[Flower of Bliss]

I have 3 about 7 year old cats. I have always fed them dry Purina cat food. I have only recently heard of doing a raw diet, and would love to switch them to a healthier and more natural diet.<br><br>
That said, I have issues with the meat industry. For a long time I just didn't eat meat. Now we buy white organic, free range, hormone/antibiotic free meat...<br><br>
Do you buy organic meat for you pets? It's very expensive... but I don't want to support the non-organic meat industry... I suppose we can come up with the money... It will limit variety...<br><br>
On the note of variety, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with buying and handling red meat at all... especially raw. I have real issues with handling raw meat anyway (stemming from my vegetarian background I'm sure).<br><br>
How do you balance you personal meat ethics with feeding your cats raw meat? How much do you spend on the raw food diet?<br><br>
All tips, advice, links, etc are very welcomed.

 

[lightheart]

do you live rural? might find an individual that raises 'meat' that's not organic but home raised...

 

[rmzbm]

<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/hug.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="hug"> I understand. I do not use any animal products in my diet. That said, it is the natural diet of cats to eat meat. You must be aware the cat food you buy is meat based, right? So, in a way, you already are doing something you don't want to. But the point is, cats are carnivores, they NEED meat. I will never eat meat or buy it for my family - EVER. But I purchase it for my pets because it's what they need & I don't get to choose for them to go against what comes natural so that I can expound my own values. It's hard to swallow, I get it. But it comes down to this - if you want the cat to be healthy & thrive it has to eat meat.

 

[Flower of Bliss]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>rmzbm</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7908872"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">You must be aware the cat food you buy is meat based, right?</div>
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You're right. I am aware of that. Somehow it feels different... I have not hit the point where I don't buy things (some produce, cheese) if it isn't organically available. I do, however, buy organic if it's available. I have never seen organic cat food, but I only buy organic meat... Still, you're right.<br><br>
Oh, and no, I don't live in a rural area.<br><br>
I'll just have to work through the debate myself.

 

[Kitsune6]

There are a lot of companies out there that supply organic pet food or at least human grade meat. I'm veggie too but I can't support feeding my pets veggie. I can however feed them decent food. I feed my cat a food from trader joes (not their own brand) that while not organic comes from certified free range chicken. I think raw would be ideal but I just can't touch the raw stuff. You do the best you can, ya know?

 

[daekini]

<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/yeahthat.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="yeah that">:<br>
organic pet food is a viable option for you if you can't afford to feed your pet raw organic meat, or can't find a local source of meat.<br><br>
I would love to do raw. I feel terrible guilt that I'm so freaked out about raw meat that I can't do what's best for my pet. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"> I feed my cats Innova Evo. I'll feed Innova to my dog, too.<br><br>
For the record, we do eat meat at home. I can barely handle it - I cut the package and dump it into a pot. We do grass fed/organic red meat maybe once a month, and organic white meat. And fish.<br><br>
The truly Ironic thing is that I am a biologist and specialized in anatomy for a while which meant doing innumerable dissections on many different species (ultimately for the benefit of the species - I'm a conservation biologist). Bizarre?? Yes. I think I'm just too familiar with animal anatomy. I forsee a vegetarian future for myself.

 

[verde]

I'm a vegetarian (not a vegan) but I feed my dogs and cats raw meat. I get raw meat patties from a health food store for pets. They all LOVE it and it's made a huge difference in the cat's behavior. I inherited a big, fat, dumpy gray cat who was just a lump around the house. After switching to raw meat diet he became a cat again. I remember the first time I saw him jump up on the windowsill! He also lost weight so now he's sleek with a flappy tummy. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">

 

[tamagotchi]

We don't have pets, but... we get organic grass fed beef from a local farm, and on their pricelist they also have meats listed for pets at a low price (pet food meat, pet food liver, and bones for dogs). You might try looking for a nearby farm at <a href="http://www.eatwild.com/" target="_blank">http://www.eatwild.com/</a> or <a href="http://www.localharvest.org/" target="_blank">http://www.localharvest.org/</a> and ask, even if they don't have pet food meat listed on their pricelist they may sell it. I understand that it's hard to handle the raw meat, but if it comes from a local source that you can trust, at least you can feel confident that the meat animals were well treated while they were alive.

 

[peridot83]

Check out this <a href="http://hare-today.com" target="_blank">site</a>. My raw feeding co-op buys from them and thier products are awesome. It's not certified organic, but everything is grass fed, natural, no antibiotics, raised ethically. It's all rased for raw feeding and they aren't processing it to the degree necessary to sell it for humans so it is a lot cheaper than organic meat you would find at the store. They have whole carcasses for people who want to feed that way, but they also have great ground products that include bone and organs if you find them too gross to handle. Also consider fish, it's very healthy and not so cute and furry if thats one of the things that bothers you.