BARF – Feeding cats with raw food healthy
At the beginning, we first clarify what is meant by the term BARF. Die Abkürzung BARF wird abgeleitet von Biologically appropriate raw food. Or also biologically species-appropriate raw feeding.
The BARF feeding method was initially mainly used for the nutrition of dogs. The idea was to take the wolf as a model and try to feed dogs as close to nature as possible.
The advantage of this diet is that you know exactly what is in the food. There are no additives and the entire chewing apparatus is required and maintained by the raw meat accordingly.
Basically, this type of feeding can also be applied to cats. For cats, this diet still has the advantage that they can definitely absorb enough taurinewith the raw meat.
Pork is generally not suitable for feeding cats! Raw pork can infect cats with the Aujeszky virus. This can lead to incurable inflammation of the brain or spinal cord. In addition, raw pork may be contaminated by trichines, tapeworms, salmonella or pathogens of toxoplasmosis.
How does BARF feeding work?
The main ingredients of a BARF diet are raw meat, vegetables, fruit and cereals. The quantity ratios should be 9:1 according to the natural diet of a cat. The feed should therefore consist of 9 parts of meat and a part of vegetable content.
Example: 90g fresh raw beef + 10g cooked carrots
The herbal ingredients are more or less filler for cats and can support digestion as a fiber. Unlike dogs, cats can hardly draw nutrients from plant-based foods. Because our cats are pure carnivores.
This is also the problem with cheap cat food. The industry mixes cheap grain and plant fibres into the feed, which at best the cats cannot use, but in the worst case makes the animals sick. Especially stomach and intestinal diseases or diabetes are often due to the administration of inferior food.
However, even when feeding raw meat, you can’t do without sublimation of vitamins and minerals. There are no ingredients that a cat takes with it with the eating e.g. a mouse. These would be, for example, calcium from the bones and vitamins from the plant components that the mouse itself ate. There are various products that can be used here.
What do you have to pay attention to if you want to feed your cat according to BARF?
When feeding raw meat, cleanliness and hygiene is the top priority. It should be bought fresh from the butcher of the trust if possible.
You can only feed as much of the raw meat as the cat can eat immediately. After feeding, the feed residues must be disposed of immediately.
If you leave the raw meat standing, there is a strong multiplication of germs on the surface of the meat very quickly. From a certain number of germs on the feed, diseases can be triggered. In the warm months, this process takes place much faster. In addition, flies lay their eggs very quickly on the raw meat.
If you can’t buy fresh meat from the butcher every day, you can also buy frozen raw food with different types of meat. The best way to defrost the frozen raw food in the fridge the day before. For example, 4.5kg of mixed packs with 150g individual portions are offered for the frost food for cats. This portion size is optimal for a cat and easy to handle.
Conclusion
If you want to feed your cat according to the BARF method, you can try this. The BARF method already has some advantages that cannot be dismissed out of hand. Mine always knows exactly what is contained in the feed and due to the raw meat no taurine deficiency can occur.
However, it is not easy, as you can handle raw meat or fish and there can always be problems with germ contamination. Then, in the worst case, you end up with more problems than you wanted to avoid by the BARF feeding. But everyone has to decide for themselves whether he or she wants to try. The most practical thing I can think of is the frozen BARF feed, with the 150g individual portions.
If you want to deal with the BARF nutrition first, you can buy the book B.A.R.F. for cats. The book is written in a very comprehensible way and you can read into the subject.
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Letzte Aktualisierung am 2021-01-12 / Affiliate Links / Bilder von der Amazon Product Advertising API