Just want to make sure I'm doing this right

[heifzilla]

I am working on switching my current cat (8yo DSH) to raw.  I have weaned him off dry food and now he eats Fromm pate.  It took several weeks to get him to eat the wet, he was a dry addict.  But I finally got him there.  He will not eat any other brands.

I am planning on using Alnutrin for my supplement.  It's going to be slow going to transition him over.    I want to get the ground meat (I can also grind my own, I have a grinder and can get it pretty close to pate-ish) and add the Alnutrin and feed that.  What I want to make sure of is this:

1.  Can I use whole chickens (with the organ pack added) and grind them up or will this be too much bone?   I would omit the neck and wings if need be.

2.  Is ground hare (with organs and bone) the better way to go?  Chicken is much easier for me to get.   I can order hare online but then I have to order at least 10# and I have no idea if my cat will even eat it.

3.  Do I need to add a fish/krill oil or does the Alnutrin contain everything I will need?

5.  Can I alternate with ground meat without bone (such as chicken thighs and organ), and use the Alnutrin with added calcium or should I pick one or the other?

6.  I am getting a kitten in a couple of months, and want to know how much to feed and if I have to add extra fat, etc..

I ask this because I thought that just adding these supplements to ground meat would be fine, but then I am reading all this stuff about bone ratios, etc..  I know my cat will not go for frankenprey, and I don't want to deal with animal parts all over the house anyway.   I want to make my food once a week or so, freeze, defrost, and feed.   I don't want to buy commercial raw diet because I want to be in control of the ingredients.

TIA!

 

[momofmaxwell]

Hi sorry  i haven't used raw before but I know this website is excellent for raw diets & make your own etc.huge read.www.catinfo.org Great that you have transitioned over to canned.Much better IMO.Hugs C.

 

[heifzilla]

 
Hi sorry  i haven't used raw before but I know this website is excellent for raw diets & make your own etc.huge read.www.catinfo.org Great that you have transitioned over to canned.Much better IMO.Hugs C.

Thanks,  Definitely seen an improvement in his coat and appearance just getting him off the dry food.  He's much more glossy now.

 

[lisamarie12]

 
I am working on switching my current cat (8yo DSH) to raw.  I have weaned him off dry food and now he eats Fromm pate.  It took several weeks to get him to eat the wet, he was a dry addict.  But I finally got him there.  He will not eat any other brands.
 
3.  Do I need to add a fish/krill oil or does the Alnutrin contain everything I will need?

I can't answer your other questions b/c I'm new to homemade raw myself, however, I do know that you'll have to supplement fish oil because Alnutrin doesn't contain any type of fish oil, kitty will need that for Omega 3's. 

On doing a search via TCS homemade raw, krill oil gets good feedback.

Congratulations on transitioning over your eight year old kitty from dry to wet - yay you!!

 

[jeff1]

I know i am no cat expert, but let me tell you this. My cat, Tyler, once ate raw, and ended up having worms in his tummy. The vet said its not good to feed cats raw at all and to avoid it. We ended up giving that cat a medicine to get rid of the worms. So plz think twice, you don't want your cats having those, trust me. :/ horrible experience for them. the same goes to canned food, also makes worms in their stomachs. Buy the meat fresh and cook it yourself well, otherwise, avoid canned and raw. I am sure you're local vet will say that, he has too, if he doesn't, I don't know where he got his knowledge from. :3 Raw is my 100% sure info of. 

 

[monkeymom]

jeff1
Just wanted to throw in that I've been feeding my cats a raw diet for over a year now, and they have never gotten worms. Why in the world would canned give them worms? You say to make sure the meat is cooked, but canned is cooked!

I second visiting catinfo.org. Great info for getting started. I personally order grinds from Hare Today or a local source and add in supplements + egg yolk + fish oil.

 

[jeff1]

jeff1
Just wanted to throw in that I've been feeding my cats a raw diet for over a year now, and they have never gotten worms. Why in the world would canned give them worms? You say to make sure the meat is cooked, but canned is cooked!

