Raw food - Waht do you do?

Okay, so, I know my kitty prefers raw meat as he loves it when I give it to him. I don't always trust whats in food so I would like to have more control of what he is eating and too be honest, he is very very fussy! I want to keep him as healthy as possible and this seems to be the best way to do that for me. I have been looking into the raw diet and from what I can gather these are my options....

1. To follow the recipes that are online which include adding vitamins and other supplements that a cat needs. Also buying a grinder to grind down the bone so that he gets all the calcium he needs.
2. To buy the frozen chicken meat for cats that is already cut into big chunks. Not sure if this contains all vits and stuff needed? Not as keen on this option.
3. I have read on here that some people give raw chicken necks and cut them up slightly and that is enough? Now, would that contain all the vitamins and things needed? Can you just feed your cat raw chicken necks with bone or would you need to supplement that diet with other stuff and if so with what?
Does anyone feed their cats a regular raw food diet and if you do, what does it entail? Thanks if anyone can help!

I feed:

Felines Pride complete meals (ground meat, bones and organs and all needed additional supplements)

Nature's Variety complete meals

ground, organic turkey to which I add livers and the Instincts TC supplement

I doubt you can get any of these products in the UK but just FYI:

http://www.felinespride.com/aboutus/mission.aspx
http://www.naturesvariety.com/
http://www.felinefuture.com/

Chicken necks are fed for dental health.

If you feed raw you have to make sure that what you feed provides all needed nutrients. Some people go with the "whole prey" model where you feed a whole animal as kitty would eat when fending for themselves. The animal may be ground up or, as the purists insist, given in chunks which would be more like what they would eat in the wild. If you don't feed "whole prey" you probably need to add supplements to make up for what is missing.

I take the easy way out and feed mostly "ready to eat" raw foods. It's more expensive that way though.

The chicken necks are not the main food - just occasionally for dental health.

when feeding the turkey necks....they won't choke?you give the bones and all?

I combine whole prey animals and a commercially ground raw product (Dutch brand called Carnibest), both are complete so I don't have to worry about percentages. I get to be lazy

Even if you don't feed whole prey animals, they are still the model on which you base a cat's diet. A prey animal consists of bones, organs and meat (skin, fat, sinew, etc). You can not feed just meat, or just meaty bones (like chicken necks), the cat needs all three groups and needs them roughly in the same percentages. 5-10% organs (half of that being liver), 10-15% edible bone and 80-85 % meat.

I try to just feed my cats what they could catch (and chew) themselves; small birds and rodents. But that is a big change to make when you are used to cans and kibble.
Your cat sounds like he will not need to adjust much so you are lucky in that respect, if you feel you need some time to adjust and research some more yourself you could first try to find a complete commercial product. Get him transitioned to that. Than you could start replacing some meals by other things, you take some time to buy different things here and there, try them and see what your cat likes. You will find out where you can get things for a good price. As you replace meals, you can think about percentages and build a menu that works for you, for your cat and for your wallet.
You could also jump right in and make a menu immediately, whatever suits you

You don't have to feed a balanced meal every meal or even every day. As long as everything balances out over a period of, say, two weeks, all will be fine. It is fine to feed a meal of just meat, or just meaty bones, or just organs (don't overdo that though, or he gets the runs), as long as the next meal is something different. You could also try to feed meat from different species, as the nutrients are slightly different with each one. (but some people also get good results on the "cluck-diet", chicken, chicken and more chicken)
This might seem complicated at first, but it gets easier with experience. At first you'll use a scale but I've learned to eyeball how much meat 200 grams is and since feeding your cat is as little of an exact science as feeding myself ([I seem to be doing fine ) I can just pull a baggie from the freezer and think "hm yeah, organ, they haven't had that in a while" or if I think they have had enough of a certain thing lately I just put it back and get out something else.

Originally Posted by proudmamiof4

when feeding the turkey necks....they won't choke?you give the bones and all?

Click to expand...

We were talking about chicken necks, which are a lot smaller than turkey necks I think (in my country we don't eat much turkey so I haven't seen the necks), they are pretty soft and an excellent meaty bone for "beginners". Just keep an eye on cats that are new to them as they try to swallow them whole sometimes.
I have fed duck necks and those are big enough the cats don't get any ideas about scarfing those down in one go, they chew first.

Thanks Mimosa, I have Friday off and have found a shop that I think sells what I need, so I will go then and hopefully find what I am looking for. Thanks for all your help and Happy Birthday Have a great day!!!

Chicken necks can be the main diet if you would like. They have a calcium and phosphorous ratio of 1.25:1 . But I also add wings, beef, and fish(only once a week) a few times a week along with the necks.

Everything a cat needs is located in meat, bones, and organs (hearts, livers).
Well except omega 3's those will need to be added