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Dangers of mixing raw food and Dry Food

PetitePuce

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I've been feeding Kojak a raw food diet for years now. He had horrible stinky poop prior to me switching him to a raw food diet so I'm very happy that he transitioned to a raw food diet with no problem.

I remember reading something about the fact that you should never feed a cat dry food if they have eaten raw food - something about the fact that dry food digests at a different rate than raw food and that your cat can become ill if they eat both at the same time.

How long should you wait to feed dry food if your cat has eaten raw?

I don't intend to mix the two but I sometimes have problems when my sister comes to visit because she feeds her cat dry food (and her cat is a grazer so she leaves the dry food out all day). I try to keep Kojak away from the dry since he's on a raw diet, but I worry that he might eat some of the dry food.
 

Toa and Ross

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@PetitePuce I used to feed my boys raw food. Cause I'm away for about 11/12 hours when I go to work I had to feed them kibbles in between their raw food meals. It's good to make sure there's about 2-3 hours between the raw food and the kibbles. An automatic feeder with kibbles can make sure there's enough time between the two foods if your not home yourself
 

Condo commando

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The deal is raw and kibble shouldn't be in the digestive tract at the same time. Raw is digested quickly. Kibble digests much slower so if you feed both the body gets confused.

Fast digestion is a plus. If you've seen a lion eating a dead carcass and wondered why it doesn't get sick, it's because felines have a short digestive tract and the raw meat gets in and gets out fast. Kibble is the opposite and just lingers.

I think Toa and Ross has a good suggestion to wait 2-3 hours. It could be less....if you want to know exactly, just observe how long it takes between eating and using the litter box.

But honestly, if you are trying to raw feed the best thing is to keep the 2 cats in separate rooms so the raw fed cat doesn't eat the kibble. That way he'll be hungry for his next raw meal.

@Yoda mom - this question gets asked a lot; is it possible to pin the answer?
@admin
 
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Yoda mom

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@admin thank you ! Wow lightening fast!
Head smooches n scritches to all paws

@Condo commando thank you for the great suggestion for a very important topic that is now a sticky
For all members to see
 

Sylvia

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The deal is raw and kibble shouldn't be in the digestive tract at the same time. Raw is digested quickly. Kibble digests much slower so if you feed both the body gets confused.

Fast digestion is a plus. If you've seen a lion eating a dead carcass and wondered why it doesn't get sick, it's because felines have a short digestive tract and the raw meat gets in and gets out fast. Kibble is the opposite and just lingers.

I think Toa and Ross has a good suggestion to wait 2-3 hours. It could be less....if you want to know exactly, just observe how long it takes between eating and using the litter box.

But honestly, if you are trying to raw feed the best thing is to keep the 2 cats in separate rooms so the raw fed cat doesn't eat the kibble. That way he'll be hungry for his next raw meal.

@Yoda mom - this question gets asked a lot; is it possible to pin the answer?
@admin
 

Carlos Franco

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Farah, our 8 month old kitten, eats anything you give her. I usually give her NomNom (soft cooked0 and on the side her hard food. She usually eats the NomNom first and throughout the day eats the hard. This works out great for us since Farah is alone for about 9 hours a day.
 

karilacey77

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I am so glad I came across this group.
Im a new sphynx kitten mom...well we’ve had our boy for a month. He’s almost four months old. I had no idea we weren’t supposed to feed both at the same time. I always leave out dry stuff and then I put the raw out too a few times a day.
what kind of problems can this cause? I’m definitely changing that tomorrow. Ugh, I feel horrible :(
 

Yoda mom

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@karilacey77 , we have several food gurus I am sure will chime in. you are in the best of hands here! we all come together for the love of nakids. my understanding not dry and raw feeding together....

@Condo commando wrote in the above comments "The deal is raw and kibble shouldn't be in the digestive tract at the same time. Raw is digested quickly. Kibble digests much slower so if you feed both the body gets confused."

@karilacey77 , do not hesitate to start your own Post about Oreo and what you are feeding and asking about dry and raw questions.
 
Last edited:

Sheldon13

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I am so glad I came across this group.
Im a new sphynx kitten mom...well we’ve had our boy for a month. He’s almost four months old. I had no idea we weren’t supposed to feed both at the same time. I always leave out dry stuff and then I put the raw out too a few times a day.
what kind of problems can this cause? I’m definitely changing that tomorrow. Ugh, I feel horrible :(

The basic gist is it can be really upsetting to the stomach and digestive system in general. Cat bodies are designed to digest raw quickly and efficiently. But kibble has a lot of carbs and can really delay that process if it’s included with the raw. This can mean the raw is sitting in the system longer than it should be. Raw is full of bacteria and should not be sitting in the system that long. You end up with stomach upset, diarrhea, flatulence...etc.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need
 
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