Need help with raw foods

Boo is on a wet food diet at the moment (he refuses to eat dry at all). I'm hoping to give him some raw every few days. I know there's a type of raw food called Home Made 4 Life that I'm planning to get every once in a while, and the other day I got some turkey neck (which he loves), but I was wondering what other kinds of raw food I could be feeding him??
Is it safe to feed him all kinds of raw meat, like hamburger meat, or are there certain kinds which arn't as good for them??
Also, he doesn't need supplements if he's only getting raw every few days right??

I would advise against feeding any preground raw. Here's two websites that will help you some. www.catinfo.org and www.catnutrition.org

what is wrong with feeding pre-ground raw??

Well, one of the things they caution against is that you can't count on the people who are preparing the ground meat, or preparing meat in general they don't necessarily keep the grinders as clean as they should be and you can't guarantee that the ground meat hasn't been put through a bacteria ridden grinder. IOW, the potential for already in place bacteria is higher.


'One note though: this is pre ground meat from a grocery store, not premade raw diets for cats.

Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

Well, one of the things they caution against is that you can't count on the people who are preparing the ground meat, or preparing meat in general they don't necessarily keep the grinders as clean as they should be and you can't guarantee that the ground meat hasn't been put through a bacteria ridden grinder. IOW, the potential for already in place bacteria is higher.


'One note though: this is pre ground meat from a grocery store, not premade raw diets for cats.

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agreeed ... thr premade cat or dogs diets are safe just watch for fragments over a 1/2 inch

Ok, so hamburger and any other ground meat are a no no then.
So is anything that is not grounded ok to feed? What are the best things to give them?

most like chn and beef.. I dont have a processor just a mini chopper and it grind non bone meat with ease

I feed chicken, mostly. The two websites I gave you will give you information on what types of foods are best, as well as what type of supplement you might want to consider. There is a supplement that I use called WildTrax, which was fairly inexpensive, so it may be worth it to get it and use it even if it's not necessary, and just add a little bump in the raw. If you're not going to feed raw every day, you may not have to go through the whole process outlined on the websites I sent. Mostly, I'd get a few boneless, skinless raw chicken breasts and thighs. Try cutting them down into very small chunks. You might want to consider flattening them, and then freezing them about half solid. It makes cutting a ton easier.

The supplement I mentioned above can be bought online at jefferspets.com I believe. It was about $18 for a four pound container, and I bought one of these in December and I'm only now getting down to about half way through it.

If you're going to feed raw more often, you'll definitely need a supplement, and you will probably want to start adding liver and organ meats, totalling about 10% of the overall weight. I'd suggest chicken liver/organs.

The two websites give you tons of information about diet, as well as the benefits of feeding raw diets, and a whole list of links that you might be interested in (including some premade raw sites). You may just want to get premade raw, specifically made for cats, as they're already balanced, and/or ground, and they're, in theory, ground on clean equipment.

I don't have any direct websites to premade raw, as I make all of my own raw and don't buy it premade, but they seem to work well except for cost for those that do. If you're only feeding it sometimes, though, you probably won't run into as much of an issue with cost.

Whenever we are cooking hamburger for supper, I always give Ling and Charlie and Keno about 2-3 bites of the raw hamburger. Guess a little won't hurt them, but I would not feed an entire meal of it

I use a raw food distributor called Barf Direct, out of Maryland. http://www.barfdirect.com

I buy the BRAVO! and Aunt Jenni's brands. All pre packaged and prepared.

I feed, the Rabbit, Duck and Venison varieties, along with beef organs and turkey organs.

My cats all dislike the various chicken products (even the expensive free range), ground beef, elk, lamb, salmon, ostrich.

I've been using Barf Direct for years to supply me with the BRAVO! raw food and they have been wonderful to deal with. No surprises and no disappointments. Very professional.

Originally Posted by Kai Bengals

I use a raw food distributor called Barf Direct, out of Maryland. http://www.barfdirect.com

I buy the BRAVO! and Aunt Jenni's brands. All pre packaged and prepared.

I feed, the Rabbit, Duck and Venison varieties, along with beef organs and turkey organs.

My cats all dislike the various chicken products (even the expensive free range), ground beef, elk, lamb, salmon, ostrich.

I've been using Barf Direct for years to supply me with the BRAVO! raw food and they have been wonderful to deal with. No surprises and no disappointments. Very professional.

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My boys won't eat the chicken, ground beef, elk, lamb and they absolutely hated the salmon.

The love Venison.

Nial, how do you like the Aunt Jenni brand?

I know BARF is bones and Raw Flesh ... but, still, how could you forget a co. named Barfdirect?

I too am curious about BARF feeding ... not sure I am up for it, yet, but considering it seriously.

And thanks for the advice NOT to feed the pre-ground stuff from the grocery ... a coworker recommended it and I was HORRIFIED!

Originally Posted by 4meezers3kids

I know BARF is bones and Raw Flesh ... but, still, how could you forget a co. named Barfdirect?

I too am curious about BARF feeding ... not sure I am up for it, yet, but considering it seriously.

And thanks for the advice NOT to feed the pre-ground stuff from the grocery ... a coworker recommended it and I was HORRIFIED!

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You're close, but it's actually: Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones And Raw Food.

I hope you'll research it thoroughly and then make your decision to try it.

My cats and kittens are crazy about it. Mealtimes for them is one of the highlights of their day.

Originally Posted by snosrap5

Nial, how do you like the Aunt Jenni brand?

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The older cats like the Aunt Jenni's rabbit. The kittens aren't crazy about it. It has an odd, but not unpleasant smell.
We're trying the Aunt Jenni's beef this weekend. Will let you know about that.

I just scanned quickly through this thread, but I don't think anybody mentioned pork. Don't feed any raw pork.

Also, I think turkey necks were mentioned as one thing you tried? The neck bones in turkey necks are too large -- I hope you're deboning them first. Bones should really be ground up very fine. Not all cats can be counted on crunching and chewing the bones well enough before swallowing. Twinkie scared the heck out of me once when I fed him a raw chicken neck and he ended swallowing the thing almost whole, and nearly choking on it. Needless to say, I don't do that anymore. Remember that in nature, the prey that cats eat whole have very small bones.

Actually, I'd heard not to feed pork at all, and no raw seafood as the bacteria count is pretty high, normally.. but I'm not 100% on that.

Eh? Ya, sorry, I meant to say "raw" instead of "ground" it's fixed now.

Raw pork is ano no on two front s... pork fat is TOTALLY indigestable and the parasitic risks

fish is the toxin , metals and parasites