Attention Raw food feeders *Update AVMA voted to "avoid" raw

This is troubling.

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/very-bad-news-for-raw-feeders.html

If you feed raw food, whether home prepared or purchased from a raw food manufacturer such as Nature's Variety or Feline's Pride, please consider emailing or snail mailing your concerns to the addresses provided in the article. We only have 2 weeks before they vote.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Sent an email, printed off the two addresses and plan to send one to each as well.

I feed raw- not 100% all the time, but at least 40% of what she gets is good, raw food.

I have 3 other email addresses I can send a letter from as well :lol: .

My aggressive/passive side is coming through for my cat :twisted: .

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

There is a Change.org petition now with already 750 signatures! Several from vets too. The comments are very encouraging.

http://www.change.org/petitions/ame...pet-owners-rights-to-feed-a-raw-meat-pet-food

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Great, I just signed the petition and wrote a book! ;-) ;-) Thanks for the link.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Thanks for sharing Vicky. I signed and will e-mail from my 3 e-mail addresses too. I feed raw to Molly and Hadley (as much as they will let me :twisted: ) in the hopes of trying to protect them from the GI diseases that Harley & Princess now have as a result of many years of eating dry over-processed pet foods: Iams, Hills "Science" and even Hills Prescription K/D.

I'll be d^%$#@d if anyone is going to tell me I can't feed my cat what is good and healthy for them and to protect them from some well meaning pet food manufacturer who we all know has the best interests of my pet foremost in their minds. (That's heavy on the sarcasm in case I wasn't clear enough. cat(2)_steam)

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Laura, what have you tried to help them eat raw? I am trying to transition Sammie & Leahpold to raw and they have turned their noses up at Dr. Lisa's recipe. I made some without fish oil in it, but still no go. Sammie ate Feline's Pride, Leahpold would lick at that, so I didn't think it would be this big of challenge. They won't eat all of the canned food if I mix maybe a tablespoon raw per can. I had hoped Leahpold would be my raw girl because she's the mouser and loves mice, eats raw livers. I have not tried just cutting raw chunks for her and putting some taurine on them, so that is next, when I remember to thaw a couple thighs!

Any tips would be appreciated. My 20 yr old loves raw and so does Murrlin, so I'm halfway there with my crew too. They still don't like the 2000mg fish oil added, but I am working up to that 500mg at a time. Even with only 500mg in it, it still smells fishy.

To anyone who has thought abut taking the plunge to making their own food - I have been talking about doing it for 5 years! I finally broke down and bought a Tasin grinder, and it's very reassuring to make your own food, know what is going in it and to see the cats eat what you made for them. Although 2 of mine aren't sure yet. Dr. Lisa has very thorough advice with links to the supplements on iHerb.com, so you know you're getting the right stuff in it. You should be able to get organic or at least cage free, hormone free eggs at most grocery stores. I won't say it's an easy process, the clean-up is probably the most time consuming thing about it, but make several batches at once and that's not so bad either.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Vicky you are going to hate me but both Hadley and Molly didn't need much coaxing to eat raw at first. When I opened my first container of raw, Molly nearly knocked it off the counter trying to get to it. Hadley was very wary at first. But once I offered a nibble to him on a spoon and he got his first taste, he was hooked. I started by mixing 1 tsp into their FF and then gradually increasing the amount of raw and decreasing the amount of FF until they were eating 100% raw. They happily ate only raw for 4 months and then stopped eating it abruptly one day. So I threw out the batch of food I'd been feeding, put them back on FF until their appetites returned and am now working on the transition back to all raw again. Hadley is doing great, Molly is a little more reluctant.

I didn't notice my cats objecting to the salmon oil but I think they did object to the taste of the Vitamin B12 so I reduced that by half and their appetites seemed to perk up. I guess my only thoughts include the same things Dr. Lisa mentioned for transitioning dry food addicts to wet food - FortiFlora, parmesan cheese, tuna juice, maybe a little MC gravy just to get them to taste it and go "hey this is pretty good stuff." Time and patience too. I'm glad to hear Tigget and Murrlin are happily eating raw so at least your hard work is appreciated by 50% of your cats. Nice of them to arrange it like that. ;-)

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

The AVMA responds. http://atwork.avma.org/2012/07/18/the-facts-on-avmas-proposed-policy-on-raw-pet-food-diets/

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Thank you for the link Venita.

