New Raw Feeders Chronicles

pee-cleaner

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I figured we needed a new thread started since a few of us are beginning the raw feeding journey.

I got my mixes yesterday from www.futurepet.com and made my first batch this morning. I bought 2 pounds chicken tenders and 2 pounds of ground beef. I ground up the chicken tenders easily with my Kitchen Aid stick blender chopper attachment and mixed everything up together as instructed. I used the liver powder but did not add the extra 1/2 cup of water as it would have been far too runny.

After all was mixed, I let it sit for a few minutes to emulsify. While I was waiting I offered a spoonful to my wirehairs. They went NUTS---actually biting the spoon and almost biting my fingers. I think it was a hit. I offered some to Felix, my former feral and he made a "meep" sound and turned away, highly offended. He is my carb lover and would have rather had a saltine or a pretzel...sigh.

Once it thickened a few minutes, I scooped out 1/4 cup portions onto saran wrap on a baking sheet. I froze those and then took the frozen mounds and put them into a ziploc freezer bag for storage. I plan to make a batch of beef this evening, so I can alternate species with the kitties. The four pounds of meat should last us for about 24 days, with just feeding raw once a day. Cost is a little less than Merricks or other high quality canned.

So, total time to make one batch: about 15 minutes
Cost: $9-10

How's everyone else doing?

Cally
 
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pee-cleaner

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Hi,

I just mixed up the beef flavor this afternoon and fed the wires a whole meal of raw. They were even more enthusiastic about beef than chicken and even ate their dinners faster than the dogs ate theirs! Much chop licking and smiles followed.

The beef was easier to work with overall. Made little croquettes on the freezer sheet. Still, variety will be nice and I'll play a bit with the chicken to see if I can improve the consistency.

So, at least for now, raw is a hit!

Cally
 

tamgirl99

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Yea! I'm so glad you started this pee-cleaner!
Okay, I got home and made my first batch using the InstinctsTC. Instead of using all ground, I used only partially ground and mostly chopped breast/thigh meat. She likes things a bit chunky and it's better for her teeth so that's why I made it this way. I then ground up the chicken liver and mixed the two meats together. Then I just mixed the TC with cold water and poured it in with the meat, mixing thoroughly.

Since she was sitting there watching me the whole time, wondering what the heck mom was doing, I poured her a small bowl and she immediately started eating it.
Unfortunately she only ate for about a minute but I think she just wasn't ready to eat yet. She was really wanting to go out on the porch to watch the birds...her favorite thing to do.


Meanwhile, I packed up a few batches in small snack-sized bags to keep in the fridge for the next day and some in small freezer bags to freeze for the next week. I think I'm going to start out slow and only offer her this mix once per day (out of three meals) so she can adjust to it. She's had so many problems with chronic diarrhea I always like to do any food switch slow.

By the way, I have been giving her chicken breast chunks for over a week now, at least 1-2 times per day as a hefty snack and she's done extremely well. Unfortunately for me, I have to stick with chicken for now as chicken and rabbit are considered the safer raw meats for IBD kitties. Beef, fish, etc. can often set them off.

I'm going tonight to purchase the book "Whole Health for Happy Cats" to do some more reading. If there are any other suggestions for books, recipes and such, please share those here as well too.
 

mschauer

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I'm glad you started this thread. If it goes like the one I remember from last year it should be interesting!

Originally Posted by pee-cleaner

I... I used the liver powder but did not add the extra 1/2 cup of water as it would have been far too runny....
I don't know what supplements you are using but if it includes psyllium husk you might want to include all the water the recipe calls for. The Instincts TC I use includes psyllium husk and the web site says it is important to include all water their recipes calls for to avoid constipation. Remember, one of the benefits of feeding any wet food, processed or raw, is that it gives them the moisture they need.

I've been feeding Jeta raw for about 6 weeks now. She took to it right away. She gets 2 oz twice a day with an occasional meal of something else for variety.

Coco will nibble at it a little and Toby won't touch it. I'm just starting to slowly transition them to it.

Zara seemed to take to it right away also but after eating it for 2 weeks she decided she didn't want it anymore. She's pretty fickle about food so I'm no too worried about that. I'm going to transition her slowly, like Coco and Toby.

I'm feeding Nature's Variety Organic Chicken and Chicken/Turkey. I also buy ground organic turkey thighs to mix with the Instincts TC and chicken livers.

Originally Posted by tamgirl99

I'm going tonight to purchase the book "Whole Health for Happy Cats" to do some more reading.
That's a good book. The authors web site is www.holisticat.com. There is tons of good information there for raw feeders.

"Your Cat" by Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins is another good book. It doesn't contain recipes but she presents a lot of information in favor of feeding either raw or low carb canned.

I'm looking forward to reading about how things go for everyone!
 

skimble

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I will be keeping up with everyone's experiences feeding raw. I thought about trying some raw to see how it goes. My adolescent male, Pippin, confirmed this when I caught him dragging a piece of raw chicken away after I turned my back.
I didn't know he was in the kitchen. Looks like he will take to raw pretty quickly.

