Raw treats?

kitty queen

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Ok, my cat has been on just dry food for 3 years, but through a bit of reasearch, I know that isn't the best. My cat (indoor active male-3yrs old) is a bit overweight. not a lot... but at least a couple pounds.

I've switched his dry food to a much better quality and I've increased his wet food consumption.

Now, I'm interested in raw foods, but have no intention of doing ONLY raw food. I'd really rather do it as a treat/supplement.

So, does anyone know any easy to prepare, and non-squeemish recipes out there? I'd really like to not have to deal with organs... I'm fine with chicken, veggies and grain, fish.... but REALLY would enjoy not having to cut up heart, liver or brain... bleck.

The other thing is that my cat seems to be incredibly picky. does not like duck, beef and most wet foods. I've only gotten him to eat a couple brands of wet food.

And my biggest concern is that I don't want him to get sick off of raw chicken... anyone had any problems with that? *cares deeply for my fat fur ball*
 

katkisses

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I am taking the exact same path, except mine are on half dry/half wet. I am too chicken to go all raw. I am mainly into 'supplementa rawl' for their gums and teeth, and the added benifets raw has.


My first 'raw' intro to the cats (about a week ago, I need to get more wings for them)went alot better than I thought they would go, LOL!

I took a few chicken wings (I have 5 cats) and cut the meat into tiny pieces (the size of a pencil eraser) and left a small amount of meat on the bones. Put in on the cats plate and they all paraded up to the plate and walked away, one by one. Except one, Cody dove into it, anything is food to him, LOL. I was about to give up for the day when I got a great idea, I grabbed a can of food and poured the gravy over the chicken... Here came the cat parade! They all ate it! Infact, they were getting possesive over their food, LOL.

Here are some tips:
1) Start out on an easy to clean floor, my cats refused to leave the meat on the plate!
2) Try the raw around his dinner time, that way they are actually hungry.
3) If he refuses at first try pouring the gravy from a can of food (his fav canned food) over the meat.
4) If cat refuses raw even with gravy, it make take some time, but slowly put tiny raw pieces in his wet - he should get used to it!


I hope your cat likes it, good luck!
 

missymotus

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Originally Posted by kitty queen

And my biggest concern is that I don't want him to get sick off of raw chicken... anyone had any problems with that? *cares deeply for my fat fur ball*
Mine are completely raw fed, I've never had an issue with raw chicken or any other raw meats. I do freeze and thaw before feeding.

Most vets here recommend pre-cut stir fry strips or stewing cubes a few times a week as part of a wet/dry food diet. Also chicken necks or wings to help clean teeth.
Easy to feed, as there is really no prep work.
 

goldenkitty45

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I'm like you - don't want (or can afford right now) to do totally raw. We still feed dry for one meal, canned for the evening meal and now I try to give raw (chicken or hamburger) twice a week.

But its not as a meal - its added to the canned food (just less canned for that meal).

I just rinse off the chicken really good (use the chicken thighs now) and start cutting it up in small bite size pieces and putting it on top of the canned food. Same when I do the hamburger - break it in small bite size pieces.

I haven't done the actual beef yet; but when we have kabobs with the stew beef they usually will get some bites from that as treats.

Been adding raw now for about 2-3 months. My three would easily go on an all raw diet as they all love the chicken/hamburger raw.
 

russiankitten

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Cats digestive systems work a lot faster than ours and it's highly unlikely they will contract any infections from raw chicken. (I think also cats have enzymes in their guts that nutrilze bacteria but I don't know too much about that).

I was feeding mine a purely raw diet but have switched them back onto dry food now the kittens are here. (Will re-evalute this in a few a couple of weeks). I think there is no better way to feed a cat than a raw diet and I really do recomend it.

Now treats ! A raw treat is the best treat a cat can get
. Nefertiti adores chicken wings. I don't cook the chicken wings. Bones become harder and brittle when cooked and could puncture organs! A box of chicken wings are very cheap under £2! So one or two chicken wings goes down a treat!

Amadeus loved a frozen mouse from the pet shop. I didn't watch him. I just quickly stuck it in the kitchen with him and sat on the sofa listening to the meows of delight (not some thing I really wanted to watch but he loved it).

Hmm what else, sardenes make a nice treat. I think chicken wings would be your best bet (not so grousom)
Thank you for choosing raw it's simply the best ! It's like choosing to feed a child a banana instead of a biscuit flavoured banana with a bit of banana in it not quite the same
 

goldenkitty45

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Question for you guys - when you give your cat a chicken wing - how do you keep them from taking it to carpet or where you don't want them to sit and eat it. I'd be willing to try them for our guys, but know they would take the wing and run and eat it on carpet or under the couch.

Do you lock them up in a carrier?
 

jack31

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I feed the kitten separate right now--on the basement steps as she is ferocious about her food.

Jack and Harley are fed on oppposite sides of the kitchen and for the most part keep their food on their plates. Occasionally Harley will take his off his plate if he feels Jack is threatening him. If he runs to the living room I just take the food put it back on his plate and clean the carpet quickly. At the new house this won't be as big an issue as its all hardwood.

