Cat Nutrition: The Food, The Bad, & The Ugly Part 3: Raw Food!

Welcome back, Greenhorn! Are you ready for the final Cat Nutritional showdown? In part 3 of our journey through nutritional choices for your cats, this is the end of the line. You’ve probably heard a lot about raw diets for cats and I’m here to set you straight! If you care about the ultimate health of your cats, watch this video!

Some of the resources I mentioned in this video - check them out for the facts (and take some time to explore each site for even more info)!

▶︎ Website with MANY resources - from an introduction to a raw diet to recipes for a homemade diet and much more:

▶︎What cats would be eating in depth from Dr. Lisa Pierson:

▶︎Debunking some myths about the dangers of raw food for cats from Dr. Jean Hofve:

▶︎Great info from. great source - Dr. Karen Becker:

▶︎More info on raw food for cats from Tracy Dion:

▶︎ The products I mentioned in this video:
Jackson Galaxy Probiotics and Enzymes:

Jackson Galaxy Solutions Happy Tummy:

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[anthonynguyen]

Could we have a “Beginner’s raw cat food recipe” video? That would help so much!

[tammyt]

I studied Veterinary Technology for a while and I remember being so confused being taught that our pets have a more delicate digestive system than us, yet our heavily Purina sponsored Nutrition class insisted carbs and cholesterol were 'harmless' and animals needed tons of empty fillers. It was jarring and none of the instructors seemed to see the disconnect.

[nannybannany]

INTERESTING. The vet I took my kittens to actually told me to let my kittens "free feed" on the kibble. I told her I was feeding them only wet food instead of anything dry and she asked me why. Now I feel like I should switch vets....

[laurenaliciaaily]

Jackson!!! Tell us!! What are you feeding your cats? Brands, delivery services, supplements. What are the companies and brands we can trust? Or ingredients we can look for to know if the brand is healthy and worth the money. Thanks cat daddy!

[dabbindips]

just got my first kitten today and wow am i glad i found you sir, have been binge learning for HOURS now. Thank you Jackson

[meganhuffmanwrites]

Okay, so it's not *technically* a raw food success story, but it's pretty close. When we adopted our 15 year old cat in November, she was sent with a big bag of Hill's Science Diet dry food for weight control. She was overweight, her coat was brittle feeling and matted, her skin was flaky (she literally had like this dandruff kind of flakes all throughout her fur that would come off of her when you pet or brushed her), and we were told she slept all day and wasn't interested in toys because, y'know she was a senior cat. Well, after doing a *ton* of research before we brought her home, I decided we'd feed our cat Tiki Cat wet food (which as far as I can find is the closest to a raw diet as you can find in stores). It includes bone, cartilage, and organ meat and nice actual pieces of meat in shreds or chunks (for fish), it's not a can of brown pattee or those weird homogeneous cubes in gravy, it's actual meat in real meat juices with a nutritionally complete recipe (all the supplements Jackson listed in the vid). When she came home with us, I tossed the kibble and transitioned her pretty quickly to Tiki Cat exclusively. Anyway, we have had her for 2 ish months now and guys, she is like a different cat. She's energetic, loves to play and *leaps* through the air to catch her favorite air prey toy. She's 15 yrs old and she hunts and stalks and plays like a kitten again (granted, in small bursts, but still). Her coat is amazing now! (I dematted it her first week with us) It's shiny and soft and her dandruff is totally gone! Her skin is clearly healthier and she used to have that crusty red buildup on each side of her eyes by her nose, but that's gone too! She has even lost 4lbs and she just seems so much healthier and happier than when we first got her. What I've learned from this is that proper nutrition is literally life changing, and I just wanted to share our success story! Best of luck with your cats!

[fiveminuterice]

I work at a pet supply store that specializes in pet nutrition and feeding raw is much less expensive than feeding canned food in most cases. I compared popular wet and raw brands at the store and used my 8 pound adult cat as the “control” to see how much I would feed of each a day and how much it would cost a day. Unless it’s the 12oz pate cans, raw is cheaper per meal. For example, if I only fed my cat Steve’s Quest chicken line, it would cost me around $1.40 a day. If I fed her Weruva’s chicken pate “press your lunch”, it would cost me around $3.60 a day. Not only is it cheaper, it’s more convenient. In some cases I can buy frozen raw cat food in bulk, defrost a few days worth in the fridge, and be set.

