Alternatives To Rad Cat?

[daftcat75]

My Krista was positively thriving on Rad Cat like her IBD never happened. I’m so frustrated for her because it really was the best commercial raw for her.

She’s dentally challenged. She had molars, submolars, and a canine removed due to FORLs. She loves being able to basically slurp up the Rad Cat. She is less crazy about chewing. I’m really concerned about bone in other brands. Is it a superfine grind or is she expected to chew on the bone pieces?

I’m looking at Smallbatch Turkey Batches as a possible replacement. Anyone here feed these to their kitties?

Any other recommendations?

 

[Tobermory]

I’ve fed the Smallbatch sliders, which are complete meals. I’ve tried the duck and the turkey, and I think they’re pretty “slurpable.” I added some water after thawing. My cats liked them okay. But I now use the ones they call “blends,” most of which are single protein grinds of meat/bone/organ with nothing else in them. (Some have veggies, but those are more for dogs.) I emailed the company last year about the ratios, and they replied that the blends are 80/10/10.

They come in frozen two-pounds chubs. I defrost them and add supplements, including water, using the catinfo.org recipe. The blends have very small bits of bone but don’t required any chewing. I’m currently using the turkey blend and the rabbit blend.

 

[lisamarie12]

Hare Today has a nice selection of boneless meats, I would suggest HT boneless with a premix for boneless raw. HT boneless grinds shouldn't be a problem for kitties with dental issues, moreover, the quality of HT meats are excellent, especially the boneless turkey and venison.

Also, you'd still continue to keep phosphorus levels low and not have to worry about excess bone especially for some IBD cats, in which ground bone can be problematic.

If you decide on Small Batch long term, I wouldn't rely on their 10% bone declaration (and even 10% bone is not what a cat would consume daily from her small prey in her natural habitat), I would ask the company for the calcium/ phos ratios, versus the minimum as fed percentages listed, especially for the poultry/ turkey which includes both necks and backs as the calcium source.

 

[Tobermory]

Great suggestion. I should have added that with the Smallbatch grinds, I add a pound of boneless chicken or turkey to the two-pound chubs to reduce the bone percentage to about 7. Mine do better with a lower bone content. I chunk it to give the girls something to chew. I also add 1.5 oz. of liver to bring the organ percentage back up.

I really like HT and prefer it to Smallbatch. I’ll be glad when it cools off so I can feel comfortable with the shipping to the West Coast.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi- I just got a note from the Big Bad Woof that they have a limited supply of Rad Cat. There may be other retailers as well, such as Only Natural Pet, Bentley's etc.

 

[LTS3]

I feed my IBD cat NV frozen raw medallions. It works for him but your cat may be different. You could try a bag of the rabbit Raw Bites to try.

 

[LadyLondonderry]

I was in a branch of Pet Central in NYC this evening and saw that their refrigerator of raw food was still stocked mostly with Rad Cat. I was there to buy canned food but had the urge to buy it and stockpile it anyway! I've never fed it to my cat, but I know how much it has been loved and valued by others here.

 

[daftcat75]

My cat loves it so much that one of those 24 oz is a 3 day supply. So as much as I want to stock up even more than I already did, it’s just postponing the inevitable.

I ordered EZ Complete.

I’m not sure if I should order the boneless ground turkey organs from Hare Today or just look for ground turkey meat locally. I’ll figure that out (or post a thread) this weekend.

 

[daftcat75]

Are there calculators for mixing different grounds to arrive at the 80/10/10? Although I’ll be relying on the EZ Complete and the eggshell for the “bone” but I don’t know if I feed just the ground boneless thigh or if I have to mix with the ground organs. Yeah. I have some reading to do.

 

[kittyluv387]

Making my own food would be the best thing. But it's hard when I live in an apartment. I can't order 10+ pounds of goods from Hare Today We don't own our fridge and the freezer is very tiny. :/ And I feel like it would be very hard to find raw meat and organs to make a tiny batch (3 pounds or so). Ugh! My cat will eat Primal freeze dried but he gets sick of them if he doesn't get any variety. Vital essentials chicken and turkey have been out of stock for a while.

