Grocery Store Pre-ground Meats: Yes Or No?

[orange&white]

Is the egg shell powder instead of bones?

I have a feeling the 9 lbs of cat food I made Wednesday isn't going to last a whole week like I'd hoped...

Yes, the egg shell powder is for calcium to replace bones. I'd rather not use it, but when I was pulling chicken frames out of the freezer Friday night, I only pulled enough to make the cats' pork and chicken mix. I sort of forgot to pull extra bones out for Tangent's turkey mix.

Bones are better because the calcium is in the exterior "boney" part, and their are lots of minerals in the bone marrow "innards"...so I'm losing some valuable mineral content by using egg shell powder. Must. do. better. next. time.

 

[lisamarie12]

Never -- I have never fed nor will I ever feed my cats ground raw meat from the grocery store, not even a butcher. It's not worth the risk, not knowing how often the machinery is cleaned for meat that's intended for human consumption and to be cooked.

I use ground raw from Hare Today, specifically for raw feeders. I have used grocery store grinds when I made home cooked for my cats, no issue with that.

 

[missmimz]

Pre-ground from the grocery store is a big no-no.

 

[orange&white]

Never -- I have never fed nor will I ever feed my cats ground raw meat from the grocery store, not even a butcher. It's not worth the risk, not knowing how often the machinery is cleaned for meat that's intended for human consumption and to be cooked.

I use ground raw from Hare Today, specifically for raw feeders. I have used grocery store grinds when I made home cooked for my cats, no issue with that.

Thank you for the feedback. I am looking for a count on people who are and are not willing to use pre-ground grocery meats.

I did decide to go ahead with a test batch after reading that the grocery turkey I'm looking at is HPP treated (though now I'm not a huge fan of HPP after reading what it entails...but it kills off a lot of bacteria).

Even with HPP, Rad Cat - one of the best premium pre-mixed raw cat foods, had a recall last year on their beef, chicken and turkey products.

I think we raw feeders just have to accept a level of bacteria risk. Grocery store pre-ground does seem to push the risk-reward to the brink for a lot of us.

 

[amysuen]

Yes, the egg shell powder is for calcium to replace bones. I'd rather not use it, but when I was pulling chicken frames out of the freezer Friday night, I only pulled enough to make the cats' pork and chicken mix. I sort of forgot to pull extra bones out for Tangent's turkey mix.

Bones are better because the calcium is in the exterior "boney" part, and their are lots of minerals in the bone marrow "innards"...so I'm losing some valuable mineral content by using egg shell powder. Must. do. better. next. time.

I'm sure I'm not getting the most out of the bones either, since I'm pressure cooking them for now. But one step at a time, right?

I never imagined I'd spend more time and brain power on cat food than I do on people food!