Hi all. In my frankenprey research I stumbled on this forum and found the raw subforum great so I decided to join.
I have four of my own cats and I also foster. Because of the fosters and a busy work schedule I can't feed 100% raw or frankenprey - when I'm away the boyfriend or petsitter will feed pre-made raw or canned but aren't so sure about frankenprey. For the fosters, they get offered the same as the other cats but I have lots of grain free canned and if they are stubborn grain free kibble on hand - I don't try too hard to switch them to raw as their forever homes likely won't feed it, although lots of them have eaten the premade raw foods. Invariably, my cats sneak bites of the fosters canned food or finish off whatever is leftover! The place I foster with would supply all food / litter but I'd rather not have Science Diet in the house, and it is easier with so many cats to feed them a couple times a day, healthy meals and not try to feed everyone different foods!
For my four cats, 3 will happily eat most anything - chunks of meat, organs, necks, etc. The oldest is a bit of a holdout, but she eats premade, commercially available raw food very well and I'm working on slowly adding more chewable raw foods in. I've been taking a while sourcing everything to feed a healthy frankenprey menu so for now I've just been feeding raw organs / meat / necks etc as treats and less than 15%. I think I'm pretty close to having what I need to feed a balanced frankenprey menu and could use some advice!
First off, do any Canadians have tips on where to buy raw food items? So far I've been sourcing local farmers market vendors and I have a place to buy frozen mice. Do we have anything like Hare Tomorrow in Canada? And great supplement places?
I have access to (all organic except the mice):
- chicken (whole or meat)
- chicken necks
- chicken heart, liver, gizzards
- cornish hens
- beef heat / liver / tongue
- beef stew meat / muscle meat
- bison / turkey / pork cuts of meat
- mice
- eggs
More questions...
I read that if you are feeding grass fed / organic meat you don't need to supplement fish oils necessarily. I haven't found small, whole fish yet but I'm looking - I'll try to add those in or salmon, do you think it is totally necessary to add weekly, even if I'm feeding organic / grass fed meats?
My cats aren't huge egg fans - they lick up a bit, but not much - 4 cats plus 2 fosters don't finish a whole egg mixed with warm water. Thoughts? How hard should I try to get them to eat egg?
For organs - I've only been able to find liver, gizzards and heart (which is more of a muscle meat than organ). Is liver / gizzards enough or should I look a lot harder to try to find kindey / pancreas / spleen? I'd like to start feed about 50% frankenprey, but I don't want to start if I NEED kindey / spleen / pancreas.
Other than cat grass, that's all I have. What is everyone's thoughts on probiotic supplements or taurine supplements? I'm hoping to feed enough heart that taurine supplement isn't necessary, please let me know if you feel otherwise! Is there anything else I should be trying to supplement / purchase?
I hope to add other foods in as I can buy them (duck etc). Thanks for any advice and thoughts!
I have four of my own cats and I also foster. Because of the fosters and a busy work schedule I can't feed 100% raw or frankenprey - when I'm away the boyfriend or petsitter will feed pre-made raw or canned but aren't so sure about frankenprey. For the fosters, they get offered the same as the other cats but I have lots of grain free canned and if they are stubborn grain free kibble on hand - I don't try too hard to switch them to raw as their forever homes likely won't feed it, although lots of them have eaten the premade raw foods. Invariably, my cats sneak bites of the fosters canned food or finish off whatever is leftover! The place I foster with would supply all food / litter but I'd rather not have Science Diet in the house, and it is easier with so many cats to feed them a couple times a day, healthy meals and not try to feed everyone different foods!
For my four cats, 3 will happily eat most anything - chunks of meat, organs, necks, etc. The oldest is a bit of a holdout, but she eats premade, commercially available raw food very well and I'm working on slowly adding more chewable raw foods in. I've been taking a while sourcing everything to feed a healthy frankenprey menu so for now I've just been feeding raw organs / meat / necks etc as treats and less than 15%. I think I'm pretty close to having what I need to feed a balanced frankenprey menu and could use some advice!
First off, do any Canadians have tips on where to buy raw food items? So far I've been sourcing local farmers market vendors and I have a place to buy frozen mice. Do we have anything like Hare Tomorrow in Canada? And great supplement places?
I have access to (all organic except the mice):
- chicken (whole or meat)
- chicken necks
- chicken heart, liver, gizzards
- cornish hens
- beef heat / liver / tongue
- beef stew meat / muscle meat
- bison / turkey / pork cuts of meat
- mice
- eggs
More questions...
I read that if you are feeding grass fed / organic meat you don't need to supplement fish oils necessarily. I haven't found small, whole fish yet but I'm looking - I'll try to add those in or salmon, do you think it is totally necessary to add weekly, even if I'm feeding organic / grass fed meats?
My cats aren't huge egg fans - they lick up a bit, but not much - 4 cats plus 2 fosters don't finish a whole egg mixed with warm water. Thoughts? How hard should I try to get them to eat egg?
For organs - I've only been able to find liver, gizzards and heart (which is more of a muscle meat than organ). Is liver / gizzards enough or should I look a lot harder to try to find kindey / pancreas / spleen? I'd like to start feed about 50% frankenprey, but I don't want to start if I NEED kindey / spleen / pancreas.
Other than cat grass, that's all I have. What is everyone's thoughts on probiotic supplements or taurine supplements? I'm hoping to feed enough heart that taurine supplement isn't necessary, please let me know if you feel otherwise! Is there anything else I should be trying to supplement / purchase?
I hope to add other foods in as I can buy them (duck etc). Thanks for any advice and thoughts!