 

[daftcat75]

It sounds like I could just pick up 24 oz of ground turkey from Whole Foods (until I figure it out the butchers in town) and make up three days like a Rad Cat tub. Like in my Rad Cat tubs as I use up my stock.

So 3 lbs would make up two tubs. I have about 10 tubs in my freezer right now. I don’t need to make a month at a time but I think I could probably buy 9 lbs and make 6 tubs. That would be 18 days. I’d only have to shop and portion out the meat twice a month. I can mix in the EZ on a tub by tub. I think I can do this.

Assuming Krista will go fur it...

 

[kittyluv387]

It sounds like I could just pick up 24 oz of ground turkey from Whole Foods (until I figure it out the butchers in town) and make up three days like a Rad Cat tub. Like in my Rad Cat tubs as I use up my stock.

So 3 lbs would make up two tubs. I have about 10 tubs in my freezer right now. I don’t need to make a month at a time but I think I could probably buy 9 lbs and make 6 tubs. That would be 18 days. I’d only have to shop and portion out the meat twice a month. I can mix in the EZ on a tub by tub. I think I can do this.

Assuming Krista will go fur it...

I thought buying ground meat from the super market was a big no no?

 

[daftcat75]

I thought buying ground meat from the super market was a big no no?

Buying from Safeway would probably be a big no no. But buying human grade, no antibiotic, organic, free range that’s what this is all about, right?

 

[Wile]

Buying from Safeway would probably be a big no no. But buying human grade, no antibiotic, organic, free range that’s what this is all about, right?

I think buying pre-ground meat from wholefoods is a bad idea too. If you ground it yourself that might be different, but you really have no way of controlling the freshness of meat coming from a grocery store. It might be safer to cook the meat until you can figure out a proper supplier.

 

[kittyluv387]

Buying from Safeway would probably be a big no no. But buying human grade, no antibiotic, organic, free range that’s what this is all about, right?

Well it's just that ground meat has a lot of surface area for excess bacteria to grow on. That's the main concern.

Vendors like Hare Today do sell grinds but their grinds stay frozen and don't sit out thawed.

 

[daftcat75]

Yeah. I guess it makes a difference whether I can buy it frozen or it’s already thawed. If it’s already thawed, I can’t refreeze and that’s not practical (even if it could be trusted) to buy the meat every two or three days.

But I think I can probably take two 5 lb chubs delivery twice a month from HT if I can’t find something equivalent locally.

 

[kittyluv387]

Yeah...really wish I lived in a house for more freezer space. It was a tight squeeze even when i would have two 3lb bags of primal frozen in there. Need a freezer chest!

 

[sabrinah]

Making homemade raw in small batches really isn't difficult. I make a total of 6 pounds of raw a month, 2 pounds each of 3 different proteins. I use Alnutrin, which just calls for meat and liver. Generally, I add in fish oil, hearts, and gizzards just because they're easily accessible. It's quick and easy to portion the liver into amounts appropriate for 2 pounds immediately after buying a tub of it and freezing it for future use. Grinding the meat only takes a couple of minutes, so it's really not much of a hassle to buy full cuts of meat (less surface area=less bacteria) and grind it.

 

[riley1]

I just heard about Rad Cat yesterday! I went with them because I didn't want the excess fat, bone and vegetables in the other commercial raw. Plus, a lot goes into processing this stuff. Not sure what to do about this! I don't cook much for myself so preparing raw for my cat might be a problem. My vet told me not to use grocery store meat unless I was going to cook it because of the bacteria. How do you guys get around this?

 

[sabrinah]

I just heard about Rad Cat yesterday! I went with them because I didn't want the excess fat, bone and vegetables in the other commercial raw. Plus, a lot goes into processing this stuff. Not sure what to do about this! I don't cook much for myself so preparing raw for my cat might be a problem. My vet told me not to use grocery store meat unless I was going to cook it because of the bacteria. How do you guys get around this?

Just don't buy ground and don't rinse your meat. Keep it as cold as possible while making it. I generally keep everything partially frozen. You can do a partial bake to kill surface bacteria if you want.