As I proceed through the "how-to's" and the "why's," the first obstacle I must overcome is "Isn't a raw diet dangerous?" Let's face it; we're the only creatures on this planet who cook our food. All of the other living things eat raw food. You need only watch the nature shows and see what cats of all sizes eat. You need only to see the wild African dogs or the North American wolves in packs stalk and kill their dinner. These animals are our cats' and dogs' ancestors. 20,000-35,000 years of carnivores' evolution can't be wrong! Our animal companions have the same teeth (dentition), the same glands and organs…nothing has changed, except they now sleep at the foot of our beds. Their nutritional needs are exactly the same.

In the wild, animals rarely die of chronic disease, are unvaccinated, and often eat their prey days after it's been caught. In the wild, only the strong and the quick survive. They die from climate changes, lack of food, injury, and the saga of life moves them through the food chain. The fact that the food is uncooked is not significant for them, or they wouldn't still exist! There is no way to get around the fact that these animals (our wild friends) couldn't live on cooked, canned, bagged, and preserved kibbles and bits. The commercial companies are banking on the fact that you can't make your pet his dinner. You feed yourself and your children, but you must buy their super premium canned and bagged products with very scientific names and promises. So why do they always need to change it year after year and add to it, if it's so good for our pets?

Nature hasn't changed the mouse or other prey animal. Nature hasn't changed breast milk, which is your kitten and puppy's first food. Mom starts them out with her colostrum, passing her immunities to her babies. Her milk is their source of probiotics that basically inoculate the gastrointestinal tract against pathogens, stimulate the immune system, and provides natural enzymes and amino acids. Then, along come well-meaning breeders who, at weaning time, feed the young kittens and puppies what the vets and pet food companies brainwash you into believing is good for them. They are bombarded with vaccinations, while mother's maternal antibodies are still circulating in the blood stream, and we hear about how the pedigreed animals are weak with breed specific problems!

Commercial pet foods and excessive vaccinations result, over time, in serious disease processes such as skin disease, kidney disease, pancreatic disease, autoimmune disorders, heart problems, and cancer. Is it any wonder that bacteria, viruses, fungus, and parasites find a happy home to proliferate in our pets? They are then loaded with antibiotics, which destroy the good bacteria in the gut and a lifetime (more often than not) of chronic conditions.

Cats and dogs are not vegetarians. Look at your dog or cat's teeth. Their teeth are designed exclusively for shredding, tearing, and bone crushing. They don't chew. The mouth has an alkaline environment. In order to digest carbohydrates, you need to be able to masticate your food and mix it with saliva. Cats and dogs just aren't capable of this, so carbohydrates reach the stomach, an acidic environment, which is designed to digest protein and fat. If you want to care for a vegan, get a rabbit, a goat, or a horse! Don't impose your personal philosophy on an animal whose needs are species specific. Let's take a look at the cat (The domestic cat, the wild cat, and the big cat are all cats whose needs are the same. Only the size of the kill and the amount their stomach holds is the variable.).

Dogs are carnivores directly descended from wolves be they toy breeds or giant breeds. The main difference is that dogs are pack animals, and cats are lone hunters (with the exception of the lion). Their needs for raw prey are steeped in evolution. The difference between the dog and cat diet is mainly that cats require high protein (60-90% raw meat and supplements), and dogs can do just fine at one to two thirds protein. Cats are very unique in that they are obligate carnivores, which means that they are obliged to eat meat. When fed carbohydrates, the main ingredient in commercial pet food, they store it as fat, not glycogen. They get their energy from protein, not carbs. They get all their needs recycled through the prey animal. Dogs have evolved differently. They include a nibble here and there on grasses, eggs, berries, etc. Most dogs will willingly eat everything we eat. The cat has the more finicky reputation.

Everyone who lives with cats, or who has observed cats, have experienced the fact that they are hard-wired for hunting with fixed neural circuits in their brains that trigger the stalking and attack behaviors. Any moving objects can cause the hunt to begin. Electrical activity of the cochlear nerve that carries sound from ear to brain as the cat locks in visually to its prey causes her to virtually go deaf! The body shuts down its peripheral input, so the cat completely shuts off sound from the world around it and focuses on the attack. What a high that must be! Once the prey is captured, you'll often see the cat throwing the little creature around like a toy. It is "tenderizing" the meal. The cat's tongue has backward pointing hooks called papillae, which are designed to remove the meat from the bone. The cat's teeth are long and wedge-shaped with pressure sensitive nerve endings that are ideal for finding gaps in the prey's spine. These teeth pry apart the vertebrae and sever the spinal chord. They have sharp and serrated carnassial teeth, which shear chunks of meat. Still think they can be vegans? Read on!

