How long can a cat go on a mouse/rat diet only?

Gatomonz

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I currently have my cat on a canned soft food diet during the day, and then leave out some kibble at night.
I want to try for semi-raw as I am not ready to go full raw just yet... I need to do more research.

So my question is.... is a mice/rat diet sufficient alone considering they are mousers?
Could I lets say... do one can a day, and then feed two rats later? I know it will depend on size, etc.
 

fionasmom

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I don't feed raw to any animal and never have. A lot of people on TCS do; however, most of them are carefully sourcing the food.
 
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Gatomonz

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Not interesting at all. Iams has been known to experiment and torture and abuse cats and dogs, probably more animals. Considering its coming from a kibble source too its automatically discredited.

MYTH 1: The benefits are proven.
FACT: No scientific studies have shown benefits of feeding raw diets to kittens or cats. Their appeal is based on word of mouth, testimonials and perceived benefits.

This just sounds ridiculous lol!!! ^^^
 

jefferd18

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Not interesting at all. Iams has been known to experiment and torture and abuse cats and dogs, probably more animals. Considering its coming from a kibble source too its automatically discredited.

MYTH 1: The benefits are proven.
FACT: No scientific studies have shown benefits of feeding raw diets to kittens or cats. Their appeal is based on word of mouth, testimonials and perceived benefits.

This just sounds ridiculous lol!!! ^^^



I wasn't shinning the spotlight on Iams but rather a subject that you seemed interested in.

But I will give my opinion anyway: unless your have done the research and really know what you are doing in terms of a raw diet you have a greater chance of harming your cat's nutrition than Iams ever could.
 
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amethyst

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I just wanted to give my thoughts, I do not feed raw, but my cats do hunt, so they kind of do on their own in addition to their food. ;)

I see a few issues about feeding mice or rats, especially if they aren't use to eating whole prey, unless you plan to chop it up like meat, you may also need to skin them too since some have a hard time with the fur, and most cats wont eat guts like intestine so you may need to gut them as well. Also although my cats do hunt, kill, and eat mice (and birds and other critters), they wont eat dead mice if they didn't kill it themselves, like for example if on of the other cats or dogs kills it and leaves it on the ground. So I'm not even sure a cat would eat a whole mouse or rat if you serve it dead, like you would buy for a lizard or snake, unless it's warm and looks like meat/food. (Just in case you were thinking this, I would not go with live prey, too high risk.) Another issue is mice/rats are not a well rounded diet, cats don't just eat mice and rats, they also eat birds, squirrels, bugs, lizards, rabbits, etc, so if feeding raw it's best to have an assortment of protein sources. You also need to make sure you get the balance right of nutrients, I'm not sure what they are but I do know if you don't have the right combo it can cause a lot of health issues. In case your wondering commercial cat food has added nutrients to balance it, so it's not as bad to feed the same flavor/protein day after day. I would start with using the mice or rats as a snack, rather then replacing a meal, maybe add it some day old chicks for variety, see how your cat (and you since it's smelly and messy) like it.
 

Willowy

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So I'm not even sure a cat would eat a whole mouse or rat if you serve it dead,
Some of my cats will. Others won't (I have a lot of cats, lol. And snakes, so that's why I have the frozen/thawed rodents around). Some of them are quite enthusiastic about it and will attempt (and occasionally succeed!) to steal a rat when I'm trying to feed the snakes.
Another issue is mice/rats are not a well rounded diet,
I'm not sure about that. There are probably granary cats who have eaten nothing but mice and rats their entire lives. As long as they eat the entire thing (or most of it; they do tend to leave the intestines of larger rats, although smaller rodents are eaten whole) I think it's probably about as balanced as any cat diet could be. I wonder if there's a study about that. . .I'll poke around.

