raw/kibble for marley

I want to feed Marley kibble and raw (to replace his wet food), is this a good idea or not? I spend 45.00 alone on wet food a month for this little dude. Partly because the brand Weruva, is mostly all he will eat, and partly because none of the other wet foods are good enough to feed him. He doesn't like the pate type, so it's hard to find a food he likes.

I feed him wet 2x a day, morning and evening. He eats about a 13oz can of wet a day and about 1/2c dry a day, his dry is Innova. Could I feed him raw food to replace the wet meals......that I wouldn't have to use supplements? I really don't even know where to start or if this is even a good idea. Please help!!!

If someone could, I'd like a rough outline of what raw to feed him am and pm for a week so I have a base to go off of, becuase as I said before Im clueless

How old is marley? 13 oz of wet a day plus 1/2 cup dry is a lot of food!

Honestly the whole reason in feeding raw is because it is what is best for a cat, its the ideal diet. I and msot raw feeders dont' feed it because its cheaper.

In an ideal world if you had to feed raw in combination with something you'd want to do it with wet food.

That said to avoid having to use anything besides muscle meat you probably don't want to make raw anymore than 40% of the diet--unless you use a premade raw.

Feeding all raw or mostly raw isn't hard to do, the hard part is locating the components of the diet. Once you have those, its a walk in the park.

Leslie

Originally Posted by Jack31

How old is marley? 13 oz of wet a day plus 1/2 cup dry is a lot of food!

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My thoughts also. That's about double what my guys(young adults, avg size) would eat. Edit: Actually that's more than double what they would eat!

You probably want to start when testing his tolerance for raw. A few people are able to just put down chunks of meat with bone and their kitties gobble it up. Most won't take to it that quickly.

You'll need to decide if you want to go whole pieces or ground and whether you are going to include organ meats. If you don't include organ meats, supplements become more important.

If I were you and wanted to feed raw and kibble I'd start by seeing if he will eat a raw chicken wing and a raw chicken liver then go from there. Be aware you might have to deal with him draging his raw "prey" around the house or find some way to contain the mess. If you feed ground you won't have this problem but you lose the dental benfits of feeding raw.

Do a bit of experimenting and let us know if you think you want to go with whole or ground raw.

he just turned 1. he is 11lbs and very lean. he prob eats between 1/4-1/2 cup of dry a day.

yes, it is an ideal diet thats why im considering it, AND the fact that canned food is crazy expensive, budget is something i have to be concerned with, some may not.

i just looked at rawfedcats.org and got lots of information. i will probably phase out the kibble all together sometime.

you are right, im so confused as where to buy, what to buy, and how much to feed!! it says 2-4% of adult body weight. the boneless meat doesn't confuse me, it's the RMB that i don't get.

i will start out with ground beef and chopped chicken breast, then move onto chicken wings. after that i'll feed a combination of livers, hearts, sardines, chicken wings, beef, pork, and rabbit if i can find it. am i leaving anything out??

ok....im totally stupid!! he doesn't get 13oz of wet food a day, it's 6oz...sorry~!!!!

Originally Posted by MarleyAndMe

the boneless meat doesn't confuse me, it's the RMB that i don't get.

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Do you have a specific question about RMB?

i will start out with ground beef and chopped chicken breast, then move onto chicken wings. after that i'll feed a combination of livers, hearts, sardines, chicken wings, beef, pork, and rabbit if i can find it. am i leaving anything out??

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I really think you need to slow down. See what he will accept and go from there. If you get to the point of feeding whole raw you'll want a combination of muscle meat, bones, livers and hearts. I don't know of any reason to include sardines but you can use just about any meats you want and that he will eat.

Originally Posted by MarleyAndMe

ok....im totally stupid!! he doesn't get 13oz of wet food a day, it's 6oz...sorry~!!!!

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6 oz plus 1/4 cup kibble is probably OK for a very young adult but keep a close eye on his weight as he gets older. You may need to cut back.

