Question:
In today's Chronicle Herald, there is a little piece written by the Associated Press outlining that raw meat for cats & dogs is potentially deadly, according to the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Assoc. Apparently "researchers fromthe University of Georgia College studied 2 cats that developed salmonella infections as a result of a raw meat-based diet. The cats had g.i. upset, weight loss & anorexia, & both died".


Answer:
I'm a little skeptical. I could see feeding cats off meat that was already going bad but giving fresh raw meat seems to be safe.


Answer:
That's my feeling too CC, some scientists make their careers out of attacking anything natural.
I continue to feed prepared cat food not out of salmonella fear,but out of distaste for handling raw meat!! Hank doesn't seem to mind!!!


Answer:
I'd like to know more about the perimeters of that 'scientific' study before I accept the results. Were they feeding fresh meat? What else were they feeding? How was the meat kept and stored? How were the food containers cleaned? Did they feed the cats regularly?
Any animal on a raw food diet will test positive for salmonella bacteria in their stool. In dogs that are fed raw food diets, they don't fall sick from salmonella because their GI tracts are short and the bacteria doesn't have time to get them infected.
Raw food diets don't just consist of only meat. Also included are vegetables and raw meaty bones or bone meal and other supplements. The idea is to feed a balanced diet not just meat alone.