First time making raw food!!

minish

minish first..
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Hi everyone,

Minish is a healthy 5 year old but tends to gain weight because of over-eating. I have been feeding her with a variety of foods in rotation: good quality dry food, medium quality wet food (very high prices for good quality in Turkey), home cooked meat and occasional raw meat I freeze beforehand. I've wanted to feed her completely with home-made food but couldn't decide on cooked or raw. And I couldn't find the courage in case I miss important ingredients or make it off-balance.

I have read many sources but found these 2 trustworthy: StackPath and Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition – Common Sense. Healthy Cats..
I finally decided to make my first raw batch with their guidelines.
I have access to fresh meat and organs. Since I don't have a grinder - no bones, I will be using egg shell powder instead. I have ordered fish oil, vitamin B complex, Vitamin E, psyllium husk powder and taurine for supplements.

Fingers crossed! Any suggestions and links are welcome, especially on how to alter the formulas for cooked versions (which I would feel much more comfortable with)
 

Azazel

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Both of those are good recipes. I find the feline-nutrition one easier to adjust to account for lack of bone.
I haven't found a good formula for a cooked version, although the one on catinfo.org is partially cooked.
Honestly, you may feel uncomfrotable with raw now, but once you start doing it you will get used to it. Cats are easy because they are very clean - they wipe their mouths after eating and clean up after themselves. And they have crazy strong and acidic digestive systems that tackle any bad bacteria.

A quick tip about the eggshell powder - it is quite heavy and if you mix it into your supplement slurry it will likely fall to the bottom of the bowl and it can be hard too scoop out and get into your meat mix. What I do now (based on suggestions from others on this forum) is wait until after I have mixed my slurry and meat mix together and then slowly sprinkle the appropriate amount of eggshell powder onto the mix and mix it up really well with a large pair of tongs. This ensures that all of the eggshell powder gets into the mix and is evenly dispersed.

Also, I would keep her on the occasional canned food. Choose the highest quality canned that she likes and you can afford. Just in case of emergencies or what have you.
 
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minish

minish first..
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Thank you A Azazel for the tip! I made surface cooking for ease of mind and will keep the batch 3 weeks in the freezer. Minish didn't agree of course, she kept yowling in the background for NEOWW! :D We made peace with a bit of cooked liver, leftover from the recipe.
 
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