Launching into homemade raw!

Whew! l've taken the plunge and ordered a bunch of supplements online.

They're not here yet but l'm excited  

l'm completely green at this, l know only what l've read here, and l plan to follow recipes l've found online.

This is what l requested on the first order, based on a specific recipe:
l was planning to grind whole prey, l have a local source for ducks, geese, rabbits etc.

But l'd like the flexibility of leaving bone out occasionally, so l'm sending a second order for:

 - Now Foods Bone Meal Powder, 1lb  and

 - Now Foods Neptune Krill Oil, 500mg, 120 softgels (for me and my fat dog).

ls there anything l've forgotten that l will absolutely need?

Anything anyone would recommend before l send the second order?

l'm buying scales, measuring cups, spoons, grinder, etc. locally. Any and all recommendations would be welcome 

l should have said, l already have Lysine and probiotics.

Yey!!! What recipe are you going to follow?

l chose to start with this one since there are actually pictures of how to make it (talk about raw for Dummies, lol).

http://www.catnutrition.org/recipes.html

l'm terrified l mess anything up! l still need Lite iodized salt, but can't think of anything else off hand.

l'm hoping to get input, better recipes, better ideas, feeding tips, anything that will help me avoid disaster  .

It's a good recipe, I think!
The only suggestion I would have, is to mix the krill oil in at the time of serving, instead of mixing into the food..... This way you can ditch the Vit. E and the salmon oil.
The Vit. E is there as a preservative for the salmon oil (as far as I know) - the fish oil is SO sensitive, you lose quite a bit when you freeze it and with oxidation.... It is much better to just do it at the time of feeding....

I love krill..... I just give one gel cap once a day to my cats - no vit. e, no salmon oil. Just krill. At the time of feeding. I just puncture the gel cap, and squeeze it over the food - since you are feeding it ground, even better - you can mix it in. Fish oil is very..... well, fishy. Krill oil isn't.... Especially when mixed, I doubt your kitty will even notice anything.


Edit: I don't think you need the Psyllium Husk Powder either.... that's just a fiber..... Kitties do well without it....

Excellent info - thank you

Oh, another thing to keep in mind - Taurine is water soluble - so, when you make your food, mix that water, and all the contents well. When you defrost it, mix ALL the juices back into the food, and serve it all to the kitties. The taurine is going to be in the juice.... so it is very, very important that the kitty laps in that juice, ok?

Oooh, good to know.

l'll print out things not included in the recipe and refer to them when l start making and freezing. 

ls it then feasible to add taurine to the jars as l defrost them rather than to the whole batch?

Would it be overkill to do both?

Andrya said:

Oooh, good to know.
l'll print out things not included in the recipe and refer to them when l start making and freezing. 
ls it then feasible to add taurine to the jars as l defrost them rather than to the whole batch?
Would it be overkill to do both?

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I would just add it to the entire batch and mix it well.....
You don't need to worry about overdosing on Taurine, as it is just a water soluble amino acid...... So there is not really overkill if you want to do both..... Just not necessary.....

Sorry to keep picking your brains, but about the psyllium ... is feeding pumpkin the equivalent of feeding psyllium. l did buy pumpkin and plan on freezing it in ice-cube sized blocks. lf l mixed that in a couple of times a week to thawed meals, would that be enough fibre?

Andrya said:

Sorry to keep picking your brains, but about the psyllium ... is feeding pumpkin the equivalent of feeding psyllium. l did buy pumpkin and plan on freezing it in ice-cube sized blocks. lf l mixed that in a couple of times a week to thawed meals, would that be enough fibre?

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Is your kitty constipated? Why do you need the fiber? None of mine need.... If your kitty is constipated, all you need to do, is remove some of the bone - constipation in raw usually means too much bone. Adjusting the bone content will fix the problem, rather than adding fiber.....

