Quetions for those Feeding RAW Diets

I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability

Do you feel feeding raw results in a healthier cat, actually saving you money on vet treatments and giving a healthier experience for your cat?
Most definatley this one is a YES!

Do you feed raw every meal?
Yes. (unless I forget to defrost in which case they get a meal of wet food.)

Do you supplement dry food?
I don't feed any dry food.

Do you buy or make your own?
I buy a pre-made. The same one Renny has already mentioned infact. I've been really happy with it.

Do you use one meat primarily? Or do you do different types like rabbit, duck, etc?
(I know this question was for those who make their own, but I can answer it too) I feed primarily beef, with a rotation of chicken, duck, rabbit, quail, turkey, and very occasionally goat.

Supplements. Have you found ONE single supplement that contains everything else needed to add to the meat? (I would think this would be a very helpful product for people making their own cat food.)
There are a few "complete suppliments" on the market, but it's a matter of opinion wether many of them are any good. Discuss it with your vet if they're helpful, otherwise do lots of research and talk to LOTS of other raw feeders to see what works and what doesnt.

I just looked at healthypaws and they are in Canada. I can't easily locate a retailer but am writing to them now. I'll post what I find about getting this product in the US.

I just came home from the pet store with free samples of raw (prepackaged Healthy Paws Turkey and Paws & Claws Chicken), he also gave me 'nutritional yeast' which is supposed to make it more appetising to them, so will try and answer some of your questions soon depending on how it goes.

In the mean time, hope you don't mind me occasionally chiming in on your thread with some questions of my own?

Originally Posted by Renny

$85...wow. I was looking into it and came to about $50-$60 a month for my two adults. That depends on how often i get them the more expensive meats like rabbit or quail. Healthypaws also offered the minced meat and vegetable components seperately...

Click to expand...

We worked it out with my local store and we are looking at $100-120 for 4 adults so about the same prices as Renny, and that is Canadian dollars. If we buy the separate packs, it would work out a little cheaper as they are sold in bigger quantities, so $85 for 20 days with two cats is definitely on the expensive side. The rep from healthy paws is very helpful, and I have a number for her if you would like to call and speak to someone directly.

Hey icklemiss it looks like a few of us are thinking along the same lines--that's great~

That's wonderful they gave you SAMPLES. Please let us know how the feeding goes??!!!

icklemiss have you noticed any other raw food companies in Canada? Healthypaws and felinefutures is the only one I have found. I was looking into felinefuture as I've some connections with farms and some good prices on bulk meats, but i would still have to calculate it out.

Healthypaws was very quick to answer my questions about vegetable/fruit matter content and I was satisfied with their response. I look forward to getting mine started on it. It will have to wait till my foster numbers are down and Albert (foster) gets adopted as he will eat nothing but dry food.

Let me know how it goes with yours?? I found disguising it in fancy feast to start a good trick. Or I've been told if you are having trouble getting them on it, try the mince product (no vegetable matter) for a few days and then wean in the regular raw.

He gave me a sample of paws and claws pet panty food also (www.freshpetfood.ca) they have both 519 and 905 numbers so I assume they are more my way than yours, it looks like Toronto is as close as it gets to you, but if a store near you (Julia may be able to help) called you might be able to get it in. It is a little more economical than the healthy paws as it comes in bigger packs and isn't separated into patties.

There are lots of others that cater more to dogs but you can buy the meat and veggie packs from them and make your own:
www.mountaindogfood.com
www.urbanwolf.ca

As for mine eating raw, tonight didn't go so well, only Boomer would eat a little, and he more licked at it than anything else, but it is still early days and we have a few more samples to try. I will try mixing with fancy feast tomorrow, although I tried Turkey today which they have never been overly fond of even in canned

Just a note of caution, our little kitten was raise by the breeder on raw food, he took ill , with a problem he was born with and all 6 vets! Said never feed RAW ! We also had a problem with parasites because of the raw feeding ! So be carefull! best of luck Sandra

Originally Posted by Mastercolorist

Just a note of caution, our little kitten was raise by the breeder on raw food, he took ill , with a problem he was born with and all 6 vets! Said never feed RAW ! We also had a problem with parasites because of the raw feeding ! So be carefull! best of luck Sandra

Click to expand...

so sorry about your kitty... And yes you need to be careful when feeding raw and much of the parisitic issues are removed when it is frozen... Vets usually are not very knowledgeable about feeding in general let alone raw...

My vet recommends it, but she also recommended starting by using a prepared raw diet rather than trying it yourself to begin with, the place where they sell raw food here also has a holistic vet come in to do information sessions on the raw food before people buy it.

At the moment mine is only going to be a supplement to their Evo rather than the main food.

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

My vet recommends it, but she also recommended starting by using a prepared raw diet rather than trying it yourself to begin with, the place where they sell raw food here also has a holistic vet come in to do information sessions on the raw food before people buy it.

At the moment mine is only going to be a supplement to their Evo rather than the main food.

Click to expand...

I started that way too... I too am lucky enough to have a vet who recommends raw ... Most arent as lucky as us

I guess that seems to be the way to go--don't try to switch them cold turkey, so to speak. Maybe a meal a day unless they really love it.

