raw food diet

Orla K

I've been feeding my sick cat a lambs heart and she loves it (she's also been getting her normal kibble) After the vets I stopped of at my grannys who gave her raw chicken breast(not a full one it was cut up into pieces), she loved that too.

I'm now concidering giving her a raw food diet (the other one doesn't seem to be interested, even though he was straying for years, he also hates being outside)

I'm just wondering does anyone else have any experience with the raw food diet, roughly how much does it cost (they both get fed Royal Canin now, I buy a big bag that lasts for ages) are there any links that gives good information on it pros&cons and what to put into it(or if you have that info yourself)

TooManyDogs

I switched my dogs to raw food a year ago and wouldnt go back. My food bills went up, which is unusual but I wasn't feeding a particularily good quality dog food, my dogs are knackers and do well on any kind of food!

I feed them 2% of their body weight in winter and 3 - 4 % in the summer when they're out twice as much and competing in agility.
They get 50% raw meaty bones, 20% veggie blend, 20% muscle meat, 10 % offal.

Raw bones are chicken bones or turkey bones, beef bones are too hard and wear down teeth.

Muscle meat can be chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork, fish
Pork must be frozen for at least 20 days before feeding raw to kill any trichina, food pathogen. Beef should be avoided for sick/elderly animals as it makes the kidneys and liver work harder, so puts pressure on them.

Offal can be kidneys or liver. Liver should be aded slowly or it can give them runs. Heart and lungs are also considered muscle meat.

Veggie Blend consists of 50% green veggies, 50% other coloured veggies. Starchy veggies like potatoes, carrots and parsnips should be cooked first to help break down the starch. Don't feed too much cabbage or brussel sprouts, it makes them fart! I also add eggs, small bit of garlic, probiotic yogurt and blend the whole lot.

I used 'Raw Food Diet' by Carina Beth Mc Donald, which was very easy to follow.

I also checked out www.rawfed.com
www.rawmeatybones.com
http://.rawfeddogs.net
yahoo raw food diet groups

There's 2 schools for raw feeding, one says only meat and bones, the other says meat, bones and veggies. Both argue their way is correct so I based my decision to feed veggies on the fact my dogs all go out and eat the grass, and love veggies but it'll be up to you.

Hope this helps, good luck if you make the switch

Orla K

Thanks, I don't think cats will take as kindly to veggies as dogs would!

TooManyDogs

Probably not!

As far as I remember some of those webpages cover cats and ferrets too, so you'd be able to get an idea of weight suggestions for cats.

Actually, here's a cat one... http://rawfedcats.org

mymo

Cats are different from dogs, and need different diet.
I feed some bit of raw(mainly mince,chicken wings or trimmings of meat for dinner), dry food and a small bit of quality wet food. Depends what we have.
I think cats on a raw only diet need some minerals or something, so I'd look into that, a poster called the sweeper gives great cat advice if you want to try the search option and check for posts.

The Sweeper

Hey Orla

There are a lot of online raw food resources for cats. The problem with them is that their dietary requirements are different to dogs, so you have to make up a sort of 'frankenprey' - reverse engineer a mouse into meat, offal, skin, fat and bone, and then try and make up that combination from store-bought human meat.

I tried feeding entirely raw, but the meats and offals I have access to, plus what my cats eat, plus the difficulty of monitoring five cats to make sure it isn't just one of them eating the liver for all five of them, for instance, plus a few other things, meant I ended up continuing with royal canin dry food, plus some high-end wet food, plus raw meat, bone and organ when it's available and when I can get them to eat it.

I tried the raw food groups on Yahoo - they're useful to join and read, but some of the users are really evangelical and can be difficult to take. Their information is good though. The problem with raw feeding a cat is the risk of creating an imbalance in their diet. I'm not confident I can mitigate that risk, so therefore I feed some raw, some commercial wet, and some dry.

One tip - the internet 'recipes' for raw cat meals that include a lot of supplements - to be honest, when it comes to cats, less is more. I would steer clear of recipes that supplement with crushed up human-grade vitamin tablets.

Finally - and I wish we had this in Australia because if we did I'd try it - there's a product available in Ireland that is basically a powdered supplement that you can just add to raw meat to make a balanced diet for your cat. The supplement makes up all the minerals and amino acids that you lose when you don't feed bone and organ meat. It's also entirely suitable for cats - no ingredients like 'blueberries' or 'onion powder'. It's been mentioned on this forum before. I'll have a search and see if I can find the links...

The Sweeper

mymo wrote: »

Cats are different from dogs, and need different diet.
I feed some bit of raw(mainly mince,chicken wings or trimmings of meat for dinner), dry food and a small bit of quality wet food. Depends what we have.
I think cats on a raw only diet need some minerals or something, so I'd look into that, a poster called the sweeper gives great cat advice if you want to try the search option and check for posts.

Oh hey - just saw that. Cheers.

lubie76

I thought you weren't meant to feed cats chicken bones due to risk of choking. Is this untrue?

Orla K

lubie76 wrote: »

I thought you weren't meant to feed cats chicken bones due to risk of choking. Is this untrue?

I think it's cooked chicken bones have a habit of splintering, raw are fine

TooManyDogs

lubie76 wrote: »

I thought you weren't meant to feed cats chicken bones due to risk of choking. Is this untrue?

It's cooked bones that present a problem. Raw bones are actually quite soft but they become hard and brittle when they're cooked. That's when the splinter and there's a danger of damaging the throat or stomach