Alternatives to Hare Today?

Hi!

I have been feeding my cat raw beef and Platinum Performance supplement for about a year now (he's about a year old), and he absolutely loves it and is thriving. I order from Hare Today because that's just what I've always found through raw feeding research. It's a great company, but I'm wondering if there are any alternatives to where I can buy my meat. The shipping is a bit expensive (I know, bulk-buying makes it cost-effective, and I try to do it as often as possible but I am on a very strict student budget).

What sets Hare Today meat apart from meat I can buy at the grocery store? If it's fit for human consumption, why not animal? Does anyone know of a cheaper place to buy my kitty's meat from?

Thanks!!!

Two other online sources for raw meat for pet food use are https://www.mypetcarnivore.com and http://www.wholefoods4pets.com/

Buying raw meat from the supermarket or butcher shop is definitely an option I think most people buy online because of the wider variety of meats and organs available, a big plus if you live in a small town or rural area. Grinding raw meat yourself is doable if you buy a grinder or heavy duty food processor.

Independent pet stores may sell chubs of raw meat. These may be just plain boneless ground meat or grinds (meat, bone, and organ).

I fed prey model raw. I buy my meat from the grocery store, and I look for the meat that has been reduced in price because it is at its 'sell by' date. I occasionally buy frozen quail and rabbit from a small grocery store that caters to international clientele. I fed Ritz the bones from quail and rabbit (a opposed from chicken wings) as well as of course the meat.
During farmer market season, I splurge and buy some meat (chicken hearts, liver, chicken and turkey heads) from a particular vendor who knows and approves that I fed my cat raw and has saved 'unusual' organs for me to feed Ritz. If you know any hunters, ask them if you can have/buy last year's game. (My nephew occasionally hunts.)
I agree that many people shop on-line because of the different, unique variety you can find--where I live you simply can't buy Llama or Elk. This is especially important/true if your cat has allergies to a lot of common proteins.

You absolutely can buy meats from the supermarket. But then you have to feed meat, bone (or a substitute), and organ in the correct percentages or the diet will not be balanced. I suggest you explore http://catcentric.org It has prey model raw guides, bone alternatives, feeding calculator, sample menu, etc.

Or you invest in a grinder that can handle bone and make ground. Or use a food processor to "grind" meat (don't buy pre-ground) and use eggshell for calcium, and follow one of the recipes to balance: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources

I think that buying raw food from raw pet food companies is safer than grocery store meat, because meats for raw feeding are handled accordingly and frozen right away, while grocery store meats are meant to be cooked, and they are sitting in the stores unfrozen for sometime. 

You asked hat set Hare Today over supermarket meats. Hare today grinds meat with bone and the organs. Supermarket meats sure don't do that.

 Hare Today also freezes the meat at the time they are butchered and grinds them frozen. this helps insure bacteria is not present o the meat. the meat is never refrigerated . Most of the time at the grocer you are buying meat that is refrigerated and it is hard to know how long it has been there. Last, but not least you know where the meats are coming from hen you buy from HT.

 All that said, you are on a students budget and that is hard. Do the best that you can and know that your cat ( or cats) are very lucky to have you.

LDG said:

You absolutely can buy meats from the supermarket. But then you have to feed meat, bone (or a substitute), and organ in the correct percentages or the diet will not be balanced. I suggest you explore http://catcentric.org It has prey model raw guides, bone alternatives, feeding calculator, sample menu, etc.

Or you invest in a grinder that can handle bone and make ground. Or use a food processor to "grind" meat (don't buy pre-ground) and use eggshell for calcium, and follow one of the recipes to balance: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources

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i'm on a pretty tight budget as well and have been making home cooked meals for my three cats.  i really only cook the boneless chicken thighs enough to kill some bacteria (catinfo.com does as well). i have a kitchen aid stand mixer and invested in the grinder attachment and feed through the boneless thighs, along with lightly cooked eggs (there is some concern about uncooked egg whites for cats) and i add all the necessary supplements.  i use eggshell for calcium because i feel i have more control over it and one of my cats had kidney disease (she's doing well on the diet).  the initial investment for the supplements was a bit much (got all of mine at the vitamin shoppe locally) but now all i have to do is buy chicken stuff and i'm ready to go.  i can make a week's worth of food for all three cats for less than $15 for chicken (depending on sales).  buying quality canned food i was spending like $40 a week.

If you can get chicken thighs for less than $3/lb, then buying a grinder and following the catinfo.org recipe or feeding prey model raw are definitely the cheapest ways to feed cats.  I'm in Manhattan though, and chicken costs $4/lb here at minimum.  It is actually most cost effective to buy Primal chicken/turkey grinds, and I like that they are HPP'd and pathogen tested.  I also like feeding my cats chunks of things...it's a tossup whether it's cheaper to buy at Hare Today and pay shipping or buy locally.  I just put in a big HT order and included chicken thighs and duck hearts, we'll see how that works out.  I also got the beef organ grind which I'm planning on adding to the ground food in small amounts...one of my cats loves kidney, the other one doesn't like it.