I don't have anything to add to what Carolina said, but wanted to say YAY! How exciting!!!! Hopefully mschauer and WhollyCat will be along to help. I know they both make ground homemade.

Carolina, Draco, PrincessEsme, wolcar, Auntie Crazy, Furryfriends50, Going Postal and.... others, I'm sure that aren't coming to mind right now, feed homemade, but not ground.

Are they already eating commercial raw?

I ended up feeding a version of prey model raw.

....and as to the fiber, I think Dr. Pierson altered her recipe to exclude it. She has a constipated kitty that gets fiber, but unless you have a kitty prone to constipation, I personally don't think fiber is necessary. In their natural diet, cats eat no fiber. The calcium used to balance the phosphorus in the meat does quite a good job of regulating stools. Too much calcium = constipation; too little = soft stools or diarrhea.

Thanks for the info, this has been really helpful.

l'm looking forward to everything getting here so l can start

None of my kitties has been prone to constipation, and right now they're eating a huge mix of canned foods, and Boldraw commercial raw ground rabbit patties.

The kitten loves it right out of the fridge, but l still have to mix it with canned food for the older guys (it's been over 6 months). And they still eat around it as much as they can manage, but they eat aroundabout 2/3 of what is given. l also bought them frozen mice which are still gracing my freezer as none of them will even try a lick.

:lol3: I have one feral cat in the colony that won't eat anything but raw; the others prefer the canned food. I think they all eat mice, but apparently none of them will eat them dead. I've seen one of them eat a mouse on several occasions, but when Smokey leaves us "presents," we have to dispose of them as none of the others will eat them. :lol3:

Carolina said:

The Vit. E is there as a preservative for the salmon oil (as far as I know) - the fish oil is SO sensitive, you lose quite a bit when you freeze it and with oxidation.... It is much better to just do it at the time of feeding....

Click to expand...

Carolina, maybe you don't remember, but the Nutrition Research Council does recommend adjusting the amount of Vitamin E based on the amount of omega 3s (PUFAs). :nod: mschauer may be able to pop in with the NRC information on how much Vit E is needed per additional omegas. But this study discusses it: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/132/6/1613S.full, "Vitamin E Requirement of Adult Cats Increases Slightly with High Dietary Intake of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids."

I don't know what I'm going to do when this bottle of Vitamin E runs out, because the diet is high in selenium (based on mschauer's analysis). But right now, I provide Vit E basically as per Dr. Pierson's recommendation. To get to the amount she recommends, it only requires giving one or two drops of the liquid E every other day to one meal.

I remember vaguely :anon:

Yeah, the conclusion of the article was that not following the NRC recommendations didn't result in a vitamin E deficiency, and they theorized maybe it was because the diets were high in selenium, which apparently works with the PUFAs and E.... :dk: Anyway, at least the diet I feed them with the rotation of meats I use is high in selenium, so they probably don't need the E I give them, but....

So has anything started arriving yet? Did you buy a grinder yet? Are you still excited? :lol3:

LOL, I'm expectantly excited, but nothing's arrived yet. l ordered from California by regular mail on the 17th, so l'm not sure how much longer that first package will be. The second order was just placed a few days ago, so it'll be forever no doubt.

l haven't bought a grinder yet, but l got the kitchen scale, cups, spoons and an expensive (to me) knife.

So now l have to look at grinders, buy wide-mouth jars, and arrange with my farm friend what she's going to provide me to grind 

ln the meantime to cover the gap, l bought Natures Variety lnstinct Raw, and they HATE it, lol. Thankfully the dog loves it so it won't go to waste.

Thank goodness for dogs! I don't have a dog, but the ferals always enjoyed the food my kitties didn't like. :lol3:

Have fun shopping!

Blah! lf today is any indication, my cats are not going to appreciate my homemade raw. l'm making a turkey and excitedly offered neck and organs to the cats, who ignored them completely. l guess that answers the question of whether or not l really need a grinder!