Raw Food Diet - need opinions/info!

Hiiii Cat People!

I was recently introduced to raw food by my local pet supply store (Mud Bay) that supplies healthy food for cats & dogs, which I love, as I would not be caught dead feeding my little one Friskies-type, cheap, preservative-loaded crap food (hope I don't offend anyone!). My Lulu is 6 months, and I only feed her natural, grain-free wet food (she won't drink water on her own, except for here and there, so this is how I keep her hydrated for now- with my vet's approval).

I have also done my own research recently on the benefits of going raw for cats, and like what I'm finding so far, especially in regards to improved digestion, overall energy, oral health, and a smoother coat with less shedding. I have been feeding Lulu about 50% raw for the past week and a half, and am considering moving to 75% if all goes well. I do notice that this food is definitely more expensive, and will add up over time, so I wanted to get opinions of any of you who are familiar with raw feeding. Is it worth it in terms of $$? What benefits have you noted? Will I still see results even at 50% or 75% raw? FYI, the brand I am using is 'Rad Cat' (http://www.radfood.com/). ANY and ALL opinions/insights/etc. is welcome and appreciated.

Thanks!! Crystal

Welcome to The Raw Side.
Rad Cat is a good brand. And yes you should see improvements feeding 50/75% raw.
For me personally, I found commercial raw too expensive. Some brands have too much fruits or vegetables (i.e., corn) and bone. And finally, I frankly didn't want to have to go to one more store/run one more errand. to buy commercial raw.
So I have gone with prey model raw. I buy meat, kidney and liver at the local grocery stores when I do my regular shopping. I bought a freezer for $50 so am able to take advantage of sales and "sell by" date reductions when meat is reduced 30% to 50% in price.
It doesn't take me that long to prepare (and, what else am I going to do at 4 a.m. after Ritz wakes me up at 3 a.m.....)
Ritz is healthy overall. She has some medical issues which are not connected to raw feeding (FHS, prone to stress induced UTIs).
My current vet does not support raw feeding (afraid of bacteria contamination and "where are the carbs?") but he admits Ritz has some of the softest fur he's ever had the pleasure of petting. For that and other reasons, I am taking Ritz to a holistic vet in a few weeks.
As an aside, I am feeding a super friendly stray cat about three times a week (30 minutes from where I live currently). I want him to eat the good food; he is a kibble addict. So I went to the local pet store and was shocked at how expensive one can of high quality food cost.

I agree with everything Ritz mentioned above me! 

When I started transitioning to raw, I did exactly what you are doing. I used Rad Cat to get them to 100% raw and realized that I most certainly did NOT want to spend that kind of money on cat food indefinitely. 

I started introducing other types of raw such as homemade ground, whole animals and added a "premix" supplement to it called Alnutrin. Once my cats were comfortable eating commercial ground raw AND my homemade ground raw I started introducing "Prey Model Raw" which is what Ritz is explaining. (80% muscle meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, 5% other secreting organ)

My cats have been on 100% raw now since June of last year, so about 8 months. I feed them:

• 1/3 commercial raw (Rad Cat)
• 1/3 homemade ground raw
• 1/3 prey model raw

~I like having the commercial raw as part of their diet because Rad Cat really is an excellent food with no fruits or veggies. And when I go out of town (which I do several times a year for work) and have a cat sitter feed my cats, it's really easy for them to feed the Rad Cat.

~I like having the homemade ground raw because it is the whole entire animal ground up, all organs, tendons, bones, etc.

~And you definitely need to have Prey Model Raw as at least part of the diet (if not the whole diet) to have any dental benefits. Chewing on bones and large chunks of meat is the only thing that will keep tarter from forming on the teeth.  

Oh yea and if you can work up to Whole Prey that's the most optimal kind of diet although it is pricey (probably around the same cost as feeding Rad Cat full time). You can get quail, mice, rats, chicks, etc from Rodentpro or LayneLabs. I did feed my cats mice for a while and it's not as gross as you might think. My cats really devoured the whole mouse, didn't leave bits of carcass behind like I was expecting. In the end, I decided not to buy anymore mice for the sole reason that my cats and I share a freezer and I couldn't stomach the thought of eating anything out of my freezer with the rodents in there too 

Hi.

I don't think you should get your cat on mayoritarly raw diet, while it us true they are carnivorous, it is more practical to have them into dry food as sn staple and raw as a treat.

I'll share with you what Horatio diet consist on.

Horatiothecat said:

Hi.

Horatio eats Hill's science diet as an staple.

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• horatiothecat
• Jan 21, 2015

And as treat he eats some snacks that I prepare him as follows.


