Moggieslegacy
Savannah Super Cat
I have now had a substantial part of 2 of WC's 3 vet appointments, one with a potential new vet we saw today, taken up with "the lecture" on the dangers of raw feeding. Salmonella, E Coli, parasites, the concern both cats and humans might be at risk, and the potential for malnutrition because of a lack of essential micro-nutrients, and concerns the balance of calcium and phosphorous may be off.
I tried to explain I think I know what I am doing because there is a facebook group Cat CRAP which has this great calculator that will work out the 80/10/10 percentage of bone, organ and meat so the balance is right, (or in WC's case I feed 15% bone) , and a lot of people seem to be doing this with no problem, which got me an eye roll... And the vet was greatly relieved to hear both cats get fed at least some kibble and canned as well as raw. Which was the same direction the other vet wanted me to pursue. WC was entirely raw fed before he came to live with me...
I really want to find a vet I can work with as a team, but as I live in a remote area my options are really limited. I know I am not as generally knowledgeable as a vet, but my cats are my only patients, and with the internet I can usually access a lot of high quality current information on relevant health topics. I need a vet who will listen to me if I have seen some recent research that suggests a different approach than what they are thinking. Being labeled as some kind of misinformed irresponsible flake because I am raw feeding, or having my time wasted with the vets concerns about raw feeding, so other more serious health issues maybe are not addressed, really does not help.
As a compromise, the potential new vet said for now they are willing to agree to disagree, and they are following a study that is currently being done comparing raw fed to kibble fed cats, and is willing to suspend their concerns about the risks, until the results of the study are in. But if they also said if they are willing to respect to me, I need to respect them, and what the science shows. Which is reasonable if there is any actual science showing raw feeding is a significant risk...?
And I would hesitate to trust one study if it did not seem to have been set up in an unbiased way... or was funded by someone personally invested in a particular result... or if it seems to radically contradict what have seen just in my own experience and read of other peoples...
Why do so many vets seem so concerned about raw feeding? Is there any actual evidence or studies that have been done showing this is likely to be dangerous? Realistically, what are the risks?
I tried to explain I think I know what I am doing because there is a facebook group Cat CRAP which has this great calculator that will work out the 80/10/10 percentage of bone, organ and meat so the balance is right, (or in WC's case I feed 15% bone) , and a lot of people seem to be doing this with no problem, which got me an eye roll... And the vet was greatly relieved to hear both cats get fed at least some kibble and canned as well as raw. Which was the same direction the other vet wanted me to pursue. WC was entirely raw fed before he came to live with me...
I really want to find a vet I can work with as a team, but as I live in a remote area my options are really limited. I know I am not as generally knowledgeable as a vet, but my cats are my only patients, and with the internet I can usually access a lot of high quality current information on relevant health topics. I need a vet who will listen to me if I have seen some recent research that suggests a different approach than what they are thinking. Being labeled as some kind of misinformed irresponsible flake because I am raw feeding, or having my time wasted with the vets concerns about raw feeding, so other more serious health issues maybe are not addressed, really does not help.
As a compromise, the potential new vet said for now they are willing to agree to disagree, and they are following a study that is currently being done comparing raw fed to kibble fed cats, and is willing to suspend their concerns about the risks, until the results of the study are in. But if they also said if they are willing to respect to me, I need to respect them, and what the science shows. Which is reasonable if there is any actual science showing raw feeding is a significant risk...?
And I would hesitate to trust one study if it did not seem to have been set up in an unbiased way... or was funded by someone personally invested in a particular result... or if it seems to radically contradict what have seen just in my own experience and read of other peoples...
Why do so many vets seem so concerned about raw feeding? Is there any actual evidence or studies that have been done showing this is likely to be dangerous? Realistically, what are the risks?