Quetions for those Feeding RAW Diets

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

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

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Yay! *fingers crossed*

Pukey is being well pukey, but I can't tell if it is his attention pukes or not liking it / agreeing wit him pukes... he seems to be better after a few hugs so fingers crossed ~silly Bump Bump~

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

Pukey is being well pukey, but I can't tell if it is his attention pukes or not liking it / agreeing wit him pukes... he seems to be better after a few hugs so fingers crossed ~silly Bump Bump~

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Can he handle yogurt at all? Plain yogurt may help to settle his tummy if the raw is not agreeing with him... but I can't remember if you've said that's something he also can't tolerate If he can, try a little dollop on the next meal to see if it helps! Poor Bumper!

No that he will puke, he is not good with anything dairy and thankfully he isn't a big fan so doesn't bug for it, i will try that with the others... so far Boomer ate a little, Scully ate both his and Magnum's share and Bumps ate about half of his... Bumps has stopped puking since snuggling so I think he is just scared by the visitors being noisy and thats upsetting him.

Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

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!

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That was my original plan, SolarityBengals. I'm going to use one of these recipes, probably the chicken one to start since they both love the *cooked* chicken so much... http://www.catnutrition.org/recipes.html

It really does look doable to me. But I am definitely going to have to rely on my butcher's help for awhile. If I find someone willing to do this for me I may never bother doing it myself with my own grinder. It seems like yet another cleaning up step anyway, so for now...

I'm going to try and do it this way. I just wish I didn't have a very sick little kitten right now or I would get started on this project. He's lost 6 oz in twelve days. Needs constant attention, poor thing...

What flavours do your kitties prefer?

I tried Turkey last night with little luck, but with chicken (it was also the intro food - finicky feline) I had a lot more luck, so I was just wondering if anyone else had more luck with one than the other

Icklemiss...what a postive sign that everyone was at least willing to try and eat it!

Too bad paws and claws isn't available up here....I would rather not drive an hour and half to pick up their food. (hint hint Julia! LOL)

I don't think we can get Paws and Claws... I looked into it as an alternative to Healthy Paws when I'm back home visiting my parents, but I don't think they distribute out here. I can certainly look into it though

Sounds good to me. I'll be in soon to get some more raw, I'm ready to get these guys on it (even if i have to keep some dry food out for Albert).

So get this. Today I am nursing Boo, still. They are putting him on Flagyl now, trying that.

In the meantime he is following me around. So I'm in the kitchen washing a just-defrosted rock cornish game hen in the sink, oven preheating. I'm making it for treat food.

Boo starts crying and making a fuss; he is on the island. Weight: two pounds. I toss some hen fat into the trash and he almost jumps down in after it. It would've been a long way down. I just changed the bags.

I manage to get the trash away from him but then he was just going nuts.

His ears are even back a little.

The hen is still raw, but I slice a 'V" into the breast meat and cut that in half, making two very small pieces of raw meat. Tee hee...

Well, the little guy almost bit into my fingers trying to get at it and he ate it right up!!

He is currently trying to open the oven door, begging, and making a big fuss.

I'm half tempted to just cut the raw hen up and feed it to him now.

And he just made it into the trash.

Fortunately I heard it, and retrieved him before he could snarf the piece of chicken fat in there.

(Taking that outside now...)

I would have to say raw feeding is not going to be a problem for him, as far as him liking it...

Kittens take to it so easily. Fat is especially loved by cats. I have actually had to put a 10lb weight in the bottom of the trash so they don't tip the trash can over. We've had so many instances of coming down the stairs from getting up in the monring to find the trash strewn over the floor. Without tipping the can over they can't get in it so well.

That's wonderful that your kitten is so interested. I just picked up some healthypaws mince and premade to get mine started on this for the next little while. Rambo seems to be struggling with his immune system so I would love to get him onto this.

mine were not interested at all tonight, just walked away exact same food as last night

I am reminded that my kittens were / are feral. I'm wondering if maybe the momma was eating mice and stuff so they are familiar with raw meat. Then again, maybe it's just they are very young and new, as suggested.

I keep getting nipped by Boo as I'm dropping cooked chicken chunks for him. He turns into a demon kitten, growling while eating.

Just a quick question - I am debating giving my cats some raw meat once a month, as Ginger adores it (despite having no teeth). I actually went wandering round the meat aisle of the supermarket today (never do that, being a vegi), and was puzzled by the choice. Am I right in thinking I can't give them raw pork?? And what about chicken and turkey?? Plus, they had things like liver, heart and kidneys from various animals - I know they can't have too much liver, but what about the others? And which animals should I go for - think my choices were ox, lamb and poss pig. I ended up going for minced beef, as I was utterly confused!!

Originally Posted by booktigger

Just a quick question - I am debating giving my cats some raw meat once a month, as Ginger adores it (despite having no teeth). I actually went wandering round the meat aisle of the supermarket today (never do that, being a vegi), and was puzzled by the choice. Am I right in thinking I can't give them raw pork?? And what about chicken and turkey?? Plus, they had things like liver, heart and kidneys from various animals - I know they can't have too much liver, but what about the others? And which animals should I go for - think my choices were ox, lamb and poss pig. I ended up going for minced beef, as I was utterly confused!!

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About pork... that depends on the circumstances. If you were in Sweden I'd have no problems recommending pork (I feed my cats a lot of pork). We don't have Pseudorabies in Sweden (I understand many American states are free from it too, but I don't know how it is in other countries) and all meat is tested fro Trichinella here so pork is no worry in Sweden. In other countries... I don't know.

The same goes for chicken and salmonella. In Sweden all poultry is thoroughly checked for Salmonella before it leaves the slaughter house so I have no problems recommending Swedish chicken, but then again... I have no idea how it is in other countries.

You can feed liver, heart, kidney and all kinds of stuff as long as it is human quality and in small amounts (if you only feed raw once a month you don't have tp worry about the amount you feed).

I'd recommend pieces of whole meat instead of minced meat since minced meat is more susceptible for bacterial overgrowth. Whole pieces of meat are also better for the cats teeth.

Cheers. I would have preferred to give them 'proper' meat, but I honestly got confused with the selection, as I never go to the meat selection, I had no idea how many types of beef there was, and didn't know if they were all fine for the cats - mind you, the mince confused me too,didn't know you got so many different types of that too. Am defo getting human grade quality, unless UK supermarkets have started selling it at a lower grade!! I have had pet mince for them before, but it was awful, had lots of yucky bits in it. Well, I will look at the chunks of heart, liver or kidney for them next. I dont need to worry about the meat being good for Gingers teeth, as he has none - yet he enjoys it more than the others!!

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

mine were not interested at all tonight, just walked away

exact same food as last night

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Don't give up!..I got the same reaction from Lucky (she ate the fancy feast i put on top to disguise the raw...but no raw). Rambo has been trying it pretty regularly so I'm optimistic for him.

Boomer ate some (including fancy feast) on Saturday and has spent the rest of the weekend in the litter box with a bad case of the poopies and my BF is convinced that (the tiny little bit they were given ) is responsible for their sudden fighting which left Magnum with a nasty gash under his front leg, so not sure how it is going for now