I know snakes can live long healthy lives on nothing but domestic rats! Even if they would naturally eat other types of rodents and occasionally birds in the wild.
unless your have done the research and really know what you are doing in terms of a raw diet you have a greater chance of harming your cat's nutrition than Iams ever could.
I agree with this to some extent. But on the other hand, cats have survived this long only having commercial pet food widely available in the last 70 years or so. And I think whole prey is probably more foolproof than attempting a raw diet with store-bought meat.

At any rate, what the OP suggests---half whole prey, half canned---should be pretty safe. If their cat will eat it.
 

goingpostal

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Cats, fwiw, don't generally seem to prefer rats so step one would be see if your cat will eat them. Chewing through/past fur seems to be a real deterrent if they aren't raised to do so or learn to hunting outside. Mice seem to be better accepted but the cat I had that loved those only seem to be able to handle 2-3 per day or she'd puke up fur. They also leave certain bits behind, usually guts on larger rodents/prey but sometimes feet, tails, gizzards on birds. One small rat is 50 ish grams, 2-3 adult mice to hit the same weight but I wouldn't see an issue feeding canned one meal, rodents the other for quite some time without worry. My current two will play and maybe even gum rodents but will rarely eat one, birds though are like crack to them.
 

nwc

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I know a guy who once survived off nothing but kfc for like a year.

Ok, seriously though. Somewhere out there, some government agency has an official booklet on cat nutrition that they largely based off of the nutritional breakdown of a mouse eaten whole. If I come across it later, I'll post it here. If you're worried about variety, the stores usually sell different breeds of mice. You can also order chicks and quail.
 

amethyst

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Some of my cats will. Others won't (I have a lot of cats, lol. And snakes, so that's why I have the frozen/thawed rodents around). Some of them are quite enthusiastic about it and will attempt (and occasionally succeed!) to steal a rat when I'm trying to feed the snakes.

I'm not sure about that. There are probably granary cats who have eaten nothing but mice and rats their entire lives. As long as they eat the entire thing (or most of it; they do tend to leave the intestines of larger rats, although smaller rodents are eaten whole) I think it's probably about as balanced as any cat diet could be. I wonder if there's a study about that. . .I'll poke around.

I know snakes can live long healthy lives on nothing but domestic rats! Even if they would naturally eat other types of rodents and occasionally birds in the wild.

I agree with this to some extent. But on the other hand, cats have survived this long only having commercial pet food widely available in the last 70 years or so. And I think whole prey is probably more foolproof than attempting a raw diet with store-bought meat.

At any rate, what the OP suggests---half whole prey, half canned---should be pretty safe. If their cat will eat it.
I still suggest starting with just a snack of a mouse, see how the cat reacts rather then trying to go straight to replacing even one whole meal a day with mice/rats. First see what it takes to get your cat to eat a mouse, does it need to be skinned and gutted? will it eat it warm or cold? does it eat the whole thing or just parts of it? (some of my cats will leave various parts, others eat the whole thing) If it requires prep is it something you are ok with? I also didn't mean that a mouse is not a balanced meal, and couldn't be the primary diet, I mean a balanced diet as in the only thing they ever eat. Most studies I've read say it's better to offer a variety of meats not just one kind all the time. I'm sure even granary cats eat the occasional bird, bug, weasel, or other critter that comes in after the mice/rats or grain. The can of wet food a day may solve that issue, but they also asked if mice and rats only would be ok, and I personally don't think so but I could be wrong. Most of the time I see people feeding raw they feed a variety not just one kind of meat, I would assume there is a reason, but maybe just want to and there is no reasoning behind it.
 

nwc

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Also, if you feed something as large as rats, do it outdoors or a place with hardwood floors like a bathroom, so they don't drag the guts and carcass across your apartment.
 

Kflowers

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In April 2014 Procter & Gamble sold Iams, Eukanuba and Natura pet food brands in all markets except Europe to Mars corporation.
 

Azazel

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Why am I not surprised that a company that is threatened by people educating themselves on feline nutrition and abstaining from feeding their awful foods would post an article like this?