Anyone reading the AVMA's response above to the outcry from the public over this, be sure to read some of the comments at the bottom (so far there are 468). Thankfully, I doubt this whole matter is going to go away anytime soon. Hopefully the AVMA will come to their senses and vote no on this proposed policy.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Shamelessly bumping this. The public comments are now up to 821. I hope the AVMA is listening.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Not shamelessly bumping this as I feed raw for Atlas. It is the only thing that does not make him sick with his IBD.

Plus anyone can leave a comment at the link Venita gave.

http://atwork.avma.org/2012/07/18/t...ed-policy-on-raw-pet-food-diets/#comment-4776

Comment count 953.

If you have a twitter account or Facebook acct. make this go viral by passing the link along!

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Probably a poor choice of words on my part Beth. It is just that there doesn't seem to be a lot of people posting on this thread so I wondered about the interest. Possibly because raw feeders on this board are in the miniority, so maybe that is why.

I too feed Tigger raw only by Feline's Pride, since 2007.

Glad to hear the comment count is up to 953.

Most people here are familiar with Dr. Jean Hofve of Little Big Cat. She and her supporters have taken up a collection to send her to the AVMA meeting. They surpassed their goal so hopefully she will be in attendance there to speak on behalf of all the raw food feeders:

http://littlebigcat.chipin.com/send-dr-jean-to-aafco-meeting

ETA - Dr. Becker has also weighed in on her website:

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/07/25/no-to-raw-feeding.aspx?

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

7/28/2012

Dear AVMA,

Hi! I finally was able to get to the computer without my “mom” hanging around, my name is Atlas and I am a diabetic cat with IBD. My mom is all upset about this new policy you are all going to be voting on. And looking at all these write-ups here many already point out the benefits of feeding raw. So I guess my story isn’t going to mean much more to you than what has already been said. But, I’ll give the low down anyway.

About 3 years ago I just couldn’t help myself anymore. I was drinking and peeing and pooping everywhere! And the old owner decided enough was enough and tossed me away in the park. At first it was a grand adventure for me, but soon I realized I was always hungry, thirsty, cold, and just pooping myself everywhere. Ugh...how undignified for an orange Maine Coon cat. Soon it turned to winter time and well I thought I was going to die. Thankfully animal control found me and through the care of a great foster and several great rescue organizations I am here today to write to you.

They tell me my diabetes came from needing all those steroids to treat my IBD. And I guess my previous owner didn’t know what the symptoms of diabetes were...so I got tossed away. So the new owner, mom, started treating me for diabetes. But the constant inflammation in my tummy wouldn’t let me get regulated right. Like my previous owner, the Dr. tried everything over the course of 9 months. He finally relented to trying raw food. Guess what? In 3 days my tummy started to heal and then I got real nice solid poops and even better my diabetes came into regulation. I went from needing 8 units down to only needing 0.5 units! That is right, just half a unit of insulin! Sure it took awhile, but I’m here to tell my story! To this very day I can’t eat any kind of processed foods. Even the canned foods made by the raw food company upsets my tummy. Uh? Go figure, but it is true.

But, I think you all smart vets already know in your hearts that this fuss you want to make over feeding raw is unfounded, right? I mean all those diseases can be found on regular kibble and even in the human food chain too. Didn’t they recall a bunch of spinach and lettuce for one of them bacterias?

Now I am gonna say something here that might get you vets all upset, but I didn’t get here because somebody was educated about carnivore diets. You see, I know you all are having a hard time getting the cat folks in for regular cat care. You need to realize a policy position like this is just going to drive your clients away and maybe some will be like my previous owner and just throw us cats away. I don’t think that is the fallout you want this policy to have. So if chasing clients away from uneducated vets about raw feeding, causing more pets to be dumped or surrendered to shelters is not your goal, I urge you to vote no on this misguided policy.

I don’t think you’ve gone about this “study” of yours quite the right way. The question you are looking to answer is, “What is the real risk to the human food chain,” right? So none of them studies you cite discuss this as a real Risk Assessment and Threat Assessment. You see the threat is from big companies. A company that ships thousands of lots of food all over the country. Just look at what the FDA said about the Diamond Dog Food Recall. These little guys working on developing dog and cat raw food, well they are spending lots of attention to the details and I bet you won’t find a cardboard repair in one of their plants. Plus if it is on a small scale the risk to the general population is smaller too.



So, there I had most of my say. I am here to say it thanks to a mom who was willing to try and feed a raw diet. Don’t let them big ole pet food companies scare you either. Use your common sense. The big pet food companies won’t, can’t, and don’t do raw food because it is too difficult for them on a large scale. And ya’ know, that might just be a good thing.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

I am bumping this not just because the topic is dear to my heart and the lives of cats, but because everyone needs to read Atlas's story!!!

