Raw Diet

ognstub

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 16, 2006
Messages
69
Purraise
2
Location
Red Lake, Ontario, Canada
have you tried feeding your cats a raw diet?
if so, what do you use and how do you do it? what has worked for your kitties?
im tring it out...they liked puree pumpkin with ground turkey so far on a 1 to 3 ratio with warm water. on the second day my 16 yr old cat had his first solid bowl movement after weeks of diarrhea! i was so excited and so was he i could tell

i am waiting for the butcher to ground me up some boneless dark chicken meat with the skin on and some chicken organ meats. i havent tried the eggs yet but i want to.
when the first meal was prepared the cats knew they wanted it and meowed like crazy and tripping me up in the kitchen. but when i put the dishes down they didnt like the look i guess lol i had to coax them but once they tried it...they loved it. there has been a full bowl of kibbles left almost untouched for two days, we would have gone through much more

i wanted to try this out because i had recently changed my eating habits. OG (the 16 yr old cat) would hound me all the time. it drove me crazy about what he wanted. always pestering me with a frantic look in his eyes. he didnt want any of the expensive cat food wet or dry that i bought. i kept looking up more and more expensive cat foods to try to find one that he would eat.
it seemed like the only way to go was whole foods. my poor OG was starving for real food. he has changed already.

thanks,
marg
 

whiteforest

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
1,230
Purraise
11
Location
Michigan
I have not actually fed a raw diet, but have done research and talked to my vet about it. It is extremely important that you are adding all of the proper supplements to the meat, along with a proper and adequate source of taurine.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

ognstub

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 16, 2006
Messages
69
Purraise
2
Location
Red Lake, Ontario, Canada
the butcher has ordered livers kidneys and gizzards for us and will be freshly ground after they arrive!
i am going to mix a little of that into the other ground meat.
 

whiteforest

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
1,230
Purraise
11
Location
Michigan
I believe that the heart is the source of taurine. Taurine is vital to a cat, and without it they can develop a multitude of health problems, some of which are fatal. The butcher should also be grinding the bones with the meat. Here is a website I found particularly useful when researching nutrition, and I believe she even has recipes on there. http://www.catnutrition.org/
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

ognstub

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 16, 2006
Messages
69
Purraise
2
Location
Red Lake, Ontario, Canada
thanks for the link i will check it out

i was led to believe that the bones will cause constipation and was going to try powedered eggshells...
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

ognstub

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 16, 2006
Messages
69
Purraise
2
Location
Red Lake, Ontario, Canada
i couldnt order brain or pancreas from the butcher

the other organs are also high in taurine so i have that covered
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
clams are high in taurine... HAVE you discussed this with your vet??
 

missymotus

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
9,234
Purraise
254
Originally Posted by OGnStub

i was led to believe that the bones will cause constipation and was going to try powedered eggshells...
Mine eat bones (chicken wings, necks, lamb cutlets) but I know others who use eggshells as there's won't eat bone.

Have you thought of feeding chunks of meat instead of ground? It's much better for their teeth if they have to chew the chunks.
 

whiteforest

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
1,230
Purraise
11
Location
Michigan
Originally Posted by sharky

HAVE you discussed this with your vet??
That was my thought exactly. I worry people jump into home-cooked or raw diets without knowing the proper amount of information on what nutrients their pets actually need to live. The difference between pets and people is that they are eating the same thing every day, and we don't. With humans, we eat a variety of foods and it changes daily, so if we are lacking in some area chances are we will make it up tomorrow. If your cat is lacking something in his diet it will eventually develop into a serious deficiency with some serious repercussions.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

ognstub

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 16, 2006
Messages
69
Purraise
2
Location
Red Lake, Ontario, Canada
thats exactly why i switched to raw. my cats are carnivores! they were lacking meat!
i believe it would be more detrimental to their health to stay on dried kibble.

as for talking to a vet about this, no i have not. there simply isnt one in this town or this district. there is a travelling vet that comes to town once a month. we had OG's blood work done last month and its normal. he is just doing so much better physically and his behaviour has changed, he is no longer frantically and constantly seeking food even though he has unlimited kibble/wet food. he seems calm and grateful even. stubbys poops dont smell half as bad as before.

i am thankful for the results so far and the cats are too. i tired of endlessly searching ingredients lists looking for the right food. this is a lightbulb moment for me and its pretty exciting to learn about.

do you give the raw whole bones and they chew them open?
 

missymotus

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
9,234
Purraise
254
I give them the whole neck/wing etc. and they just chew it up.

I started with necks and wing tips before going to regular sized wings and the cutlets.

I know some say cats can choke on bones, and I do supervise but haven't had any trouble. Nor has anyone I know in real life.
 

saya

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2007
Messages
817
Purraise
2
Location
Napa, CA
my girls get chunks of raw and bone, meaty bones or else necks or wings.
I still give them grain free canned and kibble too as I have not yet found the perfect raw diet. Whole prey would be ideal but they just haven't graduated to that quite yet.

be sure to supplement with taurine and fish oil...
here's a handy chart of foods and their taurine levels...
also it doesn't say so here but mice brains are very rich in Taurine.


Taurine Content of Selected Foods (mg/kg, wet weight)
taken from Nutrient Requirements of Cats, Revised Edition, 1986 which in turn has adapted from Roe and Weston, 1965, Potential significance of free taurine in the diet, Nature, 205:287.

Item\tUncooked

Mean\tRange
Beef muscle 362\t
Beef liver\t 192\t
Beef kidney\t 225\t
Lamb muscle 473\t
Lamb kidney 239\t
Chicken muscle\t337\t
Cod Fish\t 314\t
Oysters\t 698\t
Clams\t 2400
 

plebayo

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Sep 24, 2005
Messages
1,089
Purraise
4
Location
Oregon
Just as an FYI there's a great product out there called Balanceit. [www.balanceit.com] that is asupplement to help balance a raw or homemade diet.

I've tried raw with my cats. Napolean is severely allergic to everything,s o it's a matter of finding good novel protein. We're trying RAW beaver next, as soon as the pet store gets it in.
 
Top