Let's take a look at the cat's body. Their footpads are thick and resilient, ideal for stealthy stalking. Their claws are sharp, retractable, and built for grasping and holding prey. They have huge hip muscles to propel the cat above ground as it pounces on its prey. Their tail acts as a counter balance for quick moves during running and leaping. Their eyes (vision) are extremely sharp in morning and evening light when the prey is most active. They give up a bit of their color vision to accomplish this ability to see in the dark. Their skull is thick, strong, and large, which serves as a foundation for heavy facial muscles used to shred and tear. Their ears are sensitive. They can hear extremely high-pitched sounds, including the ultrasonic calls of rodents and insects. Their shoulder muscles accommodate the slow, low stalk.

Did you know that cats are so dedicated to their diet that they have lost the taste buds that respond to sweetness? To a cat, sugar has no taste, just a whole host of receptors for chemicals found in meat. This ability lets them process how old the meat is. They can actually taste if the kill is minutes old, an hour, or half a day old. They can also taste the way in which the prey died!

Don't make the mistake, after reading this, to let your cat loose in the garden to catch her own dinner! She may be able to catch it, but if she had a non-hunting mother, she may not know how to eat. She'll just play with it. However, given a choice, the cat will choose meat from prey killed after a chase more readily than meat from our kitchen.

When the cats abandoned their feral lifestyle and moved into our homes, they took a risky evolutionary step because they are so physically dependent on their natural diet (small prey), that their bodies have thrown away biochemical mechanisms that would allow adaptation to other foods. The cat is a veritable slave to its carnivorous metabolism thriving on meals of meat. It is extremely efficient at getting energy from protein with small, raw meat meals. Your cat's stomach holds about two tablespoons of food. Think about how big a mouse is.

Cats are dependent on Taurine, an amino acid essential for health, eyes, skin, and heart. Taurine is found in their mother's milk and muscle meat, including heart. Cats use more Taurine each day than any other creature we know of and are not equipped to make it in their own bodies. It is not found in plants and is destroyed by processing. Pet food companies started adding it to pet food after cats began going blind and dying from cardiomyopathy. They use a synthetic form made from a petroleum by-product!

Taurine has not been deemed essential for dogs. Although, I often see conditions in dogs being fed commercial pet food (such as cardiomyopathy) that lead me to suspect that their needs are equally dependent on raw food.

Many folks know Taurine as the cat food companies buzz word, but you don't hear them talk about the importance of Arginine. Arginine is also an amino acid, which cats use to break down ammonia, the toxic by-product formed when protein is digested. The cat relies exclusively on Arginine as its sole detoxification pathway. A low Arginine meal (such as dog food) can poison your cat on his own toxic waste. The symptoms would include drooling, possible seizure, and death.

Cats also have unique vitamin needs. For example, they can't utilize beta-carotene found in plants. Their small intestine is missing the proper enzyme. They need liver, which is rich in the pre-formed Vitamin A and which also provides Vitamin D. Dogs and people can turn precursors and inactive vitamin forms found in plants into biologically active Vitamin D in their own bodies, especially in the skin when exposed to sunlight. Although cats spend hours basking in sunshine, they don't activate much Vitamin D. Again, they need raw meat to provide them with their supply.

Niacin is a B vitamin that plays an important role in the body. It lowers cholesterol, and maintains the immune system's health. Most animals, including dogs, make their own Niacin inside their bodies from Tryptophan found in meat, milk, and some plants. Cats need it daily from their raw meat.

Cats also need arachadonic acid, an essential fatty acid that plays a vital role in maintaining healthy skin, reproductive and kidney function. Again, other animals, including dogs, can covert linoleic acid found in animal fat and plant oils into arachadonic acid, but cats can't. They need to obtain it through animal fat sources only.

In summary, in the wild, cats and dogs get all their dieting needs met through the eating of the entire prey. They get calcium from the bones, fiber from the feathers and fur, and carbohydrates from the stomach contents. They snack on flies, moths, and crickets, which are high in fats and protein. It's the raw "Atkins" diet (high protein) for cats and the raw "Zone" diet for dogs.

Now that you know why, we can show you how to make a healthy, homemade food for your dogs and puppies, cats and kittens.