raw diet?

i want to feed raw but i have no idea where to start?

A good start is to give raw "treats", small pieces of chicken, minced meat, chicken heart, beef...... as long as you keep it on "treat-level" there is no risk of causing unbalance for the cat. It might take a while for some cats to eat raw, because it smells less than cooked food and kibble. Some cats love it from the first taste..... mine did.

When you know that the cat likes it raw, start with commercial raw and add a little to the "normal food", increase slowly until you feed raw only. Study everything you find about raw feeding, and when the cat(s) eat all raw you are ready to make it from scratch (if that´s your goal). 

If you free feed (always food for the cat) today, start by removing food between meals. Feed 2-3 times a day. If you feed kibble- try start transitioning to wet food. If the cat is picky about the food the hunger for food makes it easier for the cat to taste new food. Feed 2 meals dry, one meal wet. If the cat don´t eat the wet- they still get enough food not to starve, but probably starts to taste the wet. When all meals are OK- 2 wet one kibble. And when you only feed wet food- add small pieces of raw into the food. 

they eat wet food and dry food. they are not picky, i can feed them anything without problems. i feed them raw pieces before and they ate them

why not start with commercial raw? start with 10% raw, move to 25%, 75% 100%. They seem to be ready.

does commercial raw cost more then wet? 

I do hope someone in the US knows the answer to that, I live in Sweden.....

homemade raw is cheaper than commercial raw- I feed homemade raw and it cost me 0.5 dollars a day for my cat, the wet food I fed before (high quality  and grain free) costed way more than that a day.... (5-6 dollars)

The cat needs less food on raw than on wet- 2% - 5% of the weight of the cat when you feed raw. 2% neutered cat, 5-7% pregnant/having small kittens. 

can i feed raw 3 times a week?

if it is balanced- yes. If not- no. 

I started feeding 75 % raw for a few months, then 100% raw. Many raw feeders use wet food as a backup- for travels, if other people who are not comfortable feeding raw will take care of the cats for a day/fes days, if you´ve forgotten to thaw the food.....

i will go with commercial raw until i have more then enough knowledge. so i can feed them raw three times a week, wet 4 times a week?

sounds good! Be prepared for the positive effects of a raw diet- softer fur, better breath and a litterbox that smells almost nothing! 

mwallace056 said:

 
does commercial raw cost more then wet? 

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It may depend on which wet you are feeding. My food bill went down with commercial raw, I was previously feeding canned only, Nature's Variety, for two cats. As others have mentioned, homemade raw is the most cost effective.  Commercial raw may make the transition easier or at least give you time to research info re: homemade raw.  As far as feeding raw three times a week, you could also do e.g., raw in the morning, canned at night instead of separating out the raw feeding by days per week. 

mwallace056 said:

 
does commercial raw cost more then wet? 

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It depends on what you are feeding now. I am also about to start the transition to commercial raw and I am currently feeding premium canned. The commercial raw will, in the long run, cost less. Not a huge amount but enough. it's also better for them as you will be cutting out what a lot of people consider undesired ingredients that are in a lot of canned like the gums, carrageenan, etc. 

it also depends on where you buy it. I'd suggest buying a bag or 2 at a local pet store to see what they like then go to an online retailer to buy in bulk once you find what they like. Primal, Stella and Chewy's and RadCat all have store locators on their sites. Good luck to both of us with the transitions. 

if you buy Primal and have any trouble with the transition, call them. The man I spoke to was very helpful and told me to call him back with any issues and he'd try to help further. he also told me that in the worst case scenario, if they flat out refused to eat it, he'd take it back. I was unable to find any locally so I had to order mine from PetFoodDirect. 

i found that they don't have problems with suddenly changes in food, do i still do transitions?

mwallace056 said:

 
i found that they don't have problems with suddenly changes in food, do i still do transitions?

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I would (and am going to). Two of mine are super, super picky so i have a pretty varied rotation of foods that they will eat and they almost never eat the same canned food (they do not eat any dry) 2 meals in a row. I think it's better to be safe than sorry. They are called the diva sisters for a reason 

mwallace056 said:

 
i found that they don't have problems with suddenly changes in food, do i still do transitions?

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I agree with Kat0121, I would transition gradually, despite your cats not having problems generally with abrupt transitions, you don't want to see kitties' in the "meatloaf" (upset tummy) position.

i don't know yet, i might feed raw 50% of their diet, 25% of wet food and 25% of grain-free dry food like wellness core, can i do that? 

mwallace056 said:

 
i don't know yet, i might feed raw 50% of their diet, 25% of wet food and 25% of grain-free dry food like wellness core, can i do that? 

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Some peple feel that dry food should not be fed at all if raw is also fed. Heres some info: http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-feed-raw-and-dry-at-the-same-time

Instead of the dry, maybe you could feed (dry) freeze dried raw instead. Most brands are a little cruncy in texture so your cat will still get some satisfying crunchies.

LTS3 said:

 
Some peple feel that dry food should not be fed at all if raw is also fed. Heres some info: http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-feed-raw-and-dry-at-the-same-time

Instead of the dry, maybe you could feed (dry) freeze dried raw instead. Most brands are a little cruncy in texture so your cat will still get some satisfying crunchies.

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what some brands do you recommends?

mwallace056 said:

 
what some brands do you recommends?

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There are two threads about this

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/292496/question-about-freeze-dried-dehydrated-raw-brands

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/292312/freeze-dried-food

Stella and Chewy's is popular but currently hard to find in stores (there's a thread about that, too). Nature's Vaariety Instinct freeze dried raw is good. There's a coupon here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/290985/natures-variety-raw-coupons I have not tried other brands like Vital Essentials or Primal.

I got my order from PetFoodDirect today. The Stella and Chewy's freeze dried Tummy Ticklin Turkey went over very well. Lilith ate a piece straight out of the bag that I broke up for her and then wanted more. I crushed some more and sprinkled it on their food with some fortiflora and they both ate pretty well.