Raw Feeding Chronicles....

Originally Posted by nausicaa

You might try checking out your local Latino or Asian grocers. In our area they usually sell packages of chicken hearts for around $1.50.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip...it might be a regional issue, I don't know. In my area, I would expect them to be readily available. I visited 2 Asian grocers and 3 Latino ones yesterday. One of them was really nice and seemed to have some good stuff...but NONE of them had chicken hearts On another note, I found animal parts for sale that I had NO idea that people really ate. Pork Uterus??

BUT, anyway...I got in touch with a farmer from an outlying town today and they're going to call me back in the morning! She said she was pretty confident that they could help me. Hearts...I'm gonna get my hearts!!! Have you ever seen a crazy cat lady so excited about chicken organs??

I did end up with a nice beef heart the other day. The butcher had the liver too...so I'll get it there next time.

Originally Posted by nausicaa

I'm sooo squicked out by chicken liver. Maybe it's because I buy them from Giant Food and not from a premium source like, say, haretoday, but they're so squishy and bloody and some are particularly discoloured/jaundiced-looking (I throw those ones out - which means usually I don't end up with much.)

Click to expand...

Hmm. Yeah, I have gotten them at the grocery store...I'd like to get them elsewhere. But these weren't discolored. Just deliciously bloody.

I'm sorry, it's past my bedtime and I just stumbled on this thread and don't have time to read the whole thing....I've been off the board for a while and in the interim switched my cats to a raw diet and have a recipe that's been working quite well for me, so if anybody wants me to post it, please ask.

I was motivated to switch to raw when Twinkie came down with struvite crystals. He was on prescription food for a month and although that improved his crystal considerably, he hated the food and lost a half pound. I'm happy to say that since being on raw he's been 100% crystal free and back up to his fighting weight of 9 1/2 pounds.

My only problem is Mellie hates the taste of beef so it's difficult to get enough decent organ meat that she'll eat. I'm working on her, but she's notoriously stubborn when it comes to food choices.

Now off to bed.....

I'm having trouble with BEEF too. What's up with the Beef?

The first home made batch I made was chicken and beef with chicken organs. Beandip didn't like it, Junior LOVED it, Leopold "Mr. I've never let anything raw pass through my lips" was extremely curious about it...actually ate a little when I let him, Paisley liked it but barfed it up, Pixel said "eh, it's OK", Momma liked it but barfed it...and that's it.

The second batch was beef with beef organs. Ummm, Beef liver must be nasty or something? I don't know. Pixel and Paisley are mildly interested but the boys won't eat it.

I made yet another batch of chicken with chicken organs (got my hearts!!!)...and Beandip, Junior, and Momma like it. Leopold likes it too but I'm being cautious with his tummy...I haven't let him have much of it yet. Momma had a WHOLE ounce of it for lunch and kept it down...so that's good.

So the chicken's getting good reviews here but I'm really bummed out about the BEEF.

Speaking of "fighting weight", Junior has put on almost 2 pounds since going raw. I keep making jokes that his stripes are getting farther apart It seems to be mostly muscle but I've had to start watching his portions a little closer. I give him 1.5 oz at breakfast and it lasts about 6 seconds.

Do you guys feeding raw notice your cats have more energy?

Originally Posted by coaster

Do you guys feeding raw notice your cats have more energy?

Click to expand...

Umm do you mean like my nearly 19 yr old keeping up with the three yr old???lol... or my sick 9.5 yr old dog being mistaken for a 2-3 yr old??? YES

Originally Posted by coaster

Do you guys feeding raw notice your cats have more energy?

Click to expand...

I definitely notice a difference in Beandip...but I wasn't sure if it was just the extreme improvement of his bladder issues, or the food itself. I guess they go hand in hand.

I never realized how lazy they were when they had dry food to snack on 24/7. In retrospect, it should have been obvious to me.

My cats have been just flying around the house. I don't know....maybe I've created three wild cats. But seriously.....they just seem more "wild" .... more cat-like. I can't prove it's the food, but something's different.

Originally Posted by coaster

My cats have been just flying around the house. I don't know....maybe I've created three wild cats.

But seriously.....they just seem more "wild" .... more cat-like. I can't prove it's the food, but something's different.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't doubt it. I call these guys "my little carnivores". LOL

Is Mellie doing any better with the beef?

No. I swear she can smell one part in a million that's not chicken. I mixed in some lamb, and even though she eats canned chicken & lamb and lamb & rice, she snubbed mine. She ate it after skipping one meal, but wasn't happy about it. However, she'd rather starve than eat beef.

the wild thing is going on here too! That is incredible. I think it is the raw and not just the homemade. At the moment I am on cooked chicken batch. One, because everyone got bad diarrhea and stopped eating right at a new batch. I don't know what the problem is, but of course the first thought was I gave them salmonella or camphylobacter! Stool cultures though didn't show an overgrowth.

I was hoping I could get the raw hold out to eat the cooked. NOPE and none of the others scarf down the cooked like they did the raw. They just love the raw chicken.

I don't get the problem with beef. They will not even go near their plates if some of it is mixed in. Not even Zoe, who will try to steal cooked hamburger. I though if I cooked the beef they would at least try it, but no go

Has anyone else gotten runny yellow diarrhea in the whole crew when feeding raw? I am following the recipe from catinfo.org and my vet really doesn't have a problem with homemade, but isn't a big fan of raw due to the problem with bacterial contamination of chicken. Both Zoe and Stomper spent overnights at the vets last week and they couldn't find out what was wrong ($910 later ) Definitely a belly problem as they didn't want to eat either. Just felt crummy for 24 hours for 2, and then three days for Zoe and Stomper. the other three acted normal but all the stools in the litter boxes were runny.

