Raw Food Beginner, questions!

Hello there!

I have a couple questions as I would like to start feeding my 3 babies a raw diet. I've been doing a lot of research but still have a couple questions, and am having a hard time finding answers to them. 

So I understand cats need meat, offal, bones, and supplements in their diets to provide proper nutrition. Now at this current time, I REEEEEAAAALLLLY do not want to purchase a grinder (mainly due to cost) at the moment. Though I don't think my cats would do well with a big slab of meat either. 

What I am wondering is, would chopping the meat, offal, and bone into bite sized pieces be alright? Then taking the chunks and making a mixture with water, egg, and the supplements? (I'm basing ingredients on a grinded recipe off feline-nutrition)  Or would chopping up the bone be a choking hazard?? 

Any advice/help would be very appreciated! :3

Chunks are wonderful for your kitties (I have 3 as well, just turned 1 year old).  No need for a grinder, kitties need to chew.  Helps to keep their teeth and gums clean and healthy.  If you're feeding meat, organs (liver, kidney, etc...   heart is meat), and bone (chicken wings, necks, bone in thighs ), then you really don't need a lot of supplements.  Make sure you vary their proteins (I feed chicken, beef, pork, turkey -- whatever I can find locally).  

I generally don't add supplements to the whole meats (prey model raw), but I do supplement pre-made raw grinds (frozen), that I get from a raw co-op as they are just ground meat & bone.  

When I feed the grinds, I add supplemental taurine, Nature's Logic "all food fortifier - supplement for dogs & cats", Udo's Choice "Pet Essentials for Cats" (these are from amazon.com" and a Wild Salmon Oil capsule (from Costco, regular "people" supplement - pierce & squeeze over their food).

Hope this helps.

Darby, Mia & Ian playing with a champagne cord on the bannister. (same litter, 2 sisters and their brother).  This was taken about 3 months ago when they were 9 months old.   In this picture, Ian was 9 lbs 5 1/2 oz, Mia was 8 lbs 11 1/2 oz and little Darby (the runt of the litter) was 7 lbs 12 oz.   

On their birthday at one year on March 13th, Ian is now 10 lbs, 10 oz, Mia is 9 lbs, 14 oz and Darby is 8 lbs, 8 oz..   All on 100% raw since they day they came home at 9 weeks old.  (all at barely 2 lbs)

I´ve been feeding my 2-year old cat raw for 1 year, and I agree that you don´t need a grinder to make the food from scratch. I use a mixer/blender to chop defrosted organs and make a mix of liver, eggs, blood (or powdered blood) and algae (iodine).I mix this into ground meat, or serve as a soup to meals of pieces of meat.  I give her bones that she eats, chicken bones are good bones to start with for most cats. 

I was worried that she would choke on the bones, but she proved me wrong quite fast, a few times a piece of the bone has got  stuck in her teeth, but she solves that by her own. A few days ago she proved to me hat she indeed could eat a big rib-bone. I was not prepared that she could! If the cat eats big pieces of raw bones the acidic stomach juices breaks it down. Cooked bone should never be fed! They are the dangerous ones. 

It might take a while for cats, new to raw, to eat the bone. You should then add powdered bone to make sure that the the cat gets the calcium and phosphorous needed. But they usually learn quite fast to eat the bones as well. And it is a very cool experience to hear your fur ball eat bones- you hear the crunch! And see the way they eat it. And she growls at me if I try to remove a bone that was especially tasty! Raw, meaty bones are very good of cats that easily eats to much or to fast- my cat can spend hours on a big (uneatable!) bone, trying to get all the meat there is. Good for the teeth and the mind.

And- welcome to the club!

I don't grind meat. I buy chubs of raw meat from the pet store. The ones I buy are grinds, meaning they contain meat and bone and organs. I just add the Alnutrin for meat and bone pre-mix to the chub to turn it into a complete diet. I mostly buy Hare Today chubs but do occasionally buy Bravo Pet and Blue Ridge and Primal. Although I can buy Hare Today at a local pet store, I'm not aware of the brand being sold at any other pet store. Most people here buy Hare Today directly from their web site.

Chopping raw meat and organs into small easy to eat pieces for a cat is a little time consuming but very doable. You can then use the chopped pieces in any recipie that calls for ground.

