# Raw Food Diet vs Dry / Canned Diet - Life Expectancy



## bluegoo06 (Nov 24, 2010)

I was discussing diet and life expectancy with some friends and was curious what everyone here thought with thier knowledge of various cat diets. With having no experience in the raw diet, I wanted some perspective on diet verse life epectancy of a cat.

With comparing tigers and lions whom eat a whole protien diet, they obviously dont live as long as house cats. Granted with house cats they have access to vet care and less dangers than in the jungle. So comparing zoo kept "wild" cats vs. house cats, wild cats live less than house cats.

What are others experience with cats who ate raw diet verse the dry / canned food diets? Has anyone been able to notice a difference? Is there any significant health benefits to either diet?


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## mimitabby (Apr 20, 2010)

I don't think too many of us have been feeding raw food long enough for an entire cat's life span, but I have already seen the damage and early demise of my cats who were raised on dry cat food. Because of their premature deaths I decided to investigate and then change them to a mostly raw food diet. I still have dry cat food (but they only get about a tablespoon of it a day per cat) and canned cat food (again, about a tablespoon a day) the rest of their diet is raw meat, including organs and bones and some table scraps..


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## bluegoo06 (Nov 24, 2010)

Can I ask what your cats passed from? and how premature?

I have had 2 childhood / family cats in the last 5 - 10 years die at 7, and 11 years old. All from kidney failure. They all ate Iams food. Not genetically related. They both grew up in the same house hold, and same environment. We have been trying to figure out if it was a fluke or what could have caused it. They were in good health, then had kidney failure erally quick.


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## mimitabby (Apr 20, 2010)

i had healthy indoor pets, two died of Kidney failure at about the age of 13, one after battling obesity for years, dropped down to skinny and died about a year later. 
The other's weight was more stable, but the same story.


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## mimitabby (Apr 20, 2010)

I also had a cat die at the tender age of 4 or 5 years old from chronic urinary tract infections/blockage. He ate only dry cat food.


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## catlady2010 (Feb 4, 2010)

I've been feeding raw for quite a few months. I used to feed high quality canned before that. I really haven't noticed any difference in behavior, to be honest. I personally like raw better because the litter box has almost no smell and it's cheaper than high quality canned. 

No one can say raw is better than canned as far as lifespan goes because there isn't empirical research that supports that claim. Besides, I work at an animal shelter and when I recommend canned food to people, I always get people saying things like "Well, I had a 21 year old cat and he/she was fed raw all his/her life." The lifespan will vary based on the cat's genes and other health related problems that the cat can already be predisposed to regardless of the diet. 

But yeah, dry food is bad. Cats were not meant to eat dry food, it was only made for our convenience. HQ canned and raw are the way to go. I wish there was empirical evidence that stated which food was better between canned and raw, but there isn't. 

Bottom line is, I've seen cats that have been dry food live up to 20+ and I've seen cats that were fed canned food live up to 20+...I've never seen a cat who has been raw fed  or heard any stories whatsoever. even on the internet.


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## saitenyo (Nov 28, 2010)

My parents fed their cat fairly low quality dry and canned food (this was back before so much info was available about alternate diets) and she lived to be 18, so there are always exceptions to the rule I guess.

I definitely have been swayed by the logic of feeding a cat a more varied, nutritionally complete diet though. I too would love to know if there's a significant difference between quality of life/life expectancy on a quality canned vs. raw food diet specifically, as while I feed my cats a varied high-quality, high-moisture diet, I've yet to make the switch to raw.

I imagine to some degree it probably depends on the cat too, which is probably one of the reasons why there are so many adamant varied owner opinions about the subject.


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## catlady2010 (Feb 4, 2010)

oops. I meant dry not raw "Well, I had a 21 year old cat and he/she was fed raw all his/her life."


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I think it's probably unfair to base liver failure in a somewhat older cat (10+) on dry cat food, when a cat gets older it's the liver that tends to fail anyway from my experience. My mothers cat eats nothing but cheaper end dry food (can tin food maybe once a month if that - as a treat) and the cat hasn't been to the vet once its whole life after being spayed and she's now 15. My aunts two cats, while they had a lot more vet checkups and teeth cleaning type things done in their life, ate nothing but dry food most of their life, one lived to be 16 (almost 17 and she was a runt), the other 17 (almost 18 ). My aunt also previously had a cat that lived to be over 20 that ate nothing but dry food.

I think sometimes food can cause an early death - but it really just depends on your cat. My cat died at 3 from crystals in his bladder - wet food was likely the cause of that - it had too much ash. But who really knows.


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## Muzby (Jan 9, 2008)

Carmel said:


> I think it's probably unfair to base liver failure in a somewhat older cat (10+) on dry cat food....



I think the issue here is that 10 years old shouldn't be "old" for a cat. Middle aged, maybe... but our cats are not living as long as they should. Ten is NOT old.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Haha, well fine - bump up the age to 15+ ... or something, I'm just trying to say that from my experience cats tend to have liver failure around the end of their life.

