I need a few suggestions

layitdown

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Today I was supposed to get my delivery for a month's supply of ground beef food mix. But it was a rough morning here and we were late to pick it up, my supplier had left already. He designates a time and place(wal mart parking lot) for ppl in my town to pick up their orders, he has a delivery route once a month and he is not local. Well DH was going incredibly slow this morning(not a morning person) and he lost his keys so we were looking for them. Anyways we got to the pick up spot about 9 min late and had missed the delivery. I paid for it already, but am more than sure I will get refunded, minus a processing fee.

But now I need suggestions on what to do this month for RB's beef meals. He LOVES his beef, it's his favorite, and I feel bad. The mix contained 10 - 15% organ meats, 10 % fat, 75 to 80% beef muscle meat, the organs were mainly liver and kidney. To make sure it's all balanced I use alnurtin supplements, it's kind of like Instincts TC but I think it's better ingredient wise. Just a reminder, I feed 3 types of meat at this point, chicken, turkey, and beef. Beef is the blend mentioned above. The turkey is legs with the meat cut into chunks, liver, and alnutrin supplement. Chicken is thighs cut into chunks, liver, hearts and gizzards, and alnutrin supplements. The calcium source at this point comes from the supplements. He gets wings and chicken necks for dental health. What can I use in place of that beef blend? The reason I use the beef blend is because I'm not comfortable feeding him supermarket beef(pretty much all that's available here). He's so so on the chicken, he'll eat it, but I can tell he doesn't like it as much as the turkey and beef. I'm very hesitant to feed supermarket beef. But he adores his beef, lol, he loves it. The poultry I feed does come from a supermarket, but it's free range chicken, vegetarian fed, no hormones, steroids, all that good stuff. When i was eating a lot of meat that's what I got and it is SO much better than your regular supermarket brand, Tyson chicken. So I'm pretty comfortable feeding that to him. But the beef, ugh, I don't even want to think about the origins of that supermarket beef, I hardly, rarely eat it myself. Suggestions anyone? By supermarket I'm talking about walmart, kroger, albertsons. Does anyone feed beef from there, what are your thoughts? Sorry this is so long, I just feel bad for taking away his beef. I have about 3 days of beef mix left.

Oh yeah, there is a natural food store here, small, privately owned. they sell grass fed ground beef, one brand is from a local supplier, the other is a nation wide brand. But both are extremely pricey. They only have ground beef, no beef cuts or steaks.

Suggestions anyone? I'd greatly appreciate it.
 

auntie crazy

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First, I'm sure you've done the necessary research, but I just want to say that a 10 - 15% organ mix, along with the supplements you mentioned, kinda makes me wonder if your cats aren't getting a bit too much of organ-sourced nutrients.

The recommended percentage of liver and of organs is 5% of the total diet, per week, of each. Liver is a heavy source of Vitamin A, which is not water-soluble and can reach toxic levels in the cat. Not saying yours are or will, just thinking out loud that it might be something you want to look at, if you haven't already.

As for the beef, while I don't shop at those particular stores, I do purchase and feed store-bought beef chunks. Organic foods are just as much healthier for your cat as they are for you, but (I believe) are not critical components in a raw-fed cat's diet.

Especially as this is a one-shot deal for you, I really wouldn't think twice about it.
 
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layitdown

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yeah I thought about the organ % as well, but the supplement is meant to be added to to muscle meat and organ meat. Thanks for the reminder. The owner of the supplement company, alnutrin, offers formulation suggestions for food and i emailed her and got some great advice from her. She is very knowledgeable on cat nutrition and helped me a great deal. I took her advice and lowered the % of liver in the turkey and chicken. Now that you mention that though, that has got me thinking. I've been wanting to not feed any ground at all. so if i get to the point of being comfortable feeding beef that's store bought, or finding a good source of beef that not ground, I'd drop the ground beef mix. My main concern with feeding store bought beef is that I know that a lot of beef cuts have a solution added to it to enhance moistness and flavor. Usually the packaging will say *enhanced with up to 10% solution. i have no idea what's in that solution and don't know much about it. i just don't want there to be something toxic in there for cats. Is anyone able to shed more light on what is in that solution? That's pretty much my main concern. I'll admit I haven't looked at all the cuts of beef to see if they have that solution added, but will look next time I'm at the store. If I do get store bought beef, which cut is the best, or most common used? thanks for answering my questions. I guess I'm not too comfortable with it because I don't eat much beef myself.
 

auntie crazy

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Good to know you're aware of the implications of overlapping organ and supplemental nutrients, LayItDown!

I don't use supplements myself, but I'm comfortable in the belief my cats obtain the nutrients they need from their foods.

As to the "enhancements" - that practice actually extends to many types of meats. I'd say that, generally speaking, products with a sodium content exceeding 80mg per serving, as stated on the label, have been "enhanced" and shouldn't be fed to a cat.

I usually buy beef that's packaged as beef stew cuts or chunks for my cats, but I don't think it really matters what cuts of beef you feed them, as long as it's not overly marbled with fat or enhanced with marinades and the like.

Good luck with your shopping.
 
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