How warm/ how do you warm raw food for your kitties?

[koobe]

I have been spoiling my cats by warming their food for them (except dry food of course). When I started feeding raw, I will but the raw food in a bowl and put it in a bowl of warm water.

It is difficult to tell if they are warm enough, but at the same time not cook them. So I kinda guess.

Then when I make my own food, they have pieces of bones in it, so I warm it for a shorter period of them. But I am still worried that I will cook the bones.

So now I pick out the meaty bones and just warm the others.

May I know how do you warm your kitties raw food? Are there kitties out there will eat raw right from the fridge? Is it good for cats if they are eating cold raw food?

 

[auntie crazy]

I never warm my cats' food. Ever. In fact, the first raw meal they ever had was half-frozen chicken - but that was their fault, not mine. Seriously. (They were swarming me and wouldn't wait until the food was ready - I could just barely stay ahead of them with the knife. Wow, what a neophyte I was back then!

)

I do, however, occasionally forget to pull something out of the freezer in time for it to defrost fully.

In these instances, I put the bag of food in a bowl of warm water (not hot), refreshing the warm water until the meat is no longer frozen.

You don't want to put the food directly into the bowl of water, though, Koobe, because the water will both leach nutrients out and break other nutrients down.

 

[koobe]

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

I never warm my cats' food. Ever. In fact, the first raw meal they ever had was half-frozen chicken - but that was their fault, not mine. Seriously. (They were swarming me and wouldn't wait until the food was ready - I could just barely stay ahead of them with the knife. Wow, what a neophyte I was back then!

)

I do, however, occasionally forget to pull something out of the freezer in time for it to defrost fully.

In these instances, I put the bag of food in a bowl of warm water (not hot), refreshing the warm water until the meat is no longer frozen.

You don't want to put the food directly into the bowl of water, though, Koobe, because the water will both leach nutrients out and break other nutrients down.

Auntie Crazy, I do not put the food into the water directly. I put it in a bowl and warm the bowl with water in a pot.

So your kitties have been eating cold food. I should try that! Maybe they will like it better, so will save my trouble!

 

[furryfriends50]

Mine is *almost* never warmed, its right from the fridge. Typically there are still one or two half frozen pieces in the center of the baggie so I rotate who gets those. However they don't seem to care about that!


The reason for the almost is that some days I forget to put the meat in the fridge and it gets in there to late. It takes three days for the 5 lb bag to unthaw, so even one day late and you still have a partially frozen lump of meat. If that happens it goes on the counter for 6ish hours which is what it takes to get it almost all thawed. Or it goes in a bowl of warm water, if I can find a big enough bowl!!!

Also, every few weeks they get eggs which means that they get cooked egg white (and raw yolk)- typically cooked right before I go to feed them. So that is obviously warm!

 

[brookesphynx]

I separate their portions into freezer bags, defrost the night before, and then right before I serve it I put the baggie in a bowl of warm water for about 30 seconds - just to take the chill out. This is with commercial frozen raw, which they aren't crazy about, so I have to make it as appetizing as possible. Chicken necks, however, they will eat half frozen - they don't care!

 

[sharky]

Remember RAW food starts to cook at 116 degrees for most that is the "ideal " temp for a babys bottle...

I have thawed in a bag placed in cold water

 

[auntie crazy]

Originally Posted by koobe

Auntie Crazy... So your kitties have been eating cold food. I should try that! Maybe they will like it better, so will save my trouble!

I'm ALL about making the raw feeding regimen as easy as possible.

 

[missymotus]

Mine get it either right from the fridge, or I let it sit out for 10 minutes to take the chill off but they don't mind either way.

 

[koobe]

So I am the only one doing this silly practice!
Now I do not have to worry about warming it, yay!

 

[rone]

I store kitties raw food in airtight jars in the freezer. There are always 2 jars in the fridge. Whenever they finish a jar, another one gets taken out of freezer. So I always have one ready & the other defrosting.

My kitties throw up if I feed them cold or frozen raw food. Their food is warmed in a glass measuring cup inside a glass bowl with hot water from a water dispenser. Both kitties & I are impatient, with a water dispenser their food takes only 1 minute to warm (slightly cool to finger touch).

 

[goldenkitty45]

You know, I've never warmed up the raw beef before. I usually just thaw it out in the fridge overnight and give it with their little bit of canned food the next day.

Never dawned on me to warm it a bit, but I think I'll try it tomorrow (warm the bag in hot water first) before they get their beef.

 

[swoshum]

My cats eat their food cold every single day and are no less enthusiastic about it. They still try to jump into the fridge every time I open it. They still start crying for food about an hour before feeding time, and they still swarm and walk on their hind legs like humans every time we bring the food out to feed them.

