BARF Diet for Cats

Unlike dogs, cats are obligate carnivores and require meat in their diet. A feeding regime such as the Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) diet, based upon a good quality raw minced meat, chicken wings and pureed vegetables, can provide a healthy alternative to commercial dry cat food.

  1. BARF

    • The BARF diet was developed in the 1980s by Australian veterinarian Dr. Ian Billinghurst. The concept behind the diet is that raw meat and offal, free of cooked and processed cereals or grains, is a better and more natural way of feeding for cats and dogs. With a rise in popularity of raw feeding, manufacturers are now retailing complete BARF diets, minimizing the need to handle or prepare raw meat or offal.

    Evolutionary Diet

    • The ancestors of our domestic cats roamed the plains and savannas of the world, hunting rabbits and small rodents. They will have eaten all of their prey except for the gall bladder, digesting protein from the muscles, calcium from bones, essential fatty acids from the fatty parts of their prey. A small amount of vegetable matter from the prey's gut also is ingested. The BARF diet attempts to mimic this more natural way of feeding.

    Ingredients

    • Chicken wings form an important part of a BARF diet.

      A BARF diet for cats should contain up to 95 percent meat (raw and minced, excluding pork), together with small quantities of pureed vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. Chicken wings offer a convenient way of ensuring that a cat is obtaining sufficient calcium for good health. How much to feed depends upon levels of activity, but a rough starting guide would be a similar amount to that in a regular can of cat food.

    Hints

    • Never feed cooked bones as they can splinter and perforate the gut.

      Pureed vegetables can be prepared in advance, frozen and placed in ice cube trays in the freezer until required, before mixing in with minced meat.

      Feed chicken wings once or twice a week.

      If your cat does not like mince, make the transition slowly by replacing an increasingly large proportion of the current diet.

    Considerations

    • Critics of BARF feeding often point to the risks of bacteria present on raw chicken, particularly Salmonella or E. coli. A cat’s stomach acid, however, is stronger than that of humans and can kill bacteria. Normal kitchen hygiene rules for handling raw food should still apply, washing hands and utensils thoroughly to minimize the risk of cross-contamination or infection.