[davidschaftenaar]

I have been having this long running debate with my mom for years now about whether dry food or wet food is better. Our vet, strangely enough, supported dry food when asked. He even prescribed some supposedly beneficial special dry kibble for our elderly cat who had _kidney failure...!_ Here we were, administering subcutaneous fluids daily — And _still_ feeding the poor guy bonedry kibble.
I wish I had trusted my instincts back then. He was the greatest cat I've ever known; Even winning over an outspoken non-catperson friend of mine with his gentle charm. He will always be missed. 🐈‍⬛🕯️

[cyriael]

Jackson, you forgot to mention the fact that their poop doesn't smell!! It's worth it just for that! :)

[aly]

I fed my last cat homemade raw and she had a long happy life of 20 years. I just adopted two kittens last month and I've got them on Stella and Chewy's freeze dried raw (add water and it becomes a slurry) and these guys have so much energy compared to how sick they were when I got them. I'm hoping I can get another 20 years out of them. Raw for life!

[UnimaginablyUncreative]

Would love a more comprehensive follow up video for raw feeding that answers beginners’ questions like what meats to feed, how to determine how much to feed your cat, how to prepare a meal, and any tips you have for raw feeding!

[Rayne_Storms]

Can we get a like cooking show style walkthrough of making a big batch of raw food? Maybe a couple different options for those of us with picky eaters? That would be awesome.

[fldhkybnva]

My cats LOVE their raw food diet. It has put my oldest cat’s IBD into remission. I have a new kitten and she transitioned seamlessly from kibble to raw food. It’s almost as if she was designed to eat it 😂

[sarasthoughts]

Red Dead Redemption looks different here

[michelleb]

Hey, Jackson, just wanted to let you know how thankful we are that we watched this video and took your advice! After watching this series, we decided to switch our cats to a raw homemade diet. Our younger cat is a rescued singlet that my husband found abandoned at one week old. She tends to be a bit on the lazy side and was really putting on weight which was increasing her laziness. Our other cat is a very active cat and trying to do meet both their needs with commercial cat food was a struggle. Homemade raw food was the answer, we are just a few months in and our lazy girl has de-chonked considerably, she's much more playful and even gets the zoomies like a young cat should. Both cats have gained considerable lean muscle, their eyes are bright and their coats are incredibly soft and shiny. If they could type, they would thank you because they absolutely love the taste. I fully believe that making this switch has changed our cats lives for the better. Thanks again!

[katieomeara]

Thank you Jackson! Too many people are ignorant to the nutritional needs of their cats. People only feed their cats dry food for the convenience and low cost.

I had a cat more than 20 years ago that was going to die from eating store bought cat food. He would vomit any cat food we gave him. Basically, his system could no longer process any store bought cat food. We took him to a holistic cat veterinarian who told us that he needed to switch to a raw meat diet or he would die. It took a lot of time and patience to switch him over to a raw diet, but it saved his life. Remarkably, he lived to be 18 years old. Due to that experience, I am CONVINCED that a raw meat diet is the absolute best for cats. I absolutely only feed my cats a raw meat diet :)

[TheStwet]

I just adopted a baby girl “Athena” 1 yr old today, she’s staying in my room for the meantime before introducing her to Scott 3 year old cat. wish me luck!

[KittyFantastico]

The problem with pre-prepared raw diets are that they're so unregulated. Here in the UK we've had issues with raw pre-prepared food giving cats bovine TB. I rescued two kittens that came from a house where the owner died leaving 15 cats...and watched one of them slowly die over two months, at the end being unable to both sleep and breath. They were both diagnosed with bovine TB...as we're all the other cats from the household. All of the other cats but the one we had left were put down...ours spent 6months + on antibiotics...and we had to be tested for TB. It was a living hell and never want to go through it again. It was confirmed that it was all from raw food...and theres a researched instance of a sold raw food infecting cats around the country. Not being able to afford to feed our cat human grade meat every day, I'll never feed commercial raw food as it's not regulated enough and the infection risk is too high for me. It's not about salmonella or conditions that they can get over....I don't just have a fear, I've lived it .

[valerijerger]

I wish freeze dried raw was included in this conversation. There are so many products now and I'd love to know more about including it as a supplement with true raw food. I feed my cat both raw and freeze dried raw and he seems very happy and supper soft & healthy. I also would have liked to hear about pre-ground frozen raw that you get at the pet store.

[meemomcphail]

It's hard to have a dialogue with a vet who is anti raw. Thank you for this video. 😺