anyways, does anyone know of anygood websites with recipes and stuff?
Also where can i get the proper supplements from?
10 points for best answer.
can someone post websites with really good information about the raw food diet, thanks.
i know their is going to be people saying cat food is healthy, but if its so healthy why was their a huge recall?
because they dont care what gets put in it, its all fillers and ash.
im going to try to feed my cat what he would eat in the wild, what he is ment to eat.Is anyone's cat on the raw food diet?
feed your kitty raw chicken/fish
and mix it with some dry food :)
my kitty is on the same diet and if you mix a raw egg with it, it will make your kittys fur more shinyIs anyone's cat on the raw food diet?
hey there,
was wondering how your search is going... depending were you live there are many distributors of raw cat food from pet stores to private sales usually working through a well know distributor, however i cannot give you any contact info if i don't know where your at :) i have 2 cats one is 5.5 yr and has been on raw for 5 of them, my other kitty is 2.5 yrs and has been on eaw since we got her at 3 mos old.... if you have any questions feel free to post.. id love to help if i can in anyway, mostly because i have simmilar views and the "cat food" out there is just grain sprayed with fat and moulded! yuck..
take care , and good luck on you findings :)
I feed my cats raw diet that I order from Feline's pride. It is expensive but they send it to your front door frozen. I have tried some that they sell in pet stores, nature something, they didnt like it much at all but they love felines pride.
catnutrition.org is an EXCELLENT site to read and learn about raw diet.
I could not agree with you more though, most pet food is made of the sweepings from the slaughterhouse floor though there really are some good canned products that are highly nutritious such as Innova Evo. My cats dont like Innova but it is very close to raw, nutritionallyIs anyone's cat on the raw food diet?
Good for you. I heartily recommend it.
I have one cat pretty much completely on it, and the other is being slipped some nice juicy bunny unbeknownst to her. Before she knows it she'll be chowing down too.
From my blog:
HOW TO GET STARTED FEEDING RAW
This blog is not intended to serve as your one-stop-shop for raw feeding. But hopefully it'll help you focus on what you need to decide and give you ideas of where to look for more info. I personally chose to feed ground whole prey so I do not supplement (except for a bit of extra taurine, fish oil and probiotics). I still serve some canned food for variety and likely will always have some on hand. I am feeding just chicken at the moment, but will be adding turkey and rabbit, and perhaps other meats when they become available.
(This ground meat does nothing for their teeth, so I also give the girls 1" or so pieces of raw chicken neck to chew on.)
So you've decided to feed raw. What's next?
It's actually pretty simple. You need to find a supplier. You need to decide on a method (ground, whole, etc.) You need to decide which meats to use. You need to know whether you need to supplement, and if you do, what supplements to use. And most importantly, you need to get your cat to eat it.
1. Finding a supplier.
A. Find a local supplier. If you're in the midwest, I recommend Taylor Pond Farms. I buy my meat from them and it couldn't be easier. They deliver every month and you can either pick it up at a dropoff point or have it delivered to your door. www.taylorpondfarms.com. They also have Yahoo groups for specific areas (http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=tay鈥?/a> You can also join http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawme鈥?/a> http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Carni鈥?/a> http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Whole鈥?/a> and look through their list of links.
B. Buy online. One site used by many is www.hare-today.com. There are many other sites; the WholeCatHealth links above will help you find them.
C. Buy meat at the grocery store. Your choices will be limited but if all you're going to feed is chicken, that's fine. Just be sure that the meat is hormone and antibiotic free - or organic.
2. Choosing a method.
A. Whole prey. This may be either meat, bones and organs all ground together, or it may be chunks of meat and whole bones and organs. With this method you do not need to supplement. Your cat will be eating a properly balanced meal.
B. Just meat. Again, this can be either chunks of meat or it can be ground. If you do not include bones and organs, you will need to add supplements to ensure that the meals are complete and balanced.