I don't know, take a look at my first link at the beginning of this thread, the recipes for cooking your own. No cooking involved but it is sort of like prep, or a salad of sorts....I'm not intimidated by it and as long as the homemade has all the right stuff in it...

I guess the vet's are just afraid we'll leave some crucial element out, I can understand that. I'm not so worried about parasites, not yet. The woman convinced me that felines are going to have more of a resistance to this by their nature. And, also consider that most dry food is laden with potentially harmful bacteria and other stuff.

In fact, I just read to NEVER moisten dry food then leave it there for food for your cats. The water just makes the bacteria (or mold, I can't remember) grow and multiply and become dangerous. Ick. No wonder kittens get sick bellies.

Hey Icklemiss that's great that you got some samples!! With enough persistance you might be able to win your crew over I have many customers that feed raw/EVO and are very happy.

A note to both you and Renny, Healthy Paws sells economy and variety packs, which are 4 lbs instead of the standard 1lb package. It works out to be a little cheaper if you are looking for that (who isn't!). The economy pack is 2lbs Beef and 2lbs Chicken (still in patties) and the Variety pack is Turkey, Duck, Rabbit and Goat, 1lb of each (in patties).

Vic, I doubt Healthy Paws will be available at all in the US. It's really limited to only southern Ontario right now, but who knows what they may work out for you!

Renny, if you weren't completley satisfied with Healthy Paws, we do have 3 other freezers of raw at my store Amore (although let me talk to you about that one... we don't sell a lot of it, and it's got to be shipped in from BC! So it's pricier than HP) and Pets4Life are the two others that make feline raw. Mine hated Pets4Life, but you know how cats are, yours may love it. I think their veggie ratio is higher than HP though... I can't recall off the top of my head. Next time you pay me a visit we can discuss it

He has the variety packs of patties too, but the paws and claws still works out cheaper (probably just the work that goes into making patties - its not that different in price)

For 3 cats raw olone costs me about $22-25 a week. I get the chicken with bone for $3.20/pound and it is organic. I used to feed free range chicken which was $2.80/pound but they discontinued that line. My 3 cats would eat just over a pound a day. Now I mix in a can of salmon which costs $1.30 (large can) and it lasts about 1.5-2 days and really makes it even cheaper. Of course this is only an estimate because Meeka is eating for 5 and we can barely put down food before she has eaten it all! I use NuDimensions but they only service a few southern states.

I use skillet steak for the beef. I am so thrilled when I see them gnawing away at it.

The bag was actually marked sample by HealthyPaws, so I would imagine most stores could get some samples to give you, it has three of the little patties in it. The ones he did not have samples of he gave me a good price on so I can see what they do and do not like

It looks like Paws and Claws isn't available anywhere around here to try out. The nearest store seems to be Toronto. I got a sample of the chicken and the rabbit from Healthy Paws to try out. I did try the chicken and Rambo dove right into it (which he does with all food), Lucky looked at it, looked at me, and turned her nose up and walked away. I'll have to work on her! I'm going to hang on to start in September when things calm down a little and I don't have the fosters running around.

I might also try out some of the stuff from felinefuture and cost out making it myself with that stuff.

Julia...I'll be in to chat with you some more about RAW soon.

Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

For 3 cats raw olone costs me about $22-25 a week. I get the chicken with bone for $3.20/pound and it is organic. I used to feed free range chicken which was $2.80/pound but they discontinued that line. My 3 cats would eat just over a pound a day. Now I mix in a can of salmon which costs $1.30 (large can) and it lasts about 1.5-2 days and really makes it even cheaper. Of course this is only an estimate because Meeka is eating for 5 and we can barely put down food before she has eaten it all! I use NuDimensions but they only service a few southern states.

I use skillet steak for the beef. I am so thrilled when I see them gnawing away at it.

Click to expand...

Great idea to mix salmon--also to use skillet beef (can you say a bit more about what that is? Steak you cook on the stove top?). You're feeding three cats (one pregnant) so your price should compare with mine.

I don't know I am inclined to make my own, still. The recipes factor everything in, so I should be okay.

Not getting a litter of new foster kittens in this weekend (we have a new foster volunteer who will pick them all up--yay) so I may be able to get something done on this this week....

I think the skillet beef is just the type of cut (about the size of a filet). I actually don't know anything about beef as the only thing I buy is hamburger. I saw these cuts in the store though, they looked perfect for making country fried beef. They were also on sale so I got some. I found the texture they used on the beef and the thickness was perfect for cutting into chunks and they loved it. I've gotten stew beef before and I think the chunks were too big. I think any kind of beef would do I just found some that was easy for me to cut adn not that expensive.

Also remember the butcher might have the best prices if you are going to make it yourself. Check with your local butcher before you buy a grinder too, they have commercial grinders on site that are perfectly capable of grinding the bone. You might have to explain why you want the bone ground in but they might do it for you and save you a lot of work!

The paws and claws was a hit with two out of four without even being mixed, surprisingly one of the two is Bumper... so just to watch out for pukey tonight to see how his stomach manages with it