You GO!, Atlas!! dancing_cat flip_cat

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

fwiw, i had a vet appt today and asked my vet about this. she said she's written 3 times to them so far about this and asked her raw food suppliers to do so too. hopefully more vets like her are aware of this and are putting in their two cents too

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Thanks Vicky, the letter is posted on the AVMA website where they are taking feedback on the proposal.

But we really need to find a way to motivate everyone here to contact the AVMA in some manner. The group that inquired about this is supported by Purina...and Purina banned therapy dogs who are fed raw diets.

What many here may not be realizing is the AVMA position statement can then be used to lobby Congress to ban or regulate companies literally out of business. Anyone with half a brain can see this is an agenda driven issue. Sadly the AVMA is in denial and is likely to make a very bad policy.

Bastardizing raw food with requirements to be pathogen free is unrealistic. Even your food you buy from the store is and can be contaminated. I don't know what makes Atlas so very sick when the food is cooked, but it does and tampering with his access to a raw food diet not something that can easily be dealth with.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

I just signed the petition and added a comment to the AVMA website.

My Sebastian (SHANE) was saved from DKA from the NYC kill shelter. After getting him regulated (on 0.25 units once a day Lantus for the past 7 months) I've found that the ONLY thing that made him not have the chronic diarrhea he had for 3 months was the raw food.

All I give his half raw with each meal, but he's good to go--no smelly or liquid poop. He's been on Feline's Pride and/or Nature's Variety Instinct for 4 months now.

For the first 3 1/2 months if I gave him the wrong ratio of raw to canned--i.e., less than 1/2 raw, he might get soft poop. But now, don't know if whatever was wrong with hiim now or not, that is not happening and there have even been a few meals where the raw wasn't thawed so he got some regular--and no diarrhea. I don't think he's totally cured and dont' want to risk it anyway, but it's very clear that the raw has been healing for him. Healing from what? I have no clue. But it's worked for sure.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Good for you!

I remember your posts back in March, Martica. I am glad the raw is working out for Sebastion. The carageenan in the canned food may be part of the problem (check ingredients list). Dr. Lisa talks about this with IBD kitties, or any cats for that matter, and the problems it causes with the digestive system.

Glad you posted to the AVMA comments list. I will check it out tomorrow (late here). There is also a comments section on Dr. Becker's site that I linked above. People are very passionate about this issue. With good reason.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

I have shared the link to the AVMA post with my social networks, both online and off. I encourage everyone else to do the same.

I never would have known about this proposal had I not read this forum. This is not being mentioned anywhere in the news (the same can be said about the latest cat treat recall) but yet I'm fully aware about the "mysterious UFO sighting at the Olympics," and Robert Pattinson's achy breaky heart. The more people that are aware of this issue, the better off we are and our pets as well.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

The AVMA amended part of the policy and voted it through. Here is a blog post explaining the amendment and results:

Given the last paragraph written by the blogger, a vet I presume, I don't see why they even need to have such a policy.

Here is the link to source: http://atwork.avma.org/2012/08/03/h...aw-animal-source-protein-policy-resolution-5/

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Thanks for the update.

I still don't like this "policy" either. As blogger after blogger pointed out there is no supporting evidence for their perceived public health concerns. Four out of the six articles they reveiwed and cited clearly stated they found no transmission to the human chain. It is a policy based on 'fear' and whether they will admit it or not is intimidation of both vets and clients. As they state a potential conflict of interest for their own membership they realize this policy will drive membership down in their own organization. It is a sad day for the AVMA as far as I am concerned. They have lost all credibility.

One just needs to follow the money on this and one will learn the very sad truth about this policy and about those at the top of the AVMA.

 

Re: Attention Raw food feeders - upcoming AVMA vote

Exactly Beth. This was a huge disappointment. As Dr. Hofve states on her blog:

"This move appears to be politically and financially motivated, as Hill’s, Purina, and others are major donors and sponsors of AVMA and its charitable arm, AVMA Foundation. The history of the road that led to this remarkably tactless and possibly illegal proposal, its links to the Delta Society and pet food mega-maker Purina, as well as recent developments, can be found on Susan Thixton’s wonderful blog, truthaboutpetfood.com."

http://www.littlebigcat.com/blog/avma-vs-raw-food-action-alert/