I don't think they'd eat in a crate, although I've contemplated putting the kitten in the bathtub a few times, but the basement works for now as she can't see the other two and sticks to her plate when they are out of sight.

Leslie
 

pintameez

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Hand them a complete wing, do not skin, do not remove anything. They'll eat it all, the cat's body requires it all.. fat, meat, bones, tendons, everything.

Cats bring their raw food to the carpet because it offers friction that helps keep the food in one place while they eat it (in the wild, they'd drag it to a grassy area, or something). You can try feeding the raw on a towel in the kitchen, they might stay and eat if the towel is helping keep the food still. You can try locking them in the bathroom for the duration of the meal, because it's a smaller room, easier to clean up after (this is what I usually do, my boys will eat meat anywhere but my girl Cuz always drags it straght to the carpet).

Whole (frozen) mice are a good choice, because the cat will eat the brain and eyes and everything, which, each organ or body part contains essential nutrients, fats, acids, vitamins, etc.

Do not feed raw immediately after kibble = kibble sits in the stomach longer, therefore, blocking the raw from being digested right away, as it must. Feed raw in the morning, kibble at night, if you have to feed both.

Do not feed your cat raw veggies/grains - they are carnivores - they do not need veggies & grains. Google 'cat food fillers' and read about the natural diet for a cat.

Some excellent websites about raw feeding (I hope it's ok to post these links):
http://www.catnutrition.org/index.php
http://www.catinfo.org
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm
http://www.felinefuture.com/?p=599
http://www.felinefuture.com/?p=1435

I like to get the bag of chicken necks from my local pet health food store, it's cheap, and easily frozen, and the cats LOVE them. Anytime we've cooked chicken in the past, the cats gets the fatty pieces as a snack, which they LOVE (we are cutting meat out of our human diets, slowly, so eventually, the only meat in the house will be for cat consumption).

Don't be afraid to feed raw, just do some research and tak to other people with experience, get some tips and tricks. Do the research and arm yourself with information and you'll be fine.
 

jack31

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GoldenKitty--I don't feed a whole wing as my boys dont' know what to do with it still, Harley might but Jack would just lick it. I usually cut my bones into 2 inch long pieces--whatever they may be. Just long enough that they won't attempt to swallow whole and short enough that they won't get too discouraged to try and work at. I hope to work up to a whole wing--mostly to save prep time, but for their benefit as well. But I watch them eat and I know they are giving their jaws a much better workout with what they have now compared to dry or wet even if its not a huge piece. Jack swallowed dry whole and licked wet, Harley took one crunch of dry and mostly licked wet.

Leslie
 

goldenkitty45

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I think if I try it, I'll at least cut the wing in half. Since they do eat the cut up pieces of raw chicken with the canned food, they should be ok with a wing. I'd have to put one at a time in the bathroom with a wing.

Jack would eat his and then steal Charlie's and Ling's since they eat slower
 

auntie crazy

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KittyQueen, good for you for adding raw to your cat's diet, even a little bit is good for them.

Since you're only supplementing raw, any meats you choose are fine. Stay away from too many bones right now... hmm, if you feed one raw meal a day, then maybe once a week, you can give your cat a bone-in meal. Don't cook any of the meats and don't heat them up in the microwave (both cooking and microwaving destroy the nutrients that make raw foods so healthy to begin with).

A couple of folks have already highlighted why raw meat isn't dangerous for cats, so I'll just add that I've done a ton of research and read article after article from folks who've been feeding or recommending raw food for years, some for decades - I've yet to come across a single documented instance of a cat, dog or owner becoming ill from feeding raw food (although I've read of multiple cases of people hospitalized with salmonella after handling dry pet foods).

Don't offer fruits, grains or vegetables - cats are obligate carnivores and don't need anything from those products; they can't, in fact, even fully digest them (this is why commercially fed cats, especially dry-fed, have so much more waste in the litter box compared to raw-fed cats).

For folks with multiple cats - the farther apart you feed your kitties, the less likely they are to run with the food.

Someone asked about preparing chicken wings. Only one of my five cats can or will eat an entire chicken wing at a single sitting, so I cut up three wings at the joints and split the nine pieces up between the five.
 

goldenkitty45

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You don't know my Ocicats! Jack is a food aholic! Any other pet's food is fair game to him. He inhales his food and has to be taken upstairs and the door closed so his brother and sister can finish their food!
 
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kitty queen

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so here is the slightly longer version...

my cat was on Royal Canin for 3 years, and I'm unhappy with the price increases, so I went on the search for a new food with a better price and better quality. Went to Halo... his stool got soft and stuck to his fur on his back end... which I was unhappy with, even though its a great quality dry food. So I switched him to Blue Buffalo weight control (15-16 pound cat... kinda overweight) but it has a much higher fiber content and led to soft stool again, so I've then switched him to Blue Longevity line with optimal calorie content (designed for indoor cats) and he seems fine with it (way better fiber content) but doesn't seem excited to eat it. So then I mixed in Blue's evolutionary diet (designed as a dry replacement for raw food). He seems to be doing well on the mix and is happier eating it.

