Most nutritional/raw cat food question updated/continued(please help!)?

Okay in my last question I didn't give enough details, although I appreciate the many good answers! I run an animal rescue, and currently have 12 cats of all ages. I'm wondering what would be the most practical/nutritional choice. They currently eat Whiskas dry with one wet meal a day. I know this is VERY BAD, which is why I'm trying to find out what to change to. I've done lots of research and worked in an animal hospital, so I'm not completely ignorant! I looked into B.A.R.F., i'm interested in feeding raw food, but I couldn't afford to order it. Plus with school and full-time work, I don't have time to mix up meals all the time. How can I feed raw food without it being time-consuming and expensive? Is it possible? Can I make a lot in advance? If so, are their recipes available? If I make food for them, how do I ensure that it's nutritionally balanced? Don't think I'm looking for a shortcut, I'm not, just trying to find the best option for the cats AND me! P.S. I live in Ont., CanadaMost nutritional/raw cat food question updated/continued(please help!)?
I answered your other question too. :o) I feed 14 cats raw.



I prepare about 2 months worth in advance and then freeze it in 2 large freezers I have.



I'm going to copy and paste an answer that I gave someone else because I'm running short on time. But If I miss something that you specifically want to know about feeding a large number of cats you are free to email me directly. I will be happy to help you if I can.



Kat





Good for you for considering a raw diet for your cats.



***What types of meat can I feed my cats?

~~~I feed Natural Chicken I buy at my grocery store and Local Farm raised rabbit I buy from My Pet Carnivore. But you can feed any meat your cat will tolerate. I have found the smaller the prey the better, as in鈥?a rabbit is more likely tolerated than beef. But many cats just don't care and can eat whatever they want. You also need to feed a source of calcium (bones) and organs as well. My husband and I grind whole chickens myself with hearts, livers and supplements. And I buy my rabbit preground.





****Where can I go to get whatever meat I should be feeding?

~~~I buy Natural Gerber Chickens at my local Grocery store. Same thing I buy for myself. I鈥檝e developed the rule that if I won鈥檛 eat it鈥?neither will my cats. I buy my rabbit from My Pet Carnivore who Buys from a farm in Michigan called Taylor Pond Farms. Both sources are as natural as I can get. Since I can鈥檛 afford to buy organic鈥?this is the next best choice.





***How much do they need to be fed?

~~~You should feed 2 t 3% of the cat鈥檚 body weight daily, adjusting accordingly for to fat or to thin. So if you have a 10 pound cat it cat weighs 160 ounces, so you would feed that cat 3.2 to 4.8 ounces of food daily depending on what the cat needs. A more active cat will need more, a lazy cat will need less. You will figure this out once you start feeding.



I feed 5 pounds a day to 14 cats. We spend about 4 hours every six weeks preparing 6 weeks worth of food. For one or two cats it would take you maybe an hour a month if that.



****How do I "serve" it to them?

~~~I feed ground. So I serve it to them on plates. It is not messy and it鈥檚 just like I used to feed a canned diet.



Here are some pictures of my cats eating and how I serve it.



***Do I need to worry about internal parasites?



~~~No more than if your cat was an outside cat that caught mice and ate them. My cats have NEVER had a worm.

You of course need to have careful meat handling, but since I鈥檓 sure you already know that for yourself you don鈥檛 have to be told that meat can spoil if handled incorrectly.







***What is the cost as compared to dry kibble?

~~~Compared to what kind of kibble. Cheap grocery store kibble will always be the cheapest way to go. But it鈥檚 also the unhealthiest for your cat. Now鈥?compared to the best dry you can get, high quality Evo or Wellness? It鈥檚 just a bit more. Compared to high quality canned鈥?it鈥檚 way less.



After all is said and done, I spend about $1.00 to $1.50 per pound on the food I make depending if I get my chicken during a sale or not.



If you are interested in feeding a raw diet some great places to start learning are http://www.catinfo.org/ , http://www.catnutrition.org/ , and http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/ . These are the three sites that I I chose to use to make the recipe I use to feed my cats.



