Anyone Here Ever Feed "rad Cat Raw Food" Brand?

[lisamarie12]

This it what concerns me. Every other option has such high bone content. Do they make laxatives for cats? Could I use hairball medicine?

Yes, there are laxatives for cats, however, it makes far more sense to find a food that is agreeable for your kitty - in this case, a lower bone percentage / or boneless raw with a premix, instead of feeding a higher bone food and having to use a laxative.

My cat went through three bottles of lactulose until his vet (who is pro-raw feeding) said, "Wait a minute - I'm not going to continue prescribing lactulose because the food you are feeding is too high bone for him, that's not what this is for" which I completely agree with.

If you want to do a commercial, bone in raw with reasonable bone percentages, Primal pork is 6%, the venison and beef / salmon, 7% (or so they say, as mschauer mentioned, do we really know the bone percentage the co's state is what they say)? or possibly Fresh is Best, which uses human grade bone meal (but is freeze dried, must be reconstituted). Depending on how much bone triggers constipation in your cat, those foods may or may not work out for you.

Otherwise, I would just go with homemade boneless with a premix for boneless.

 

[lisamarie12]

Would it be possible to use a pre made brand that's higher in bone content and add boneless meats to it? (Not only would it bring the bone content down to a more acceptable level but would bulk out the food, cost wise.)

Typically that's what some raw feeders do with homemade bone in diets -- dilute with boneless meats, however, with commercial raw, I'm not entirely sure doing so won't dilute other nutrients.

Quite frankly? As expensive as commercial raw can be, to have to yet add additional meats to balance out the bone, seems excessive and more costly.

Why can't these companies just make the foods with the bone percentage cats would normally consume? I guess, as Dr. Pierson (catinfo) has noted, cutting back on bone eats into their profit margins.

 

[abbyntim]

Quite frankly? As expensive as commercial raw can be, to have to yet add additional meats to balance out the bone, seems excessive and more costly.

Why can't these companies just make the foods with the bone percentage cats would normally consume? I guess, as Dr. Pierson (catinfo) has noted, cutting back on bone eats into their profit margins.

Isn't that the truth? The two stores I most frequently purchased Rad Cat from were very helpful in recommending alternatives. One store is even asking its customers for recommendations, and they will order whatever people want.

However, Rad Cat is unique among commercial brands and I have yet to see another one like it. I stated to my husband just yesterday that for the price of commercial food, plus the fact that most of it is formed into patties and blocks, it makes no sense cost- or otherwise to dilute it.

My plan is to do what I've been doing and dilute commercial raw in terms of overall feeding: Feed a certain percentage of commercial and the rest home-made without bone using the feline nutrition recipe and/or a premix. The exact percentages of what I feed will be dictated by how the cats do with their bowel movements.

 

[lisamarie12]

However, Rad Cat is unique among commercial brands and I have yet to see another one like it. I stated to my husband just yesterday that for the price of commercial food, plus the fact that most of it is formed into patties and blocks, it makes no sense cost- or otherwise to dilute it.

My plan is to do what I've been doing and dilute commercial raw in terms of overall feeding: Feed a certain percentage of commercial and the rest home-made without bone using the feline nutrition recipe and/or a premix. The exact percentages of what I feed will be dictated by how the cats do with their bowel movements.

Exactly. It's one thing to dilute bone-in meats from a raw meat supplier, e.g., HT, which isn't claiming to provide "balanced" diets, only the meat with or without bone -- it's the responsibility of the user to balance bone, organ, nutrients, etc. But for a commercial raw that's supposed to be "complete and balanced", I see no sense in having to order additional ingredients to minimize their bone dense formulas.

 

[mschauer]

I'm curious, do those of you who buy commercial, un-supplemented, raw do it because you want the bone or because that is the only way you can get the proteins and organs you want?

I only use what I can buy locally and I don't feed bone. I stopped feeding bone when I realized how problematic is was to determine how much I actually needed to feed. Now that I have an IBD kitty, I don't want her to have bone anyway. The disease is characterized by bowel inflammation and I don't want shards of bone passing through and adding to the irritation.

The only proteins I use though are chicken, turkey and pork. Kitties decided they don't like beef.

 

[Tobermory]

I'm curious, do those of you who buy commercial, un-supplemented, raw do it because you want the bone or because that is the only way you can get the proteins and organs you want?

