his quality of life.
>>> To learn more, check out our Raw Feeding articles.
I have fed my dogs raw off and on, but not the kitties yet. I like this post. Makes me want to try this with my own 🙂
We might have to try Ricky on raw again. He didn’t seem to care for it when we gave it to him last time.
I’ve read a lot about the benefits of raw feeding for cats. I’m glad it’s working for some. I don’t have plans to switch at this time, but I do like to keep informed about it.
It is amazing what a species appropriate diet can do for a kitty! Cat food is slowly evolving. I think it some ways that slowness has to do with misconceptions that many people have about nutrition in general. All of the carbs that humans are eating these days aren’t good for us either. I love the idea of raw diets and it is something that I would love to be able to do, but to make a long story short, I’m doing the best I can with the resources I have.
I am trying REALLY hard to get Dusty (14) to eat 100% raw but he won’t. I know its better for him so I try to make it predominantly Jimbo’s raw or Feline Natural freeze dried raw as a compromise. I know it’s a slow steady process transitioning to raw and you can’t just ‘do it’ – fair enough. I will keep trying with Dusty. Some of our others do not like raw at the moment, but others enjoy a portion!
Great information thanks! I hate when people try to make their cats vegetarian. I’ve never tried feeding raw, but have tried freeze dried raw, my dogs love it!
I have started adding a bit of freeze dried raw as a topper to Rosie’s food. She’s mildly interested so we will keep experimenting and see what happens.
I’m going to switch to raw for one of my dogs as soon as I can. The health benefits are amazing. It’s great to know it’s so good for cats too!
I love the idea of a raw diet, processed food just can’t be the best way to feed any animal, but I’m so worried about messing it up, especially since my pets already do okay with their kibble.
Mr. N loves eating raw and we’ve definitely noticed a difference since we switched.
This is great info for anyone with a cat! All benefits are amazing, but I think my sister would say that her cat doesn’t need more energy ?
These are such great reasons to feed a raw food diet to cats. I am looking into making the switch!
I haven’t tried feeding my cat raw food yet. My main issue is preparing having time to prepare the food (and there are no freeze or dry raw food alternatives where I live).
We eat a partly raw diet, and it works great for us! It would be even better if we could always eat raw, but price wise, it’s prohibitive since my human doesn’t grind it herself. Binga does get a mostly-raw diet, because she has been helped the most by it.
Raw diets are great, but I feel like there are many cat owners who don’t really understand what a complete raw diet entails. Many cat owners completely forget about the importance of feeding organs, bones (or replacements), and proper supplementation. There’s so many great resources out there, and many established recipes. If your new to raw feeding, please seek out these resources (there are many great articles here at pawesomecats)!!
Mum finally switched us to raw feeding three weeks ago, and we all love it : Zorro eats with pleasure, as if he had always been waiting for being fed raw, I love meaty bones, and Mum is delighted to see that we product small non-stinking stools. Joy is in the air ! Purrs
I would love to switch Cosmo to raw, but he’s not interested. So I’ve started adding freeze dried raw to his meals and I’m working on transitioning him from kibble to canned. I bought several cases of Tiki Cat (through our co-op) and he’s barely interested. I’ll be trying Bravo next. He’s so frustrating, but I love him.