beef???

[SpecterOhPossum]

Opinions on beef as a topper? Gramps bought some raw frozen beef today and was wondering if I could use it as a topper of sorts after boiling, because to my surprise specter was actually interested in it

 

[jen]

Sure, plain beef shouldn't be an issue as long as it isn't seasoned or marinated. Even some raw beef is fine. I give mine raw meat whenever I have steak.

 

[Willow's Mom]

It seems weird to give beef to a predator who couldn't possibly take down a thousandish pound prey animal, but I have read that beef and other red meats are very high in nutrients that might be lacking in chicken and are very good for cats. The only reason Willow hasn't tried it yet is because I don't eat it myself and our brand of cat food doesn't come in beef.

I intend to add it to her diet when I learn more about feline nutrition. My chihuahuas love it and do well on it.

 

[Azazel]

It seems weird to give beef to a predator who couldn't possibly take down a thousandish pound prey animal, but I have read that beef and other red meats are very high in nutrients that might be lacking in chicken and are very good for cats. The only reason Willow hasn't tried it yet is because I don't eat it myself and our brand of cat food doesn't come in beef.

I intend to add it to her diet when I learn more about feline nutrition. My chihuahuas love it and do well on it.

Well, people feed fish to their cats all the time and trust me, no cat of mine is getting in the water to catch a fish. Heck, they’re not hunting chickens either. And for that matter, they’re definitely not hunting rice, corn, peas, or cranberries.

...I agree that beef is fine!

 

[vyger]

It seems weird to give beef to a predator who couldn't possibly take down a thousandish pound prey animal, but I have read that beef and other red meats are very high in nutrients that might be lacking in chicken and are very good for cats. The only reason Willow hasn't tried it yet is because I don't eat it myself and our brand of cat food doesn't come in beef.

I intend to add it to her diet when I learn more about feline nutrition. My chihuahuas love it and do well on it.

Cats scavenge in addition to hunting so although they might not take down large animals they do get chances to eat them. There was a deer hit and killed on the road right by my property once and I drug it into the trees off the road. One of the reasons was so it would be away from traffic and not get more things killed. Anyway, it was very cool but not freezing in the fall so the deer did not decay fast. All of my cats snacked off of it along with a number of neighbor dogs and a host of other wildlife including magpies. Magpies don't take down deer but they do eat a lot of them. I once saw a bald eagle sitting on a deer carcass in a field picking away at it. So any way it took a little more than a week for all the scavengers to reduce it to mostly bones and hide. My cats did get to enjoy some of it. I didn't notice any problems for them other than perhaps eating to much. I had a friend who often gave deer meat to his dogs and he said they did better on it than just dog food. The only problem he had with it was some of the dogs got really gassy and he made them stay outside for a day. So, yes it is natural for cats to eat larger animals but it will take them a little while to reduce it to bite size.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Thank you all! Woke up a few seconds ago and started the beef on a boil, she will be most pleased....

 

[lisahe]

Not to be a naysayer here but our vet is very against beef because it's been shown to be inflammatory for cats. The same goes for fish. She's very anti-fish, too. (FWIW, Dr. Pierson also mentions beef and fish as "hyperallergenic" so this isn't just our vet!)

All that said, we do feed our cats a little beef and a little fish, usually as just one ingredient of a canned food. Probably in the sort of small amounts SpecterOhPossum is going to feed. I just wouldn't want to feed a lot of either, particularly given that our cats already have plenty of food "issues"!

And I love your story about the deer, vyger ! I think most animals (including sweet, fluffy cats) are probably serious opportunists when given an opportunity like that!

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Not to be a naysayer here but our vet is very against beef because it's been shown to be inflammatory for cats. The same goes for fish. She's very anti-fish, too. (FWIW, Dr. Pierson also mentions beef and fish as "hyperallergenic" so this isn't just our vet!)

All that said, we do feed our cats a little beef and a little fish, usually as just one ingredient of a canned food. Probably in the sort of small amounts SpecterOhPossum is going to feed. I just wouldn't want to feed a lot of either, particularly given that our cats already have plenty of food "issues"!

And I love your story about the deer, vyger ! I think most animals (including sweet, fluffy cats) are probably serious opportunists when given an opportunity like that!

Sadly I think your vet may be right as spec hasn't thrown up in three months, but just hurled after eating only a little beef. Safe to say she's not getting any more! Dang it.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

SpecterOhPossum what was the fat percentage? Maybe it was too rich for his tummy?

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

SpecterOhPossum what was the fat percentage? Maybe it was too rich for his tummy?

Not sure, to be honest. i separated it all yesterday and froze it so I don't remember.. But I also mixed it with her freakfast and a whole lot more water than I usually do; and she scarfed the water down ULTRA FAST while I went to wash the dishes and hurled up chunks of food with mostly all of the water; so it really could have been that she's just a fat little cow who can't help herself when near food; and zooped up too much water too fast (literally wasn't out for more than ten minutes) then barfed. Dunno. I'm just going to eat the beef for her and give the beef a break; and stick with her main food. Sigh. There went our three month record! The timing is funny because I was JUST boasting about the time record to someone yesterday....Karma maybe?

