Getting a Kitten raised on Raw Food!

QueenMojo

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Hi all, getting a new kitten in just under 3 weeks time and she's been raised on a special diet... she has to have 5-10% bones, 80-85% meat, 10% organs. She has full day-old chicks, poussin and quails (I'm meant to buy them frozen, and defrost them naturally, and give them to her whole?) alongside chicken/duck/lamb liver/hearts/stomach/kidney, and to feed less occasionally minced rabbit, eggs, goats milk, prawns, haddock, trout and hake. Alongside this, she has Farmina Chicken & Pomegranate grain-free dry food left out for her all day. Having looked at the raw food posts on here, I see people adding nutritional supplements to their raw food mixes, which has not been suggested to me by her breeder. Is this because the Farmina dry food is okay as a supplement? I am completely new to this so any advice is welcome... thank you. :)
 

Talien

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If she's being fed a diet that includes organ meat and bone then she shouldn't need the supplements, that's added to mixes that are not nutritionally complete on their own.

I would, however, suggest ditching the dry. Even if it's "high quality" grain free Cats generally do better with a set feeding schedule. It's also harder to notice abnormalities in eating patterns, which can be an indication of general health, if they have access to dry food 24/7. It only exists because it is relatively cheap and convenient for humans.

Feline Nutrition Foundation has a lot of good info on what is and isn't good to feed to Cats, and why.
 

LTS3

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Lots of raw feeders discourage feeding both dry and raw. Dry has a longer digestion time while raw has a quick digestion time so in theory constipation could occur if the raw is trying to move along but the dry food is taking it's time.

You can feed canned food instead. Canned food is a cooked product so it won't go bad if left out all day. You can use a programmable timed feeder to provide a few small meals during the day.

FYI, check the breeding contract carefully. Most likely there isn't any stipulation or something that you absolutely must feed the diet the kitten was raised on and the breeder recommends continue feeding and you must keep in regular contact with the breeder or else the breeder will retake ownership of the kitten. If you want to do a different raw diet that is a lot easier to make, such as using a pre-mix or store bought pre-made frozen raw, then that's your decision. If the contract does have something about the breeder taking the kitten back because of some breach of contract (not continuing to feed the same diet, etc), I'd seriously reconsider buying a kitten from the breeder. Be careful with social media as you never know who will see posts.
 
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QueenMojo

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Thanks for both the responses. I've been reading quite a lot about the wet vs. dry debate, and I actually watched 'Pet Fooled' on Amazon Prime last night. I did order a big bag of the Farmina since that's what the breeder recommended and that's what the kitten has been eating so didn't want to change it straightaway. I genuinely was planning on sticking with what the breeder recommends but think I may phase the dry out after all I have read and heard. I'm just a bit worried with not getting the balance right with raw alone at the moment.

I certainly haven't signed a contract of any sort as it's my own opinion that if someone decides to pass on the responsibility of care for an animal to someone else for whatever reason they have it's up to the new owner to do what they feel right. If they want control of the animal they should keep it for themselves. I passed on a horse that I'd owned for over 10 years, totally heartbreaking, and I just had to bite my lip over a few things I didn't really agree with because honestly the home he had was perfectly fine and I am never going to find someone that does things in exactly the same way as me. Sorry, I don't mean to be political here, I understand why breeders have contracts over registration, neutering and breeding rights etc. but food sounds a bit OTT for me to deal with.
 

lavishsqualor

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I would absolutely get rid of the dry.

And for the raw, you might look into Darwin's. I used to make my own raw food then got lazy. Someone here recommended Darwin's Natural Pet Products and I tried it out. (There's a VERY economical ten pound trial offer for around twenty bucks) All three of my cats inhale it. They like it much better than the homemade raw I used to make. Even the ferals I take care of love it. I sometimes have dreams that I've won the lottery (how, I don't know because I never buy tickets!) and my first thought is "DARWIN'S FOR EVERYONE ALL THE TIME!" :lol:

Introductory Offer For New Customers | Darwin's Natural Pet Products
 
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QueenMojo

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I would absolutely get rid of the dry.

And for the raw, you might look into Darwin's. I used to make my own raw food then got lazy. Someone here recommended Darwin's Natural Pet Products and I tried it out. (There's a VERY economical ten pound trial offer for around twenty bucks) All three of my cats inhale it. They like it much better than the homemade raw I used to make. Even the ferals I take care of love it.

Introductory Offer For New Customers | Darwin's Natural Pet Products
Thanks. Unfortunately, I don't think I can get this in the UK :/ looks good at 98.5% chicken though! Frustrating, as the best pre-made raw I've seen around is usually around 50-75% meat and the rest is filler.
 

lavishsqualor

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Well that sucks! You might look into a freeze dried raw such as Stella and Chewy's.
 
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QueenMojo

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Well that sucks! You might look into a freeze dried raw such as Stella and Chewy's.
I actually hadn't thought of feeding mainly freeze dried! This one looks okay: Free Range Chicken
Does it have the same issue with causing dehydration as regular dry kibble?
The other convenient option is to get those pre-minced sausage things from Kiezebrink, though the breeder told me her cats only like the rabbit one which is rather inconveniently out of stock. :lol: I am hoping to feed her a variety so it shouldn't be the end of the world if I occasionally give her an average quality premade raw food when I need to...
I've got half a freezer full of day old chicks now so I'm really hoping she eats them...
 

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Thanks. Unfortunately, I don't think I can get this in the UK :/ looks good at 98.5% chicken though! Frustrating, as the best pre-made raw I've seen around is usually around 50-75% meat and the rest is filler.
Oh, if you're in the UK you should have access to many different 95%+ meat canned foods. It's not as good as raw but it's much better than the alternatives.
 