I will check out the links and the book to educate myself more before starting.

Look forward to the posts here.
 

tamgirl99

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Thanks mschauer! I'm glad to hear your off to a good start with your kitties as well. Round two of attempting to feed the TC didn't go over too well. She's walking away and when I put a little on my finger she'll lick it a little and then make a yucky face.
I did try warming it a little in the toaster oven earlier and got her to eat a few of the larger pieces in it that way. I think the mushy consistency is throwing her off, even though she's used to canned food. I may have to add some more fresh chunks to it each time to get her to eat more.

In the meantime, I'm planning to go buy some more avoderm chicken as that now seems to be the only remaining canned food she'll eat much of. I did have one tiny success tonight. I was feeding her some plain game hen I had chopped up earlier and slipped a little piece with a rib in there and she ate it.
Baby steps!

Now lets just pray that this diet resolves her on/off again diarrhea. She seems to make it about a week and then has another 24-hour relapse. But that's also probably because I'm giving her a variety of flavors of the good canned foods and narrowing down which ones she tolerates well. The avoderm chicken and wellness canned with chicken as the primary ingredient seem to be winners so far. Anything with beef has now been thrown out, as has anything that is solely fish flavored. Ah, the things we do for our kitties!
 

mschauer

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Originally Posted by tamgirl99

Thanks mschauer! I'm glad to hear your off to a good start with your kitties as well. Round two of attempting to feed the TC didn't go over too well. She's walking away and when I put a little on my finger she'll lick it a little and then make a yucky face.
I've been trying to change what mine eat for some time now and I noticed some interesting behavior in *me*. I'm a lot more aware of when they don't eat something if it is a new food. I finally noticed that there are times when they don't eat or they just pick at it even if it isn't a new food. If it is a new food I'm just a lot more likely to notice and to worry that they aren't eating because they don't like it. Since noticing that I try not to overreact when they don't eat something. I think just like humans, sometimes they just aren't
hungry.

I did have one tiny success tonight. I was feeding her some plain game hen I had chopped up earlier and slipped a little piece with a rib in there and she ate it.
Baby steps!
That's great! For some kitties it think baby steps and persistence are what is needed.

Now lets just pray that this diet resolves her on/off again diarrhea. She seems to make it about a week and then has another 24-hour relapse.
I'd be willing to bet it does!
 
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pee-cleaner

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Hi mschauer,

I did use all the water called for for mixing the TC Instincts powder. I simply didn't add another 1/2 cup when mixing in the liver powder. I just mixed that with the Instincts powder and went from there.

My kits ate dry this morning--my husband does the morning feeding and won't deal with raw--so it will be later today before they try again. I kept both beef and chicken in the fridge for feeding today so hopefully it will go well. I may add a tablespoon of very hot water to the serving to mix/warm it as well.

Hope your cat takes to the raw better at the next feed, Tamgirl. I also hope her 'rhea improves! I have IBS myself, so can certainly sympathize with her.

Catcha later!

Cally
 

tamgirl99

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Well I haven't been able to get Maggie to eat any of the TC/chicken mix. Occassionally she'll take some of the larger pieces out of my hand (I really hate picking through this mush!) but for the most part she doesn't want it. I've started adding a little to her favorite canned foods and that works better. I think next time I'll make the mix using only larger chunks of meat since it seems to be the slimy goop that turns her off.


Meanwhile, her stools have normalized again so we'll be sticking to these few canned foods and raw for a while to see how that goes. She sure does love raw chicken breast. I just wish she felt the same way about the livers.
 

mschauer

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Originally Posted by tamgirl99

Well I haven't been able to get Maggie to eat any of the TC/chicken mix. Occassionally she'll take some of the larger pieces out of my hand (I really hate picking through this mush!) but for the most part she doesn't want it. I've started adding a little to her favorite canned foods and that works better. I think next time I'll make the mix using only larger chunks of meat since it seems to be the slimy goop that turns her off.


Meanwhile, her stools have normalized again so we'll be sticking to these few canned foods and raw for a while to see how that goes. She sure does love raw chicken breast. I just wish she felt the same way about the livers.
Coco will eat a fair amount of TC/ground chicken mix off of my finger but she won't do more than nibble at a "pile" on a plate.

For the sake of my sanity I'm trying a "robot" approach. Rather than trying to speed the process by getting them to eat as much as each of them is willing to at this point I'm taking a *slooow* approach with them all. Well, all except Jeta cuz she is already feeding nothing but raw.

The slow approach is that I'm adding raw in 1/4 teaspoon increments to their canned and I stay at a particular amount for at least 3 days or however long it takes them all to accept the current amount. And, of course, I remove the same amount of canned that I add of raw.

This is basically what several sources suggest. I'm just going very slow and not transitioning any of them faster than the others. It was making me crazy trying to keep track of how much I thought each of them would accept.

