Hi!

I just have a quick question...

Could feeding raw meat be harmfull to the owners of the cat (dog)? I know that a cats immune system can handle raw meat but what about us?

I remember learning in school about how people became infested with human tapeworm thru dogs who ate meat of infested cattle (or pig?)? I don't remember the details but the class was tought by a vet specialized in inspecting animal products for human consumption.
It was basically that childreen got infested with tapeworms after playing with a dog (who licked himself but also their hands...)

I am basically asking this question because I was thinking about giving some raw meat to our male kitty who seems to like it (he always meows when we are preparing meat). I would give it to him as more to keep his teeth clean and as a treat as meat is very expensive here and there is not much variety available...

We are also getting a baby so is there any danger of passing any parasites/diseases from cats to the baby via cat eatng raw meat? They are strictily indoor cats.

Thank you for your input!

I know meat for human consumption has to be inspected but it is deemed safe and free of parasites under the presumption it will be thermally treated (eg cooked or baked)...

just wash your hands and surfaces well and be careful - unless you intend to let the baby and cat kiss with tongues I can't see a true danger. If you have an outside cat you have no knowledge of what prey it has eaten and no-one worries about that - it's the same thing really. Just be sensible.

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Unless you are a vegetarian you handle raw meat regularly. The idea that you would be at any greater risk because you are feeding exactly the same grade of raw food to an animal isn't logical. The danger arises if you don't follow proper hygiene procedures and is exactly the same whether the food is to be cooked for you or fed raw to your animals.

As Spid pointed out, the risk of parasitic infection is way higher for an outdoor cat that hunts than for an indoor one fed on human grade meat.

I do wonder though - while it might be true that parasitic infection is much higher in cats who hunt their own prey (though one doesn't really follow on from the other; i.e. one thought also goes that cats with a healthy immune system and healthy gut don't get parasitic infestations), I wonder whether bacterial infections are higher in cats fed a frankenprey (i.e. cobbled together) diet.

But then again, we also know that although raw fed cats and dogs shed more bacteria, it doesn't follow that they are going to be symptomatic or even ill with it. Indeed, many of the cats and dogs that have been studied have been completely symptom-less, which I guess is why the public health angle has been pushed a little more. But as Indysmamma has said so aptly on another thread: Just don't lick the poo.

Re bacteria, there was a study done in the US on cat-human bacterial infections and the culprit was................................. dry food. So, it goes to show that basic hygiene is a must no matter what you feed.




Spid, and people DO worry about outdoor cats that hunt - owners are told to worm them even more regularly - not that I agree but there is that scaremongering too.

ok, thx for your replies.

No, I don't intend on letting the baby lick the cat or anything but they will have some contact and cats do lick themselves a lot (even after poing ) and babies constatntly put things/hands in their mouths...

I know hygiene is very important but I didn't know dry food was more dangerous than raw. Do you perhaps have a link to that study? I would be interested...

As mentioned, I do not let them outside so they don0t catch anything (except flies )

Just to clarify, they didn't pitch raw vs dry food but studied cat-human contagion using children that had been infected: Human Salmonella Infections Linked to Contaminated Dry Dog and Cat Food, 2006

OK, thanks

Aren't the prey intermediate hosts for some parasites, certain worms? The flea is an intermediate host for the most common tapeworm but I thought various other worms came from prey animals.

The important point is that they shed more. Animals fed on other diets don't shed none. No matter what people choose to feed their cats it's still important to observe sensible hygiene protocols and if you do then the numbers of bacteria become irrelevant. You've either cleaned properly or you haven't.