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Scarfing can make her vomit too. Maybe next time, just give her a bit of plain beef, as a snack. Don't give it with the rest of her meal. I'm sorry she got sick!

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Scarfing can make her vomit too. Maybe next time, just give her a bit of plain beef, as a snack. Don't give it with the rest of her meal. I'm sorry she got sick!

It's cool! Yeah, she's been a bit of a pig lately. I'm used to her being a slow eater so didn't think to split the portion smaller... That'll learn me! She's doing better and ate a few spoonfuls of sheba without hurling it up, so I think it's over. I'm going to give her an oatmeal bath later and just introduce food real slow.. for now

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

OH FORGOT TO MENTION, sorry, there was also a massive hairball in the puke as well, so that could have also did it. Gotta admit I've been forgetting to brush-as-thoroughly as I'm supposed to because I've been working. So I think it was just a mix of too-much-water, new food item, hairball, and eating like a pig. I'm going to set another timer to just brush twice now; once at 8AM and 3PM

 

[lisahe]

OH FORGOT TO MENTION, sorry, there was also a massive hairball in the puke as well, so that could have also did it. Gotta admit I've been forgetting to brush-as-thoroughly as I'm supposed to because I've been working. So I think it was just a mix of too-much-water, new food item, hairball, and eating like a pig. I'm going to set another timer to just brush twice now; once at 8AM and 3PM

Oh, this is all so familiar! It sounds like your Spec and our Edwina have a few things in common. We have to brush daily, too, and she also has a tendency to eat too fast. She also has some legit food sensitivities, making it all the harder to know what's bothering her.

It does seem (seem, at any rate!) that feeding her a little extra egg yolk helps prevent hairball problems. If Spec likes egg yolk, you could use that as a topper -- then it's useful in two ways!

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Oh, this is all so familiar! It sounds like your Spec and our Edwina have a few things in common. We have to brush daily, too, and she also has a tendency to eat too fast. She also has some legit food sensitivities, making it all the harder to know what's bothering her.

It does seem (seem, at any rate!) that feeding her a little extra egg yolk helps prevent hairball problems. If Spec likes egg yolk, you could use that as a topper -- then it's useful in two ways!

Glad mines not the only one bad at managing herself! swear she'd be terrible in the wild (where she was born!) she has to have her teeth brushed daily, face wiped daily, brushed daily.............The list goes on......... Yes it seems like beef isn't gonna be on the menu, that's the first meat she's had that reaction to! I will try egg yolk, she likes only a pinch of yolk at a time so it always ends up with me eating eggs instead, but we'll try it regardless when she gets this stomach situation under wraps! (hasn't thrown up since 2PM(?) i think) so fingers crossed!

 

[lisahe]

Glad mines not the only one bad at managing herself! swear she'd be terrible in the wild (where she was born!) she has to have her teeth brushed daily, face wiped daily, brushed daily.............The list goes on......... Yes it seems like beef isn't gonna be on the menu, that's the first meat she's had that reaction to! I will try egg yolk, she likes only a pinch of yolk at a time so it always ends up with me eating eggs instead, but we'll try it regardless when she gets this stomach situation under wraps! (hasn't thrown up since 2PM(?) i think) so fingers crossed!

Yes, ours get their teeth brushed daily (most days, anyway!), too, though fortunately they don't need face wiping too often. They're pretty spoiled, though.

Here's a page from the EZ Complete people about hairballs... it includes some info on egg yolk. Each of our cats gets somewhere around 1.5 egg yolks each week. I think it does help Edwina, though of course it's hard to say.

indeed! I know that feeling. Edwina's gone more than a week, which makes me really happy. (I probably just jinxed the poor cat!) I hope Spec keeps her food down, too!

 

[1 bruce 1]

Well, people feed fish to their cats all the time and trust me, no cat of mine is getting in the water to catch a fish. Heck, they’re not hunting chickens either. And for that matter, they’re definitely not hunting rice, corn, peas, or cranberries.

...I agree that beef is fine!

Baby Girl hunts blueberries I drop on the floor
Out of our 9, we have one cat who can't tolerate beef. He throws it up. But the others like it (as well as bison and elk) and seem to crave elk the most (probably because they know it's more expensive )
We feed beef a lot. We also feed beef heart a lot, it's more inexpensive muscle meat and it's loaded with taurine, very good for cats.

 

[lisahe]

(probably because they know it's more expensive )

They always know.

 

[1 bruce 1]

They always know.

Their favorites are rabbit, elk, and duck. All the big "$"'s.
As far as beef goes, our cats like it and the one that throws it up will eat it, but bring it back up, so we just set something else aside for him.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Well, update, she's not barfing anymore! I think beef is a little too rich for her, on top of all the other things I mentioned (too much water, eating too fast, etc) so we will stick to chicken, so far she's kept down a Sheba Chicken Pate and a couple of spoonfuls of tiki cat lamb, fingers crossed there's no more hurling.