Though some breeds have an average life expectancy around 12.


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## furryfriends251 (Jan 1, 2009)

Milo lost the fight against CRF when he was fourteen. I promised him, when we had to put him down, that I would not let another cat of mine eat dry food. Milo had eaten only dry food nearly all his life and was diagnosed with CRF when he was only twelve. For another half a year he still was fed only dry food (I didn't know any better) but I switched him to mostly wet food for the last 1.5 years. I know though that the reason he developed CRF was because of his unappropriate diet of dry food.

Here is Rajah's story:

Rajah is a fifteen year old Bengal Mix. I adopted him from a shelter in March 2010 after he was left there by his former owner. Basically, I was Rajah’s last chance. Due to his age and condition (very underweight) he would otherwise have been put down. I’m not sure exactly what he weighed when I adopted him but it was around 7.5 lbs. For a while I fed him all wet food then started working up to having him eating frankenprey (balanced chunks of meat/bones/organs). He would have been willing to eat all raw right off the bat but he had no jaw strength. Fifteen years of eating mush (wet food) and crackers (dry food) will do that to anything – whether it be a person or a cat. His teeth were also in horrible shape; covered in plaque and just plain horrible looking. 

It took a few months of Rajah building up his jaw strength to get to the point of him being able to eat 100% raw. I’ve had him now for six months and he barely resembles the cat who I adopted in March. Before he was eating a raw diet he had fleas, and thus flea dirt, all over him. His coat was in poor condition and his teeth even worse. In March he looked and acted his age with having very little energy. What does he look like today? Rajah is now 15 ½ but doesn’t look or act like it! He is flea free (without any medication). When he walks you can see his muscles and his fur and his coat shines. Rajah is now able to go out on mile long walks with me everyday with him outrunning me most of the time! His teeth – once horribly covered in plaque – are now nearly white. He has almost doubled his weight as well; he really doesn’t look like the same cat as he was six months ago. The only thing I did to get him this way? Switching him to a raw diet!


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## catlady2010 (Feb 4, 2010)

OK here's what I don't understand. I agree with everyone that dry food is very bad and raw is the best. High quality canned is great too.

However, you have to admit that most of the cats that live in people's households eat dry food unfortunately. This is not only what i observed while encountering people in person at two different animal shelters but also in vet offices and in grocery stores and even on the internet. Where I volunteer, it has gotten to a point where EVERYONE tells me they feed their cats dry food (like the general public who comes in to adopt), and I don't even say anything because everyone does it. And not only that but I'm constantly hearing about cats who are living beyond age 15 and have been fed dry food. Just imagine, the average lifespan of a cat is 15-20 nowadays...and most cats in America are fed dry, then how can dry food affect lifespan? Sure it most likely is bad for the cats and will cause vet bills to go up but I highly doubt it will cause a shorter lifespan. But idk. That's just what I've noticed. Our mascot lily at the humane society has eaten nothing but dry food her whole life and she is 22. And I'm not just using a few cats as examples, but i know of several people who lost their old cats who were fed dry. 

Like I said, if a cat is predisposed to certain diseases and has bad genes, it WILL die, regardless of whether it's fed raw or canned.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

catlady2010 said:


> Like I said, if a cat is predisposed to certain diseases and has bad genes, it WILL die, regardless of whether it's fed raw or canned.


That's pretty much what I think too. Of course wet (if it's high quality) and raw is better but a lot of people are still under the impression dry food is best - it was the belief for a long time, vets still recommend it, too. If cats all started dropping dead at young age I think people would feed different food - but in the long run I don't think it often affects lifespan. 

Sometime it does, sometimes not. Just like sometimes wet food can kill young too.


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## saitenyo (Nov 28, 2010)

Yeah, I mean it's really the same with people. To have a 100% perfect diet, I should always eat fresh foods, lots of vegetables, preferably nothing processed...no burgers and potato chips and french fries. But how many people really eat 100% perfectly?

If a person eats _nothing_ but potato chips, burgers, candy, and french fries, they're likely going to suffer some serious health problems (although a select lucky few may not!). But if a person has a generally healthy diet, and enjoys an unhealthy snack now and then, even a few times a week, those unhealthy snacks probably aren't going to make a whole lot of difference. Ultimately with a more or less healthy diet, how their health progresses will depend more on genetic factors than minute differences in their diet.

I imagine it's probably the same for cats. Of course I want to feed my cats as well as I am able. I do feel more comfortable giving them high-quality food, just as I feel more comfortable feeding myself high-quality food. But just as I sometimes grab a quick burger or taco here and there, I imagine it's not going to hurt my cats if they snack on a little kibble during the day, or if I have to give them kibble if I have to be away from home overnight. Most of the time they're getting their wet food, they have access to fresh running water and (thankfully) are good drinkers, so I'm not super worried about a little dry in their diet.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

saitenyo said:


> Well, technically, no one ever dies of "old age."


