Switching Your Cat To A Raw Diet

Your cat is an obligate carnivore evolved to use raw meat protein for quick power. A raw diet helps your feline maintain eye health, a balanced immune system, optimal energy, and weight control. Feeding a raw diet to your cat also helps prevent carbohydrate and starch-based diseases like diabetes mellitus, urinary tract infections (UTI), and irritable bowel disease (IBD). Go back to the basics, and meet your cat’s physical and digestive needs with the raw protein for which your cat is metabolically adapted.

The Evolution of "Cat Food"

The concept of "cat food" is undergoing a significant transformation from traditional kibble to raw meat diets. Historically, big pet food companies, driven by profit rather than optimal feline nutrition, utilized leftovers from human food processing to create convenient, cost-effective, and widely accepted dry cat food. However, this often did not align with the dietary needs of cats, leading some cat owners to experience a "light bulb moment" when they realized that what they were feeding their pets wasn't ideal.

This realization typically came during a crisis, such as a cat's illness or death, which prompted owners to reevaluate their pets' diets. Through educational efforts, like those by the Feline Nutrition Foundation, there has been a shift towards feeding cats raw meat diets, recognized for their health benefits and alignment with a cat's natural dietary needs. The foundation focuses on providing science-backed information and support for beginners, making the transition to raw diets more accessible than ever.

Today, the availability of prepared raw meat diets offers convenience and health benefits, challenging the traditional dominance of dry food. This shift not only represents a return to a more species-appropriate diet for cats but also a broader movement towards redefining "cat food" to mean raw meat, reflecting a diet that cats evolved to eat, much like their ancestral diet of prey. This change, while challenging long-held beliefs about pet feeding, promises greater health and vitality for cats, proving that sometimes, looking back to nature offers the best path forward. With this evolving understanding of what truly constitutes appropriate cat nutrition, let's explore the specific benefits of switching to raw cat food and how it can profoundly impact your cat's health and wellbeing.

7 Reasons To Switch Your Cat To A Raw Diet

1. Embrace Your Cat's Wild Ancestry with Natural Nutrition

To properly cater to your cat’s dietary needs, it's helpful to recognize their evolutionary background. Nearly identical to its Near Eastern and Egyptian ancestor, the species Felis sylvestris lybica (the African wildcat), your cat is a water-efficient hunter, an obligate carnivore reliant on animal tissue to meet its unique nutritional requirements.

Cats awaited the agricultural revolution (approximately 12,000 ago ) to decide to live among humans had its advantages. Grain stocks drew mice. Humans welcomed cats for their pest-control value, for not only did the rodent population drop, snakes and other venomous crawlies declined as well . Over time, the more human-tolerant wildcats “self-domesticated,” bred, and linked their fortunes to people. Yet, over the millennia, cats have changed little in their digestive abilities; they have a limited tolerance for food other than meat.

Cats, in their natural habitat, consume a natural raw diet, including rodents, small reptiles, and birds, which have high protein value, moderate fat content, and few carbohydrates. All cats are metabolically adapted to “preferentially use protein and fat as energy sources.” Cats use protein like athletes use carbs, but a diet heavy in carbohydrates decreases a cat’s ability to digest its glucose-producing proteins. Is your cat getting the meat she needs?

2. Keep Your Cat’s Eyes Healthy with Raw Meals Enhance Your Cat's Vision with Taurine-Rich Raw Diets

Your cat’s eyes have six to eight times more rod cells than yours and a 200-degree field of peripheral vision . Keeping cat peepers healthy requires taurine , an essential amino acid that maintains eye and heart as well as growth, reproduction, neurological development, hearing, and proper bile function . In the wild, cats get taurine from a raw diet of birds, rodents, and insects .

If you think your cat gets plenty of taurine from that gourmet canned cat food, think again. Heat destroys a good two-thirds of taurine in canned meat, not to mention other amino acids, enzymes, and nutrients. Cats need raw muscle and organ meats, which are loaded with taurine.

3. Balance Your Cat’s Immune System with a Raw Diet

Cats with balanced immune systems can handle occasional fleas, pollens, and ingesting occasional food that doesn’t agree with them . Their bodies respond by producing antibodies. Antibodies are like tiny Y-shaped bouncers that bind to irritants, escorting them out of the body. When a cat’s immune system is compromised, allergy symptoms arise. The antibody bouncers attach themselves to the threatening substances, but they can’t wrestle them out; they circulate in the bloodstream, triggering inflammation, itchiness, or worse.

If your cat exhibits an allergic response –scratching, sneezing, wheezing, runny eyes, ear infections, vomiting, snoring, or paw chewing to name a few—see your veterinarian. Discuss a raw diet to rebalance your cat’s immune system. Getting rid of biologically inappropriate foods like corn, soy, and wheat from your cat’s diet, your cat removes foods your cat is not equipped to digest. Try for a six-week period a raw protein choice that your cat has not previously eaten.

4. Energy and Manage Weight with Proper Nutrition

Cats are naturally predisposed to periods of high activity followed by extended rest. However, if a cat shows unusual lethargy or appears out of sorts, its diet may be contributing to the issue. 

The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention estimates that 58 percent of cats in the United States are obese. Well-intended Americans love their cats to death. Obese cats suffer from bladder and urinary tract disease, but also often develop diabetes. Implementing a diet rich in fresh meat may help mitigate these risks, promoting healthier and more active lifestyles for cats.

