New to raw and need help!?!

We recently lost our 14 year old kitty to kidney disease. We are currently awaiting the birth of our newest family member, a baby Persian, which should be born around the end of April. I have been researching raw diets for the last 2nd months and I'm convinced it's the healthiest choice but still have a few ???..First, I plan on getting whole ground chicken and rabbit (meat , bones, organs). What recipe is best used with this mixture to ensure proper nutrients and does a kitten need anything else supplemented? Next, I do have a 5 year old daughter and I'm not really worried about the contaminated poop because in my opinion poop has never been a healthy thing to come in contact with. However, what about the kitty's mouth? Is it loaded with bacteria or do you still get to have kitty kisses? Also, completely off subject, we rescued my last kitty and she had been declawed. The only other cat I have ever had in my life was an outside cat as a child. My question is for preferred scratching posts?? Thanks for anyone's advice!!

Welcome to The Raw Site and The Cat Site.
There are a number of articles here that might help you. I take it you want to grind your food, as opposed to whole prey or prey model raw.
Some members buy a supplement to add to their ground food to ensure nutritional adequacy (same link as above). You have to be careful not to include too much bone because the cat could get constipated.

Regarding bacteria, I personally wouldn't worry.

And finally, regarding your question about scratching posts for a declawed cat, you might want to post that question in the Care and Grooming forum.

The declawed cat was a rescued cat that I had for 14 years that recently passed away. She was declawed by her previous owners not me. The scratching post is for the kitten we are getting. He has his claws as he isn't born yet and obviously I'm not getting him declawed which is why I asked for preferred kinds. Thanks for the websites I'll check them out.

I'm fairly new to scratching cats, too, after having lived for many years with rescue cats who already declawed when I got them. In December we adopted two 10-month-old kittens with very sharp little claws, so I'm still just getting used to scratching! We got a few things -- though no actual scratching post -- and the cats love them all enough that they don't scratch too much on us, furniture, or the house. I think variety is key. These cats are very, very active so it's worked out well that most everything we got is good for play and climbing, too. Our previous cat was very old and sick so I'd forgotten how rambunctious young cats can be!

Cardboard scratching pads are great and cheap, if a little messy. Our cats also love the Petlinks Dream Curl: it has carpet, a hemp mat, and an attached toy, plus they can sleep, hide, and play in/on it. (We found wildly different prices on that one in local stores.) We also got them a Petco cat condo that they love for scratching, hiding, and vertical territory, which seems to be very important for young cats. Last and best, inspired by some nifty setups on Hauspanther, my husband built them a little climbing loft in the basement: he covered wood (4X4 posts) with rope, attached some rope mats (from Petco) to a ramp with Velcro, and added some places for them to sit and sleep. Rope isn't cheap but most of the materials were scraps or leftovers so the whole thing wasn't at all expensive. The cats love climbing and scratching on it, plus it has that vertical element they love so much. (We're very lucky he could just attach this whole thing to ceiling beams!) Some people cover actual tree branches with rope and attach them to platforms so they look like ropy trees.


Ireland in the loft.

I aplogize for not reading your thread more carefully.
I kind of experimented with Ritz, my first cat ever. I learned that Ritz doesn't like sisal or the carboard type of cat scratchers, and she does like carpet or occasionally bark. I have a cat tree that has sisal, carpet and bark, as well as a cat toy; she ignored the cat toy.
Sisal and carboard scratchers are relatively cheap. For carpet you could try getting a sample from a Home Depot type of store.

Where are you planning on getting the ground chicken and ground rabbit from?  If it is from Hare Today, they sell the appropriate Alnutrin supplement to go with those mixes (bones/organs/meat). You may have to add more meat depending on the grind; some have a bit too much bone and that can cause constipation.

As far as scratchers, mine love sisal rope and didn't like corrugated cardboard.  On likes carpet too.  It's an individual thing.