Am I over supplementing my kitten?

Hello Cat Friends,

I’ve been a cat owner for 3 months and Bonnie, my 6-month-old kitten, is my world, but I’m worried that I might be overdoing it in an effort to do best by her.  

I’m feeding her a commercial raw diet from the folks at Bold Raw https://boldraw.com/, a small Canadian outfit. I’ve tried Carnivora, but they use the same formula for cats and dogs, which concerns me since cats need taurine. And I’ve tried Healthy Paws, which also uses the same formula for cats and dogs and includes vegetables, which cats can’t digest. So I’ve chosen Bold Raw because they offer separate cat recipes.  That being said, there is no nutritional information provided, it’s not AAFCO approved and doesn’t give a breakdown of vitamins. The company has great customer service and they have responded to my emails assuring me it’s a complete and balanced diet, but being the helicopter pet parent that I am, I also give Bonnie a multi-vitamins for cats https://www.lickspillfree.com/product/cat-multi-vitamin-feeding-aid/, plus a probiotic https://www.proplanveterinarydiets.com/products/fortiflora-cat/, plus Healthy Mouth https://www.healthymouth.com/ for plaque and tartar control (I also try brushing her teeth with moderate success).

Do you think that I could be harming Bonnie with too many supplements?

In other news, I'm hoping to get her a little brother this weekend. I’ve read the books on kitty intros and have fingers crossed it goes smoothly. 

EndFragment

There are a lot of different cat food products on the Bold Raw website  It is disappointing not to see an ingredients list.  Are the ingredients listed on the product packaging?

If you are buying one of the products with tripe, then you probably don't need a probiotic.  Tripe is the grass/cud in the cow's stomach, plus the stomach muscle itself.  That partially-digested cud works as a probiotic, though I'm not sure about giving too much to cats.  If you are using a product without the tripe, then I think the probiotic is ok.  I'm not giving my kitten a probiotic, but so far she seems to have a cast iron stomach with different proteins, so I don't think it's necessary.

A daily multi-vitamin may be too much supplement.  I probably would stop.  Looks like it has a lot of Vitamins A and D, which are cumulative in the system and an overload could be toxic.  The Bold Raw should have some liver, which provides those vitamins.  It's hard to tell if your cat needs any extra supplements if you can't get the exact ingredients in the Bold Raw.

I also don't see ingredients on the dental rinse you are using.  I expect the active ingredient is a chemical like chlorhexadine.  I wouldn't give it to a kitten or cat who has healthy teeth.  Your cat's mouth will naturally be healthier on a raw diet than on any processed dry or canned "cat food".  If Bonnie has a genetic predisposition to having a bad mouth, then it will turn up no matter what you feed.  I'd wait until there are dental problems.  Your vet should be able to catch any problems at an early stage.

Brushing is great if you can do it.  My little one is having none of that!

Honestly, I can understand the Bold Raw may want to keep their recipe proprietary, but if they don't list the ingredients on the package and won't tell you what's in the food, I would move to a food that you know what you're feeding.

One more thought: If I were going to buy any supplement to add to a completely balanced pre-packaged raw diet, it would be 100% Taurine powder.  Taurine is absolutely mandatory for cats, and it is water based so very little chance of overdosing.  The Bold Raw should have an overabundance of added Taurine already, but if you don't know, I would sprinkle a little extra on the food.

One other thing you could add to any diet would be to sprinkle some KMR (any brand except Hartz) on Bonnie's food.

The extra nutrients in KMR are ideal for kitten growth and development.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you very much for your responses. I really appreciate it. 

Orange&White, thanks for the tripe idea, I will see if Bonnie likes that. I've stopped giving her the multi-vitamin and since you asked about the ingredients in Healthy Mouth here's a photo of the ingredient list. 

There are no chemicals like chlorhexadine, it's free of synthetic ingredients, and uses chlorophyll to disinfect the mouth. Bonnie seems to enjoy the taste. I add it to her raw meat to make a gravy, and she laps it all up before getting to the meat. 

Feel free to let me know if you think there are things in here that may not be good for Bonnie. I can always return the bottle. 

​No chemicals.  All recognizable ingredients, but I'm not confident that all the ingredients are safe for daily extended use.  I'm overly analytical though, and would probably research every ingredient, i.e. "Is ___________ safe for cats", where the blank is each ingredient.

Since the main ingredient is water, it is probably 90% or more water, the glycerin is vegetable-based and used to keep the oil/water ingredients from separating, and there is a minimal amount of any of the other ingredients, so I'd tentatively say that it's "probably ok".

Google seems to think that these ingredients are harmless, but there aren't a lot of studies on these ingredients and cats. I'm a bit wary since we know that vet approved doesn't always mean best for our cats. Uggg.... still not sure.

While you're doing that....

You got me more curious about feeding green tripe to cats.  I found this thread:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/254408/green-tripe

I may order some green tripe soon to add to my cats' food mix.  Looks like most cats go crazy for the taste.  I'm afraid though that if I start them on it and the run out, they might go off their food, so I'll have to think about it.

I'm going to also try green tripe, for my cat, not me. I'm definitely not going to try green tripe myself. Eww. 

I've ordered once or twice in the past for my dogs, but I consider it an "optional" ingredient, not a necessary nutrient.  My dogs seemed to like it, but not any more or less than other foods.  It never really occurred to me to give any to the cats.  Sure is stinky stuff!