Early research - am I ready for raw?

[fhicat]

For financial reasons (and because raw is awesome), I'm thinking of switching to raw feeding. Jed eats anything I put down for him, and currently am feeding him Feline's Pride raw, which he seems to like. I am nervous as I don't have much knowledge about food in general; I don't even cook for myself. College budget ftw.

I've been reading as much as I can about raw, and I -think- I have the general idea. My research shows that I can cut my feeding costs by about 50% (probably more since I think they eat less raw than they do commercial canned). That's quite a bit of savings. I am probably going to order from Hare-Today.

I don't know how much freezer space I need though. For it to be economical for me, I need to order at least 30 lbs of meat (51 lbs would be super cheap if I can swing it). I'm going the ground meat/bones/organs + non-calcium supplement route to start, maybe add some chunks of boneless meat a couple of meals a week for my cat to chew. Right now I rent an apartment, so a grinder is out of the question. The fridge in our apartment that I share with my roommate obviously won't be big enough for anything more than 10 lbs.

Is my plan sound? What size freezer should I look for? Is this good enough?:

View media item 182316
If your cat eats anything, do you buy one type of meat or do you vary it? How much? Am I ready for raw?

 

[vball91]

Hare Today is great by all accounts. A lot of people on here feed their ground mixes plus Alnutrin, so it's very tried and true. All the calculations are pretty much done for you, so it's a pretty easy way to start raw. As for proteins, it is good to have at least 3-5 different proteins in rotation. Different proteins offer different nutritional profiles, so variety is good. That freezer looks like a good size. The other thing you will need is a kitchen/postal scale.

Have you seen this thread? http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources I think you're ready to start, and you can continue to learn more as you go.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'd add in some probiotics and maybe some digestive enzymes, maybe some salmon or  krill oil, and you're ready to go!  That freezer will be plenty big.  You should have room to store some extra food for yourself.  I bought an 11 cubic foot freezer when we went "raw", and the cats only use one shelf.  We get the other two for goodies like extra ice cream, a whole turkey when they go on sale, and what not

 

[aprilprey]

If your cat eats anything, do you buy one type of meat or do you vary it? How much? Am I ready for raw?

If you have an "eat anything" cat...you are lucky.  I have one of those...took to raw like it was nothing.  IF your cat is also a lot like mine, he probably likes to have something to gnaw on, and would thus like meat that is merely cut into bit size chunks - and you don't need to worry about the grinder.  I am making my non-bone batches (meat + supplement with liver/calcium) with mainly chunked meat with just a little ground to hold it together.  Now, being a student, this may be more time consuming for you.  Or a nice change from having to think,and you can puzzle out a tough homework problem as you cut up 2 lbs of meat!

One tip: a fast, cheap way to add "chew" is chicken gizzards...they already come in bite size pieces and are really cheap.  We grind our own rabbit, and I add a few gizzards to each serving to the ground meat.

Having a non-picky cat, I can rotate proteins as they go on sale: rabbit, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb.

 

[fhicat]

I'm still confused about the size of freezer to pick. What size (in cubic feet) am I looking for if I want to store 51 lbs of meat? The measurements don't make sense to me. I thought cubic feet means height in feet x width in feet x length in feet. So why are there 1 cu. ft. freezers? The picture above is 11 cu. ft. I read somewhere that I need "1 cu. ft, for every 30 lbs of meat". This freezer doesn't look like it can hold 30 lbs.

Halp!

 

[ldg]

That freezer can definitely hold 30 pounds - a LOT more than 30 pounds.  I've read 1 cubic foot per 15 - 20 pounds of meat. That makes more sense to me. My husband and I live in an RV, and our fridge/freezer is 7 cubic feet. Of that, the freezer is probably 2.5 cubic feet, and we can hold about 30 or so pounds of meat in it.

I do NOT know the cubic feet of the freezer we purchased, it was used, I bought it on craigslist and I've never measured it. Just eye-balling it, it looks kinda the size of that freezer.  Let me find the pics I posted here to give you an idea of its size.

Freezer Bday! 120217.jpg

• ldg
• Oct 16, 2013

This is what our first order from Hare Today looked like when we put it inside the freezer. It was 30 pounds of meat.