*nods* Yes, that. I really don't have to add anything to this since you've said it better than I could!

Although I think I'll add -- anywhere where I said "liver failure" above, I actually meant "kidney failure" ... in case anyone was wondering why I started talking about the liver when it was kidneys that had been mentioned in the topic beforehand. Everything I wrote in my other messages in this board were on my iPhone and I seriously think I should have been paying more attention to what I was going on about... but I was in the car. I'll blame it on that!


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

There are many factors at play that affect a cat's lifespan (genetics and environment being 2 big ones) that it's impossible to say something like "feeding a raw diet will increase a cat's lifespan by X years". But we do know that diet is a significant factor. Feeding a high quality diet, whether raw or canned doesn't provide any guarantees, but it certainly helps minimize the risk of diet being a factor in development of disease. 

That being said, I agree with Saitenyo....if the significant majority of the diet is high quality canned or raw, then I don't believe that some small deviations are going to be a major factor over time.


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

I can't speak to the question of comparative longevity associated with different diets, as I've only been feeding raw since 2007, but I have made a very interesting observation over the last five days that is worth noting. Last Saturday, an extremely emaciated kitten appeared in my barn. He looks to be 4-5 mos old, at my best estimation, but he weighed only 3.14 lbs (on Sunday), with every bone protruding prominently. He has gained 1/2 lb since that first weigh-in four days ago.

This is my fifth feline to show up here in some degree of starvation. The others were refed using high quality canned and/or dry foods. The two rescued kittens from last year were initially fed a mixture of KMR and EVO canned, then switched to raw and EVO canned a few weeks later. In all cases, the starved felines developed prolonged digestive upset while their systems adjusted to realimentation with commercial foods.

This new kit, however, would only eat canned food soup for his first meal or two, after which he refused it outright. He had a single, very loose bowel movement within the first 24 hrs. After he rejected canned food, I offered him some raw, ground venison, instead, which he ate with a little coaxing. In spite of the tremendous shock that realimentation can have on a starvation victim's digestive tract, the kit's stool normalized as soon as he started eating raw meat. It really has been quite remarkable. I expected his stool to remain loose for the "typical" month or two adjustment period of my previous starvation victims.

I can't prove that the raw diet is responsible for this kit's rapid digestive normalization, but I don't think it's a coincidence. In its very fragile state, I believe that providing his digestive tract with a natural "prey" diet helped put it back into proper working order with no additional stress or trauma. For me, it is one more piece of compelling evidence that a raw diet is the fuel with which a feline's body is designed to function properly.

Laurie


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## bluegoo06 (Nov 24, 2010)

thanks for all your replies. This topic sparked some good conversation and provided some good insight.


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## Mimosa (Dec 2, 2010)

Comparing house cats to tigers and lions would be misleading as they are different species. I am not going there.

I have four cats, 5.5 and 6.5 years old, the eldest two ate kibble (RC kitten and later RC Indoor 27) for their first 1.5 years of life, we switched to an all raw diet after we adopted the youngest two five years ago.
Because they are my first cats I have no material for comparison as to longevity. I hope they live very, very long lives but I would like it to be very healthy lives first and foremost.

When I switched Ernesto and Mimosa over from kibble to raw I saw so many changes I was convinced. 
- They shed less, which solved other problems like Mimosa's excessive hairball problem and Ernesto's tendency to mat like crazy. 
It was also nice to have less shedded fur from four cats than before with two.
- Before the switch the vet said they needed a teeth cleaning next time, but they are almost seven now and Ernesto's teeth look better than back then. Mimosa did need to get her teeth cleaned for the first time this year because she will only eat ground meat which does not clean the teeth.
- the litterbox smells a lot better and they have firm stools (a very big plus with longhaired cats)
- I was feeding them only 45 grams of kibble a day but Ernesto kept gaining weight and was always begging for food. He loves the raw food but will not overeat, he stopped gaining weight and got more muscular.

dEUS and Flynn already got raw at the breeder so I only know them as raw fed. Flynn's brother went to live with my best friend who fed kibble and Flynn grew out much bigger, he was an entire head taller at six months.

I swear by feeding raw to kittens. When I compare "my" kittens to the other kittens at the shelter they are much bigger and more filled out.
Here I have a spreadsheet with the weight of three of our fosters, column A/horizontal axis is their estimated age in days, vertical axis is their weight in grams. All three came in with worms and external parasites. The kitten with the yellow line also had cat flu. 
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc...jIzNTkxMXBiMDRFTHYtVFE&hl=en&authkey=CNra-_8P


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## mimitabby (Apr 20, 2010)

What I have noticed is the beautiful glossy fur all of my cats now have. I have one 15 year old cat, who until recently resisted eating the raw food. To my surprise, she is now eating more and more of it, and her oily dry coat is changing !! at the age of 15.


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