How Raw Chicken Saved My Cat's Life

When my new orange tabby kitten, Pumpkin, came to me last October from the shelter, he had just started having a problem with diarrhea. He was tested for parasites and infections, but the tests came back negative. Since he seemed healthy otherwise, I was advised to try him on cat food made from turkey, which is supposed to be easier on a cat's digestive tract.

A couple weeks passed and the diarrhea continued. I took him off the turkey cat food and put him on fresh, cooked chicken with rice (he loved it but it gave him terrible gas), then cooked chicken without rice (he still loved it and was easier to be around). But again, no improvement.

After searching the Internet, I became concerned that my cat might have a serious condition called pacreatic insufficiency. Although the cause isn't really known, pancreatic insufficiency results in the pancreas failing to produce sufficient amounts of enzymes necessary for proper digestion. As a result, the food passes through the digestive tract without being completely digested so that all the nutrients can be absorbed into the system. Some cats will just outgrow this problem; others will just die.

I took Pumpkin to my vet, who advised that the best way to diagnose the situation was through a process of elimination. She ran a couple of stool tests and some blood tests. The tests still came back negative but the vet advised a course of antibiotics anyway, just in case anything was lurking in his system that the test wasn't catching. Again, no improvement.

Then we tried to rule out food allergies. For a few weeks Pumpkin ate very expensive hypoallergenic cat food make from duck and green peas. He really loved it. But the diarrhea continued. Even though my little cat always ate plenty, he was actually slowly starving to death before my eyes.

After racking up vet bills of more than $400 without success, it seemed like we were coming closer to the diagnosis that I was fearing: pancreatic insufficiency.

Around Christmas time my vet went on vacation for a couple weeks. Because I didn't want to have to bring a new vet up to date on all that had been done so far, I just kept Pumpkin on a special diet for cats with digestive problems and hoped for the best. He began to show some slight improvement--the diarrhea lessened and I thought we had turned the corner on the situation. But after a few more weeks, he got worse again and by February he had become lethargic and was really just skin and bones.

I was about to bring him back to the vet when I decided to do one more Internet search to see if I could find any helpful information. I happened to come across a web site advocating a raw food diet for cats and dogs. It advised feeding cats something similar to what they would eat in the wild (and what their digestive systems are really designed for). In the wild cats eat birds and mice, so the suggested alternatives were raw chicken, turkey, or rabbit.

Since Pumpkin hadn't improved when I'd fed him cooked chicken, I was doubtful that the raw version would work any better, but in desperation I bought a couple chicken breasts and minced them up. He ate every bit I gave him and within about 24 hours he had really perked up. Within 48 hours the diarrhea began to taper off and his coat was noticeably softer and healthier looking. I kept feeding him raw minced chicken and within about ten days, the diarrhea stopped completely. By the end of the month, Pumpkin was no longer skin and bones and lethargic. He was growing and filling out and had more than enough energy to keep up with my other cat. Now, four months into his raw chicken diet, Pumpkin is a full-grown cat that you would never imagine had been starving.

I'm still not sure why the raw chicken works. It's possible that it contains enzymes necessary for digestion that are destroyed when the chicken is cooked. Pancreatic insufficiency doesn't have to cost your cat's life or cost you hundreds of dollars in vet bills. I only wish I'd discovered this solution sooner!