What raw food should my 12 weeks old kitten eat?

the catsage · Jul 27, 2016

So I want to move him to raw or cooked meats, that actually are meat and not grain. I will give him raw fresh food or if I buy frozen food then I am thinking of cooking it first. Opinions?

Today I made a huge mistake, I tried to feed him fresh chicken necks. I didn't realize the bones were so tough. Poor guy chewed on the neck for 20 mins and in the end the meat was soft but the bone untouched...he didn't eat anything, he just chewed on it and growled, poor guy liked the taste but was unable to get any of it. I read it on google that 12 weeks is very good to start with chicken necks because of new teeth or whatever but that wasn't the case here. Even his mum struggled to eat them. Is it ok to feed him chicken necks in the long run after he grows a bit more? Or can they damage his teeth?

What else should I feed him? Chicken lungs? Hearts? Kidneys? Wings? Fish? Cow parts? Octopus? Eggs? Raw? Cooked?

Btw meats like chicken chest, chicken legs, beef etc are freaking expensive here. I have to go with stuff that humans normally don't eat, most butchers have plenty of those and sell them extremely cheap. I can feed him chicken chest but not every day, it's a luxury even for me. Chicken hearts, kidneys etc are almost free though. Are they good enough to become a main diet? Can I give him fish for dinner?

Or to make it simple...what do you feed your cats if you give them raw food?

LTS3 · Jul 27, 2016

Raw bones are good but sometimes it takes awhile for a cat to develop the jaw strength to handle bones. Start something chewier like gizzards or heart. Neck bones are pretty large so try something smaller like the wing tip.

What kind of raw diet are you looking to feed? Whole prey? Frankenprey? A recipie? Pre-mix? That would better help members recommend what to feed so your cats get a balanced diet. Organs and bones may be cheap to buy but it's not a balanced diet and your cats may likely develop nutritional deficiences, especially the kitten who needs a lot of nutrients to grow.

Raw egg white should never be fed to a cat. It contains a protein which affects a cat's ability to absorb vitamin B. Raw egg yolks are fine. Cooke egg (both the yolk and white) are fine. Some peple like to give their cats plain scrambled egg (no oil, seasonings, salt, etc). as a treat.

Any part of a chicken or other poultry is fine to feed to a cat. Meat from large animals like cows are fine but those organs are too large for a cat unless you chop it up into small pieces. Some cats will eat rabbit, vension, goat, and other meats and organs from other animals. Hare-Today.com has a list of available meats and organs for raw pet food use if you want to browse for smeats you could feed to your cat.

I don't think many people feed fish as part of a raw diet. As a treat yes, but not as the main diet.

I feed my cats mainly a commerical raw pet food and add in a little raw meat that has a pe-mix added to it.

the catsage · Jul 28, 2016

I'm not sure what kind of diet I am going to do, I still have him on commercial food. My idea is to go to raw only if it's better, if the nutrients aren't good then I won't because I am a bit restricted on the cost side of some meats. For example 1kg of chicken breast here costs 10 dollats, 1kg of necks is .9 dollars. 1kg of commercial canned food is 1.5 dollars. So I am ready to go above the 1.5 dollars a bit but 10 is not worth it for example, I'd rather keep him on commercial. Maybe I might do a mix, I'll see, anyone who has experience would help a lot.

Thank you very much for that site, exactly the thing I was looking for. I just didn't know there was a site about it. Even better!

chevs · Jul 28, 2016

If you are going to feed frankenprey, chicken hearts are a great source of taurine, so it's awesome that you can get them cheap. It sounds like you're not in the US, so your availability is different than mine. I feed my cats a frankenprey diet 80/10/5/5, so 80% muscle (remember heart is muscle, not organ), 10% bones, 5% liver, 5% other organ. Specifically, I do 40% heart (muscle)(chicken, pork, or beef), 40% chicken gizzards. (muscle), 10% chicken feet and/or necks, 5% liver (chicken, beef, or pork) and 5% kidney (beef or pork). These are the animal parts that are most available and economical for me and my cats have been thriving on this diet for 5 years. Raw egg yolk is good for them and a tasty treat. I also started them as kittens, although they were probably about 6 months old when I started and it was about a year and a half before they both became able to handle bones well. You can try starting your kitten with chicken wing tips till it's big enough and has built up its jaw strength. Gizzards are great for building strong jaws BTW .

the catsage · Jul 29, 2016

Hey chevs,

Thank you for your input. Do you cook any of those meats or do you feed all of them raw? Do you buy all fresh or even frozen sometimes? And have your cats ever had any health complication due to bacteria?

I know cats in the wild eat carcass a few days old and they live very well, so I would assume that their immunity is much better than ours. I am just worried a bit and I cannot ask the vet, they sell commercial cat food there so I cannot expect them to be honest about it.

Thanks.

chevs · Jul 29, 2016

The Catsage said:
Hey chevs,

Thank you for your input. Do you cook any of those meats or do you feed all of them raw? Do you buy all fresh or even frozen sometimes? And have your cats ever had any health complication due to bacteria?

I know cats in the wild eat carcass a few days old and they live very well, so I would assume that their immunity is much better than ours. I am just worried a bit and I cannot ask the vet, they sell commercial cat food there so I cannot expect them to be honest about it.

Thanks.

Everything I feed is fed raw. So when you say, bought fresh, I think you mean like from a farm or something, slaughtered in front of me and packaged up while still warm? No, I buy from grocery stores, so even though it's not frozen at the time of purchase, the meat was probably frozen at some point in time. Never had any health complications. I buy enough to last 2 months, portion it out into weekly portions, and freeze. Each week, i remove a bag, thaw and make smaller meal-size portions for each cat. Then back into the freezer. Each morning after breakfast, dinner is removed from the freezer and placed in the fridge to begin thawing, and the same thing happens at dinnertime (breakfast is placed in the fridge). At mealtime, the food is partially thawed and I finish thawing and warming by putting the baggies in warm water for about ten minutes. Sounds complicated, but it's not.

