Thank you,still trying different canned products,so hard when they just lick the gravy,trying pate style and terrine flavours,been through so many brands.I have ordered some Raw Meow Mix that you mix with muscle meats to make it complete,then I can start them on diferant proteins.They wouldn’t eat the barf.I may have to start mixing roo with the canned food as they are just refusing most of it.Have found one flavour so far that they will eat,will keep trying,thank you

Hi Raelene. Your vet is certainly correct, and ideally you should find a complete and balanced food to offset the meat by at least 50%. I’m not sure if the pet barn barf diet can be considered complete and balanced but you can check that yourself. As for changing over, I like the idea of only providing the kangaroo for one meal and then putting something out that they eat if they are hungry for the rest of the day. It’s important to remember that your cats didn’t always only eat kangaroo meat so I’m sure they have memories of other foods to fall back on. Sometimes though, just having kangaroo in the house makes cats hunger strike for anything else. It’s why I don’t recommend starting it. However, I’m sure with perseverance you can convert them into more nutritionally balanced feeders. Stick at it.

Hi Audrey. They appear safe for dogs, but not cats. However, since dogs and cats are closely related I avoid them regardless. Note, however, that there is no requirement to declare if a treat has been irradiated- you need to look for a warning about not feeding them to cats.

Thanks Dave. I wish everyone knew how little protection pets have in here in Australia. Regarding the link between pet food manufacturers and vet schools, in my day there weren’t any. I can’t comment on how students are trained these days but it would be a mistake in my opinion to get close to any particular company.

There are so many loop holes and marketing tricks to dupe even the smartest of us into believing something is far better than it is, especially with pet food.

As a bachelor of veterinary science yourself, what’s your take on the education of veterinary professionals in terms of pet nutrition, and how major corporations influence the pet space (i.e. the likes of Mars, Nestle, and their range of brands)?