I’ve been doing it for the bone. I buy the Small Batch turkey blend two-pound chub, add one pound of chunked turkey meat, 1.5 oz. of liver, and supplements. I alternate those meals with meals of boneless chicken thighs. I grind the thighs and add liver and supplements, including bone meal for the calcium. I understood that it was better for the kitties to have some bone, but after reading this thread and seeing constipation issues with the cats, I’m wondering about that.

Lily, who is allergic to something, is getting SB rabbit blend for a few more weeks to see if feathered things are her problem. I haven’t been able to find boneless rabbit so her batches have been all SB and supplements with 1/8 tsp. of Miralax twice a day. I’ve been keeping an eye on her litter box use, and so far, she’s okay, but I’ll be glad when the test is through.

I just ordered a bag of EZ Complete. If Lily seems okay with chicken and turkey, I’ll use that or Alnutrin with eggshell going forward.

 

[mschauer]

Bone is the natural way for them to get some nutrients. I used to feed freeze dried bone which has all the pluses of whole bone without the minuses but is really expensive. I recently lost my relatively inexpensive source for freeze dried bone though. I've decided the minuses of whole bone just aren't worth the hassle. I use calcium carbonate now.

 

[Tobermory]

I use calcium carbonate now.

Is there a reason you use that versus eggshell?

 

[mschauer]

It's slightly less expensive than eggshell and easier to source (you can buy it anywhere that carries vitamins) and I don't think there is any real advantage to eggshell.

Ease of sourcing counts for a lot with me. The idea of having stuff shipped from all over the country really doesn't appeal to me unless there is a very good reason for it and I rarely think there is reason for it.

And, btw, the calcium in eggshells is in the form of calcium carbonate.

 

[kittyluv387]

I’ve been doing it for the bone. I buy the Small Batch turkey blend two-pound chub, add one pound of chunked turkey meat, 1.5 oz. of liver, and supplements. I alternate those meals with meals of boneless chicken thighs. I grind the thighs and add liver and supplements, including bone meal for the calcium. I understood that it was better for the kitties to have some bone, but after reading this thread and seeing constipation issues with the cats, I’m wondering about that.

Lily, who is allergic to something, is getting SB rabbit blend for a few more weeks to see if feathered things are her problem. I haven’t been able to find boneless rabbit so her batches have been all SB and supplements with 1/8 tsp. of Miralax twice a day. I’ve been keeping an eye on her litter box use, and so far, she’s okay, but I’ll be glad when the test is through.

I just ordered a bag of EZ Complete. If Lily seems okay with chicken and turkey, I’ll use that or Alnutrin with eggshell going forward.

Hare Today does have boneless rabbit chunks but its REALLY expensive.

 

[Tobermory]

Hare Today does have boneless rabbit chunks but its REALLY expensive.

It’s the shipping, too. It would take four days to reach me!

 

[kittyluv387]

It’s the shipping, too. It would take four days to reach me!

Yeah you definitely have to order 35+ pounds to make it somewhat reasonable. Do you live in the west coast? One pro of having moved from socal to TX is that it's just 2 days lol.

 

[Tobermory]

Yeah you definitely have to order 35+ pounds to make it somewhat reasonable. Do you live in the west coast? One pro of having moved from socal to TX is that it's just 2 days lol.

Southwest Oregon and not near a major city. I’ve done one order from HT, but it was early this year and very cold so my stuff arrived still frozen. I’ll probably order again when it gets consistently cold across the country. It’s such high quality.

 

[kittyluv387]

Southwest Oregon and not near a major city. I’ve done one order from HT, but it was early this year and very cold so my stuff arrived still frozen. I’ll probably order again when it gets consistently cold across the country. It’s such high quality.

Did you have a problem with the packing material? I read about some people on hear that the bone pieces would pierce the material and it would leak a bloody mess.

 

[Tobermory]

Did you have a problem with the packing material? I read about some people on hear that the bone pieces would pierce the material and it would leak a bloody mess.

I read that, too, but I didn’t have any leaking. Just in case it leaked, though, when I defrosted a chub, I put it in one of the plastic bags I bring produce home in and set it at an angle in a stainless steel bowl in the fridge. It was messy when I cut the plastic, though, so I did that in the sink.