Questions On Homemade / Raw

elgecko

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 22, 2017
Messages
154
Purraise
978
Location
SE PA
I've been reading a lot about the raw diet and have a few questions.

Lets start here;
I currently feed my 8 month old cat 3 times a day. All 3 meals he gets canned wet food and some dry food. Morning and evening meals are larger then the afternoon, which is a snack.

My current plan is to feed 2 or 3 dinner meals a week with homemade / raw. So all other meals will still be canned wet food and some dry, with the possibility of eliminating the dry all together.
I will not be going full homemade / raw diet yet, maybe in the future.
- I do not currently have a grinder to make the food.
- I do not really have freezer space currently to store made food.

Currently what my cat has tried are the following.
- Sardines in spring water - I gave him 1 piece of sardine for a meal which he loved. My plan is to only feed him sardines two times a month.

- Raw boneless pork loin - I cut a few strips of raw boneless pork loin from a meal I was making for him to try. Once he figure out how to chew pieces off the strips, he gobbled them up.

The last food I tried, I made a poached egg for him. I kept it whole when I gave it to him. He didn't seem interested in it. I broke the yoke and cut some of the whites up into small pieces. He licked some of the yoke and walked away. I decided to chop up the egg and mix it with the yoke. No interest in it.
I will try making a scrambled egg for him and see if he likes it that way.


I would like to try a raw chicken wing. I've read on the web it's ok to feed chicken wings to cats because they have small bones. To me the main bone in a chicken wing compared to a cats mouth seems pretty big to me.
Do cats break the bone up chewing it to eat the bone itself?
It just freaks me out a little.

Next time I get chicken breast for a meal I will will try some strips of that.

With my current plan of feeding 2 or 3 dinners, with all other meals being commercial prepared cat food, would I need to worry about any nutrient deficiencies that would need supplements?

Just read a thread on the site about chicken gizzards. I have seen them at the store. My have to see if he likes those. Looking for anything to help maintain healthy teeth and gums. Currently I do brush Buddy's teeth.
We had 4 cats before him and all 4 needed dental work at some point.

Buddy enjoying raw boneless pork loin strip.
DSCN7418C.jpg

The sardine can came with 4 hunks of fish. Individually wrapped the other 3 pieces of fish to freeze for later meals.
DSCN7206C.jpg
 

Azazel

Time spent with cats is never wasted.
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 14, 2018
Messages
2,844
Purraise
3,465
Cats do break up the a bone with their teeth when eating it. This is why it's recommended for dental health. Here's a video of a cat eating a chicken wing:


If you're uneasy about feeding raw bones your cat can still get dental benefits from eating any chunked raw meat (gizzards are particularly good because they are extra chewy, but even chunks of breast or thigh are beneficial). The reason raw meat is beneficial is partly because it contains natural enzymes that break down bacteria in the mouth (a lot of toothpastes used for cats have these enzymes added in to do the same thing).

If you're not making the raw meals that you feed nutritionally balanced then I would say they are more like "treats." So they shouldn't make up more than 10% of your cat's daily calorie intake.
 

Tobermory

“What greater gift than the love of a cat.”
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
9,135
Purraise
25,924
Location
Pacific NW
I didn’t buy a grinder when I started out. I used my food processor and just pulsed the chicken thighs a few times (boneless, of course...I use Dr. Pierson’s recipe and added bone meal). I also saved out some of the meat, cut it into small chunks with kitchen scissors, and mixed it back in with the chicken I “processed.” It worked well. But I have three cats and it took too long to make the quantity I needed so I splurged and bought a grinder. With one cat, I might have hung in longer using the food processor.
 

sabrinah

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jun 6, 2016
Messages
968
Purraise
863
Location
California
If you want to use a supplement premix they have directions for making one pound of food at a time. For me, one pound of raw is one medium-sized ziplock (slightly bigger than a sandwich bag) and it doesn't take up a ton of space.
 

hell_storm2004

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Apr 10, 2018
Messages
19
Purraise
15
You might not need a whole lot of freezer space, but a little for sure. If its 2-3 times a week, 1 bag should be enough. Bones are good. You dont need a grinder when you are starting off. Maybe if you go full raw, then you can think about it. But the thing is, once they get a taste of raw, forget about the kibbles, they might stop eating it.

Eggs, at least i never had problems with my previous cats, they didn't mind it at all. Try getting a lot of chicken hearts, if you can and store it.
 

Saf

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Messages
97
Purraise
85
I get buy without a grinder. A meat cleaver suffices for me when it comes to rabbits. A pair of poultry scissors is enough when it comes to quail. Freezer space is an issue though. I had to buy an extra table top one. I'd suggest starting off with something like day old chicks.
 

ritz

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
4,656
Purraise
282
Location
Annapolis, MD
There are three parts to a chicken wing; use the two smallest parts to start off with. You could also buy Cornish hens which have smaller, well, everything. I've used the wings and chicken backs/spine area for bones. And pulverized egg shell. The egg yolk contains lecithin, which can help prevent/minimize hairballs. The egg white contains protein and relatively tasteless. Try egg yolks different ways, maybe your cat will like one of the ways.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

elgecko

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 22, 2017
Messages
154
Purraise
978
Location
SE PA
He's not a fan of scrambled eggs either. Might try again with poached eggs down the road, as he at least liked and ate most of the yoke.
I little disappointed last night. Bought a beautiful steak. Was nice and cut him a few pieces before I cooked it. He sniffed at it and walked away. Left it out for 20 minutes and didn't eat a piece.... I could have had those extra 4 or 5 bites for myself...:( LOL
 
Top