Bone-in foods are easier.  Whole Foods sells frozen packages of chicken necks & backs for cheap; I separate out the backs to use for chicken stock.  I also buy chicken breasts with bone, then I cut the breasts off the bone for my use and save the rest for the kitties.  Chicken wings for some reason don't work for me....they've become expensive, my cats for whatever reason won't eat them, and most of the time the package mostly contains drummettes (the largest portion).

Regarding safety...certainly the bacterial load in HT foods should be less than grocery meats, but if you get meat contaminated with a really nasty pathogen I think there's pretty much no way it's not going to be a problem regardless of where it comes from.  As careful as we are, it's unlikely we are up to the clean room or infectious disease lab standard.  I suspect most salmonella, campylobacter etc strains are harmless to your cat unless their GI tracts aren't working at top efficiency (and frankly also to you), and the bad pathogen scenario is very rare.  One advantage of getting grocery meats like Ritz does, near the sell-by date, is that the batch has already been sold to lots of people and if it were contaminated with something nasty, it would have become obvious by then.

Costco in Texas, and here in Naples Fl, have organic whole chicken with organs - 2 per bag.  Check the Costco in your area.  I would order the chicken liver and hearts from Hare Today and freeze them in the proportions needed when I made a 2 chicken batch as one heart and one liver that came with the Costo chickens wasn't enough per the recipe I used.  Problem is the shipping as you stated, very costly with Hare Today especially if you live in FL because it never gets cold here and had to pay the premium rate to ensure it arrived frozen,  Just don't have enough room in my freezer to store tons of hearts/liver to bulk get them.  I have fallen back on Rad Cat now most of the time because it's more convenient and when I add the shipping of Hare Today, probably not saving much making my own.

ankitty said:

 
I think that buying raw food from raw pet food companies is safer than grocery store meat, because meats for raw feeding are handled accordingly and frozen right away, while grocery store meats are meant to be cooked, and they are sitting in the stores unfrozen for sometime. 

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true for humans, not necessarily for cats. They have a completely different digestion system than you. Than means they are used to handle loads of bacteria, they are evolved that way. Cats have been eating rodents and left the remains and came back for them for millions of years. They are fine.

I buy the % off meat at its expiration date from Safeway, but make sure to wash it because it might have chlorine solution. Then I either feed it right away or freeze.

I also like the ethnic asian supermarkets for all the offal, usually quite inexpensive. And I watch out for sales and have an additional freezer box just for the cats.

When buying food from pet food companies keep in mind that they need to make a profit, so you'll have a higher ratio of cheap things like bone and liver than your cat needs. I wouldn't  necessarily trust them to get the percentages right, get secreting organs other than kidney and actually do any of the safe handling and right away freezing. Also that stuff is really, really expensive.

I think you are doing just fine with your Kitchen Aid and eggshells as calcium. Actually, per Lisa Pierson's site, cats with kidney problems should not have the ground bone. I think it has something to do with the digestion, and possible constipation problems. I know my 20 year old cat started having constipation issues his last 2 years, and he had diagnosed with kidney disease. I had purchased the Tasin grinder, and was ready to get started with the raw food making. I am  reconsidering  the food making since the 20 year old cat has passed. And I may just do what you are doing with the Kitchen Aid because I forgot I also have the grinding attachment.!     Whole Foods can order chicken necks, and high quality chicken livers, which you would want for higher quality.. Asian markets usually have the hearts and gizzards. I think you are on the right track!  I live in California and Whole Food 4 Pets sells the ground rabbit. Shipping cost to my zip code was quoted around $25 for 6 lbs.order, which they suggested as better than a 3lb order. That would be the fine grind that Dr. Pierson uses. That would be a special treat for the kitties!

Anne with Cats said:

 
I think you are doing just fine with your Kitchen Aid and eggshells as calcium. Actually, per Lisa Pierson's site, cats with kidney problems should not have the ground bone. 

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yup - the calcium/phosphorous ratio is the concern.  feeding whole prey, including the bone, is supposed to provide an optimal amount of cal/phos in a good ratio.  most AAFCO foods mimic that ratio.  ckf/ckd cats generally have high phosphorus levels which can require added phos binders to control.  but i've been doing a lot research and have found some studies showing that in healthy cats, cal/phos ratio is not as important as long as the cats are getting sufficient amounts of both.  by using ground eggshells, i'm able to continue adding the calcium without adding more phosphorus.  in addition to feeding my home cooked, i'm also feeding freeze-dried raw which includes the bone.  we'll see how it's affecting piglet (my ckf kitty) at her next checkup.