If you would like to try raw with your cats and don鈥檛 want to get all technical about it but want to try a trusted, time tested and balanced raw diet you can order from http://www.felinespride.com/products/cat鈥?/a> . I purchased this myself when I first started and my cats loved it!



Here's a bunch of websites to help you learn what you need to know.



http://www.catinfo.org/



http://www.catnutrition.org/



http://www.rawfedcats.org/



http://www.felinespride.com/



http://www.felinefuture.com/



http://www.felineinstincts.com/index.htm鈥?/a>



http://www.raisingcatsnaturally.com/



http://www.blakkatz.com/index.html



http://www.holisticat.com/



http://goldcoastragdolls.com/MyOwnCatFoo鈥?/a>



http://www.mypetcarnivore.com/rawfeeding鈥?/a>





Starting Raw is not a walk in the park. It takes time and dedication, especially with cats. Once you get it though鈥?it will be smooth sailing. So if you feel you would like more information. I would be happy to share with you if you need more help. I had many coaches when I started and I feel I should pay that forward and help where I can with other new raw feeders.Most nutritional/raw cat food question updated/continued(please help!)?
Ah! Yes, this can work for you.



I'm going to refer you to my blog for the most part - it'll point you to several resources. US based but still it should be a start.



But very briefly, if you choose to feed the whole prey model, you don't need to supplement. You buy the food preground and just keep it in the freezer.



And yes, you can prepare meals ahead of time. Like you would spend a day getting it all prepped, plop it all in the freezer and then you're good to go for another few weeks or months or whatever!



EDIT: My experience has been that raw meat has NO smell. It has even less scent than the canned food I use or even the dry. If it smells it's probably rotten.



The one thing I may not have mentioned in my blog - price. it varies, but I pay around $2 per pound for the meat I buy. It's actually a little more than that but whatever. You can estimate that you'll feed each cat around 5.5 oz per day. I'll leave the rest of the math up to you.



And Iams is hideous food by the way - in case you didn't already know that.



And yes, technically feeding raw takes a bit more time. It takes more time to make up recipes than it does to feed whole prey. But it's time well spent and honestly isn't going to keep you all that busy.Most nutritional/raw cat food question updated/continued(please help!)?
I answered you last question but thanks for the further detail.



One of your other respondants had a good point - if you run a rescue, what are the chances that the future owners of your cats will feed a raw diet?



You don't have to feed raw to help these cats. Feed a dry food that is grain free and perhaps supplement with a grain free canned food.



For a good recipe for raw food, you can check out www.catinfo.org and price it out.Most nutritional/raw cat food question updated/continued(please help!)?
Theres no easy answer to this, feeding BARF will always be time consuming (plus it stinks!!)

the best option in my opinion is a multi cat,good quality dried food for example "iams multi cat" is a good, nutritionally balanced food which will not be as time consuming and can be measured out in advance.

Dry food isnt neccesarily bad if you feed the right one, whiskas for example has a very low meat content and high cereal content which is wasteful and not good value.

hope this helps.
Okay this is a rescue know you've got to stop and think the person that's going to adopt are they going to be able to do this? Most owners don't feed the BARF diet and these cats are on a dry already and I don't think this is the best idea for a rescue. ProPlan dry and canned is great the first ingredient is chicken (and it's not a by product) the rice. It's great for them and canned tuna and chicken in water is also great. I would rethink this for the fact these animal are going to find new homes. And please don't say well they will just HAVE to to do, cuz those poor kittys will take for ever to find there new forever homes. Best of luck.



Also with the proplan is might cost more but after a few wks of being on it they eat less, have less bowel movements, you'll use less litter and have less to clean cuz they use more of it, the stuff your feeding (like you said) isn't good the first ingredient is corn just like us it goes out the other end, the eat more and you have more waste plus it's really high in Ash, Phosphors and Magnesium which isn't good for there urinary tracks.