Starting cats on raw

Hey,

I'm looking for information on switching my cats over to a raw diet. I already feed my dogs a raw diet but I know cats have some different needs. The recipes that I have found online are very involved and confusing. I was hoping that someone might have a simpler recipe. At this point I was thinking of grinding chicken necks and mixing with ground turkey, liver and ground turkey hearts (for the taurine). I have 8 cats that will be eating this and they are just now getting used to canned food, so unfortunately I cannot go with expensive meat sources right now. Once they are switched over I will be able to add in variety.

Thanks,

Carol

cats differ in raw by they DO NOT have to have veggies .... most raw s will be for both cats and dogs ... ave 10lb cat needs 3-5 oz s of raw a day ...

basic breakdown
70-80% muscle meat
10% bone
10-15 % organ
3-5% veggie( many say not need but I use it if the cat or dog will eat )

Do you have a vet you can talk with about diet ???

Not about a raw diet. She is a great vet otherwise but disapproves of raw. I was thinking about making a ground raw mixture of:
10 pounds chicken necks (RMB)
8 pounds ground turkey and ground turkey hearts (I believe the hearts have more taurine)
2 pounds organs (mainly liver, but I think I can get some kidney)

This would put it at 50% RMB, 40% muscle meat and 10% organs. I may toss some pumpkin in for fiber if it won't mess the cats up. I add it to all of my dogs' food. I believe the chicken necks count as 50% bone and 50 % meat.

Thanks,

Carol

Hearts do have a touch more taurine ..

How many are eating off that recipe ?? and how long do you think it will last??

kitty should not have 6 oz of liver per week ( most say 100 grams which = 3. something oz

Yeah I too think the necks is 50/50 but I will look it up in my books and ask my vet ( who is very raw )

I'm not sure how long it would last, but ideally all 8 of my cats would be eating off the mixture. I don't know how long the transition will take. The adjusted to canned food rather quickly so I have hope. They have only had canned food regularly for about a week now.

Thanks,

Carol

give them about 2 months on canned then think about raw ....

Why wait to start them on raw? Their stomachs have adjusted to the canned (with a little probiotic help). Wouldn't it be best to switch them over before they become hard-core canned food eaters?

Thanks,

Carol

well from my experience ... wet to raw is easy ... two of my three went half and half and didnt miss there dry but they were 50 dry 50 canned so all I did was give raw in the morning and late evening and canned mid day... see canned and raw digest at different rates ... if they needed help to get to canned let them settle before adding raw ... you could try a snack of raw here and there and see

Both of my cats went from dry to raw. I had cans on hand for the transition and ended up not needing them. But I do have vacuum kitties, so your results may vary. I would let your particular cats set the pace, and phase raw in as quickly as they'll allow.