But in doing all this research on dry food wet food (used to never get wet and now gets it every morning) I've learned quite a bit on nutrition and I'm thoroughly unhappy with just about everything on the shelf. Blue is good, but still has fruits and veggies in it.... which really isn't needed. And most food have meat "meal" in it... which is ground up whole carcasses.. but its cooked and has zip nutritional value.. if I wanted my cat to eat bone, I'd give it to him whole.

So I've looked into doing a whole raw diet, but I'm afraid I'm not home often enough for the prep work nor have I gotten enough knowledge on nutritional complete-ness, but I think I have learned enough to give it to him as a treat when I have some time.

The only thing is that he is insanely picky, and will not eat wet food unless its a certain kind and I really encourage him. So, I'm nervous he'll sit there and go "what do you expect me to do with this?" and then walk away...


So.. yeah... tips, suggestions, recipes for home cooked food, whatever you can tell me, I'm trying to learn more. Its just kinda difficult since so many people seem to disagree over the benefits vs. risks of feeding raw.
 

goldenkitty45

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One thing that may help you out (and got our cat used to eating raw) was to hand them a small bite at first of hamburger when we were packaging it up for ourselves for the freezer.

They loved it and we would give them a few bites with them wanting more. They all love cooked chicken (we boil it most all the time for dishes). But I never gave them raw at first.

Then I happened to try it (again when packing it for the freezer) and gave them samples of raw chicken. One was not sure of it at first, the other two grabbed it and took off and ate it - then came back for more.

So next time I packaged it up, I set aside a chunk of raw chicken breast and started to divide it up between the 3 cats and our dog - then every one got a small plate with several bite size pieces on it.
 

pintameez

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Originally Posted by kitty queen

... so many people seem to disagree over the benefits vs. risks of feeding raw.
I am a little surprised there are still people out there who would argue AGAINST feeding a cat a diet of raw food.

You know, you can buy all the ingredients, grind & chop it up, portion it into small ziplock baggies, and freeze it... then every evening, you take out one baggie and sit it in the fridge overnight to thaw, and feed it the next day. You can prep weeks and weeks worth of food in one afternoon, making it a time-consuming weekend project, but a lot easier on you as a daily feeding option.


Get a large sharp butchering knife, a small hand-grinder, a box or two of small ziplock baggies, and an assortment of meats and vitamins & minerals, or a supplement powder (lots of pet health food stores carry them). Grind and chop for an hour or two, mix it all together, portion the food, freeze it, clean your kitchen and tools really well with hot soapy water, and spray it down with vinegar afterwards.

Not as difficult as it sounds, honest. Just gross and smelly and messy.
 

auntie crazy

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I know how you feel sometimes, PintaMeez. Cats are obligate carnivores and can't digest grains, fruits and veggies; that's not an opinion but a biological, scientific fact.

However, you have to take into consideration that a raw diet flies in the face of "common knowledge", both in that dry food is healthy (when it is, in fact, dangerous) for cats and that raw food and bones are dangerous (when, of course, it's just the opposite).

It takes time for such deeply ingrained beliefs to change. Have hope! There are vendors today who are refusing to stock dry foods and look here, closer to home - a raw food sub-fourm on our beloved TCS.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

I know how you feel sometimes, PintaMeez. Cats are obligate carnivores and can't digest grains, fruits and veggies; that's not an opinion but a biological, scientific fact.

However, you have to take into consideration that a raw diet flies in the face of "common knowledge", both in that dry food is healthy (when it is, in fact, dangerous) for cats and that raw food and bones are dangerous (when, of course, it's just the opposite).

It takes time for such deeply ingrained beliefs to change. Have hope! There are vendors today who are refusing to stock dry foods and look here, closer to home - a raw food sub-fourm on our beloved TCS.
Cats CAN and do digest grains and veggies ... the BIOLOGICAL need on the other hand for carbs IS ZERO... Veggies if done right do aid in digestive processes ...

Dry food is not OPTIMAL but Dangerous is a bit over board ... SIMPLE FACT ... Cat s used to get raw foods and table scraps only , then dry food can into the picture and lifespans have QUADRUPLED( something that happens regardless of where in the world it replaces the diet of the native cats).. Now IMHO I would feed an all raw diet DONE RIGHT ( which is a debatable topic) if all would eat ...
 

rosiemac

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Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

dry food is healthy (when it is, in fact, dangerous) for cats and that raw food and bones are dangerous (when, of course, it's just the opposite0
It's thanks to dry food that Jack has stopped vomiting 4 times a week, so it can't be that bad.
 
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kitty queen

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Yeah, the biggest thing is that I don't want to be the one screwing up my cat's diet. I'm not nearly ready to be mixing my cats own diet. So thats what I want to start with.

Now how do you feel about raw seafood? I know most of the diets I've been looking into use land animals... chicken, beef, turkey... and so on.

I went to the market today and found out I can get ahold of chicken and beef livers. But I can buy lots of different raw seafood. I have a bag of frozen shrimp and was thinking of trying to give him one of those.

Yeah? Seafood?
 
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