Freezer Bday 2 120217.jpg

• ldg
• Oct 16, 2013

It took up almost none of the freezer space. It holds 100s of pounds.  To store 50 or so pounds of meat, you don't need a very large freezer at all. I think Carolina purchased a 7 cubic foot freezer. That would store twice what you need.

....we've enjoyed having the extra freezer space, not just for the cats, but for storing food for us too. Basically I use the basket and all the space under it for human food, and put cat food on the right-hand side. I use four thin, stackable plastic boxes to organize the cat food section, but that leaves a gap between the edge of the boxes and the front of the freezer. I use that space to put my 50 pound orders from HT before they're dethawed and portioned. 

 

[andrya]

Congratulations on your decision to go raw 

When l started out, l only had the freezer on top of my fridge and quickly realized l needed more space. l got a 9.5 cf upright, because it was on sale, but it was waaaaay overkill. To give an example, l feed homemade and commercial raw to my 3 cats and small dog - this is all stored in the freezer. l buy 3 or 5 roasts of meat at a time when they're on sale - in the freezer. l bought 6 tubs of ice cream on sale - freezer. At the end of summer, l bought a half pig from my farm friend. 150lbs of pork - in the freezer. And there is a ton of room to spare. l could have gotten away with about a quarter of the size if it was only for cat food, and meat to be used for making cat food.

The link you provided to the little cube freezer: we have a poster here named Otto who uses one of those in her kitchen for her 3 cats. Hopefully she'll see this and say how efficient it is for storage.

 

[ldg]

There's a new "mention" function - if otto has her email notifications turned on, she should see this....

 

[pinkman]

I have a 4.2 cubic feet freezer - this is what it looks like inside:

meatchest.jpg

• pinkman
• Oct 16, 2013

I feed two cats. One three year old female who weighs 7 pounds, and another five month male kitten that weighs like 6 pounds now. I usually order around 30 pounds of meat... lasts me for a while. At one point I had closer to 50 in that freezer. It really depends on how you organize your meals - kinda like playing Tetris.

I basically feed Hare Today - at one point I had a day where I did PMR but recently I've been getting lazy so it's more HT and some meaty chunks for snacks. The proteins I feed are chicken, turkey, rabbit, duck, pheasant, and quail. I used to feed mutton fro HT also - I may go back to it as it seems like it is the only "red" meat that Bagel can handle. Beef is a no no in this household. 

Supplement wise I am currently using Krill and Salmon oil on rotation, probiotics, Lysine and Lactoferrin for my kitten who probably has herpes. And of course, I have Alnutrin to mix with the meat mixes I buy off of HT. I also have freeze-dried green tripe (lamb) powder I give to my older girl as a topper once a day, and S&C/Feline Naturals freeze-dry as a powder too. Egg yolks are fed once a week split between the two cats.

 

[ldg]

So does the 4.2 cu ft freezer comfortably hold 50 pounds of meat or... ????

 

[pinkman]

I would say it does! I can't remember the exact number but I'm sure I had MORE at one point. I do put my freeze-dried powders and Alnutrin in the freezer though - so they kinda take up space moreso than the meat actually LOL. I also make ice cubes using the trays and the meat - so I need to keep some space for that.

 

[fhicat]

Oh mai gawd. Those pictures are SO SO helpful! You can tell I don't have the slightest idea what 51 lbs of meat even looks like.

 Looks like overkill for me to get either of those freezer sizes.

Now I know I'm looking for something around 2 - 3  cubic feet! *hugs everyone*

 

[ldg]

I don't know how much space you have to keep a freezer, but I wouldn't count on 2 or 3 cubic feet to hold 50 pounds. As I said, the freezer space in our inside RV freezer is about 2.5 cu ft and it holds about 30 pounds. Pinkman's 4.2 cu ft looks ideal. Always better to have a little more space than you need than not enough!

 

[Willowy]

I don't know the cubic footage, but I was able to fit my entire first order of Hare Today meat (the full 51 pounds) in my regular fridge freezer, but not much else! :lol3: I would say that a 3 cf freezer might hold it all but not a 2 cf. The 4.2 cf is probably your best bet if you want an upright, and a 5.5 cf if you want a chest freezer. I got a 10 cf chest freezer but I wanted it for more than kitty meals .

