Partially Cooking Raw

[Jacq]

Hmmm, good point, John.

 

[Jacq]

That has never happened to my cats, though in the 7 or so years I've been feeding raw.

 

[jungle boy]

Just was reading about partially cooking raw food before it goes through the grinder. As I understand it's to remove the possibility of surface bacteria and only cooking the meat to 20% or less done.

My concerns have risen just thinking things through with the fragility of our older cats. Not that they aren't in good health, but when they do get sick it's no longer just a day or two before they regain their health. A bacteria incident could have far greater consequences than the benefits of feeding raw.

Anyway, just was wondering if anyone has partially cooked their raw, or if anyone has any steadfast reason they don't.

I drop my chicken into rapidly boiling water for a minute or two. The meat is still raw except for the outside coating of about 1/16 of an inch or so. Not sure if it's that crucial but it makes me feel better!

 

[John Popp]

That has never happened to my cats, though in the 7 or so years I've been feeding raw.

We have had 3 incidences over the last 10 years that I believe were related to food, none of which related to raw which we have been doing in part for several years and practically in whole for the last year. The one incident was so bad that all three cats were effected and none of them could hold down much if any food for the better part of 5 days. One required an overnight vet stay and was the reason we parted ways with our former vet's office as we were told he was doing much better and came home still unable to eat and not taking on any fluids.

After finally getting them on their feet, that's when we decided we needed better control of their food. We'll never really know the root cause, because a vet isn't likely to do a full set of lab work until they have exhausted their catch all attempts at treatment. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, just that you never really know the root cause of the problem.

Anyway, I go to great lengths to feed my cats a healthy diet as anyone who is grinding raw meat and bone does. I shop at places that aren't on our regular grocery run to assure that the food I am putting in them is far better than what we put into ourselves. The difference being is that none of the foods they eat are held to a standard of being bacteria free raw, no matter how much organic care and free range environments they were raised in. That always has given me pause, although I'm not ready to jump into partially cooking things before I run it through the grinder.