I just don't know what kind of RMB to give him. If I was feeding completly raw, would he get 2 wings in the am? I guess I don't know how much to give. I know there is a % but I don't know how to make the corrolation.

Im not going to give him all that stuff to begin with. I will try boneless chicken and ground beef to start.

Originally Posted by MarleyAndMe

I just don't know what kind of RMB to give him. If I was feeding completly raw, would he get 2 wings in the am? I guess I don't know how much to give. I know there is a % but I don't know how to make the corrolation.

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I don't feed whole so I'll let someone else field that question.

Im not going to give him all that stuff to begin with. I will try boneless chicken and ground beef to start.

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Great! Let us know how it goes and what next step (if any ) you want to try. You can start trying to find sources for livers and hearts. Hearts in particular can be hard to find. If you can't find a reliable source for them you'll need to think about supplements. You'll want to try to match the organs with the meat. That is, feed chicken livers and hearats with chicken meat and beef heart and livers with beef.

Great, thanks so much!

I've actually heard much info against having to match organs to muscle meat sources--I feed whatever organs I have with whatever muscle meat I have--no issues.

For bone honestly I just feed it 2-3 times a week--dont' stress over numbers. I use chicken wings, chicken ribs, and cornish hen legs and thighs at this point.

Leslie

I almost forgot, www.hare-today.com is a good source for everything you need including organs but with the shipping costs you may find you don't save any money.

Good luck and don't forget to let us know how it goes!

Originally Posted by Jack31

I've actually heard much info against having to match organs to muscle meat sources--I feed whatever organs I have with whatever muscle meat I have--no issues.

For bone honestly I just feed it 2-3 times a week--dont' stress over numbers. I use chicken wings, chicken ribs, and cornish hen legs and thighs at this point.

Leslie

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Yeah, there seems to be some who obsess over getting the "exact right" ratio of everything. These who take a much more relaxed approach don't seem to have any problems.

correct ratio s are IMPORTANT .. those who have YRS of experience do this those who dont at some pt normally find out they should have...

the ratios are easy :

70-75% muscle meat
10% bone
10-15% organ
up to 5% veggies( optional I have yet to have a willing cat )

If you buy premade you'll find these food usually have done this for you and label their food "complete and balanced " NOT for supplemental feeding only ...

Talk with YOUR Vet and local Butcher ... If the vet wont help find one who will , I have done raw with MULTIPLE illnesses and extended life by yrs with the aid of a knowledgeable and willing vet ... My local butcher makes a "whole prey - the feathers " all ground up fresh and flash frozen ( aid s in not loosing alot of the good stuff ) for an awesome price

IMHO if you can get rid of the kibble , kibble and raw can be a BIG can of worms

11 lb cat eating all raw would eat 5-6 oz a day ... www.barfdirect.com has a lovely calculator

When I said dont' stress over numbers I meant, on a daily basis or even weekly basis (I work more on a two week basis for balance) and don't get so engulfed in it. I keep a blank calendar and write down everyday what I feed. I know how I package my stuff in the freezer so I can easily look at my calendar and know what needs fed because I know what was fed.

Leslie

Originally Posted by Jack31

When I said dont' stress over numbers I meant, on a daily basis or even weekly basis (I work more on a two week basis for balance) and don't get so engulfed in it. I keep a blank calendar and write down everyday what I feed. I know how I package my stuff in the freezer so I can easily look at my calendar and know what needs fed because I know what was fed.

Leslie

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My vet said 4-8 week balance.. there is ley way some dont monitor close like you are .. some still think throwing down a chicken breast is complete ...

Raw & kibble are digested at different rates - so have to be fed at seperate times. I fed kibble too soon after raw once & made my Damita very ill, as her body couldn't process it right.

I advise talking to/working with a vet to ensure you are getting a complete diet. At 1 year of age Marley's still a teenager - so his body isn't quite done growing yet (although he is probably close to as big as he'll get).