Starting with Raw Food

[harleydiva]

Everyone has been so helpful ..a million thanks!

Okay, I'm a little nervous doing the frakenprey method reading some posts. I am not yet confident I will get the amounts right.

So for now,

My kitten loves the chicken thighs with COTW. I'm confident about that.. as posted above.. I can easily measure 1.5 ounces meat with 1/2 ts COTW.

My other one not so much into it.

Other part of rotation will be the MPC mixed ground meat that I picked up yesterday. I've got mostly 1 pound containers. I took a pound out to thaw in the fridge. How much Alnutrin would I need for a pound of the meat? Do you weigh the Alnutrin ?? or do you measure in measuring spoons.. I would be grateful for both ways info.. thanks in advance.

Also, the frozen pound of meat has been in my fridge since yesterday evening. It still seems really frozen. How long is it safe to leave in fridge before it has to be mixed with alnutrin and refrozen or eaten?

I also put chick hearts and gizzards in the fridge to thaw. I would like to confirm I can feed my kitties these cut up with the COTW just like I would the chick thighs? I was originally going to used these with the complete  frakenprey method but not comfortable with getting it right yet.

Going to get some freeze dried food and a couple of cans for backup in case I don't have enough food defrosted at some time.

I've got probiotics I bought at the natural pet food store..I add 1/4 ts a day.

I also bought NOW taurine. I haven't used it yet.. do I need to add this as well to make sure kitties are getting enough (just worry with the COTW and Alnutrin ) that I'm giving enough.

Also, in regards to calcium,, should I buy a supp to add to make sure they are getting enough?

I will be feeding sardines maybe 1/week.

Thanks!

Thanks everyone!

The alnutrin package tells you much alnutrin to add for a particular number of pounds of meat.  Just use those numbers to figure out how much to use for 1 pound.  The measurements are in grams, so I measure with as scale (switched to grams).  You could experiment and figure out what the volume measurements for alnutrin are after you weigh it first.  I suspect you will find it is easier to mix up larger amounts of meat, repackage and freeze after a while.  I usually do 16 or 24 pounds at a time....24 pounds will feed 3 cats and 3 small dogs for 2 weeks.  I purchase meat in 8 pound increments, and do 2-3 types each time so I can rotate them.

The alnutrin  has double the required amount of taurine.  Feeding some chicken hearts also supplies additional taurine.  Taurine is water soluble, so you won't have a problem feeding too much.

The usual recommendation on thawing and refreezing, is to thaw the meat just enough that you can mix it, then re-freeze.  I will be processing tomorrow, so I just brought in 4, 2# packages and put them in the fridge.  I'll grab the 1# packages in the morning and then set them all in the sink in cold water.  By late afternoon, they should all be thawed enough for me to mix.

 

[ritz]

And do be careful about the amount of bone--too much can cause constipation, too much, loose stools.

Chicken heart and gizzards count as meat--the same as chicken thighs.  Chicken gizzards are good and chewy--perfect to get a cat use to chewing versus swallowing food.

You can buy on Amazon really tiny teaspoons--1/32 teaspoon for example.

Alnutrin comes with its own spoon--and directions how much to use for the quantity of meat you're using.

 

[harleydiva]

Alnutrin comes with its own spoon--and directions how much to use for the quantity of meat you're using.

The Alnutrin does not come with a spoon when you buy it direct from the manufacturer (at least the 7-8 packages I have received).....they also recommend that you weigh it, rather than use dry measure.  I believe that the package with the spoon is a special packaging for Hare Today.

 

[ldg]

Well.. my 15 week old kitten loves loves loves the raw boneless chicken thigh with the COTW!!! Now, won't eat NV raw chicken LOL.

This is what happened to me, and the reason I had to figure out how to feed frankenprey quickly - just too expensive for me to feed 8 cats with CoTW all the time. :lol3:


As to your question about the calcium... if you're using Alnutrin with calcium or CoTW, you do not need more calcium, those are already balanced (though with the Alnutrin you still need to include liver at 5% of the diet and another secreting organ at 5% of the diet - unless all the meals are whole ground animal, which includes all the organs).

If you're providing chunks of meat, liver and organs but not bone-in meals, as per the 80% meat / 10% bone / 5% liver / 5% other secreting organ PMR guideline, then you do need to provide a source of calcium. I provide mostly boneless prey model raw; I use eggshell as the primary source of calcium.

Here is a calculator that will help you figure out amounts for PMR meals. Most of us balance the meat/bones/organs over one week: http://catcentric.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Frankenprey-Calculator.xlsx

Here is a sample menu: http://catcentric.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/My-Feeding-Schedule.pdf

And if you want to know how to balance meat and organs with eggshell, I do it per meal. My cats eat mostly 1.5 ounces of food per meal, three meals a day. It takes 1/32 teaspoon of finely ground eggshell powder to provide the correct amount of calcium to balance the phosphorus in the meat. So I add 3/64 teaspoon at the meat-only meals. I use these measuring spoons:
The 2nd smallest spoon is called the "smidgeon." It is 1/32
The smallest spoon is called the "drop." It is 1/64..

So I add 1/32 then 1/64 (which is 3/64).

I use this eggshell powder: (Alnutrin!) http://www.knowwhatyoufeed.com/shop_online.html (Scroll down to the end, it's the last item in the KnowWhatYouFeed e-shop).

For organs, they take 1.5x as much calcium to balance. Because a meal of just organs is too rich for most cats, and they just throw it up, as you can see from the menu example above, many take the amount of liver and other organ needed per week, and divide it into a few meals, so that the organ meals are roughly 50% meat / 50% some-type-of-organ. So if you're feeding a meal that is 0.75 ounces meat and 0.75 ounces organ, technically you need 1/17 eggshell powder; the middle-sized measuring spoon is a "pinch," and it is 1/16; so you can use the 1/16 teaspoon - or use it, and make it just a very slight tad less than evenly full.

 

[maureen brad]

I know this is an older thread but I enjoyed reading it and learned so much. I am contemplating switching to home made raw for  my 3 cats. One of my cats has FIV and will soon be losing the rest of his teeth so not sure how to do it but will keep researching.If any of you who have previously posted see this- I thank you all for the great info.