Veterinarian reports woman to Animal Control for ‘severe neglect and abuse’ for following raw cat food diet

What would you do if your veterinarian called Animal Control to your home because of the food you were feeding your cats? This is the story of a woman in a small town on the west coast (unnamed for privacy concerns) who took her goat into her regular veterinarian for treatment and ended up having to defend her right to give her cats and dogs a raw food diet.

Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

The well experienced raw feeder, referred to as Mrs. V, had a sick goat. The veterinarian prescribed a food which was carried at the clinic. Mrs. V took one look at the ingredients and noticed five ingredients that weren’t good for neutered goats so she refused to purchase it.

When asked by the veterinarian, Mrs. V described the raw homemade died she makes for her cats and dogs. This irritated the vet. In an interview with Two Crazy Cat Ladies, Mrs. V stated

“She almost became hostile while informing me that only an veterinarian nutritionalist knows the nutrition that animals should have. She said I was jeopardizing the health and welfare of my animals by thinking I know what is better for my animals than the pet food industry.”

Mrs. V has been making her own pet food for more than 20 years and based the ingredients on information she learned from several nutritionists. None of this mattered to the veterinarian.

Within hours of arriving back at home with her goat, Animal Control showed up with three vans and a trailer to seize the animals that were being “starved through poor food choices, and that is a case of severe neglect and abuse.” While Mrs. V lives in a state that requires a veterinarian to report suspected abuse or neglect, that isn’t the case here.

The Animal Control Officer was so impressed with the glowing health of her animals Mrs. V was asked for her special raw food recipe. Word has it the veterinarian has been blacklisted and run out of business.

This is a disturbing situation. How do the readers here at PoC feel about a veterinarian who doesn’t have first-hand knowledge on the health of a cat to report a cat owner to Animal Control for neglect and abuse?

I admire people who know how to raw feed their cats. While it may not be for every cat owner, the government (and Animal Control IS government funded in almost all areas) shouldn’t have the right to interfere with the lifestyle choice raw feeders have made to keep their cats (and dogs) healthy.

Your comments are welcome.

Elisa

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11 thoughts on “Veterinarian reports woman to Animal Control for ‘severe neglect and abuse’ for following raw cat food diet”

  1. I wish I felt comfortable preparing a raw diet. Im scared ill give tjem something that would make them ill.
    Id Love some guidence and advise on it though. Right now I feed Wellness. I know its not great. But Pet food wise its better than most.

    Reply
    • There is a page on this website, a long and extensive page, about raw cat food. There are other pages to. One page describes buying off-the-shelf minced up meat to which you add a commercially manufactured supplement which together create a balanced diet for a cat. That sort of straightforwardness may be attractive to you but I can’t find the page – sorry. You might try the custom search facility and drill down. There are lots of pages on this topic on PoC.

      https://pictures-of-cats.org/raw-food-diet.html

      Reply
  2. I also feed raw to my cats. They have never been so healthy. Raw diets
    prevent so many problems. Hard kibble is made with leftovers and dead animals. The pet food industry is really not regulated at all anymore and the pet foods is,if you remember the food that came over from China that killed so many pets in the US, is a good example. Look up Susan Thixton on the Internet and read what she has to say about our pet food industry. Not Good.

    Reply
    • Well done Sandy. You are right to feed raw as long as you know the ins and outs of preparation and storage as I am sure you do.

      Reply
      • That’s why I’ve never been able to bring myself to feed Raw.
        I’m just too worried I would get something wrong and make them sick

        Reply
        • I regret to say that I feel the same way about it. I should know and do better. But I’m just a bit too worried that I will screw up. However, all the reports that I have read about raw cat food diets are good. Cat owners always report that their cat is in better health than before. Sometimes chronic illnesses are ameliorated or cured by a raw diet. It is a shame that veterinarians do not recommend raw diets to cure some illnesses. They resist because it will affect their profit margins by reducing sales of food that they sell on the shelves of their clinics.

          Reply
  3. Absolutely! The burden needs to be on veterinary “foods” which are made from low quality and species-inappropriate ingredients. And on feeding dry food, which is linked to so many physiological issues, which are revenue to vets.

    Reply
    • My FIV+ boy Brinkley had to go on sub-q fluids for awhile due to kidney issues. One we switched him to canned grain free he cleared up. And our other cats don’t get URI’s anymore since the quality of their food is better.

      Reply

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