To learn more about these methods, check out these Yahoo groups: (http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=raw鈥?/a>
3. Supplements. If you've chosen to serve meat without organs/bones, you will need to add supplements. There are a few different ways to do this. You can purchase a ready-made supplement such as Instincts TC (http://www.felinefuture.com/) or Wysong's Call of the Wild (http://www.wysong.net/page/WOTTPWS/PROD/鈥?/a> Or you can put together your own mixture. There are tons of recipes out there. One example is here (http://www.catnutrition.org/foodmaking.p鈥?/a> One of the raw feeding groups is dedicated to one particular supplement: (http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/felin鈥?/a>
4. Meats. Most meats are appropriate but you may want to avoid pork. The most commonly used meat is chicken. My vet suggested feeding a variety, so my choices are chicken, turkey and rabbit. If it becomes available I'll also try venison. Lamb and duck were rejected. It'll be up to you and your cat what to feed.
5. Converting your cats. If you've got a kibble junky on your hands, it might be easier to first convert him or her to canned food, and then try the raw. This has been a tried and true method for many including myself. Once the cats are happily eating canned food, start slipping a bit of meat into it. Just a speck to start with. Gradually increase that amount. If the cat balks, back down a bit but keep at it.
When you're ready to try it alone, you may need bribes. Raw meat has little scent so it can be helpful to add something stinky your cat likes. Crush some kibble and sprinkle it over the top. Try fish or liver flakes, parmesan cheese, a drop of soy sauce, meaty baby food (with no added onion or garlic), whatever it takes.
Note that you do not have to start with canned. You may be able to toss down a hunk of chicken and your cat will devour it. You never know until you try.
If you join any or all of the above groups, you'll find many more tips as well.
Patience and perseverence is the key. I was surprised at how readily Poppy took to the chicken after being on canned food for a year, but Sophie who is not normally picky has been resisting. What she doesn't know is that she's getting a bit of chicken along with her Wellness. (NOTE: Mushier canned foods may do better to hide the meat than the denser varieties such as Instincts).
Last but not least - relax! If you're researching this you may become overwhelmed at the tons of info out there, and all the conflicting opinions about what is best. What you need to do is choose the method that will work for YOU and your cats. And while it is important that your cat eat a balanced diet, it is not the end of the world if you don't get it exactly right, or if you forget to add a supplement one day. As my vet said, do you eat a balanced diet every day?
A good supplement when feeding raw is Platinum Performance, http://www.platinumperformance.com You can acquire great raw food and supplements from Hare Today as well, http://www.hare-today.com/. There are other suppliers, like Oma's Pride, http://www.omaspride.com Although I'm not sure it's the best food, Nature's Variety makes a pretty readily available food (you may be able to find it at pet store in your area) with supplements already added. It comes in little frozen pellets that are convenient to feed. http://www.naturesvariety.com/ I'm sure your cat will appreciate your dedication to his health and longevity.Is anyone's cat on the raw food diet?
I supplement my kitties diet with bits of raw meat, Tuna, Fish guts from fish I catch, bunnies I raise, and Sqeekers loves deer meat.
I just started 4 dogs and 1 cat on raw feeding in the past month. They all love it!
I wouldn't overdo the supplements too much. Most people who start with the long lists of supplements go way overboard. I use calcium powder and/or bone meal (unnecessary if you're going to be feeding bones as well, but that's your decision), and a multivitamin powder for dogs, and a squirt of fish oil.
There are 2 ways to feed raw. Raw meaty bones is self explanatory: everything you feed should be meaty bones. Chicken wings are a perfect size and portion for small dogs and cats. You simply feed a whole raw wing, bone, skin, meat, and all. (You can half or quarter it at first to help him figure out how to eat it.)
If that idea makes you uncomfortable (like my mom) the other option is making "kitty mush". Get some raw meat, eggs, whatever fruits/veggies you want to add, a little yogurt or cottage cheese, etc. (NO grains like rice whatsoever!). Add your supplements (if you feed this way, adding the calcium powder or bonemeal is essential, you have to have enough calcium). You will also need some taurine supplements, you can buy these (and actually all supplements) from a human vitamin/nutrition store. Throw everything in a food processor and grind it up into a nice even mush, and feed it to your kitty. This is how we feed my mom's 3 dogs and my cat (my dog eats a combination of the mush and the raw meaty bones). The best part about the mush is you can freeze it in meal-sized portions, thus allowing you to make large batches to hold you over for months at a time. :-)
Here are some websites, good luck in your learning, and don't let anyone discourage you! You're making a good choice.
http://rawfed.com/myths/cats.html
http://www.rawlearning.com/
http://www.holisticat.com/rawdiet.html
http://www.rawfedcats.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment