Feeding prey - Questions

[russiankitten]

Amadeus, Symphony and Nefertiti get roughly 2 rats and a mouse on different days through the week.

I am wondering if I feed them liver it would be too much liver?

Also should I cut organs out altogether? What is a good organ/prey balance?

I like the idea of giving them a fish once a week too a sprat or a sardene is this giving a whole fish good for a cat?

Thanks x ^_^

 

[chris10]

Is the two rats and a mouse total for the week or the amount they eat on one of the days?

I would think if they received 3 days of prey then they may be receiving enough of their organ requirement. But I haven't figured it out that way so not sure. Usually raw people try to have organs consist of 10% of the total diet. Of that 10%, half should be liver.

There is a thread, down a little bit, about liver. Its shows that you would have to go out of your way to kill a cat on liver. Some conventional veterinary websites state toxic doses must be feed for months, and sometimes years, before any problems.

Whole sardines or sprats once a week IMO is fine. They are lower on the food chain so not many heavy metals. Some people don't feed fish because of the possibility of parasites. Mine eat sardines once a week and they don't complain.

 

[sharky]

my vet has a sign A Sardine a DAY keeps the Veternarian away

 

[amberthe bobcat]

What else during the week are you feeding them? If they are eating whole prey every day, such as the whole mice and rat, there is really no need to give them additional organ meat. However, giving them liver as a treat is ok, but it is not needed every day. I would also limit the amount of fish you give. If it is a treat once in a while, that is fine, but it should not be given as their main diet.

 

[russiankitten]

Im planning on giving the sardene once a week as a treat (and no more fish). They get their 2 rats and a mouse on seperate days. They also get chicken legs/thighs. Rabbit ribs. Lambs liver (once). Kidney (twice). In the week.

I think we are slowly getting sorted in a hazey sort of way

Oh and they some times get heart (but it's only Amadeus who show interest in that).

 

[auntie crazy]

It sounds like your cats are on a totally raw diet and some of that diet consists of whole prey, so you're wanting to know how much liver to feed otherwise...

In that scenario, calculate the total ounces of food fed in a week, NOT including the whole prey ('cause it's already balanced). Then multiply that amount by 5%; the result is the number of ounces of liver to feed each week to maintain a 5% liver balance.

 

[sharky]

I was given a similar formula but 5% is way easier to figure than gram wt