Help selecting a new food

Just to see i let the girls have some of the chicken breast i had before I cooked it for myself. I cut it up into small pieces. Penelope was cracking me up with it.



I went to make sure Penelope didnt choke on hers she was making some strange noises off somewhere with it... she didnt choke lol

I'm thinking it's not going to be an issue, feeding them raw food. :lol3: Oh that is just too funny - and just precious!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG OMG OMG That is just TOOOOO cute OH WOW ... just wonderful !!!!!!!! :anon: cut the pieces up a little more than that :lol3: a little smaller. You should see the sizes I have to make mine just to get Perla and Pipsqueak eating raw chicken. Looks like starting them young, right off the bat, is the way to go !!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. Thanks, Laurie I probably would have missed this otherwise! TOO CUTE TO MISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG look at the size of those pieces :lol3: And hear all that growling grrroooowwwwlinnnggggg :lol3::lol3::lol3:
Oh, I don't think you will have any problems, do you

Hey, if they like regular meat that much, just get some Call of the Wild and you're all set .

Or learn how to cut up livers and kidneys and you won't have to fuss with supplements. . .bleh :lol3:

Willowy said:

Hey, if they like regular meat that much, just get some Call of the Wild and you're all set .
Or learn how to cut up livers and kidneys and you won't have to fuss with supplements. . .bleh :lol3:

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I rather do supplements any day then jelly'd pee
One thing is for sure though - I think if you start them young, little kittens, they will just be natural carnivores, and have no problems with whatever you put in front of them.
Gosh, I can imagine a life without introduction issues :9:
There is not much to frankerprey, I don't think :nod: but you are right - Hope's diet, for example, is 100% muscle meat and call of the wild - and she does beautiffully 100% balanced
I do balance the others, but it is not that hard....... I am not that perfect..... I do my best though - I am very careful where I need to be.... Ca, extra safe with taurine, etc..... the rest, I go with the flow, and work with their systems :nod:
I have learned in this process that what works for one, doesn't for all - and we can go insane. :nod:

LDG said:

I'm thinking it's not going to be an issue, feeding them raw food.

Oh that is just too funny - and just precious!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Nope, if I had any doubts on them liking raw they are gone now.

Feralvr said:

OMG OMG

OMG That is just TOOOOO cute

OH WOW ... just wonderful !!!!!!!!

cut the pieces up a little more than that

a little smaller. You should see the sizes I have to make mine just to get Perla and Pipsqueak eating raw chicken. Looks like starting them young, right off the bat, is the way to go !!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. Thanks, Laurie

I probably would have missed this otherwise! TOO CUTE TO MISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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They were thin at least. I had them just slightly smaller and they were trying to just swallow them whole, I figured if I made them a little bigger they might actually chew. I didn't think to go even smaller instead.

Looks like young may be the way to go. These two have also never had a bit of kibble ever either, I don't know if that makes a difference.

I'm glad you didn't miss it, I know I got a kick out of it.

Carolina said:

OMG

look at the size of those pieces

And hear all that growling grrroooowwwwlinnnggggg

Oh, I don't think you will have any problems, do you

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I love all the growling. You better watch your fingers too if you try to hand her a piece she's a little snapping turtle.

Willowy said:

Hey, if they like regular meat that much, just get some Call of the Wild and you're all set

.
Or learn how to cut up livers and kidneys and you won't have to fuss with supplements. . .bleh

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Carolina said:

I rather do supplements any day then jelly'd pee

One thing is for sure though - I think if you start them young, little kittens, they will just be natural carnivores, and have no problems with whatever you put in front of them.
Gosh, I can imagine a life without introduction issues

There is not much to frankerprey, I don't think

but you are right - Hope's diet, for example, is 100% muscle meat and call of the wild - and she does beautiffully 100% balanced

I do balance the others, but it is not that hard....... I am not that perfect..... I do my best though - I am very careful where I need to be.... Ca, extra safe with taurine, etc..... the rest, I go with the flow, and work with their systems

I have learned in this process that what works for one, doesn't for all - and we can go insane.

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See now you two are speaking a foreign language or something. I have gotten as far as understanding that the stuff that comes in a tube has everything that they need and that is about it. This whole raw thing is so confusing.

oh my, what ferocious kitties! Mmmmmrrgrrrrrrrrr :lol3:
Great that you can start them off with raw.

When those videos were done I watched another that came up - "Toby afraid of the raw chicken foot" Wonder if he ever ate it in the end? :lol3:

CatNamedPanda said:

See now you two are speaking a foreign language or something. I have gotten as far as understanding that the stuff that comes in a tube has everything that they need and that is about it. This whole raw thing is so confusing.:nod:

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The stuff in a tube is easy peasy. But not necessary. If your cat will eat chunks of meat and bone, you can feed them prey model raw (also called frankenprey because of how you piece together a whole animal). The idea is to feed a balance that mimics a whole animal like they would eat in the wild. The basic balance is 80% muscle meat, 10% bones, 5% liver, and 5% other secreting organ like kidney or pancreas. This diet should have every nutrient a cat needs with no supplements (well, may be low in omega 3s if you don't use pastured meat). And then there are variations, like feeding meat and organs but using a calcium supplement instead of bones (LDG and Carolina do this), or feeding meat only but adding a supplement for calcium and the nutrients found in organs (one of Carolina's kitties won't eat organs so she gets this).

