how to introduce whole prey

[victorrskat88]

not feeding raw currently but wanting to use little baby mice as additions / snack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . how going about introduction of them, is it safe, please share you thoughts and experience . probably safe but you never know . i would probably getting them from haretoday? or another established site like this
or should feeding grown one? or another baby animal safer? or adult animal? looking for something easily gobbled up whole so not ... full chicken please
oh and should i cut it up first time to get the idea across
and also should it be frozen for couple of hours to kill bacteria, i hear that somewhere
thanks

 

[Willowy]

If you order it from Hare Today or similar, it will come frozen. You can put it in a baggie and let it thaw in the fridge or set it in a bowl of warm water for faster thawing.

Pinky mice are extremely small. And pinkies (mice or rats) are also very fatty. Might be best to start with fuzzy rats. You might have to cut it, honestly it depends on the cat's instincts. Some cats naturally take to whole prey immediately and some think eating a dead animal is appalling, lol.

You might want to buy one or two from a local source first to see how she reacts before you make a wholesale order.

 

[goingpostal]

Fur has been kind of a problem for my cats to get over. I think personally you'd have better luck starting with smaller or cleaned prey. If you are looking for simply treats than pinks would be good but they are very spendy for what you are getting. Day old chicks are a hit with my bengal and ferrets for treats too. As willowy said, it's best to start small and see if they are going to eat it before going all out, a reptile store would have the best prices on feeders.

 

[victorrskat88]

W Willowy thank you . was wondering about the thawing too so thanks for mention of that . . . . . . . . what are thoughts on searing it? kind of grilling it . knowing its safer and easier to digest , but wondering if it will blow up or something like putting rat in microwave? or would chopping it up and then cooking it like a strip of chicken remove that issue . thanks again

goingpostal hm what about ripping off the skin? my cay has issues with its own hair so you making good point

 

[victorrskat88]

thing is i already spent all my money on a cooked premix so i should have to use it before switching to raw...impulse buyer only for cat but bad habit nonetheless

 

[victorrskat88]

but still going to do whole prey just wondering about the logistics of searing rat meat before thenj thanks also i don't know how to esiting post so apology for all the comments

 

[goingpostal]

You can feed the cooked premix some days and raw other days. My cats eat a mix of raw, homemade prey model and commercial brands and also eat canned depending on the day. My animals are well used to a varied diet because it seems they get picky or stuck on certain things otherwise. You can skin rodents, I'm going to warn you now that's going to be a messy job and they reek. I have fed a lot of whole prey but I only start gutting/skinning at guinea pig size. I would try chopping them in half or thirds while slightly frozen first, you might have to remove the intestines at first, eventually ime most animals will eat around them but it can be a discouraging experience for a new to prey eater. I'd also try using prey drive, get some play going with a toy mouse and then insert the real one. Don't cook any whole prey in the microwave, it would make the bones unsafe and heating them unevenly will lead to the guts exploding too. Just warm in a bag in hot water or use a hair dryer. That's what we do to feed them to snakes.