Many cat diseases go undetected and untreated. Diabetes mellitus can cause thirst, increased appetite, and unusual grooming habits. If left untreated, a diabetic cat may lose its appetite, vomit, become dehydrated, or have problems with motor function . Should your cat exhibit any of these symptoms, see a veterinarian, and discuss both medications and changing to a raw diet.

Note: switching to a low-carb diet if your cat receives insulin requires lowering the insulin dosage – otherwise, you will be putting your cat at significant risk for a hypoglycemic crisis. Talk to your vet.

5. Prevent Feline Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) and Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) by Feeding Raw

Urinary tract disease in cats is one of the most common reasons cats are abandoned to animal shelters . Sadly, this problem stems from grain-based starchy foods that drive up the pH of a cat’s urine , and that’s when Struvite crystals form in a cat’s concentrated urine.

Likewise, feline inflammatory bowel disease ( IBD ) may be caused and can be alleviated by diet. IBD is a group of gastrointestinal disorders that occur when inflammatory cells infiltrate and thicken the gastrointestinal tract, inhibiting the intestine’s proper functioning. One of the identifiable causes is a “food allergy.” A raw diet for cats with IBD can often help alleviate symptoms by eliminating common allergens and irritants found in processed foods, thereby providing a simpler, more natural diet that is easier on their digestive systems.

Prevention is key. Feeding cats food that supports a proper intestinal pH is essential for prevention and long-term therapy. Because dietary allergens are a recognized possible factor in IBD, a food trial using a fresh meat diet that the cat has never eaten may be recommended by your veterinarian.

6. Cats Prefer the Freshness and Taste of Raw Diets

Cats naturally prefer the freshness and taste of raw diets, which closely mimic their ancestral eating habits. Transitioning to this type of diet requires a thoughtful approach, especially if your cat is accustomed to the convenience of dry kibble. To ease this transition, establish regular feeding times and serve the food in a flat dish at roughly the cat's body temperature. These steps help mimic natural feeding conditions, making the raw diet more appealing. With patience and consistency, your cat will soon begin to show a preference for the freshness and rich flavors of their new raw meals, enjoying the health benefits that come with a diet tailored to their needs.

7. Experience the Convenience of Home Delivery Raw Diets

While some pet owners opt to create their own raw food diets using grocery store meat, this approach can present several challenges. The source and quality of the meat can be uncertain, which raises concerns about its suitability for pet consumption. Additionally, preparing these diets is often time-consuming and messy. Darwin’s is free-range, cage-free, and free of steroids, hormones, or chemical preservatives. Your cat’s meals come to you vacuum-sealed and frozen to keep vital nutrients intact. Darwin’s ensures balance and top-quality sourcing .

Meet your cat’s physical and digestive needs with a diet it will love . As a pet parent, you will love the deliver-to-your-door convenience.

Darwin’s Natural Selections™ Raw Cat Food offers a premium recipe featuring pasture-raised and free-roaming (cage-free) meat without any added antibiotics, steroids, or artificial hormones. It's made from 100% real meat—no vegetables—scientifically formulated to reflect your cat's natural diet. Available in multiple protein variations such as Chicken, Turkey, and Beef, these species-appropriate formulations are minimally processed to preserve vital nutrients, using only free-range, cage-free, or pasture-raised meats and crafted from human-quality ingredients that are ethically sourced. There are no grains, fillers, hormones, or chemical preservatives in our fresh cat food.

For cats with special health needs, Darwin’s offers the Intelligent Design™ Veterinary Recipe for Cats. Our vet recommended cat food is designed to provide supportive nutrition for cats with kidney disease. Available by prescription only, it includes a kidney support formula that, like our Natural Selections line, adheres to species-appropriate, minimally processed standards to maintain essential nutrients, using free-range, cage-free, or pasture-raised meats and human-quality ingredients without grains, fillers, hormones, or chemical preservatives.

How Do I Transition My Cat to Raw Food

Transitioning your cat to a raw food diet requires patience, persistence, and a strategic approach. Follow these steps to ensure a smooth change in your cat's feeding routine:

1. Introduce Wet Food: Start by mixing in wet food with their current dry food. Choose enticing options like sardines or other fish-based foods which are generally appealing to cats.
2. Use Strongly Scented Choices: Include Green Tripe in their diet, available from Darwin’s, known for its potent odor which can attract cats to the new food type.
3. Establish Scheduled Meal Times: If your cats like Sam, Tea, and Simba are accustomed to free feeding, set specific times for meals since raw food should not remain out all day.
4. Consider Meal Skipping: Occasionally skipping a meal can increase their appetite, making them more open to trying new types of food.
5. Feed with Confidence: Maintain a confident demeanor while feeding as cats can pick up on your emotions, which could affect their willingness to try new foods. Understanding cat body language can help you better interpret their reactions and adjust your approach accordingly.
6. Enhance the Appeal with Treats: Sprinkle tTreats or add freeze-dried options like chicken pieces or freeze-dried lamb lung as toppers to make the raw food more enticing.
7. Transition Slowly: Gradually replace more of the old food with raw food to help your cats adjust without stress, better meeting their natural dietary needs.

For more detailed guidance on how to communicate with your cat during this transition, explore resources on how to communicate with your cat. These can provide insights into their behavior and preferences, helping you make the diet change as smooth as possible.