Raw Feeding Chronicles....

[coaster]

If you find frozen rabbit meat at your grocery store, be sure to check where it comes from. I bought a package in a store last winter, got it home, looked closely at the label, and saw "Made in China."

After being unable to get any definite assurances that it was safe to feed raw to cats, I ended up throwing it out.

 

[monaxlisa]

Hey all,
Well Ive started one of my cats on raw, making it myself and Im keeping track of every thing on a page Ive made just for this. So far its going very well but he eats birds and bats and stuff so I didnt think it would be too much of a problem to get him to eat it.
http://goodmedicineway.com/Cats/CatFood.htm
Just thought Id post the link just in case anyone wants to see how its going if theyre thinking about switching.

 

[coaster]

Interesting web page you have there.

I put my raw mix in glass Mason jars and freeze. Then take them out a day ahead to unthaw, and about half an hour before mealtime I put the jar (with lid still closed) in a bowl of hot water to warm up the meat.

Why is it that everyone else can easily get chicken hearts and here when I ask for them they just shake their heads?

 

[monaxlisa]

I thought about using the glass jars and I might as soon as I get tired of making the little patties but my cat only eats about a teaspoon or two of food at a time (he does that with dry food too, ahh!) so I thought a jar full in the fridge might last a little too long.
Im not sure if everyone still keeps up on this thread and I did read the entire thing a while back, it seems that most people feed around 4-6 ounces a day? Im trying to figure out how much my cats might go through if I switched all to raw, if anyone wants to share about how much they go through a month that would be great! My fellows are all over 15lbs except for the little one so Im thinking between the six of them they could probably go through a small chicken a day (way too expensive) but Im kinda hoping that maybe Im over estimating their food intake.
As for chicken hearts, the only thing I can think of is local butchers or local poultry farms but I know thats been mentioned already.

 

[sharky]

www.barfdirect.com has a great calculator for how much the ave cat for that wt would eat daily weekly

 

[monaxlisa]

Oh thanks, Ive been using a different calculator but I like the barfdirect one better, thanks!
Gosh, I'd be going through close to 100lbs of meat a month if I fed all the cats raw! Maybe I'll start buying lotto tickets.

 

[catsarebetter]

I've found that feeding them homemade raw is actually cheaper for us than feeding them commercially. That being said, we're talking wet cat food that isn't the bottom of the barrel, or, when they were on dry, Evo, which is $45 for a 15 pound bag...


What I did with my measuring of the raw is .. I took and started out with a little too much. Whatever they didn't eat, I reduced the amount by about that much, and if they snarfed it all up in one sitting and didn't leave a piece of meat on the plate, I added a teeny bit more every meal until one or two pieces was left on the plate.

Out of my cats, I feed just a little over three pounds in a day. Khan eats a pound all by himself. Joyeux, Pogue, Noel and Bagheera all share the other two pounds, and I'd say that Pogue eats about a 1/3 more than the other ones.

I've found, though, that they really seem to adjust themselves to the diet and how much they need. Noel is losing weight (she was overweight). Bagheera got rid of her tiny pot belly. Khan finally put on some weight and is at a perfect weight now. And.. well, Joyeux and Pogue are at good weights too. I have not had to "regulate" them other than trying to fit what they needed/wanted to eat as far as amount goes.

I figured I'm buying aboug 90 pounds of raw a month. We've been able to find hearts and gizzards and livers at the grocery stores. Safeway carries them. Whole Foods and Wegmans both have "free range" or "organic" hearts, gizzards and livers. Safeways aren't but.. they're also a little less expensive.

Thus far we've invested in a chest style freezer, which we will put to good use when we find a fantabulous sale on chicken (well, technically we're already using it a lot). I'll be buying chicken on sale and freezing it so that we can buy in bulk. The freezer was about $170 and light enough we could move it ourselves (and we're not in the best of shape).

Now, today, I just ordered the Tasin TS 108. This will also save us money in the long run and I'm a lot happier about their dietary needs being met when I start grinding bone. With the chunking wheel/blade, it was $205 or some such, plus about $8 for shipping the blade (shipping on the grinder was free).