This website is just misinformation.

There are plenty of studies that have been conducted with domestic cats and felines of other species that show the benefits of raw meat. By the way... science doesn't "prove" anything. That isn't the goal of science. Science uses all kinds of evidence, not just deductive, but inductive too, to put forward probable theories.

The description under the second myth doesn't even address the so-called myth. Yes, this is what animals eat in the wild.

Nobody who feeds raw meat thinks that animals can't get bacterial infections from food. They can get it from cooked and raw food. That's why we practice safe sourcing and handling.

Once again the description under myth four doesn't actually address the so-called myth. Nobody who feeds 'human-grade' food to their pets thinks that it doesn't contain any bacteria - it's the same as buying food for ourselves. The most common cause of bacterial infection from food in humans is raw vegetables. There is always a risk. Do the authors think that kibble is fool-proof? :lol:

Nobody who feeds raw meat to animals believes myth 5, 6, or 7. And none are are a reason to not feed raw.

Once again the description under myth 8 doesn't actually address the so-called myth. Cats are obligate carnivores - that is actually a scientific fact.

No raw feeders have problems with organs - we actually view them as a necessary part of a diet. They shouldn't be the main part of a diet though.

Nobody argues for myth 10 either.

This is possibly one of the worst articles I have read in a while. Thanks for the laugh.
 

daftcat75

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My concern with whole prey is that they have to it eat it all to be a balanced diet. My Krista was never interested in raw organs. But she never complained if I mixed them into the grind with the thigh meat she really loved. I preferred to make her a ground, boneless food. As long as she ate enough, she got enough nutrition. I didn’t have to coax her into eating parts she didn’t like. If I had to do it again, I’d be making chicken or turkey with Alnutrin or EZ Complete. And I’d feed canned as part of her meals to help with cat sitters or weathering out supply issues. But also as a hedge. In case I wasn’t doing something right with the raw, there would still be some percentage of her nutrition coming in from an AAFCO approved canned food.
 

jefferd18

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Some of my cats will. Others won't (I have a lot of cats, lol. And snakes, so that's why I have the frozen/thawed rodents around). Some of them are quite enthusiastic about it and will attempt (and occasionally succeed!) to steal a rat when I'm trying to feed the snakes.

I'm not sure about that. There are probably granary cats who have eaten nothing but mice and rats their entire lives. As long as they eat the entire thing (or most of it; they do tend to leave the intestines of larger rats, although smaller rodents are eaten whole) I think it's probably about as balanced as any cat diet could be. I wonder if there's a study about that. . .I'll poke around.

I know snakes can live long healthy lives on nothing but domestic rats! Even if they would naturally eat other types of rodents and occasionally birds in the wild.

I agree with this to some extent. But on the other hand, cats have survived this long only having commercial pet food widely available in the last 70 years or so. And I think whole prey is probably more foolproof than attempting a raw diet with store-bought meat.

At any rate, what the OP suggests---half whole prey, half canned---should be pretty safe. If their cat will eat it.
Why am I not surprised that a company that is threatened by people educating themselves on feline nutrition and abstaining from feeding their awful foods would post an article like this?

This website is just misinformation.

There are plenty of studies that have been conducted with domestic cats and felines of other species that show the benefits of raw meat. By the way... science doesn't "prove" anything. That isn't the goal of science. Science uses all kinds of evidence, not just deductive, but inductive too, to put forward probable theories.

The description under the second myth doesn't even address the so-called myth. Yes, this is what animals eat in the wild.

Nobody who feeds raw meat thinks that animals can't get bacterial infections from food. They can get it from cooked and raw food. That's why we practice safe sourcing and handling.

Once again the description under myth four doesn't actually address the so-called myth. Nobody who feeds 'human-grade' food to their pets thinks that it doesn't contain any bacteria - it's the same as buying food for ourselves. The most common cause of bacterial infection from food in humans is raw vegetables. There is always a risk. Do the authors think that kibble is fool-proof? :lol:

Nobody who feeds raw meat to animals believes myth 5, 6, or 7. And none are are a reason to not feed raw.