I second visiting catinfo.org. Great info for getting started. I personally order grinds from Hare Today or a local source and add in supplements + egg yolk + fish oil.

I checked my sources, its mostly food for pets at supermarkets :/ but the ones u get from vets are good quality. Again: food for pets at supermarkets especially canned and pate, are causing worms. Hope your supermarkets have better thoughts for ur pets than ours do!
Goodluck (when i went to the vet and saw how expensive the food is, and compared it to the markets which are 10 times cheaper and smaller,no wonder why the market ones are bad for pets!

 

[LTS3]

I checked my sources, its mostly food for pets at supermarkets :/ but the ones u get from vets are good quality. Again: food for pets at supermarkets especially canned and pate, are causing worms. Hope your supermarkets have better thoughts for ur pets than ours do!
Goodluck

(when i went to the vet and saw how expensive the food is, and compared it to the markets which are 10 times cheaper and smaller,no wonder why the market ones are bad for pets!

I'm not sure what country you are in but in the US canned pet foods are safe to feed. I have never heard of a pet getting worms from eating canned food. Worms are caused by ingestion of infected wild small animals like mice, infected mother's milk (kittens and puppies often have worms), entering through an open skin wound, or fleas. Canned foods are cooked at a very high temperature which would kill any worm or parasite that may be in the food.

Feeding raw meats and organs to a pet is also safe IF one uses Human grade meats and organs or meats and organs specicially processed and packaged for pet food. In the US, there are reputable suppliers for raw meats for pet food purposes (Hare-Today, etc) and supermarket / butcher shop whole cuts of meats are also safe for a pet to eat. Feeding questionable raw meats can make a pet ill. I'm just guessing here, but your cat Tyler may have eaten raw meat that was contaminated with worms (or at least the worm eggs) and ended up getting sick.

The food most vets sell are actually  pretty poor quality, again, at least in the US. The ingredients are prety junky, the equivalent of Human junk food. But if you live outside the US and only trust the food the vet sells because the commercial brands sold in stores are questionable, then you just feed that rather than risk your pet's health.

My two cents

Now to get back to the OP's quesion:

 
5.  Can I alternate with ground meat without bone (such as chicken thighs and organ), and use the Alnutrin with added calcium or should I pick one or the other?

6.  I am getting a kitten in a couple of months, and want to know how much to feed and if I have to add extra fat, etc..

You can alternate between boneless / organless and with bone and organ. Just remember to use the correct pre-mix for the type of meat you are using.

You don't need to add extra fat to the raw food for a kitten. Kittens eat a lot so there really isn't an approximate amount you need to feed daily.  When my Aby was a kitten he ate 4 times a day for a total of about 260 calories. When he was around 6 months he only wanted 3 meals a day for about 200 calories. Some people measure meals by ounces. 5 or 6 ounces of raw food daily is a typical starting point.

 

[handsome kitty]

@jeff1 I thought you had a 25 day old kitten and didn't even know what wet food was?

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/301368/meawing-until-she-is-held-by-someone

 

[jeff1]

 
@jeff1 I thought you had a 25 day old kitten and didn't even know what wet food was?

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/301368/meawing-until-she-is-held-by-someone

i had a cat before named Tyler, he ate raw canned and i dont know what else. I thought the wet was this time of lets say, creamy food(mashed God knows what) i didn't expect it to be the one that looks somewhat watery but holding a solid type shape. Anyhow, my kitten, Jeff not Tyler, has been lets say with me from Monday, today is sunday, he was 25, now 30 days(4 weeks)

LTS3, your country and mine are the opposite haha! vet stores(maybe) are good, and markets are bad! Now, i know for the sure, the meat was good, still Tyler got worms, but got treated. Ever since, we prohibit people by advising them, to not use RAW meat as food. Now, a lot of you don't know, but nowdays, Lebanon has one BIG issue with bad food, i am sure some heard about it over the news and all the resto and butcheries that were sealed with red wax!! But, when it comes for kittens, every info is new to me, especially like wet, bcz Tyler ate dry and i don't remember what else! :3

Best advice, take from stores u really trust! especially from butcheries that have GOOD intentions and dont want to sell rotten, old, or ...whatever is bad meat. 

