The true science behind raw feeding

[Sherry]

Unfortunately, those vets who still place faith in AVMA are going to come out as anti raw, since the AVMA has

[darlene]

Jan 9, 2013 9:29:22 GMT -5 Sherry said:

TBH, that's one of the main reasons I quit reading the FML. Even Bob Church came on and went head to head one time, telling everyone that the quotes that person had used had been taken completely out of context and that in HIS opinion not feeding a species appropriate diet was killing ferrets ;D
No response, but he was completely ignored in the next go round

I think most of the people put that person on tooooo high of a pedestal,people should listen the Bob Church instead. How many years of study,from around the world has he done.....

[Thérèse]

Jan 10, 2013 0:41:48 GMT -5 @mikaylamason said:

thank you, this has been amazingly helpful in my decision to go raw!

I've been very surprised by people on this forum saying they get frowned upon for feeding raw! I'm from Australia, and feeding cats and dogs raw is the normal thing to do here

I'm from Australia too and I would say that in my experience most cats and dogs here are not fed raw. They may get some raw as a supplementary thing or a treat but most are fed processed foods and vets here do recommend that in general.

The amount of pet food on sale here, check out supermarket pet aisles and pet stores, indicate that the main diet of dogs and cats is processed pet food. Also we don't even get freeze dried here, when I have asked about it people look at me like I'm speaking martian.There are raw sections within the market but compared to the tinned and dry food on sale they are a very small section and mostly just sold as supplements.

But the number of raw feeders I think is growing, so yah. Particularly because I take every chance to remind people that the processed food they are getting now is not the same as they got 20yrs ago. Then it was mainly made of meat and fish and things cats and dogs might actually eat, now it's nearly all grains. A lot of people believe they have fed processed food for years with no problems but things have changed and now they need to change again.

[Deleted]

The only person I know who feeds kibble, is myself, as my fussy cat will only eat cheap kibble (but not for long). I don't know anyone who feeds canned food. The 3 biggest pet stores near me have large ailses full of fresh and frozen meat, so it's hard not to feed your pet meat here.

That being said, as I mentioned before, I don't know many that actually feed a balanced diet though. I had one friend who only fed her cats regular beef mince, as they love it... until I informed her how wrong it is, and they now have a much better diet. Although it was too late as both are now blind from lack of taurine for so long. Most of the pet minces in my pet stores already come balanced, so a lot of people just feed that. Anyone else I know feeds an unblanced diet of muscle meats and in-bone meats, which is just as bad for the cats and dogs.

Also, when I tell people I feed my pets raw meat, they usually don't think twice about it. I have never been questioned about it or abused about my decision

[Thérèse]

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say you live nowhere near me, which is essentially the Canberra region. I'd guess maybe west aus

[Deleted]

Haha yep, Perth. But in the city, not the hills.

[Thérèse]

Shona, who is a WA resident, used do most of the running of the Ferret Society of Canberra. She used come to Canberra regularly because her dad lives here but since getting married I don't think she does and consequently the FSC has fallen into disarray. She was a big promoter of not only raw feeding for ferrets but also preferred free roam or at least minimal cage time too

[darlene]

@therese I remember Shona from the Natural Ferret groups,she was really nice. Do you know Shirley Hewitt,I believe she belong to FSC too. Shirley was a big support system to me when I was trying to convert my first two ferts.

[Thérèse]

I do know Shirley but not from FSC, I think she is a Victorian. I met her at both IFCA ferret health symposiums I went to, both Shirley and Shona did most of the organising for them. She may be WAFFS but I think she is Vic because the first symposium was held in Vic and her ferrets were the demo ferrets if any of the presenters wanted ferrets to demonstrate something. She also helped me when Studdidoo had insulinoma, in fact it was her ferret who had been through the same path, ie. suddenly going downhill with seizures 2 months after surgery. They are both great ferret people and very good with the raw feeding and helping with other things.