Raw meat mxture

We took a cat under our care from the RSPCA, she had a bad leg injury that was looking to be amputated, we have a friend who is a vet who operated on her for the cost of the anesthetic, she is now fully healed.

We put her on a raw meat diet, but have a few problems, we have mixed chicken, beef and pork together in plastic storage bags and freezing them, we defrost a bag overnight and feed her three times a day.

My concern is that there could be cross contamination between the three raw meats as she often will throw up straight after, I have realised that the meat could be too cold and should be left to get to romm temperature, but then I am concerned more about cross contamination.

Would we be better to bag the different meats in separate bags and give her a different variety each day as opposed to them being mixed.

We are also taking her off dry food  as things I have read have indicated that a combination of dry and raw food can cause digestive problems.

When the RSPCA first got her, she weighed two Kg, after twelve months she is around 6-7Kg, we give her roughly 150grams of raw meat a day over three meals.

We are keeping her away from any dairy products, as we were treating her to some small amounts of custard and milk left in a cereal bowl (she won't drink milk unless there has been cereal in it, extra flavour?).

All in all she seems perfectly healthy, but I would really like to overcome the throwing up of food and would like to know what we may be doing wrong from what I have quoted.

Many thanks in anticipation

Teditor

My thoughts are how long is each meat being frozen for? You have to freeze them for a certain time to ensure the possible pathogens are killed off.
I would also be inclined to give her separate meats rather than mixing them. She may have a sensitivity to one kind but not the others and you wouldn't know if your mixed them all up.
Are you giving supplements with the raw meat?

Thanks for the reply, we are separating the different meats, so there will be chicken for a days meals, pork for a days meals and beef for a days meals, we give approximately 150gms a day, 40 for breakfast, 40 for lunch, the rest for dinner (being the one that has to hold her over the longest), does this amount seem satisfactory? Around 6kg weight.

She doesn't seem to want more except the sound of the fridge opening seems to be her call for meals, not so unfortunately.

Also, when you say supplements, what should be additional, we have taken her off the biscuits, water is her drink with very occasional milk from my cereal (very small amount).

From her terrible background to what she is living now, I think we have her exactly where she wants us!

Ted

Teditor said:

 
Also, when you say supplements, what should be additional, we have taken her off the biscuits, water is her drink with very occasional milk from my cereal (very small amount).

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Plain raw meat isn't a complete balance diet. You need to add in supplements or your cat will develop nutritional deficiencies. There are different ways to do this. Some people follow the frankenprey raw diet which is feedgn 80% muscle meat, 10% raw bone, 10% raw liver, and 10% other raw organs. Others follow a raw recipie and add in the supplements listed. One good recipie is this one at Catinfo.org The supplements listed there can be bought at any vitamin / health food type store.

There are also pre-mixes like Alnutrin and TC Feline that you just mix into the raw meat with some water.

You can read these articles for more info:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263955/helpful-resources-raw-home-cooked-cat-food-forum

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources

@Columbine can help you with UK resources for raw supplements and commerical raw cat foods.

Raw food suppliers :-

• Nature's Menu http://www.naturesmenu.co.uk . This is the most widely available brand. They also do ready ground plain meat and bone for making your own food, and some meat more suited to prey model raw.
• Natural Instinct http://www.naturalinstinct.com/
• Raw to Go http://rawtogo.co.uk/ - plain minces, chunks and bones.
• Nurturing by Nature http://www.nurturingbynature.co.uk - minces, chunks, bones, prey model raw
• Natraw http://www.naturaw.co.uk/ - minces, chunks, bones, prey model raw, some brands of complete raw.
• Nutriment http://www.nutriment.co/cat-food/ - complete raw food.
• Kiezebrink http://www.kiezebrink.co.uk - huge range: minces, chunks, bones, whole prey, prey model raw, complete raw food.
• Berriwood http://www.berriewoodwholesale.co.uk/ - some brands of complete raw, good selection of minces and chunks etc.
• Purrform http://www.purrform.co.uk/ - complete raw food (in portion sized pouches) and plain meats.

Some of these sites sell supplements too. You can get one called Fellini Complete (designed for homemade raw) from http://www.zooplus.co.uk - also wonderful for high meat, grain free wet foods, and all kinds of other cat supplies.

There are lots of supplements out there - be sure that the one you choose is specifically for balancing a raw meat diet. Most of the general vitamin supplements are not designed for this purpose, and won't provide all the extras your cat needs.

The [thread="272287"]​[/thread] has lots of balanced recipies using individual supplements instead of a premix if that route appeals more (though they also offer variants for use with a premix).

My apologies, I failed to mention that I am in Australia.

Ted.

Sorry! I see RSPCA and assume the UK :doh3:

Hopefully someone else can help you with Australian resources :cross:

Teditor said:

Also, when you say supplements, what should be additional, we have taken her off the biscuits, water is her drink with very occasional milk from my cereal (very small amount).

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If you are feeding only muscle meat your cat is at serious risk of malnutrition. Please look at the links provided by LTS3.

Columbine said:

Sorry! I see RSPCA and assume the UK :doh3:

Hopefully someone else can help you with Australian resources :cross:

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:lol3: I did too!

No doubt she is living a much better life than she was before. But as others have said, when feeding raw it's very important to learn about creating a balanced diet to meet their nutritional needs. The links provided will give you lots of information on how to do this. Good luck, it can be a bit overwhelming at first, but you'll get lots of support here.

Columbine said:

Sorry! I see RSPCA and assume the UK

Hopefully someone else can help you with Australian resources

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pushylady said:

I did too!
 

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Same here

These old threads may be helpful:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/254779/raw-the-ultimate-recipe

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/252759/raw-feeding-or-barf-in-australia-need-some-food-advice

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/240324/cat-not-eating-raw

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/260276/raw-vomiting

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/254970/can-someone-please-confim-if-im-understanding-this-right

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/275941/...r-a-slightly-fussy-cat-with-sensitive-stomach

I have no idea of any of the Australian members in the above threads are still active here on TCS.

Frankenprey is probably the best way to go if you can't find a pre mix like TC Feline or the supplements listed in a recipe. Most supermarkets and butcher shops sell raw organs and bones.

BTW, make sure that the raw meats and organs you use do not contain any broth or flavoring or stuff. I don't know about Australia, but some brands of raw meats sold in the US have been enhanced with broth and other things which are not good for a cat.