I'm only on 1/2 t so far.
Even though it feels like a step backwards in some ways, it's been easier on me.

I don't think I ever said this but there has been a definite change in Jeta since she has been eating raw. Her energy level is much better. She used to sleep *a lot*. She would play a bit but seemed to get tired quickly. At first I thought it was just because she had been living in a cage for so long but she was acting that way even 6 months after I got her. She's a little play demon now!

On the down side, now I have 3 kitties that demand a lot of attention!
 
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pee-cleaner

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Still going great here. I plop down the slop and they wolf it down--no complaints. Of course my former feral still will have NONE of it. Sigh... Not really trying with him anymore as he has a long history of eating nothing but kibble (3 years of trying.)

Good luck to the rest of you!

C
 

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I'm new to this so please forgive my ignorance. How does this compare in cost to commerical canned food? I think a standard can is about 5oz. I can usually get grain-free cans for about $1.20 to $1.75 around here.
 

mschauer

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Originally Posted by viggen

I'm new to this so please forgive my ignorance. How does this compare in cost to commerical canned food? I think a standard can is about 5oz. I can usually get grain-free cans for about $1.20 to $1.75 around here.
Oh, we're all fairly ignorant here! That's why we come here, to learn from the experiences of others!

The cost, of course, will depend on how you obtain your raw. I use either pre-mixed and ready to serve Nature's Variety or I buy organic ground turkey or chicken to which I add premixed and properly balanced supplements. The NV is $11 - $13 for 3 lbs and what I mix up myself comes out to a little less than $6 a pound. It's a lot cheaper, but a lot more work, if you buy whole carcasses and grind/chop your own and if you buy the supplements and mix them yourself.

For me, the raw comes out to about the same or a little less than the processed foods I feed.

The supplement I use is Instincts/TC from www.felinefuture.com.

When figuring the cost keel in mind that your kitties will eat a lot less of the raw than what they eat of process canned. Mine that still eat processed eat about 6 oz a day while my raw eater eats about 4 oz and they are all average sized kitties (8-11 libs).
 

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Many on here would not say they are ignorant and asking ?? s never = s that


I dont do my own but most premades are disappearing in my are but a few natural and organic butchers are making raw pet diets ... one I get for 1.50$ a lb is a complete chicken ( whole carcass grd) ... beef which mine love varies from 2.50 -4.50pr lb for a complete mix
 

tamgirl99

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Originally Posted by sharky

I dont do my own but most premades are disappearing in my are but a few natural and organic butchers are making raw pet diets ... one I get for 1.50$ a lb is a complete chicken ( whole carcass grd) ... beef which mine love varies from 2.50 -4.50pr lb for a complete mix
Sharky - Are these small, local stores or do any of the larger chains carry "pet" meats (i.e. Whole Foods)?
 

sharky

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mine are local butchers .. one is a stand alone and the other is in the local health foods store... we dont have a whole foods type super store
 

cc12

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Late to the thread sorry.
All of my 6 kitties eat raw and 8 kittens eat raw.
I had to break down and feed one feeding of Wellness Core to the 8 kittens because I could not keep up with their appetite. I was putting two heaping pie pans in there 4 times a day and it still wasn't enough. SO now they get a pie pan of Core in the morning and the rest of the day raw. They are just so hungry all the time that I felt I needed to supplement. I feel okay with core because it is grain free.

I have been doing lamb, beef, chicken, duck and turkey. The chunks of livers and meat go over really well. They love to gnaw on it.
When I use the Feline Instincts mix I usually add an extra half pound of chunks. My cats seem to like it this way better.

However, I keep Rad Cat and Nature's Variety handy plus an occasional can of Tiki tuna for a treat.

I have a book called The New Natural Cat that also has some great home remedies for ailments. Not that you don't need a vet or anything but if you get a diagnosis there are some supportive holistic things you can do. My vet gave me a copy. She has all kinds of recipes and all kinds of tips with raw food. She supports adding an egg yolk to the raw to stretch it a little and to entice some finicky eaters. She also has this edible garlic concoction that helps keep flea away and aids with IBS.
Lucia has IBS and raw food changed everything for her.No more nasty smelling foul stools.
 

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I've been feeding my kittens raw for about 4 months now.
I use Nature's vatiery and Healthy Paws since they come in convenient patties.

I've never tried the home made recepies and wondering are they supposed to be better than using store bought raw food?
And also, I guess we are all aware of the benefits of raw food, but has anyone had bad any experience with it?
 

mschauer

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Originally Posted by birco

I've never tried the home made recepies and wondering are they supposed to be better than using store bought raw food?
With homemade you have total control over ingredients. I'm happy with the ingredients of Nature's Variety and Feline Pride. Some of the other premades have more fruits and veggies than I want. Also, eventually I'll want to get mine to eat meat chunks for dental health but most (all?) of the premades are made with ground meat.
 
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