Could it has been food overload? They eat 3-4 ounces each a day.


Sorry, starting to thread hijack. I just am afraid now to make another batch of raw, even though I think it is the best thing to ever have happend to the monsters' food.

That's basically the recipe I use, except I don't do the double-grinding (I do NOT grind rabbit bones; meat only) and I've never had the kind of diahrrea you mention. I had some vomitting and soft stools the first few weeks I started, but now everything's fine. In fact, poops are smaller, firmer, and fewer in number than ever.

One note - I don't use "factory" chicken. It's amazing the visible, olfactory and tactile differences in the meat between factory chicken and natural chicken. Disgusting is more the operative word than amazing, I think.

$910? Ouch!!

We didn't have any diarrhea here. Beandip and Junior seem to be fine with anything they're willing to eat...which excludes my "totally beef" batch. No digestive issues with them.

I think it will be awhile before I make a whole (half) batch with beef organs in it, though. I'll probably do the beef/chicken blend again. Paisley and Momma threw that up, but they boys did well with it.

I admit I used factory chicken twice now. I have 2 sources lined up for better chicken now. I'm going to have to make more in a few days, since they won't eat the beef.

I don't get the beef issue either. They were begging for (and eating!) the plain beef when I was preparing it. Paisley and Junior both had a couple pieces of the plain beef heart too. Iccchhh. They seemed to enjoy it. But the final product - nope.

I'm using the catnutrition.org recipe too. Junior inhales 4 oz / day...he wants 6 or 7 but I had to slow him down a little. Beandip does 3.5-4oz/day. I think 3-4 sounds fine, kittymonsters.

Cats sometimes get diarrhea when you switch them to a new food; was that last batch totally the same as the previous ones in terms of ingredients? Also, check to make sure your grinder is clean.

As for the beef - mine will eat it, but very unenthusiastically,and he always leaves some left (and this is a cat who roots through the TRASH for food, for god's sake.) I don't know, maybe it's because beef is so far away from being what they eat in nature. Mine is pretty much all-poultry now as far as his raw portions go - chicken, turkey, and quail (not duck as I think the meat is too rich), which is easier for me (and him) because I do bone-in.

HI. im new here and was just doing some research about changing my kitten to raw. i have tried a bunch of chicken and lamb based kibble that he seems to struggle with and after finding two pieces of bone in a can of Royal Canin (i know not the best but was guearanteed that the by-product was not bone and beaks etc) i have had enough. so i am trying Roland out on the solid gold tuna wet too see how he does on fish and then i am going to start raw fish (from the pet food supply store.) Is it hard on their stomachs to switch over? and what is the least likely to be allergenic to him? any advice is much appreciated!

Originally Posted by RolandsMom

HI. im new here and was just doing some research about changing my kitten to raw. i have tried a bunch of chicken and lamb based kibble that he seems to struggle with and after finding two pieces of bone in a can of Royal Canin (i know not the best but was guearanteed that the by-product was not bone and beaks etc) i have had enough. so i am trying Roland out on the solid gold tuna wet too see how he does on fish and then i am going to start raw fish (from the pet food supply store.) Is it hard on their stomachs to switch over? and what is the least likely to be allergenic to him? any advice is much appreciated!

Click to expand...

Hello and welcome.

What has the vet said about Roland's allergy issues? How old is Roland? It would be best to work with a vet regarding the raw diet.

Generally, raw fish is not recommended. What kind of raw fish product do they have at the pet supply store?

Beyond the other reasons, I wouldn't recommend putting a male cat on a "fishy" diet...or really any cat on a total fish diet, but a male especially. It can aggravate or contribute to some urinary problems.

Least allergenic...I'm not sure, and it depends on what you've tried already. I think a good bit of the time that the problem is various grains rather than meats, but that varies. What kind of allergy issues does Roland have?

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but raw fish is a terrible idea. I haven't seen it recommended in anything I've read, but I have seen it NOT recommended in everything I've read. Fish isn't a good diet for cats in the first place, and in the second place can carry pathogens that cat's digestive systems aren't equipped to handle. Please don't carry through on this plan. It's not a good idea.

,,,,,,rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr778rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr777777777777

Confetti says "HI!"

The point of this post was.....I gave up on feeding Damita raw. She's sick on anything I give her. So I quit. I'm feeding her dry & canned both. She's eating without me forcing her. Someday I will try raw again, but for now....I just want her to eat!

I think an occasional meal of raw fish is okay (I feed mine salmon or whitefish sashimi a couple of times a month - whenever I go out for sushi), but you need to freeze it for 24 hours beforehand. An entirely fish-based diet, on the other hand, is not okay.

Honestly, though, when it comes to fish it's not crucial to do raw. Nutrients like Omega-3 and Omega-6 aren't broken down by cooking. So if you want to get the benefits of those fatty acids (which promote a healthy coat, among other things) without worrying about potential parasites, buy human-grade fish from a reputable source (like at a local farmer's market) and lightly poach it before serving.

I stopped Raw too...
Diesel was doing well but Tucker wasn't and I decided that feeding both of the cats completely different diets wasn't working......it just became very draining.
They're both doing really well on the NV Raw Instinct and seem to love Merricks and Wellness. Hopefully we'll try raw again in the future

Originally Posted by nausicaa

...Honestly, though, when it comes to fish it's not crucial to do raw. Nutrients like Omega-3 and Omega-6 aren't broken down by cooking. So if you want to get the benefits of those fatty acids (which promote a healthy coat, among other things) without worrying about potential parasites, buy human-grade fish from a reputable source (like at a local farmer's market) and lightly poach it before serving.

Click to expand...

I agree. Lightly poach it and don't make it a steady diet.