Roo. The raw feeding myth that won't go away.
The number of cats described to me as "raw fed" that turn out to be eating plain roo would genuinely surprise you.
Somewhere along the way, kangaroo earned this reputation as the raw feeding answer. Especially in breeder circles, it gets recommended constantly. New owners hear it from breeders, owners hear it from other owners, and before long "feed roo" starts sounding like solid nutritional advice simply because enough people repeat it.
Plain roo is not a balanced diet. It is muscle meat. And muscle meat alone, no matter how clean or natural it sounds, does not provide everything a cat needs. The calcium to phosphorus ratio is wrong, key nutrients are missing, and it is not complete. Feeding plain roo and calling it raw feeding are not the same thing.
Roo has another specific problem too: it is one of the leanest proteins available, and it should never carry the whole diet on its own. Even in a properly balanced diet, relying on roo as the only protein source is not ideal. Cats need an appropriate overall nutritional profile, and that includes enough animal fat. Fat is not an optional extra. Roo gets treated like a gold standard because it is lean, but lean does not automatically mean better for cats. That is human diet culture being applied to feline nutrition, and cats are not small people in fur coats.
Then there is the fixation problem. Many cats become intensely attached to roo. They love it, they fixate on it, and they start refusing other foods - which only adds to the myth that it must be perfect. A cat being obsessed with something does not make it nutritionally complete. It just means it is palatable to them. Those are not the same thing.
So now you have a protein that is unbalanced, too lean, commonly overused, and sometimes difficult to move cats away from once they are hooked. That does not make roo a bad ingredient. It can be useful as a novel protein, helpful in the right context, and included as part of a properly balanced diet. But plain roo in a bowl is not a feeding plan.
Raw feeding is not just handing over a bowl of meat. It is balance. Proper minerals. Proper vitamins. Enough fat. Enough variety. A diet actually designed to support the cat, not just fill the bowl.
When someone tells me their cat is raw fed, I always think it is worth asking one more question.
Balanced raw? Or just roo?