can I raw feed my cat beef as the main protein

[hersheys mom]

My ex-feral, Hershey Rose, eats Dr. Pierson's raw diet. I add pork as the second protein because she won't eat lamb or beef. I had no problem getting her on raw, she was trapped and fed Wellness and Inova and 2 months later I got her, and with the help of everyone here, started her on raw. She loved it.

My other cat, Minja, eats junk food. Friskies, Whiskas, Meow Mix, etc. After several months, I have been able to get her to eat half junk food and half of the better food, Merrick, Inova, etc., my mixing it in with the junk. I tried to give her Dr. Pierson's raw but she ran the other way. One night I was eating a steak, rare, and she came over and showed a major interest in the meat. So I cut her a small piece from the middle where it was soft and the rarest, and she gobbled it down. So I gave her some more, and she gobbled that too. Yesterday, I went to the store with my mom (her car is broken so I took her grocery shopping). She bought some 80/20 chopped meat. She gave me about a tablespoon so I could see if Minja would eat it. I took it home and put it in front of her. Hershey Rose came in immediately as she can smell food a block away, but turned up her nose at the raw beef. Minja, on the other hand, inhaled it. I have tried giving her raw steak, raw chicken, and raw pork. I have even partially cooked Dr. Pierson's recipe to see her reaction. No interest in anything raw until the beef.

So here is my question. While it is not natural for a cat in the wild to take down and eat a cow, is beef a suitable substitute for chicken in Dr. Pierson's recipe? I would keep all the other ingredients the same, adding chicken gizzard and chicken liver (unless beef liver is okay as a substitute).  I would use chicken or pork as the second protein as she also turned her nose up at lamb. Has anyone tried this? Laurie, Bast's Friend, do you have any suggestions? I have tried giving her chicken liver but it was a no go. I really would love to get her off canned food. She won't eat RAD either, which I give to Hershey Rose as a treat every few weeks. Thanks ladies,

Lei-Ann

 

[vball91]

There's no reason why you can't use beef. Beef liver is fine too. I would only make small batch at first because there's no guarantee that Minja will like the ground raw recipe. She may just like the pure beef like my cat. If that's the case, you may want to go frankenprey with Minja.

 

[peaches08]

I use Dr. Pierson's recipe but recently added beef and chicken gizzards to it. They love it!

I had similar hesitation about adding beef for the same reason you mentioned. After some thought, I came to the conclusion that any raw that I feed them beats what I can buy in a can. After that I quit worrying about it.

 

[Willowy]

Apparently, beef liver is super high in copper, so you want to be cautious. Maybe half chicken liver and half beef liver, if she doesn't like the batch with all chicken liver?

Also, there's no real reason to put gizzards in a ground recipe, unless you're trying to boost the chondroitin level for an arthritic cat. Gizzards aren't particularly nutritious (not like liver or kidney) and their main benefit is that they're chewy and a little gritty, so they may have some dental benefits. But of course if they're ground that wouldn't matter.

 

[ldg]

to all of the above! I see no reason not to do it - though I would make a small batch, to make sure she likes it, especially since Hershey Rose doesn't.

And if Minja does... then you can try adding a little bit of the chicken you make for Hershey Rose into Minja's beef... (and vice versa), to see if you can't get them both eating a wider variety of things.

 

[ritz]

You might also try another red meat, such as venison or goat.