One and a half pound of ground beef.
Two little cans of sardine in olive oil.
4 chicken livers and 5 chicken hearts.
An small beetroot the size of a big lemon if you don't find it that size buy a bigger one and cut a piece about the size needed.
One small carrot.
Five spinach leaves.
4 or five egg shells previously washed ans milled.

Preparation.

Boil the vegetables but just not too much because they would loose their nutitional value, same with the chicken livers and hearts.

Once boiled let them to get cold and chop the vegetables, hearts and livers into very little pieces, you can use a food processor I dont have any so I do it the old way, I chop them.

Once chopped add them to the ground beef along to the two sardine cans and the milled egg shells, mix it alltogether with your bare hands.

One mixed make little balls the size of meatballs and wrap them with Cellophane and get them into the freezer.

Feed the cat once or twice a week one of those balls, you previously have them thawed, never serve them cold wait it to be room temperature.

image.jpg

• horatiothecat
• Jan 21, 2015

Horatio eats them as an snack twice a week but never misses staple of dry food.

I also give him every once in a while a little can of cat food as an snack, he doesn't really need to eat cans because he drinks a lot if water everyday.



Cheers.

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As I frozen the food before serviing it to the cat, it kills all possible bacteria that raw ground meat could contain I never feed him just after preparing it, the food goes to the frozen first.

Horatio is a very healthy cat.


I hope this info makes some good to you.


Cheers.

Abby2932 said:

 
Oh yea and if you can work up to Whole Prey that's the most optimal kind of diet although it is pricey (probably around the same cost as feeding Rad Cat full time). You can get quail, mice, rats, chicks, etc from Rodentpro or LayneLabs. I did feed my cats mice for a while and it's not as gross as you might think. My cats really devoured the whole mouse, didn't leave bits of carcass behind like I was expecting. In the end, I decided not to buy anymore mice for the sole reason that my cats and I share a freezer and I couldn't stomach the thought of eating anything out of my freezer with the rodents in there too 

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Lol - I guess that could be a bit unsettling, seeing rodents next to e.g., a pint of Ben & Jerry's. .

I actually would like to try -- again, mice. I purchased a couple of pinky mice, (from Petco, Gourmet Rodent, I think it was) not long ago. The cats took no interest, just sniffed and walked away. Maybe the mice had freezer burn. I'm willing to try again, maybe from one of the online retailers you suggested. I'm glad your cats ate the whole thing, I've read that sometimes the cats won't eat the entire mouse and the humans are left sweeping up body parts scattered about.

LisaMarie12 said:

 
Lol - I guess that could be a bit unsettling, seeing rodents next to e.g., a pint of Ben & Jerry's. .

I actually would like to try -- again, mice. I purchased a couple of pinky mice, (from Petco, Gourmet Rodent, I think it was) not long ago. The cats took no interest, just sniffed and walked away. Maybe the mice had freezer burn. I'm willing to try again, maybe from one of the online retailers you suggested. I'm glad your cats ate the whole thing, I've read that sometimes the cats won't eat the entire mouse and the humans are left sweeping up body parts scattered about.

Click to expand...

I did have to cut the mice in half for the first few times I fed them. After the first couple of times, they got the point and started eating it on their own.

Hi everyone,

I recently started my 6 month old girl on a raw diet (Rad Cat brand) and am currently feeding her about 50% raw, plan to go 80-ish% eventually. Do I need to add any supplements or additional nutrients to her raw food? I give her probiotics once a day (she's had tummy issues in the past), which I read is a great addition to a raw diet because of the bacteria, etc.  I am pretty new to all of this so I definitely want to make sure I cover all my bases and my girl is getting what she needs.

Thanks!
Crystal

Crystalnicole- Hi! So great that you are starting your kitten off right with a raw diet. If you plan to stick with the Rad Cat you do not need to add supplements as they have been added. If you begin feeding grinds, chunks etc. then you will need to add the supplements.

 You can either mix your own or buy one of several pre-mixes available.

I would guess that many people feed a combination of dry and raw, but the dry is not for health, it's for convenience.  There is pretty much nothing healthy about dry food, and Hill's in particular.  Sorry!

Good for you for adding some raw to your cat's diet.  Where did you get that recipe from?  Without knowing the weight of the livers we can't judge whether it's enough, but at least you've got the meat/organ/calcium in there, and anyway the proportions aren't critical since it's just a snack.   The beet etc are unnecessary fillers, as your cat can't digest them.  Sardines are a nice touch, as they add omega-3s.

However, I just HAD to respond to this because....freezing does not kill food-borne bacteria.   And ground meat is more likely than other kinds of meat to be contaminated, so it's generally recommended not to feed pre-ground to your cat.   Please consider substituting whole meat pieces that you can chop yourself next time, and in the meantime handle the meat balls like you would any raw meat - they are not sterile!!