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I actually hadn't thought of feeding mainly freeze dried! This one looks okay: Free Range Chicken
Does it have the same issue with causing dehydration as regular dry kibble?
You're supposed to rehydrate it. If fed dry, yes it'll cause the same dehydration problems.

Can you get whole prekilled mice, rats, and/or young rabbits? Those would be a good addition to the diet and if she's already eating whole chicks she should know what to do with them.
 
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QueenMojo

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Oh, if you're in the UK you should have access to many different 95%+ meat canned foods. It's not as good as raw but it's much better than the alternatives.
Thanks, I must be looking in the wrong places as struggling to really find anything with that high of a meat content. I've found Wild Freedom on Zooplus which is 98% so I'll probably give that one a go.

I'm thinking of trying a trial with Untamed raw food as that's 80% chicken.

You're supposed to rehydrate it. If fed dry, yes it'll cause the same dehydration problems.

Can you get whole prekilled mice, rats, and/or young rabbits? Those would be a good addition to the diet and if she's already eating whole chicks she should know what to do with them.
Thanks. I can get all of the above whole prey and more from the Kiezebrink website. Unfortunately my OH ordered 250 chicks and they're taking up half the freezer now so I'm not keen on getting anymore whole prey in atm :doh: one chick every day fed alongside a mixture of other things shouldn't cause any problems, right?
 

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A local shelter had it in the contract that their adopted cats cannot be taken outside for walks, exercise, etc. A woman adopted a cat and posted pictures on social media of the cat outside with a leash and harness. The shelter somehow saw the pictures and sued for breach of contract and for return of the cat. It was written up in the local newspaper and got tons of media attention. So you never know about contracts and how nitpicky a breeder or shelter or whoever is. But UK breeders may do things differently than US breeders.

Here are some TCS threads about raw and canned foods available in the UK:

https://thecatsite.com/threads/recommendations-for-wet-and-dry-kitten-food.37831
My kitten doesn't like "posh" expensive wet cat food!
Best Wet Kitten Food: Pouches/ Trays :-)
UK Cat lovers, please advise new mummy
Commercial Wet Kitten Food UK
Best Dry Food Available In The Uk/zooplus
Granatapet Cat Food
 
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QueenMojo

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A local shelter had it in the contract that their adopted cats cannot be taken outside for walks, exercise, etc. A woman adopted a cat and posted pictures on social media of the cat outside with a leash and harness. The shelter somehow saw the pictures and sued for breach of contract and for return of the cat. It was written up in the local newspaper and got tons of media attention. So you never know about contracts and how nitpicky a breeder or shelter or whoever is. But UK breeders may do things differently than US breeders.

Here are some TCS threads about raw and canned foods available in the UK:

https://thecatsite.com/threads/recommendations-for-wet-and-dry-kitten-food.37831
My kitten doesn't like "posh" expensive wet cat food!
Best Wet Kitten Food: Pouches/ Trays :-)
UK Cat lovers, please advise new mummy
Commercial Wet Kitten Food UK
Best Dry Food Available In The Uk/zooplus
Granatapet Cat Food
Oh no, that just seems unfair. I know shelters have to be careful about the homes that they send their animals to, but sometimes the loopholes you have to jump through are just... a lot. Unfortunately the shelter near me won't rehome cats to couples with children under age 12 and to couples who can't guarantee they won't be having a child in the next 10 years!! How can you guarantee that?! This is not for some for their cats but the rule for all of them. I don't know if you need to sign a contract or anything but at age 25 I couldn't promise that... I feel sorry for the little cat that had to go back to the shelter and be rehomed again, as long as it was happy and the owner causing no harm I don't see the issue, but a contract is a contract, I guess.

Thanks for the links, I sure am learning a lot! Really interesting stuff. I went out and got a little selection of different packs yesterday for her to try, mainly different flavours of Lily's Kitchen. I couldn't see the nutritional values until I got them home as I had to pull the stickers off but there doesn't seem to be much difference between the adult ones and the kitten flavour. Kitten has maybe about 50g more taurine and it has copper in it, which the adult does not. Since she's got other stuff to eat I guess it's probably okay to give her these on occasion alongside her chicks and dry, and whatever good stuff I can source from the butchers. Will look through the threads you've linked to see it there is anything a little cheaper and/or better quality as I think these are a bit expensive. I'll pop down to the butchers too and see what they have in; I'm hoping proper meat/bones/organs (from the list recommended by breeder) from the butchers will work out cheaper and I can just keep some ready made stuff in the cupboard for hot weather/convenience/emergencies. :)

We are picking up the little kitty tomorrow, so exciting times ahead!
 

sivyaleah

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Another commercial raw food easy to prepare is Instinct's if you can get it where you live. I buy it for our two as part of their rotation of foods. They are freeze dried small "bricks" - just crumble up and add some warm water. My cats really like this a lot, my younger one snorts as she's eating it LOL. They like the rabbit, pork and turkey so far. I try to stay away from chicken as much as possible only because I had a cat allergic a while ago, so not taking chances this time around. It also comes in other flavors such as quail but for some reason I'm not able to get hold of that one.

Already mentioned is the Stella and Chewy freeze dried raw and they also make a wet human grade one that comes in little boxes and is chock full of calories as there's bone broth added. I'd think this would be excellent for a kitten since they do need extra nutrition. My girls like the wet one of the S&C but unfortunately were not as crazy about the freeze dried as they are with the Instinct brand.
 
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