My cats have NEVER had any health complications due to bacteria. Probiotics are not a bad idea when feeding a raw diet, but not necessary. I used to do probiotics when my IBD cat was younger, but he hasn't had any in a couple years and it's made no difference in his health.

the catsage · Aug 2, 2016

Is it normal for him to refuse to eat raw and cooked meats? He is being very picky. 12 weeks and 5 days old, yesterday night I ran out of commercial cat food because I was relying on the chicken breasts that I had in the fridge. And guess what? He didn't eat them. He didn't eat ham, he didn't eat tuna (I opened an expensive can just for him). He didn't eat anything. He wants commercial food only. Today I bought him some commercial chicken hearts (labelled as cat food), he loved it...what is going on. Have I missed something? I am sure he is a cat and that cats are carnivores. Any idea how I can teach him how to cat? He was starving, I had to go to the supermarket and managed to find some adult cat food at 7AM. He loved it though. I am confused. Why would he starve with meat nearby? He was begging for food with chicken breast in his bowl. I'm lost.

zoop · Aug 2, 2016

chevs said:
If you are going to feed frankenprey, chicken hearts are a great source of taurine, so it's awesome that you can get them cheap. It sounds like you're not in the US, so your availability is different than mine. I feed my cats a frankenprey diet 80/10/5/5, so 80% muscle (remember heart is muscle, not organ), 10% bones, 5% liver, 5% other organ. Specifically, I do 40% heart (muscle)(chicken, pork, or beef), 40% chicken gizzards. (muscle), 10% chicken feet and/or necks, 5% liver (chicken, beef, or pork) and 5% kidney (beef or pork). These are the animal parts that are most available and economical for me and my cats have been thriving on this diet for 5 years. Raw egg yolk is good for them and a tasty treat. I also started them as kittens, although they were probably about 6 months old when I started and it was about a year and a half before they both became able to handle bones well. You can try starting your kitten with chicken wing tips till it's big enough and has built up its jaw strength. Gizzards are great for building strong jaws BTW .

Hi there looking to do a similar diet but confused about the supplements.

Your formula work for me.

40% heart and 40% Gizzards to meet the 80% Muscle Meat.

40% heart alone will make sure that there is no Taurine deficiency, which is the only thing I am afraid about.

One thing I didn't understand is how you keep 10% bones. Only item in your menu that has bones is feet and necks, can they be counted completely as bone?

chevs · Aug 2, 2016

@ Zoop,

Yes, I just count the feet and necks completely as bone. I know some people obsess over trying to calculate what percent of a chicken neck is bone, and what percent is skin, and what percent is fat. Same for feet, thighs, wings etc. I am not one of those people, and I haven't found it to be worth stressing over. For one week, my 8 lb female cat eats 2.24lbs of food total, so 10% of that is 0.24 lb. I throw in necks (she prefers necks) until I am at (maybe a little over) 0.24 lb. That works for her. She has great poop

, is never constipated and never has loose stool. Her brother has IBD, and doesn't process bone as well as a normal healthy cat, therefore he gets 5% bone in the form of chicken feet (he likes feet better). He's supposed to get 0.14 lb bone a week, which is about 2 medium sized feet. Again, if it goes a little over to say, 0.15 or 0.16, I don't sweat it. He also gets ground eggshell as a supplement just to ensure that he's getting a proper amount of calcium. His poops are typically well formed too, sometimes he has a loose stool, but again, he has IBD, and those loose stools also coincide with organ heavy meals. The only other supplement I do is fish oil for both.

When you're starting out if you do it right, you're probably going to have to spend some time observing and making adjustments. Some cats get constipated on 10% bone. Some vomit whenever they get organ meat from a certain animal. My guys are pretty easy, even my IBD kitty now that I've figured him out. So, the lesson here is -- not sure if you're feeding enough bone or too much? Watch the poop!

zoop · Aug 8, 2016

chevs said:
@ Zoop,

Yes, I just count the feet and necks completely as bone. I know some people obsess over trying to calculate what percent of a chicken neck is bone, and what percent is skin, and what percent is fat. Same for feet, thighs, wings etc. I am not one of those people, and I haven't found it to be worth stressing over. For one week, my 8 lb female cat eats 2.24lbs of food total, so 10% of that is 0.24 lb. I throw in necks (she prefers necks) until I am at (maybe a little over) 0.24 lb. That works for her. She has great poop

, is never constipated and never has loose stool. Her brother has IBD, and doesn't process bone as well as a normal healthy cat, therefore he gets 5% bone in the form of chicken feet (he likes feet better). He's supposed to get 0.14 lb bone a week, which is about 2 medium sized feet. Again, if it goes a little over to say, 0.15 or 0.16, I don't sweat it. He also gets ground eggshell as a supplement just to ensure that he's getting a proper amount of calcium. His poops are typically well formed too, sometimes he has a loose stool, but again, he has IBD, and those loose stools also coincide with organ heavy meals. The only other supplement I do is fish oil for both.

When you're starting out if you do it right, you're probably going to have to spend some time observing and making adjustments. Some cats get constipated on 10% bone. Some vomit whenever they get organ meat from a certain animal. My guys are pretty easy, even my IBD kitty now that I've figured him out. So, the lesson here is -- not sure if you're feeding enough bone or too much? Watch the poop!

Tried Chicken Feet for Bone, they did eat some (small fingers) but it is impossible for my 12 week kittens to tear through them. Will try a hammer to smash the bones tonight.

What raw food should my 12 weeks old kitten eat?

the catsage

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the catsage

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