 

[coaster]

I'm afraid I can't tell you guys how much raw I feed. I put an amount in the bowl that seems to be just enough to maintain their weight. I weigh them every week. I've noticed, and other people have said, that with raw, you don't need to feed quite as much.

 

[catsarebetter]

My grinder should be here today!!!!

 

[rone]

Originally Posted by MonaxLisa

I thought about using the glass jars and I might as soon as I get tired of making the little patties but my cat only eats about a teaspoon or two of food at a time (he does that with dry food too, ahh!) so I thought a jar full in the fridge might last a little too long.

it seems that most people feed around 4-6 ounces a day? Im trying to figure out how much my cats might go through if I switched all to raw, if anyone wants to share about how much they go through a month that would be great!

I use these for raw food storage. Betwee 2 kittys the 17 oz jar should last ~ 2 days.

The general rule is to feed 2% of the cat's body for raw. For Fred & Ginger, 12 lb & 10, that comes about 4 oz per meal but because they're both long cats I figured 2 heaping tbsp per meal/cat should suffice. I weight them monthly & will find out if they need more/less shortly.

 

[rone]

Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

My grinder should be here today!!!!

Woo hoo! That's great

. Let me know how you like it.

I purchased all the meat from a Hare Today distributor in my area. Making my own is still cheaper than feeding a high quality canned. Our kitties are still eating 90/10 raw/wet. No matter what I sprinkle on top they have been very stubborn about tasting that 10% canned in their meals. These little monsters

.

 

[catsarebetter]

Well, I broke it out. I cleaned all the parts. I got all the chicken (luckily there was a sale on chicken thighs and split breasts.. so, 45 pounds of chicken and about four pounds of chicken organs later..).. it's all sorted and as soon as I munch a bit on my pretzel pieces and izze pop... I will be out there skinning and preparing the food for the grinder.

I'm currently trying to decide what the heck I'm going to put the stuff in while I'm preparing it.. I don't know if I have enough containers to hold 45 pounds of meat.

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

Well, I broke it out. I cleaned all the parts. I got all the chicken (luckily there was a sale on chicken thighs and split breasts.. so, 45 pounds of chicken and about four pounds of chicken organs later..).. it's all sorted and as soon as I munch a bit on my pretzel pieces and izze pop... I will be out there skinning and preparing the food for the grinder.

I'm currently trying to decide what the heck I'm going to put the stuff in while I'm preparing it.. I don't know if I have enough containers to hold 45 pounds of meat.

I use gallon freezer bags

 

[catsarebetter]

I have a whole new respect for people who skin chickens for a living.

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

I have a whole new respect for people who skin chickens for a living.

YUP... and anyone working in a meat packing plant

 

[catsarebetter]

Gods this is horrible, lol, I just don't know how they do it for a living. Of course, they're probably a lot better at it than I am on my first attempt at skinning and shaving meat off the bone, but I guarantee that they don't get paid nearly enough for that back breaking, muscle burning chore!

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

Gods this is horrible, lol, I just don't know how they do it for a living. Of course, they're probably a lot better at it than I am on my first attempt at skinning and shaving meat off the bone, but I guarantee that they don't get paid nearly enough for that back breaking, muscle burning chore!

A bit of warm water helps with skin removal... the bone stuff also soak in a bit of water

 

[coaster]

I'd die if I tried to do that much in a day.

But wait until you try to debone rabbit. I swear.....they've got bones in places I can't imagine there would be bones.

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by coaster

I'd die if I tried to do that much in a day.

But wait until you try to debone rabbit. I swear.....they've got bones in places I can't imagine there would be bones.

Note to self always buy pre made rabbit

 

[catsarebetter]

Actually, I just decided to pull the skin and do it all as bone in. I didn't bother pulling the bones. I got lazy. But it all worked out. And, now that it worked out, doing that much will be way easier. The grinder chopped it all down in less than 10 minutes. Sheesh, that was the easy part, and I got somewhat better at the skins..

Why am I remembering that we're not supposed to give skins.. or is that just whole skins?? I can't seem to find the info I remember seeing now.