Wysong makes a suppplement named "Call of the Wild" that contains all the nutrients needed to balance a meat-only diet. So you cut up some chicken, pork, beef, lamb, etc. (as much of a variety as possible) and sprinkle the proper amount of Call of the Wild on it, and that's it! Maybe not quite as easy peasy as pre-made, but almost. I'm told most cats like it (I ordered some but it's coming today so I haven't tried it on my kitties yet) and I doubt your carnivore kittens will miind. It's the same concept as Hare Today's Alnutrin but with calcium for boneless meat.

Willowy said:

The stuff in a tube is easy peasy. But not necessary. If your cat will eat chunks of meat and bone, you can feed them prey model raw (also called frankenprey because of how you piece together a whole animal). The idea is to feed a balance that mimics a whole animal like they would eat in the wild. The basic balance is 80% muscle meat, 10% bones, 5% liver, and 5% other secreting organ like kidney or pancreas. This diet should have every nutrient a cat needs with no supplements (well, may be low in omega 3s if you don't use pastured meat). And then there are variations, like feeding meat and organs but using a calcium supplement instead of bones (LDG and Carolina do this), or feeding meat only but adding a supplement for calcium and the nutrients found in organs (one of Carolina's kitties won't eat organs so she gets this).
Wysong makes a suppplement named "Call of the Wild" that contains all the nutrients needed to balance a meat-only diet. So you cut up some chicken, pork, beef, lamb, etc. (as much of a variety as possible) and sprinkle the proper amount of Call of the Wild on it, and that's it! Maybe not quite as easy peasy as pre-made, but almost. I'm told most cats like it (I ordered some but it's coming today so I haven't tried it on my kitties yet) and I doubt your carnivore kittens will miind. It's the same concept as Hare Today's Alnutrin but with calcium for boneless meat.

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Personally I think I would worry that I was not giving them the right amounts if I tried to balance it myself. I also don't think I could get them to eat bones yet they are still very tiny. I would also have to figure out how doing meat with the Call of the wild would compare price wise with doing the ground and Alnutrin. My freezer space is VERY limited as well. I only have a tiny little freezer that also has to store my food as well.

CatNamedPanda said:

Personally I think I would worry that I was not giving them the right amounts if I tried to balance it myself. I also don't think I could get them to eat bones yet they are still very tiny. I would also have to figure out how doing meat with the Call of the wild would compare price wise with doing the ground and Alnutrin. My freezer space is VERY limited as well. I only have a tiny little freezer that also has to store my food as well.

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oh, that's easy, just do what we did and buy a small little freezer in Craig's list- mine was $75, and fits in my tiny little dining room/home office -problem solved :lol3:

Carolina said:

oh, that's easy, just do what we did and buy a small little freezer in Craig's list- mine was $75, and fits in my tiny little dining room/home office -problem solved

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I looked and could only find some for $200. No bargains here right now

Keep looking! I bought a nice-sized one only about half an hour away for $35, and I live in rural northwest NJ. :lol3:

Wysong Call of the wild: http://www.wysong.net/products/cotw-dog-cat-supplement.php Free shipping with code FREESHIPJX if you want to try it. Because buying meat is going to be the cheapest way to feed raw. :nod: Of course, you can feed both meat and ground mixes, doesn't have to be one or the other (and you don't have to feed exclusively raw either) and it's a good way to provide more variety.

CatNamedPanda said:

They were thin at least. :anon: I had them just slightly smaller and they were trying to just swallow them whole, I figured if I made them a little bigger they might actually chew. I didn't think to go even smaller instead. :doh3:

Looks like young may be the way to go. These two have also never had a bit of kibble ever either, I don't know if that makes a difference.

I'm glad you didn't miss it, I know I got a kick out of it.

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I just had to watch again :rofl: JUST TOOOO CUTE!!! Yep - those girls are a couple of carnies for sure :rub:

I got my freezer from Jewel of all places. Here in the Chicago area Jewel each year has a freezer deal - Buy the freezer for about $150.00 and get that much in free food coupons! It was great and perfect timing for me just as I was getting into ordering raw meat on-line. I could stock up on much more. We share the freezer along with the kitties too, of course, with their permission I still LOVE my freezer :lol3: Check Craigs List and Ebay too - you never know what you might find :cross:

LDG said:

Keep looking! I bought a nice-sized one only about half an hour away for $35, and I live in rural northwest NJ.

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I'll keep my eye out. I have found some really good deals before on craigs list by watching it everyday.

LDG said:

Wysong Call of the wild: http://www.wysong.net/products/cotw-dog-cat-supplement.php Free shipping with code FREESHIPJX if you want to try it.