Thank you so very much from me and the kitties!!

How old are your babies?    If they've been on canned for a while, you probably want to transition them to raw..   Mine were only 9 weeks old, so it was easy - they took to it right away, but if they're older, it can take time..

Mixing their raw with the canned is a good way to start.  Once they're happily eating the mix, cut down the amount of canned and increase the raw gradually until you are able to eliminate the canned.   Eventually they'll be 100% raw.

>^!^< 

My Kitty-boos; Stanley and Suzie are 4 (Litter mates) , and Rollie is just under a year. (I'm at work at the moment so I'm lacking in Photos of Stanley and Suzie)

But here is my little one, Rollie-Pollie 

Such a little sweetie..   Rollie will probably be the easiest to switch being younger..     With Stanley & Suzie being 4, you're going to want to give them some time to transition..    So, keep doing what you did, mixing the raw with the canned they're used to, and eventually you get them to raw...    Don't rush it though, give them time and decrease the canned / increase the raw gradually..    They'll do fine!!

Many cats are used to the smell of kibble (which are sprayed to smell more!) and wet food. Raw smell less than these foods. They have to get used to the idea that this strange new thing is food..... you can help by adding a small amount of the food they love in the raw, mix wet food and raw. Feed raw pieces as candy, or let the cat "steal" a piece of meat that "happens to be close to the edge of the table....", or "oops, I dropped  it.....". She is indeed a very determined girl! (2 years in july).

At her optimum weight- 2,8 kg (6 pounds?)

Hi there and thanks for this thread! Currently transitioning my kitten to a raw diet and these were the exact questions I had.

So far her meals are mostly made of chunks of chicken or beef (she prefers chicken) while finishing up on the daily vitamins she gets to make up for anything I've missed.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is it to grind chicken bones with a hand grinder?

Why do you want to grind the bones? If your kitten is already eating chunks, it's better for her and easier for you. Give her small bones, chicken wing tips, second section, mine even tackle the drumettes. I also give them thighs cut up in chunks. If you think the bones are too big, you can always smash a bit with a hammer. Most people grind because their cats won't eat anything bigger. If they were in the wild, they wouldn't eat ground.

That's food for thought (no pun intended lol). Need to go work out the proportions in relation to meat.

By second section of the wing tip, do you mean the larger bit of the tip?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is it to grind chicken bones with a hand grinder?

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I'd say 5. It's really easy, and mine goes through them with ease, it just reaaaallllyyyy tires out your arm. Although the tips of the thighbones don't go through, when I cleaned the grinder when I was finished, there were a bunch of the bone tips sitting in there. 

Joleca said:

Why do you want to grind the bones? If your kitten is already eating chunks, it's better for her and easier for you. Give her small bones, chicken wing tips, second section, mine even tackle the drumettes. I also give them thighs cut up in chunks. If you think the bones are too big, you can always smash a bit with a hammer. Most people grind because their cats won't eat anything bigger. If they were in the wild, they wouldn't eat ground.

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My kitties won't touch bone, and at this current time, they won't touch the ground food, unless I add a little bit of canned to it. Just not smelly enough I guess. Stanley and Rollie are taking well, and eating everything properly. But Suzie refuses to touch it, even when there is canned in it. I can sort of get her to eat it, if I put some kibble in it, but she is making this really difficult. Even when she does eat it, she only picks at it, and then Stanley goes and tries to gobble down the rest. I wish Suzie would be more opened minded about this food, I'm afraid she is not eating enough.. 

Zunxin said:

That's food for thought (no pun intended lol). Need to go work out the proportions in relation to meat.

By second section of the wing tip, do you mean the larger bit of the tip?

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Nope, I mean the section with the 2 thin bones. My kitties eat that completely.

Oh ok, I think that's the mid-joint. Will let kitty try one this week to see how she takes to it.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Kait for your rating. Gives me some idea just in case it doesn't work out for me either.

Hmm she's not taking to the wing, eats everything else, muscle meat, heart, liver but leaves the wing

Will try it a few more times to see if she warms up to it

Zunxin said:

Thanks Kait for your rating. Gives me some idea just in case it doesn't work out for me either.

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Zunxin, the younger your kitten is, the easier it should be to switch...    Just out slow.