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raw feeding and $$$ question

post #1 of 10
10/19/05 at 10:26am
Thread Starter 
i feed my two enormous dogs raw for very little money... this is because very little of the meat that they eat is meat that would be sold for human consumption. not that i feed them meat that is below human standards for quality, but the parts of animals that i feed them are parts that people rarely eat... chicken backs, turkey necks, raw tripe etc. the cats are a little bit more of a problem because all of the info that i can find regarding making raw catfood calls for cuts of meat that are sold to humans. i can get organic chicken backs for about a dollar a pound, organic chicken thighs (the meat that i see called for very often in raw recipes) for three something a pound. big difference!

does anyone make their own raw catfood using "alternative" meat sources, that is, cuts of meat that are not sold for human consumption. aside from the obvious chicken necks?


also, can cats eat tripe? one of my cats always tries to steal a bite when i feed this to the dogs, but i cant find any info about whether or not this is bad for him.
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post #2 of 10
10/19/05 at 1:27pm
No ... My girls all get human grade and usually natural/ organic... I am getting some at the small natural grocery here for less than the supermarket ... all organic... I am finding the more "human food they eat the less my bill...I guess liver and heart( havent tried just bought) would not be human

Yes cats can eat tripe...
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post #3 of 10
10/19/05 at 1:54pm
Luci adores fresh liver, and sometimes bits of cooked fish or beef, but generally won't touch raw animal meat. I don't think any of my cats ever did, actually... I hear it's healthier though. And, yes, the people I've talked to who did it before used parts like tripe and necks and whatnot.

Mind you, there should probably be more replies from better-educated people on the subject before you decide. o.O
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post #4 of 10
10/22/05 at 12:43pm
I buy whole chickens and feed the cats both the bones and the meat of it. I feed a lot of heart (from various animals). I also buy "byproducts" (in Sweden that means human grade meat such as lungs, machine deboned meat, fat... less appealing food for people but nothing wrong with it).
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post #5 of 10
10/22/05 at 12:50pm
Thread Starter 
thanks for the replies.

sharky, mine get human grade and organic, too... one of the reasons that i chose to go raw is because i am very much against factory farming. i meant that i was looking for information about feeding alternative cuts of human grade meats... like chicken backs from organically farmed birds. usually all of the recipes that i see call for thighs or other parts that are sold for people to eat.

sol, what do you think about something like a ground chicken back? if one was to figure out the proper amount of meat to bone then it seems to me that chicken backs and some muscle meat could be used in place of chicken thighs in a raw catfood recipe. i've got organic chicken backs coming out my ears right now, haha hah... just picked up a case of them for the dogs. i
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post #6 of 10
10/22/05 at 1:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Avocado
does anyone make their own raw catfood using "alternative" meat sources, that is, cuts of meat that are not sold for human consumption. aside from the obvious chicken necks?


also, can cats eat tripe? one of my cats always tries to steal a bite when i feed this to the dogs, but i cant find any info about whether or not this is bad for him.
I don't feed raw, but an excellent site on this is www.catinfo.org
But I can answer re tripe. Cats love raw green tripe - you can find it canned or by Dr. Harveys freeze-dried as a treat - my guys love it.
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post #7 of 10
10/22/05 at 3:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat & Alix
I don't feed raw, but an excellent site on this is www.catinfo.org
But I can answer re tripe. Cats love raw green tripe - you can find it canned or by Dr. Harveys freeze-dried as a treat - my guys love it.

oooh, thank you. good to know about the tripe, i feed it to my dogs a couple of times a week. the kind i buy is frozen in rolls, its really pretty gross .
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post #8 of 10
10/22/05 at 3:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Avocado
oooh, thank you. good to know about the tripe, i feed it to my dogs a couple of times a week. the kind i buy is frozen in rolls, its really pretty gross .
Trust me the freeze-dried I have for cats smells DISGUSTING and I warn anyone who tries it...but boy, the cats love it
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post #9 of 10
10/23/05 at 7:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Avocado
thanks for the replies.

sharky, mine get human grade and organic, too... one of the reasons that i chose to go raw is because i am very much against factory farming. i meant that i was looking for information about feeding alternative cuts of human grade meats... like chicken backs from organically farmed birds. usually all of the recipes that i see call for thighs or other parts that are sold for people to eat.

sol, what do you think about something like a ground chicken back? if one was to figure out the proper amount of meat to bone then it seems to me that chicken backs and some muscle meat could be used in place of chicken thighs in a raw catfood recipe. i've got organic chicken backs coming out my ears right now, haha hah... just picked up a case of them for the dogs. i
Ground chicken backs is great Dr. Billinghurst recommends 2 parts meat and 1 part bone for cats. I add more meat than that. A whole chicken (just the meat and bones) is made up of about 27% bones and the rest is meat... pretty much in line with Billinghurst's recommendations. I think that's to much bone, I'm more for the "prey model" which so I fed maybe... 10% of bones and it works for my cats.
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post #10 of 10
10/23/05 at 11:36am
My cats eat chicken gizzards purchased from the grocery store, not as an exclusive diet but a couple of meals a week. They are extremely inexpensive.

Cats can eat tripe, and it is very good for them!
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