Because buying meat is going to be the cheapest way to feed raw.

Of course, you can feed both meat and ground mixes, doesn't have to be one or the other (and you don't have to feed exclusively raw either) and it's a good way to provide more variety.

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Thanks, I'll give it a try. Just curious but how much meat will that last for? Also is it just any type of meat I can buy? Is buying the frozen raw meats ok, or should I just stick to fresh?

Feralvr said:

I just had to watch again

JUST TOOOO CUTE!!! Yep - those girls are a couple of carnies for sure

I got my freezer from Jewel of all places. Here in the Chicago area Jewel each year has a freezer deal - Buy the freezer for about $150.00 and get that much in free food coupons! It was great and perfect timing for me just as I was getting into ordering raw meat on-line. I could stock up on much more. We share the freezer along with the kitties too, of course, with their permission

I still LOVE my freezer

Check Craigs List and Ebay too - you never know what you might find

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Hehe.. I love how she is all ferocious while she eats it, but as soon as she is done she is in my lap purring away sweet as can be.

I wish somewhere here would do that. I thought I might get lucky and find one at the furniture store that has appliances as well. They are having a huge sale, but nothing.

Yeah, the freezer was a stumbling block for me, feeding 8 cats raw. :nod:

You can buy any kind of meat. I buy the fresh stuff on sale, mostly. I just include meat for the cats in our grocery shopping now. :lol3: I've gotten MUCH better about buying stuff on sale (because I'm buying so much more of it). My cats go through 2 pounds a day. I do buy organs, venison, whole rabbit (that I cut the meat off the bone) and the ground pork mix and the ground rabbit mix from Hare-Today. But everything else I just buy locally. I portion it up into meal-sized portions (for all the cats - 12 oz per meal for us) and freeze it. I use ziploc freezer baggies. I actually have a set rotation menu. For me, makes it much easier - I just look at the menu taped to the fridge, so I know what to take out of the freezer the night before to get it dethawing. Of course, little 4 or 5 oz meals (or whatever) for your two will dethaw in a few minutes in a bowl of cold water.

But if you're going to try the Call of the Wild to make meat complete, all you have to provide is a variety of meats! The amount of Call of the Wild supplement you use is 1 teaspoon per 3 ounces of meat. I have one cat using it (because I don't feed bones, and getting him to eat organs is a struggle, so I stopped fighting). His meals are 1.5 ounces, so I just sprinkle on 1/2 a teaspoon. I ordered 2 of the 11 ounce bottles of the stuff to try it. I'll go weigh the 1/2 teaspoon.... OK. The 1/2 teaspoon of supplement needed for a 1.5 ounce meal weighs 0.07 ounces. So the 11 ounce bottle has enough supplement in it for 157 (1.5 ounce) meals.

If your girls eat 4 1.5 ounce meals a day (each), one bottle will last you about 19 days. If the free shipping code still works, that's $22. ROUGHLY $1 a day. And if they like it, you can save money by ordering the 5 pounds of stuff, which will last forever. :lol3:

And if you include ground mixes from Hare-Today (or elsewhere), it's still best to order the Alnutrin supplement to mix in. So at those meals, you wouldn't use the Call of the Wild.

I feed my kitties chicken breast, chicken thigh, turkey breast, turkey thigh, pork, lamb, goat, venison, rabbit.... I tried beef, but Shel can't keep it down, so I took it out of rotation. Many cats love it though. :nod: The wider variety you add, the better. OH! You can also give them (as a treat), raw egg yolk once or twice a week, and a sardine (canned, water, no salt) once or twice a week. These are both chock full of nutrients, and provide omega 3s that they don't get from the meat diet.

Thanks, I ordered some Call of the Wild today so as soon as it gets here I will start giving it to them. I'm about to run out and see what I can find for meats now.

Do I need to give raw to them with wet food for a while so I don't upset their stomachs, or will they be ok? They had no issues with the chicken I gave them the other day, but they followed it up with some wet food. Also do I need to feed one type of protein for x amount of days before trying another, or should I offer them something different everyday?
 

When my last vet said Wilbur needs to switch to canned food, I asked her what does not have wheat gluten because of the pet food recall. All I remember her saying were Wellness, California something and Fancy Feast. So I would say Wellness was a good choice for Delilah.

CatNamedPanda said:

Thanks, I ordered some Call of the Wild today so as soon as it gets here I will start giving it to them. I'm about to run out and see what I can find for meats now.

Do I need to give raw to them with wet food for a while so I don't upset their stomachs, or will they be ok? They had no issues with the chicken I gave them the other day, but they followed it up with some wet food. Also do I need to feed one type of protein for x amount of days before trying another, or should I offer them something different everyday?
 

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The key to avoiding upset stomachs is making the change gradually the same way doctors switch people from one drug to another, whether it includes raw food or not. I never read it matters if they get the same meat or different meat every day, but my guess would be feed increasing amounts of one meat and decreasing amounts of another instead of feeding a different type of meat every day.