Cat with cancer will only eat raw beef and raw milk

[Hmarie274]

Hi! I have a twelve year old cat, Stella, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer (she has a tumor in her abdomen). The vet said the only way to know for sure it’s cancer would be to remove the tumor in her abdomen which we aren’t going to do. She wasn’t eating well at all (has been on canned cat food her whole life) and was losing weight until recently when we offered her raw ground beef and raw milk and she LOVES both. She’s gaining weight, her coat feels extra soft, and she seems to be feeling really good. I’ve read about raw food needing to be “complete” so we tried offering raw chicken and raw lamb on the bone to give her more diversity and nutrients but she won’t even touch them. She will literally only eat raw beef and raw milk (which, thankfully, are both super healthy!) and I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions? Is there maybe a liquid supplement that we could give her daily for added nutrients? Thank you for any help you can offer!
Added a picture of Stella

 

[daftcat75]

Sorry to hear about Stella's suspected cancer.

At the very least, Stella will need a calcium supplement as meat alone won't provide enough. Raw milk is certainly providing some. I just don't know if it's providing enough.

You can order the calcium supplement separately and add it to the beef.

Alnutrin sells eggshell calcium with a measured scoop that can balance 1 kg of meat.
Egg Shell Powder (New Product Information)

Here's another one that you can use to balance 1 lbs of meat:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093XXNYTV/?tag=thecatsite

What I really recommend is getting the Alnutrin with Calcium supplement powder. This will cover just about everything Stella needs. Except it does require the addition of liver and a little extra prep work.
Know What You Feed Your Cat - Alnutrin Supplements - Free Samples

What I recommend is picking up some beef liver. Measure it out to the right amount as well as the amount of beef that the Alnutrin recipe calls for. Put both beef and liver in the freezer for a couple of hours. You want them to be as cold as you can get them and still be able to run them through a food processor. If the meat/liver is not cold enough, it will turn into pink slime that mucks up your food processor when you try to grind it. Once you have your beef and liver ground together, stir in the prescribed amount of water and the supplements. Making a pate out of the beef, liver, and supplements prevents a picky Stella from eating around the liver or supplement powder. Don't worry. It will still be predominantly beef and she'll still enjoy the food. Portion the food to ice cube trays, plastic baggies, or containers that will hold one or two days worth of food. Even though it's the most wasteful, I like plastic baggies the best. I weigh out individual meals into the baggies, press them flat as I can (this speeds up defrosting) and freeze them all. This way even if I forget to take the next day's meals out of the freezer the night before, I can pull a baggie from the freezer and run it under some warm water until it's a healthy prey temperature. Pressing the food flat in the baggies before freezing makes this step go much faster. If you decide to go with ice cube trays or more sustainable containers, I recommend taking out one or two days worth of food from the freezer into the fridge the night before your current fridge stash is about to run out (e.g. if you pull out two days' worth, pull out another two day's worth every other night.) Or pull out the next day's meals from the freezer to the fridge every night after her last meal of the day. Fridge portions can be warmed under warm water before serving. This is another reason why I prefer baggies. I can go from freezer to plate in just a few minutes under warm water.

I DO NOT recommend store bought ground beef. A lot of stores make mistakes in handling their beef with the assumption that you will cook away those mistakes. One of those mistakes is not tearing down and cleaning their grinder as often as they should. Because grinding produces a lot of surface area, ground beef is the most sensitive to bacteria contamination.

 

[Hmarie274]

Thank you so much for your response! That is extremely helpful!

 

[Hmarie274]

Sorry to hear about Stella's suspected cancer.

At the very least, Stella will need a calcium supplement as meat alone won't provide enough. Raw milk is certainly providing some. I just don't know if it's providing enough.

You can order the calcium supplement separately and add it to the beef.

Alnutrin sells eggshell calcium with a measured scoop that can balance 1 kg of meat.
Egg Shell Powder (New Product Information)

Here's another one that you can use to balance 1 lbs of meat:
Amazon.com : Prymal Pets Organic Eggshell Calcium - Natural, Ultra-Pure Egg Shell Mineral Powder Supplement for Cats and Dogs - High Absorption, Helps Support Bone, Joint, Teeth, Heart, Immune Health - 12oz : Kitchen & Dining

What I really recommend is getting the Alnutrin with Calcium supplement powder. This will cover just about everything Stella needs. Except it does require the addition of liver and a little extra prep work.
Know What You Feed Your Cat - Alnutrin Supplements - Free Samples