 

[jack31]

Mine is always straight from the fridge-cold. I am always running late for work and don't have time to warm food as well I used to. But I also fear cooking it and don't want to risk that.

Leslie

 

[owneroperator]

May I ask what kind of raw meat you people are using and where you're getting it from? Some of you have mentioned chicken necks, where do you get that?

What about boneless chicken breasts from the supermarket, does that qualify?

 

[mimosa]

Originally Posted by OwnerOperator

May I ask what kind of raw meat you people are using and where you're getting it from? Some of you have mentioned chicken necks, where do you get that?

What about boneless chicken breasts from the supermarket, does that qualify?

To me feeding boneless chicken breast to the cats would be an expensive luxury plus it is only good as part of a diet. Cats need edible bone (as a source of calcium) and organs in their diet too.

Most people do not like to eat chicken necks so they are less expensive. They are a combination of soft bone and meat well suited for cats that are learning to eat raw meaty bones.

I buy chicken necks from a company that sells raw meat for pets but you could ask at a butcher shop too (some people use them to make soup). I also buy them at the poulterers stall (farmer's market) sometimes.

You can feed any kind of meat you want as long as it is raw and unseasoned. When raw becomes a substantial part of the diet you should also keep in mind to follow prey animal percentages for meat, bones and organs.
Just feed what you can get where you live at a price you can afford. If it's easier to get broiler hens and buffalo (just saying whatever comes to mind) go ahead and feed that.

I feed day old chicks in the morning, ground mix (chicken) and whole mice for dinner and deer scraps, half a pigeon or a whole quail before bed. I feed lamb heart once or twice a week for extra taurine (OK, and because Mimosa is crazy about it) I get most of the food wholesale from a company that supplies zoos and falconers.
I often buy other stuff at the supermarket when I see a good deal so I can offer extra variety. I let all my friends know I needed a cheap freezer and got an almost new one that way so I can buy in bulk and save a ton of money. I also order a lot together with friends to get discounts.

Of whole prey puts you off, you do not have to feed that at all. You could stick to unrecognizable parts. You could also start with ground premade mixes that have all the nutrients a cat needs.

 

[mimosa]

I just checked out your post history, your cats are not very young, a bit picky and experiencing dental problems ?

Have you ever offered them any raw food ?

If you haven't, then I think some cut up chicken breast or ground beef would indeed be a good choice, or some premade raw mix if you can find that, maybe chicken necks would be a bit ambitious for a first time.
If they won't touch that, you could try mixing it with some canned food they like. If they eat that mix, you could decrease the amount of canned you mix in every time until they are used to the taste of raw meat.
You might have to try different kinds of meat until you find something they like. When I was transitioning my cat Mimosa to raw food she ate only ground meat at first. When you get to that stage you want the cat to learn to eat bigger chunks of meat. She wouldn't eat the bigger pieces of chicken.
Then I tried giving her some pieces of beef and that motivated her to try harder and chew them down.
After that I gave her strips of lamb heart, those are tough but she learned to chew them because she liked them.

After your cats learn how to eat chunks of meat you can feed them meat with bones, like chicken necks. Some cats find that hard, then you can put the neck in a bag and smash it with something (hammer) to make it flatter.
You could also coat the meat in something delicious (eg favorite canned food) to motivate the cat a little more.

This seems like a lot of trouble but eating meaty bones is the best way to keep teeth and gums healthy.

And this whole description is just in case. Some cats instantly like their raw food an instinctively know how to handle it. All three of my male cats and my two foster kittens have never had any problems with any of the food. With us it was just Mimosa who needed a little help.

 

[koobe]

Originally Posted by OwnerOperator

May I ask what kind of raw meat you people are using and where you're getting it from? Some of you have mentioned chicken necks, where do you get that?

What about boneless chicken breasts from the supermarket, does that qualify?

For now, I am using chicken, turkey, quail, cornish hen, lamb, pork, and chicken hearts. I will try beef, duck and rabbit later. For organs, I use chicken liver, pork liver, pork brain and pork kidney. I will add chicken wings and chicken bones (ribs and necks).

I bought those from Chinese supermarkets. For Turkey, I buy Rad Cat commercial raw for now, since I rarely see a whole unseasoned turkey breast for sale in store. And I do not want to buy the whole bird.

For rabbit and duck, I just ordered some from a raw feeding group.

Some people are more picky than others, some will only buy from a trusted local butcher and not from supermarket. Some do not mind getting free meat from whatever sources. I think it depends on your comfort level.