Need to add a little fiber/laxative supplement to already-prepared food.

harrylime

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I think my cat is a little bit constipated. She's always had less-frequent bowel movements than any cat I've ever owned, but I figured it's because she's only eaten raw her entire life. 

Anyway I feed hare-today turkey and chicken with bones, slightly diluted with the addition of boneless meat. I also feed RadCat chicken and turkey just to mix up the tastes a little bit. The RadCat I believe already has some psyllium fiber in it. I won't need to make a new batch for quite a while. What else can I add or mix in to each serving to get things moving a bit?
 

LTS3

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Some people give unflavored Miralax to their cats to help with constipation. The general dose is 1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon daily. You mix the Miralax into some water first to get it kind of hydrated then mix it into canned food.

You could also give some canned plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) or use Weruva's Pumpkin Patch Up.

How much boneless meat are you adding to the HT grinds? It's been said here on TCS that the HT poultry grinds are pretty high in bone so you need to dilute it with some boneless. I think someone uses 1 lb of boneless to every 4 lbs of poultry grind.
 

sphyngalscrazy

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8lbs ground chicken with bone
1lb ground organs
1lb ground BONELESS chicken
5 to 6 cups of water
40g Alnutrin powder

Is a recipe I like to use. For the turkey too.
 
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sophie1

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Has there been a change in your cat's bowel habits lately, or are you just concerned about the infrequent pooping? 

Increasing boneless in your recipe is a good idea, probably the thing to do first.  If HT's poultry grinds are 15% bone, then diluting with 1 lb boneless per 4 lbs of grind will only bring down the bone content to 11%.  Try 1.5 lb boneless per 4 lbs grind and see what happens?

Another option to consider:  grow pots of cat grass.  I started doing it because my cats were wreaking havoc on my house plants.  Eating grass immediately became part of their routine, as in they wake up, go eat some cat grass, go to the litter box, play, then eat.  They've also been raw fed all their lives, and they both poop every day - yet, the bone in their diet is also on the high side. The grass doesn't get digested, it shows up in their poop looking exactly like it did on the way in.  I was curious about this so I did some reading.  Really fascinating, no one knows why cats eat grass but given how instinctive it seems to be, I would guess that it must play an important role in either nutrition or regulating bowel habits, or both.  So I regard it as part of their diet, and I keep two pots going so that one can be sprouting while the other is available to eat.  I'm not sure if this would help your cat, but it's worth a try and if nothing else it's a nice bit of indoor enrichment for both you and kitty.  
 
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harrylime

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So right now the recipe for 10lbs of food is:  8lbs ground chicken OR turkey with bones, 1lb boneless chicken, and 1lb extra ground organs (and then the supplements and water of course). So I think the bones are pretty diluted by that point.

I haven't noticed a real change in her bathroom habits, I just feel like she should be going to the bathroom more often. It's definitely not more than once every 2 days.
 

sophie1

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Agree, this doesn't sound like constipation.  A lot of people report that their cats don't poop every day.  And your food recipe sounds perfectly fine.

Seriously, try the cat grass?  I'm curious to know if it is indeed a good complement to a raw diet, and if it's what helps cats poop more regularly.  People who feed commercial food report that grass only makes their cats throw up, but that never happens with mine and frankly I think it's just another sign of gut motility problems induced by commercial diets.  Also of note, my cats are both long haired and I've not seen a single hairball.
 

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So right now the recipe for 10lbs of food is:  8lbs ground chicken OR turkey with bones, 1lb boneless chicken, and 1lb extra ground organs (and then the supplements and water of course). So I think the bones are pretty diluted by that point.

I haven't noticed a real change in her bathroom habits, I just feel like she should be going to the bathroom more often. It's definitely not more than once every 2 days.
What bone percentage are you shooting for? 10%?  With 8# chicken carcass and 1# boneless chicken and 1# organs the end result will be about 22% bone. That's using the Hare-Today data showing their whole chicken grind to be 27% bone.

If the want the end result to be 10% bone you need to add 11.4# boneless meat.

The 8# of ground bone-in chicken has 2.16# bone (8 * .27). 2.16# is 10% of 21.6#.  So if you want that 21.6# to be 80% meat you need a total of 17.28# of meat. You already have 5.84# of meat from the bone-in chicken so you need an additional 11.44#. And you need 2.16# of organs if the remaining 10% is supposed to be organs.

So, in the end you would have:

  2.16# bone  (8 * .27)

17.28# boneless meat ( (8 * .73) + 11.44)

  2.16# organs

--------------------------

21.6#

You have to add a lot more boneless meat to dilute bone than most people think.

Edit: Just saw that you are using Hare-Today whole chicken so I changed the calculation to use their value for the amount of bone.
 
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harrylime

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There's no way the hare-today mixes are 32% bone. I'll get an extra chub next time and put it through a strainer a few times to get an accurate number.
 
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harrylime

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Ok, 27% is more reasonable but I still feel like it's less. I'll find out next time I do an order.

The USDA is like the overprotective grandmother of the government. They also say that all beef should be cooked to 145 degrees for safety. True medium rare is 131 degrees. 145 degrees is like medium-well.
 

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There's no way the hare-today mixes are 32% bone. I'll get an extra chub next time and put it through a strainer a few times to get an accurate number.
You're not going to get an accurate number that way. Even if you are able to separate and weight every tiny bit of bone (doubtful) the weight you get won't include the marrow. 
 
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harrylime

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You're not going to get an accurate number that way. Even if you are able to separate and weight every tiny bit of bone (doubtful) the weight you get won't include the marrow. 
Ok but surely the marrow isn't contributing to potential constipation. 
 

mschauer

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You're not going to get an accurate number that way. Even if you are able to separate and weight every tiny bit of bone (doubtful) the weight you get won't include the marrow. 
Ok but surely the marrow isn't contributing to potential constipation. 
Most people find they need to keep the bone (including marrow) below 12% to prevent constipation. Quite a few have found they need it under 10%.
 
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