What I recommend is picking up some beef liver. Measure it out to the right amount as well as the amount of beef that the Alnutrin recipe calls for. Put both beef and liver in the freezer for a couple of hours. You want them to be as cold as you can get them and still be able to run them through a food processor. If the meat/liver is not cold enough, it will turn into pink slime that mucks up your food processor when you try to grind it. Once you have your beef and liver ground together, stir in the prescribed amount of water and the supplements. Making a pate out of the beef, liver, and supplements prevents a picky Stella from eating around the liver or supplement powder. Don't worry. It will still be predominantly beef and she'll still enjoy the food. Portion the food to ice cube trays, plastic baggies, or containers that will hold one or two days worth of food. Even though it's the most wasteful, I like plastic baggies the best. I weigh out individual meals into the baggies, press them flat as I can (this speeds up defrosting) and freeze them all. This way even if I forget to take the next day's meals out of the freezer the night before, I can pull a baggie from the freezer and run it under some warm water until it's a healthy prey temperature. Pressing the food flat in the baggies before freezing makes this step go much faster. If you decide to go with ice cube trays or more sustainable containers, I recommend taking out one or two days worth of food from the freezer into the fridge the night before your current fridge stash is about to run out (e.g. if you pull out two days' worth, pull out another two day's worth every other night.) Or pull out the next day's meals from the freezer to the fridge every night after her last meal of the day. Fridge portions can be warmed under warm water before serving. This is another reason why I prefer baggies. I can go from freezer to plate in just a few minutes under warm water.

I DO NOT recommend store bought ground beef. A lot of stores make mistakes in handling their beef with the assumption that you will cook away those mistakes. One of those mistakes is not tearing down and cleaning their grinder as often as they should. Because grinding produces a lot of surface area, ground beef is the most sensitive to bacteria contamination.

Sorry to hear about Stella's suspected cancer.

At the very least, Stella will need a calcium supplement as meat alone won't provide enough. Raw milk is certainly providing some. I just don't know if it's providing enough.

You can order the calcium supplement separately and add it to the beef.

Alnutrin sells eggshell calcium with a measured scoop that can balance 1 kg of meat.
Egg Shell Powder (New Product Information)

Here's another one that you can use to balance 1 lbs of meat:
Amazon.com : Prymal Pets Organic Eggshell Calcium - Natural, Ultra-Pure Egg Shell Mineral Powder Supplement for Cats and Dogs - High Absorption, Helps Support Bone, Joint, Teeth, Heart, Immune Health - 12oz : Kitchen & Dining

What I really recommend is getting the Alnutrin with Calcium supplement powder. This will cover just about everything Stella needs. Except it does require the addition of liver and a little extra prep work.
Know What You Feed Your Cat - Alnutrin Supplements - Free Samples

What I recommend is picking up some beef liver. Measure it out to the right amount as well as the amount of beef that the Alnutrin recipe calls for. Put both beef and liver in the freezer for a couple of hours. You want them to be as cold as you can get them and still be able to run them through a food processor. If the meat/liver is not cold enough, it will turn into pink slime that mucks up your food processor when you try to grind it. Once you have your beef and liver ground together, stir in the prescribed amount of water and the supplements. Making a pate out of the beef, liver, and supplements prevents a picky Stella from eating around the liver or supplement powder. Don't worry. It will still be predominantly beef and she'll still enjoy the food. Portion the food to ice cube trays, plastic baggies, or containers that will hold one or two days worth of food. Even though it's the most wasteful, I like plastic baggies the best. I weigh out individual meals into the baggies, press them flat as I can (this speeds up defrosting) and freeze them all. This way even if I forget to take the next day's meals out of the freezer the night before, I can pull a baggie from the freezer and run it under some warm water until it's a healthy prey temperature. Pressing the food flat in the baggies before freezing makes this step go much faster. If you decide to go with ice cube trays or more sustainable containers, I recommend taking out one or two days worth of food from the freezer into the fridge the night before your current fridge stash is about to run out (e.g. if you pull out two days' worth, pull out another two day's worth every other night.) Or pull out the next day's meals from the freezer to the fridge every night after her last meal of the day. Fridge portions can be warmed under warm water before serving. This is another reason why I prefer baggies. I can go from freezer to plate in just a few minutes under warm water.

I DO NOT recommend store bought ground beef. A lot of stores make mistakes in handling their beef with the assumption that you will cook away those mistakes. One of those mistakes is not tearing down and cleaning their grinder as often as they should. Because grinding produces a lot of surface area, ground beef is the most sensitive to bacteria contamination.

Thank you so much for your response! That is extremely helpful!