Once again the description under myth 8 doesn't actually address the so-called myth. Cats are obligate carnivores - that is actually a scientific fact.

No raw feeders have problems with organs - we actually view them as a necessary part of a diet. They shouldn't be the main part of a diet though.

Nobody argues for myth 10 either.

This is possibly one of the worst articles I have read in a while. Thanks for the laugh.


Hey man, I didn't write the article but I am glad it gave you a chuckle. Why do I think it could have come from a Nobel Prize wining scientist and you still would have dismissed it.

Yes, cats have been eating mice and rats centuries before commercial cat food hit the market, but just how long did they live? How healthy were they? Also, where is the study that suggest that more cats die from eating commercial cat food than those who eat raw?

My opinion: If you feed your cat a raw food diet then you better do your research because you might be doing more harm to your cat's nutrition than Iams could ever hope to do.

Now if you want to give your cats a diet that consist of only rats and mice than feel free to do so- the rest of us would like to stick to what's been working for the last seventy years.
 

Azazel

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Hey man, I didn't write the article but I am glad it gave you a chuckle. Why do I think it could have come from a Nobel Prize wining scientist and you still would have dismissed it.

Yes, cats have been eating mice and rats centuries before commercial cat food hit the market, but just how long did they live? How healthy were they? Also, where is the study that suggest that more cats die from eating commercial cat food than those who eat raw?

My opinion: If you feed your cat a raw food diet then you better do your research because you might be doing more harm to your cat's nutrition than Iams could ever hope to do.

Now if you want to give your cats a diet that consist of only rats and mice than feel free to do so- the rest of us would like to stick to what's been working for the last seventy years.
Nobody is suggesting to not do research. In fact, raw feeders are the most well-read cat parents I know when it comes to feline nutrition. Nobody is suggesting to only feed mice either.

I don't like it when people make false assumptions about raw feeders or try to use scare tactics to dissuade people from raw feeding based on misinformation.
 

Willowy

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just how long did they live?
Now that's a good question. Some things indicate that pets in the past lived about as long as they do now, if they got past their juvenile period (well, same with humans really). There are Roman epitaphs to dogs that say things like "when I brought you home in my pocket 15 years ago. . ." But then dogs have less stringent nutritional needs than cats do. And most cats throughout history have been mousers, not pets.

FWIW, Little African Wildcats (what domestic cats came from) live about 15 years in the wild, if they manage to die of old age and not predation/human intrusion.
 

jefferd18

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Nobody is suggesting to not do research. In fact, raw feeders are the most well-read cat parents I know when it comes to feline nutrition. Nobody is suggesting to only feed mice either.

I don't like it when people make false assumptions about raw feeders or try to use scare tactics to dissuade people from raw feeding based on misinformation.

My suggestion to the OP was to educate yourself before you begin down the road of raw diet, or any diet for that matter. I understood the author as the one who is mulling around the idea of all mice and rat diet- not anyone who commented.

I am glad we agree on education and research.
 

Talien

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Are you talking about buying feeder mice/rats like what people buy for snakes?
I wasn't shinning the spotlight on Iams but rather a subject that you seemed interested in.

But I will give my opinion anyway: unless your have done the research and really know what you are doing in terms of a raw diet you have a greater chance of harming your cat's nutrition than Iams ever could.
This is true, someone who just suddenly decides "I'm going to switch my Cat to a raw diet" and goes out and buys uncooked chicken breast to feed is not going to have a healthy Cat for very long. This is why I always suggest people who are thinking about getting into raw food for their pets start off with one of the commercial raw brands like Darwin's or Balanced Blends that are nutritionally complete and don't require adding any supplements.

And, of course, give a link to FNF.
 
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