Raw food for cats

DrGuy

Does anyone raw-feed their cats here? If so, what brands do you use and where can you get them?

Lemlin

DrGuy wrote: »

Does anyone raw-feed their cats here? If so, what brands do you use and where can you get them?

I feed mine mince, liver, fish (tuna, mackerel) and chicken. No particular brands. They love the mince particularly.

Stressica

Ive been raw feeding my 18yo for a month along with the dogs, so far they're still on mainly chicken (thighs/drumsticks/legs) but theyve had lam hearts, rabbitt + turkey mince too

DrGuy

Thanks! I guess you just get those at the regular grocery store and add vegetables as needed?

Pumpkinseeds

Cats need Taurine in their diet along with other nutrients, so it's important that you add them to the raw food. I thought about putting our cats on a raw diet but decided not to. Just too much hassle for us. There's lots of information online about it.

DrGuy

There should be sufficient taurine in any raw meat. That cats would likely benefit from some vegetable matter as well, e.g., kale, squash, spinach (my cat has begged for those on occasion). That said, I am not familiar with specific recipes as we used to buy prepared frozen raw food in the USA, any my cats usually have little interest in human food.

Zapperzy

+1 to what pumpkinseeds said. You need to be very careful to add enough taurine. There's a taurine supplement powder you can get to add to the raw mix or just make sure to add foods high in taurine (heart meat), taurine deficiency can cause heart problems and blindness.
Cats are obligate carnivores so they also don't need vegetables or grains in their diet, just a good mix of different meats (bones and organ meats included).

From what I'v read up on it it's quite tricky to completely raw feed a cat as the proper balance is so hard to get to ensure they're getting the required mix of nutrients. What a lot of people do is a sort of half and half diet. Half the diet is a good quality complete cat food and the other half is raw, at least any deficiencies in the raw food is made up for in the cat food.

Whole animals is ideally the best way to go for cats. Nature's version of a nutritionally balanced pet food Depending on what size your cat is and how willing they are to eat raw food you could try whole mice, rats, chicks, rabbits or small birds such as quail. The mice, rats and chicks can be got frozen in most pet shops sold as reptile food. Quail can be gotten in some supermarkets or a butcher can order it in if they don't stock it. I'v never gotten any rabbits myself but if you know anyone that shoots you could ask them for one but make sure to remove the pellet. Whole is the best way to go, skin, bones and all

DrGuy

Hmmm... One cat is very finicky, to the point that he will only eat kibble when stressed. He wouldn't eat the raw food we gave him, lost a ton of weight, and had temporary liver problems before our move here. Both cats also tended to ignore chicken necks that we left for them.

biko

Besides general Aldi dry brands - tinned tuna and mackerel, in spring water.

DrGuy

I found some frozen raw cat food at the Blanchardstown Petstop today. I saw the store, and on a whim decided to look for raw food. I found it quickly, even with a squirming, tired 18 month old child in tow. I am a happy cat staffer now.

Rosier

I feed mostly raw and have done for years. used to be chicken necks when I lived near a chicken factory and now a butcher saves carcases for our dogs and cats.

On e cat here had enteritis as a kitten caught in the rescue I got them from. any kibble leads to cystitis and now any tinned food gives her the runs so raw is the perfect answer for her.

on a very small pension this means almost always chicken and this is fine; managed to get a couple of cheap turkeys last month

she is fit and bright eyed and glossy of coat.