BTW Jeff has A HUGE appetite xD so cute too anyhow, gatta take my run, been up all night xD Take care everyone and thanks for all your help

Sorry, long reply T^T

 

[LTS3]

 
LTS3, your country and mine are the opposite haha! vet stores(maybe) are good, and markets are bad! Now, i know for the sure, the meat was good, still Tyler got worms, but got treated. Ever since, we prohibit people by advising them, to not use RAW meat as food. Now, a lot of you don't know, but nowdays, Lebanon has one BIG issue with bad food, i am sure some heard about it over the news and all the resto and butcheries that were sealed with red wax!! But, when it comes for kittens, every info is new to me, especially like wet, bcz Tyler ate dry and i don't remember what else! :3

Best advice, take from stores u really trust! especially from butcheries that have GOOD intentions and dont want to sell rotten, old, or ...whatever is bad meat. 

BTW Jeff has A HUGE appetite xD so cute too anyhow, gatta take my run, been up all night xD Take care everyone and thanks for all your help

Sorry, long reply T^T

I's possible that your cat already had worms to begin with and it was just conincidence that the symptoms started when fed that particular batchof raw meat. Again, I'm just speculating here. I'm not sure about food safety in Lebananon but I don't think it's at the same level as the US. If I were you I would feed home cooked food to the cat or feed whatever the vet sells. I take it that you can't order pet food online?

 

[jeff1]

I's possible that your cat already had worms to begin with and it was just conincidence that the symptoms started when fed that particular batchof raw meat. Again, I'm just speculating here. I'm not sure about food safety in Lebananon but I don't think it's at the same level as the US. If I were you I would feed home cooked food to the cat or feed whatever the vet sells. I take it that you can't order pet food online?

I didnt actually think about ordering food for pets online, only about geyting there stuff. To be honest, i prefer preparing their food myself knowing from where and what goes in it. Its safer that way! And no tyler didnt have worms before we got him. Anyhow, i wont make the same mistake with jeff, for sure. Poor little things dont have to suffer those ones too

 

[mschauer]

 
2.  Is ground hare (with organs and bone) the better way to go?  Chicken is much easier for me to get.   I can order hare online but then I have to order at least 10# and I have no idea if my cat will even eat it.

Theoretically feeding the entire animal as it would be consumed in the wild is better. But we don't really know that there is any significant difference in the long term benefit to a cat to feed that way.

3.  Do I need to add a fish/krill oil or does the Alnutrin contain everything I will need?

No Alnutrin doean't contain anything to add omega 3 fatty acids.

We add fish or krill oil for the omega 3 fatty acids. We know that the tissue of factory farm raised animals contains far less omega 3s than if the animals were fed and raised naturally. It isn't known if this actually makes any difference in the long term health of our cats.

 

[lisamarie12]

  
This calculator : rawcalc.org  shows that 2.2 lbs of boneless meat would be needed to get 1 lbs bone-in meat that is 32% bone down to 10% bone.
 

Ah! There's the calculator - I was searching for it via TCS threads to see how much non boneless rabbit to add to ground rabbit, fur and all - thanks!

Edit: Oh - it's poultry only!

 

[mschauer]

 

 
This calculator : rawcalc.org  shows that 2.2 lbs of boneless meat would be needed to get 1 lbs bone-in meat that is 32% bone down to 10% bone.
 

Ah! There's the calculator - I was searching for it via TCS threads to see how much non boneless rabbit to add to ground rabbit, fur and all - thanks!

Edit: Oh - it's poultry only!

No, the meat type doesn't matter. Just enter the amount of meat/bone/organs that you have and it will tell you how much meat and optionally organs you need to add.

If you are using Hare Today whole ground rabbit you can get the bone and organ amounts from their web site.

 

[heifzilla]

Awesome info, just what I needed. Thanks so much!