 Purred: Tue Jan 24, '12 3:08pm PST |
 | |  | | Hi, welcome to the raw forum!
Ok, this is the reasoning. Kibble moves through the digestive system at a very slow rate because of it's almost total lack of moisture and the carbohydrate content; I forget the exact amount of time, but it's something like 10 - 12 hours. Raw meat, on the other hand, because of it's high moisture content, and because a cat is programmed to digest meat protein, moves fairly quickly through the digestive system.
The raw meat we feed our cats is probably never completely free of bacteria. These bacteria don't normally pose a problem though because of the very acidic nature of a cat's stomache (~pH of 2) and because the raw meat is processed so quickly. The problem then with feeding kibble prior to feeding raw meat is that the raw meat, along with any bacteria present, will no longer be able to move quickly through the gut.
Also, the pH of the stomache increases as a cat is fed a diet higher in carbohydrates. This can result in two things. One, with a higher pH, bacteria have less of a chance of being destroyed. Two, the digestive enzymes in the stomache only work in a very acidic environment, so the raw food is not properly broken down and more of it will pass through your cat without being utilitzed.
This has a much more detailed explanation, http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-feed-raw-and-dry-at-the- same-time
Purrs,
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. They're freeze-dried meat and nothing else -- no preservatives, additives, just meat that's been freeze-dried. They're available in chicken, ocean whitefish, beef liver, shrimp and duck. The duck is only available for dogs but I buy it because you get more for your money, which is true of the other treats as well. 
