Deciding where to start first

Since I am a newbie at raw feeding, thought I would start with Instinct Raw Freeze Dried Food first. After looking at the ingredients, I am seeing a ton of veggies, fruit, spices and not sure if this would be a good start for Rocky. Any of the Natures Variety he immediately vomits up what he just ate (mostly the dry)   Even with the canned food he will scratch around it and I have tried it all.  So, I feel like I am always back at the drawing board with him.

He did love his raw chicken tonight.  He was in pure bliss, carried it around with him all over the place, played with it, shook it, and eventually ate some of it, but the best part for him was the play.  However, he carried the raw chicken everywhere in the home. 

So, I'm stuck at to what to do at this juncture. I don't know where to begin.

Another thing I keep seeing in the threads here is concern over difficulty passing bones, so wanted more information about this as well. 

So, since there are soo many of you who have fed raw successfully,  needing some suggestions to get started with this, as I am totally clueless.

Thank you.

Debbie and Rocky

I noted you've started other threads regarding feeding raw, so you are doing your research, which is so very important when feding raw. You're in the experimenting stage, figuring out what suits you and your cat. Have you tried Bravo? Primal? HareToday? I tried them all and figured out what Ritz likes (pretty much any flavor, it was the consistency she sometimes balked at) and what suited my life style (prey model raw). Personally I went with PMR because I found it more convenient. I didn't have to schedule yet another place to go to on weekends--I get my meat at my local grocery stores. And I didn't like all the spices and vegetables/fruits in some of the commercial raw.
You might try RadCat, which is available in independently owned pet food stores. It looks and has the consistency of canned food. Some of RadCat products are single source protein, and I don't believe they contain any vegetables/fruits/etc.
Regarding bone: Ritz has no problem 'passing' bone, it's just that she gets constipated at 10%. So I feed her 7% bone; I just add some extra protein for the other roughly 3%. The other option of course is using egg shells as a source of calcium (LOTS of threads about that).

Thanks Ritz for your reply   Comparing Rad Diet to Primal and Haire Today.  I also picked up a package of hearts and gizzards from my local grocery and will pull out the insides from the roaster chicken and try giving Rocky liver or kidney first chopped up.  So, he will do a taste test until I decide on how to feed raw.

I did call my vet and he boo-hooed the whole idea, so he's not on board with this at all. His objection is Rocky getting parasites.

I noticed that RadCat does not contain any vitamins, Prmal includes vitamins and lots of other things.  Haire Today sells vitamins, etc separately.  I did not major in chemistry so not sure how to select the right amount of vitamins per meal.... oye.

In any event I'm now at the stage of making decisions on what to start with first.  I wish that Haire Today sold ground up meat without bones so that I could add the powder separately.  I have had cats in the past who suffered from significant constipation and I fear mega colon complications.

One last question, with any warm blooded meal, I'm always worried about Rabies. How do these companies ward off the potential of Rabies, can we really be sure the raw food is Rabies free? 

Debbie

The use by date for the gizzards/hearts I just bought at my local grocery store is tomorrow.  Is it okay to freeze the hearts and gizzards and take out when I want to feed it to Rocky?

So far, he loved the heart I fed to him, he went bonkers over this and of course wanted more.  I'm just giving him one to see how his GI tract handles this as he has sensitivities to food.

Thanks.

Debbie

It would be just fine to freeze and take them out as needed. I do that with all the proteins I buy. It might be helpful to freeze them on a baking sheet or in an ice cube tray so you can easily take out small portions.

LuvMyCat6204 said:

 
The use by date for the gizzards/hearts I just bought at my local grocery store is tomorrow.  Is it okay to freeze the hearts and gizzards and take out when I want to feed it to Rocky?

So far, he loved the heart I fed to him, he went bonkers over this and of course wanted more.  I'm just giving him one to see how his GI tract handles this as he has sensitivities to food.

Thanks.

Debbie

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Hare Today sells boneless ground beef, duck, venison, rabbit, bison, chicken breasts, and lamb, as well as different ground organs. Please see: https://www.hare-today.com/index.php?cPath=21_48.

Originally Posted by LuvMyCat6204  

In any event I'm now at the stage of making decisions on what to start with first.  I wish that Haire Today sold ground up meat without bones so that I could add the powder separately.  I have had cats in the past who suffered from significant constipation and I fear mega colon complications.

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