Is Cooked Raw Cat Food Only Suitable as a Topper?

moriahc

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My cat has been on a raw diet of homemade food (balanced with all supplements) for the last 2 years, but recently is having some difficulty digesting raw. I am temporarily giving him canned food and he is doing much better. The problem is that I have a ton of raw food that I made sitting in the freezer!😆 At some point I may put him back on raw (or partially raw), but for now I was thinking of lightly cooking the raw food to give to him in combination with the canned food. The problem is that cooking reduces the nutrient content, so my question is - if I lightly cook, can I only then use a topper? I'd love to do 50/50 cooked raw food with canned, but I worry it won't be balanced. I could re-add supplements to the cooked food, but that probably isn't a good idea because then I have no idea how much he is taking in. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated! 🙏
 

Furballsmom

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Hi
I think that as long as he's getting canned food, you're not shorting his nutritional requirements by cooking the raw.

You could talk to a veterinary nutritionist;
Diplomate Directory
 

Box of Rain

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The only concern I might have would be around cooking the bone that might be ground into a mix. I'd want to investigate that.

I would also take care to include any cooking liquids with the meal, as taurine is soluble.

Bill
 
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moriahc

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Hi
I think that as long as he's getting canned food, you're not shorting his nutritional requirements by cooking the raw.

You could talk to a veterinary nutritionist;
Diplomate Directory
Thanks so much for the input as well as the link to nutritional vets. I didn't even know they existed!
 
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moriahc

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The only concern I might have would be around cooking the bone that might be ground into a mix. I'd want to investigate that.

I would also take care to include any cooking liquids with the meal, as taurine is soluble.

Bill
Thanks so much for the input! I use egg shell, but it sounds like the calcium gets degraded easily and I need to be careful with taurine since it is soluble.
 

lisahe

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Thanks so much for the input! I use egg shell, but it sounds like the calcium gets degraded easily and I need to be careful with taurine since it is soluble.
Box of Rain Box of Rain beat me to it again! My biggest concern would have been cooking bone. Did you use a commercial premixed supplement in the food, M moriahc ? If you used, say, Alnutrin, they might be able to give you specific advice on what to do.
 
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moriahc

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Box of Rain Box of Rain beat me to it again! My biggest concern would have been cooking bone. Did you use a commercial premixed supplement in the food, M moriahc ? If you used, say, Alnutrin, they might be able to give you specific advice on what to do.
Unfortunately I didn't use Alnutrin. I mix/measure the supplements on my own. I could possibly contact them anyway and see if they have any input. Thank you for the idea!
 

Box of Rain

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The ground eggshell is already mixed in to the frozen grind?

And I assume it is finely ground (assuming yes to above)?

Bill
 
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moriahc

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Yes, it is already mixed into the frozen grind and it is finely ground. I also have another batch of raw food that is a whole prey chicken mix from my pet carnivore that has chunks of bone and is coarsely ground.
 

Box of Rain

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Yes, it is already mixed into the frozen grind and it is finely ground. I also have another batch of raw food that is a whole prey chicken mix from my pet carnivore that has chunks of bone and is coarsely ground.
My inclination would be to go ahead and use the grind with finely ground eggshells mixed in to cook with, unless someone can offer reasons not to do so. Seems reasonable.

With chunks of bone in the mix, I definitely would not.

Cooked bone gets hard, splintery, and sharp. I would not risk that.

This is just my own "inner-intelligence" and estimation of risk.

Bill
 
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moriahc

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My inclination would be to go ahead and use the grind with finely ground eggshells mixed in to cook with, unless someone can offer reasons not to do so. Seems reasonable.

With chunks of bone in the mix, I definitely would not.

Cooked bone gets hard, splintery, and sharp. I would not risk that.

This is just my own "inner-intelligence" and estimation of risk.

Bill
Thanks so much for your input! I might experiment with lightly cooking the raw with the egg shell and will NOT with the other raw mix with bone chunks.
 

Box of Rain

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Thanks so much for your input! I might experiment with lightly cooking the raw with the egg shell and will NOT with the other raw mix with bone chunks.
This does make sense to be. Humans often consume finely grounds eggshells (for calcium supplementation) and typically these have been roasted or microwaved first, to kill any potential pathogens. And no harm done. I consider myself to be highly cautious about such things. This passes my personal "common sense" estimation of the risks.

If I had a dog in this situation (and a pressure cooker or Instant Pot) and a big investment in raw food with bone ground in, I might consider cooking it under pressure for a long enough time for the bones to turn to mush. They will turn soft with adequate pressure, time, and temperature.

I'm more reluctant with cats. Not evidence-based, just feelings. But if spaced out (as in intermittent) adequately soft pressure-cooked bone out to be okay as well.

Bill
 
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moriahc

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This does make sense to be. Humans often consume finely grounds eggshells (for calcium supplementation) and typically these have been roasted or microwaved first, to kill any potential pathogens. And no harm done. I consider myself to be highly cautious about such things. This passes my personal "common sense" estimation of the risks.

If I had a dog in this situation (and a pressure cooker or Instant Pot) and a big investment in raw food with bone ground in, I might consider cooking it under pressure for a long enough time for the bones to turn to mush. They will turn soft with adequate pressure, time, and temperature.

I'm more reluctant with cats. Not evidence-based, just feelings. But if spaced out (as in intermittent) adequately soft pressure-cooked bone out to be okay as well.

Bill
Thanks so much for your input!
 
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