Raw cats? (spinoff of other thread)

[codajess]

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[chilove]

Hi there,

I had to get over my aversion to handling raw chicken. (I've been an ethical vegan for 13 years) I decided that since I owned (am owned by rather :-)) a carnivore I had to live up the fact and not be hypocritical about it. Feeding an ideal diet was more important to me. I cut up raw whole chicken with poultry shears and feed my cat a few ounces of it a day-- meat and bones. (I'm not sure exactly how much, I just watch his weight) He chews it up just fine, cats don't need their meat ground. In the wild they chew up raw meat and bones. I feed organ meat twice a week. I fast them (I also feed my dogs raw) one day a week. They get a blended veggie/greens mix mixed with raw eggs once a week. Thats it. It's actually super simple and easy. Nora Lenz is an expert on feeding dogs and cats (and humans) raw. She does phone consultations for a reduced rate for people needing advice on feeding animals raw. Her contact info can be found at www.rawschool.com. I did a consult her with about feeding my animals raw (as well as some consults for me) and she helped me a great deal and made me feel very confident about it.

Take care,

Audrey

[codajess]

Yeah. I'm not being hypocritical about it, they get meat-based food (natural choice.) I'm being AVOIDING about it. :p I almost had a handle on buying pieces from the meat counter pre-cut and just giving it to them. I can handle that. Then when I read about grinding whole parts to make sure they get the organs and stuff, i got an image of my kitchen being taken over by meat cleavers, and meat grinders, with blood and guts all over, and little salmonella bugs walking around on my counter. I'm a very visual person. lol.

I know i'm probably totally overthinking it, but that's what I do.

Can I just buy some organic chicken legs/ribs/innards (and other parts) and just put them on a plate for them?


Anyone NOT feed their cats anything but meat? No veggies/egg? I'm wondering how that works.

[lissomllama]

Do not listen to that website about grinding the meat up. That is not a good idea. It is a good idea to give them some organ meats because cats would naturally eat that from their prey. All creatures have a natural diet that they were meant to consume. When you go by that logic, a cat does not naturally eat ground meat from a carcas. They kill their prey, tear it open and start eating it in its whole state. They need whole bones to chew on and grind up and some organ meats and plenty of normal muscle meats and some grass here and there to clean out their systems. Grinding up meats only encourages overgrowth of bacteria and does not promote a natural diet and it will not give their jaws a workout like they need every day and their teeth will end up weak as well. The ideal meals for a cat would be to feed it live mice or other small prey but I would never be able to do that so I buy raw, organic meats with bone still atached and mix with some organ meats every so often. I should probably add more organ meats but their diet is looking very healthy and I do feed them some wheatgrass about twice a week but cat's naturally eat grass to vomit to clean out the system so I feed it sparingly. I haven't done eggs yet but I'm wondering about it. There are alot of misleading websites out there about feeding raw to your cats. There was one really good one I found a while back but I can't remember the URL. I actually was referred to the site from here so I'll search for it. It all made perfect sense, unlike most of the raw cat sites out there.

[dreamrawalwz]

lissomllama - if you find that URL could you please post it? I'm interested in this as well.

[lissomllama]

Yes, I'll go look for it when I have a little more time.

[yeahbethany]

Knowing that it is a comprimise, I buy my cat pre-prepared frozen raw food,thaw it, and feed it to her. It is ground.

I've fed these brands, with good results (it took about a month to transition her from commercial pet food):

Primal Pet Foods
Nature's Variety

[codajess]

Knowing that it is a comprimise, I buy my cat pre-prepared frozen raw food,thaw it, and feed it to her. It is ground.

I've fed these brands, with good results (it took about a month to transition her from commercial pet food):

Primal Pet Foods
Nature's Variety


I was just about to research those. I know of someone who feeds her dog raw, and those were a couple of the raw brands I knew of from her.

I think I might do that, or do a mix of the two ("real" meat, and this pre-ground stuff.)

Yeah, thats what I hate about doing research on the web. ANYONE can post anything on the web.

I have about a bag's worth of food (17-20 lbs) I'll use while weaning them onto raw. I have a second full bag, but I'll return it.

[lissomllama]

http://rawfed.com/myths/

Here is one of the sites I found that really made sense to me but I still can't find the other one. Maybe it was a link from the rawfed site, I'm not sure. Hope this helps.

[codajess]

That link isn't working for me. :(

[codajess]

Anyone have any experience with products from www.barfproducts.com?

or http://www.felinespride.com/products/catfood.aspx ?


I'm also thinking about switching my dog to raw food. She doesn't live with me, so It'd have to be ok with my parents (she lives with them) and they'd have to be willing to do the work. She just turned 11, but you can teach an old dog new tricks, right?!

There's a local distributor that sells www.stevesrealfood.com
I know it's not ideal; but it might be better for my dog since I doubt my parents will want to do the dirty work of preparing my dog's food if she's switched to raw.

Maybe i'll get some for my cats, too, and start them out on this, or a mix of this and "real" meat.