Bye, bye canned food!

[yayi]

Will be saving 

 from now on.Their wet meals consisted of cooked, canned and some raw food.  I've changed it to half cooked and half raw starting this week. They love it. No leftovers at all. They insist on dry food for snacks though. Am planning to increase the share of raw. 

Now, my question is, do I need to give them vitamins and other supplements to replace those in the canned food? Thank you. 

 

[Willowy]

You do need supplements if the diet isn't fully balanced. What (in detail) do you feed them?

 

[ldg]

You do need supplements if the diet isn't fully balanced. What (in detail) do you feed them?

If feeding whole prey model raw, most do not supplement. Cats are designed to derive the nutrition they need from raw food. If grinding the raw food, most supplement at least taurine because of the potential loss due to oxidation. But cooking destroys needed nutrients (for instance taurine), and if you're not feeding bones, then calcium MUST be supplemented. It is safe to feed up to 15% of the diet without worrying about being balanced and complete nutritionally, but with half the food being cooked, 50% of the diet isn't balanced/nutritionally complete.

 

[yayi]

Okeedokee! Thank you! I still give them dry food 2x a day (about 3/4 cup, per cat) so some of the vits and sups are there, right? In my experience, daily vitamin and/or supplement intake result to runny poopoo, so maybe I can give like 2x a week? 

To Willowy - the cooked food is about 3/4 to 1 cup of chicken, liver, and ground beef. The raw is the same except uncooked. Per cat. 

 

[ldg]

Why not just feed them all raw, if they like that? SOOOO much better than the kibble for them! You would need to supplement calcium, but as calcium carbonate is the calcium supplement used in most cat food, I doubt it'd cause runny poo. You can make it yourself, in fact, by baking your eggshells: http://www.holisticat.com/esp.html

In fact - I'd rather bump the canned than give them kibble!!!!

 

[yayi]

Why not just feed them all raw, if they like that? SOOOO much better than the kibble for them! You would need to supplement calcium, but as calcium carbonate is the calcium supplement used in most cat food, I doubt it'd cause runny poo. You can make it yourself, in fact, by baking your eggshells: http://www.holisticat.com/esp.html
In fact - I'd rather bump the canned than give them kibble!!!!

Thank you again!  The eggshell fact is awesome 

Not clear what you mean by "bump the canned than give kibbles". I stopped giving canned food but it was better to give up the dry first? Well, already my senior Joji is all raw - she will not touch kibbles. Hopefully the rest will follow in her pawsteps. 

 

[whollycat]

Thank you again!  The eggshell fact is awesome 

Not clear what you mean by "bump the canned than give kibbles". I stopped giving canned food but it was better to give up the dry first? Well, already my senior Joji is all raw - she will not touch kibbles. Hopefully the rest will follow in her pawsteps. 

She meant give more canned and no kibble.

Here's a site (same one Laurie mentioned) with quite a few options for diets, cooked and raw, and info on supplementing--especially cooked. Also tells you how to make your own eggshell powder or bonemeal powder. http://www.holisticat.com/well-fed/

HTH  a bit,

 

[ldg]

Thank you again!  The eggshell fact is awesome 
Not clear what you mean by "bump the canned than give kibbles". I stopped giving canned food but it was better to give up the dry first? Well, already my senior Joji is all raw - she will not touch kibbles. Hopefully the rest will follow in her pawsteps. 

She meant give more canned and no kibble. Here's a site (same one Laurie mentioned) with quite a few options for diets, cooked and raw, and info on supplementing--especially cooked. Also tells you how to make your own eggshell powder or bonemeal powder. http://www.holisticat.com/well-fed/

:nod: That's what I meant. And yes, canned food is better for kitties than dry food, both because of the moisture content and often because dry food usually (not always, but usually) has higher carbohydrates than canned food, and dry food can have more problems with bacteria than canned. Also, cats have no dietary requirement for carbs (and they cause all kinds of problems long term). But either way, if combined with raw feeding, it's best to avoid all grains. Grains slow down the digestion and in dry are often a source of bacteria, and you don't want the raw sitting in their systems potentially "percolating" with that bacteria.