 

[fhicat]

I don't know how much space you have to keep a freezer, but I wouldn't count on 2 or 3 cubic feet to hold 50 pounds. As I said, the freezer space in our inside RV freezer is about 2.5 cu ft and it holds about 30 pounds. Pinkman's 4.2 cu ft looks ideal. Always better to have a little more space than you need than not enough!

Hm. I have a current standard apartment-issued refirgerator/freezer, and I was going to use that in addition to the new freezer. But perhaps saving some space for my own icecreams and what-not is a good idea. Guess I'll go with this one:

 

 

[otto]

I have this freezer:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Haier-1.3-Freezer-White/5733501

It sits on my kitchen table, I bought it because my apartment is just so tiny I have no place to put even a small chest freezer, but it turned out to be much too small for my needs, and I wish I had bought the next size up:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Haier-3.1-cu-ft-Upright-Freezer/21268717

Luckily I have friends who let me keep a box in their chest freezer for my "overflow". It's inconvenient, but still, I am grateful to them.

I did start a thread about this little freezer....

Well I would have posted the link, because I did post some pictures of how I use the little table top but the search function doesn't seem to be working.

 

[fhicat]

Well I would have posted the link, because I did post some pictures of how I use the little table top but the search function doesn't seem to be working.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/258556/whats-in-your-freezer  ?

How much meat was in there?

 

[pinkman]

I don't know how much space you have to keep a freezer, but I wouldn't count on 2 or 3 cubic feet to hold 50 pounds. As I said, the freezer space in our inside RV freezer is about 2.5 cu ft and it holds about 30 pounds. Pinkman's 4.2 cu ft looks ideal. Always better to have a little more space than you need than not enough!

I love my 4.2 cu ft no lies. I was debating between a chest freezer versus an upright - I'm glad I went with the one I got because now I do have space to make my meat cubes on the bottom, but also since it's upright I can use the top as a feeding station.

And if anyone is curious - http://www.walmart.com/ip/Danby-4.2...fcb8a9b2b120&bucket_id=000&findingMethod=p13n

It's a Danby 4.2 cu. feet. 

I too live in an apartment (NYC) so space is limited. I have lots of space left in my apartment-issued fridge/freezer - which I actually use when I defrost my upright freezer.

 

[fhicat]

*grumble*

I calculated and my budget doesn't allow for a freezer at this time. 

 Unless I eat ramen every day for the next 6 months. 

Using Hare-Today's prices and 3 proteins without rabbits, I will need to feed raw for 8 months before it becomes cheaper than feeding canned. Just thought it was interesting.

How bad is it to feed canned for another few months? I'm going to feed mainly Wellness ($1.89) and Weruva because they have a sliced type - Wellness only have pate and the pouch one is not economical. EVO is $2.19. 

 

[aprilprey]

 
How bad is it to feed canned for another few months? I'm going to feed mainly Wellness ($1.89) and Weruva because they have a sliced type - Wellness only have pate and the pouch one is not economical. EVO is $2.19. 

It would be fine, IMHO.  I have two cats, one eats all raw, the other canned.  They are both healthy - the canned food eater just got a "yay thumbs up" on her blood work from our new vet.  Wellness and Weruva are both fine brands, although Weruva has more water - I hate paying for water!  Wellness sells their food in larger sizes - some savings there.

I am an old fart compared to you...52 years old (ETA: assuming you are average college age...).  I only mention that so I can say: I cannot believe the change in cat foods over the past 15 years or so.  Lots of good options out there that did not exist before.  I almost fell over the other day when I saw my local PetCo is offering raw food!  Raw food in a big box pet store...  So many good choices.

No reason to add the stress of feeding raw if its a problem for you now - especially since you are in school.

In the words of Dr. Pierson (catinfo.org) even a crappy canned food is better than kibble.  Relaaaaaax!

Why don't you see if you can pick up a package of chicken gizzards next time you are shopping and give them a few chunks a day to get them prepped for raw? They are usually CHEAP - already in chunks (convenient for the busy student) - you can top the canned meals with a couple of chunks or as treats to prep them for raw in the future.  When I make a batch of food, I like to pop a few in each container for a little "chew" - each chunk has connective tissue.  And THAT exhausts my knowledge of what exactly a chicken gizzard is!  Given in a small amount, you don't have to worry about them throwing off the balance of the canned food.