Max, 4-month-old Burmese eating raw chicken for the first time.

[maxkitteh]

Hi there!

Some of you might be interested in seeing how a 4-month-old cat responds to being fed chicken-on-the-bone for the first time. He loved it! He was already eating raw at this point for at least a few days and loved it. This was the first piece of meat I fed him with bone just to see how he would react. I purposely put a large piece in his bowl too, just to see what he would do with it. His eyes were a little runny here and he was on vet-prescribed eyedrops (and Lysine too). 

Sorry about some slowing near the beginning. Not sure what happened with the video conversion but I'll reconvert it when I get my new PC. I am talking through the video about my experience switching Max to raw food from canned/dry. 

I found these videos fascinating before I switched my cat to raw, so I thought I would share my own cat's reactions. It's really cute how he looks up at me from time to time and uses his paws a bit too. Thankfully he's a great groomer. Watching this video, people new to raw-feeding cats can see how much cats work to eat...and how it exercises their jaw muscles (or whole body as they use various techniques to eat a large piece of meat). This seems to stimulate them psychologically as well and no doubt makes for a happier cat.  

Dan

 

 

[Anne]

Thank you for sharing that! He's so cute! I'm no expert on raw feeding, so no comments on that aspect, but I did enjoy watching him struggle with it. Definitely slows down his meal and adds interest.

He's definitely considered young btw. Pretty much a large kitten at four and a half months - not an adult cat yet even.

 

[maxkitteh]

Hi Anne,

Thanks for watching! I figured some new raw-feeders would be interested. I know I certainly was (and am) before I switched to raw. Seeing how a cat reacts is pretty awesome when they take to it, and it might take a little longer for some cats. Max was never too interested in canned food so it was an easy choice for me.  

Congrats on a great site here too.

Dan

 

[jen]

So where do you get the raw meat from? Just any grocery store? And is it just the normal packages of raw chicken on a tray with plastic wrap in the meat section? Frozen? Fresh? Just curious, I am thinking of doing this, my cats would love it. They are little chubbies.

 

[auntie crazy]

Hi Anne,

Thanks for watching! I figured some new raw-feeders would be interested. I know I certainly was (and am) before I switched to raw. Seeing how a cat reacts is pretty awesome when they take to it, and it might take a little longer for some cats. Max was never too interested in canned food so it was an easy choice for me.  

Congrats on a great site here too.

Dan

Hi, Dan! Welcome to TCS!

I'm with you on the visual impact of watching a cat eat raw food; it hits on a deeply visceral level that our beloved furfaces really are carnivorous, akin to snakes and birds of prey in their feeding habits.

Bone-in meals tend to bring that out even more. I saw it with my own cats and I hear it from others often, how the cats will growl and carry on over their first chicken wing or mouse. It's an experience for them and us!  :-}

AC

P.S. Glad to see another raw feeder here!!!

 

[maxkitteh]

Hi Auntie Crazy,

Love your name LOL. Yeah, cats are very smart, and Max knows the value of some food over others. The only reason I can't feed him meat on bone more often is because he considers the food so valuable that he wants to run around the house with it...so, I either have to cage him for this type of food or just watch him. Even with bits of meat he has to tear apart himself, he'll occasionally flip a piece into the air...which is either a great Orca imitation or perhaps kitteh exuberance, or perhaps a practical harnessing of gravity and inertia. That I can deal with though. 

Also, the cost of raw feeding is quite reasonable. If one looks for manager's specials or meat that's near or past it's sell-by date, the values are quite good, and sometimes the meat is pre-sliced but still gives kitty something to chew on to break pieces off further. My cat is actually at the teething age so biting and chewing meat is satisfying for him I think (better his food than my arm heh). I'm finding that his raw meat goes a long way. The real trick is knowing how much to have thawed at any time but I'm more familiar with how much my cat eats now...and his appetite has gone through the roof since I first got him (then again stress probably affected things too). 

It's actually quite fun giving him various meats/organs to see how he handles it, with Primal raw as a base (for the bone and balanced nutrient formula). I'll try chicken-on-bone again just to see how he handles it...any recommendations to keep a cat in one place when they want to carry food around? Maybe some kind of foldable fence thing.

 

 

[auntie crazy]

Yeah, the runaway diner is one of the problems I hear about most frequently. My personal solution was to cage the cats that have a tendency to roam with or play with their food (the sound of a freshly-thawed mouse hitting the floor from a sky-high toss by an "exuberant" feline is something I never want to hear again!!). It might seem like overkill, but trying to keep a cat from doing as his natural inclinations dictate is not a fight that's worth pursuing, in my opinion. Far better to just give him what he's looking for - in this case, a secure place in which to consume his dinner. (I purchased these cages from Midwest, via Amazon.)

A wonderful and unexpected side benefit to crating them is that my lovely Rachel now feels confident and secure enough to take as much time as she needs to eat her full meal. Before, she was too nervous to stay at her plate long enough to eat everything offered, and her weight suffered a bit as a result.

You're right about the money, too. Though it's contrary to intuition for many, raw feeders almost invariably save large chunks of cash when they switch from canned to raw foods. My cat food bill, for six kitties, was literally cut IN HALF when I made the transition. (If you're at all interested, you can read about my transition on CatCentric.org.)

Raw feeders save money up front, save money on litter costs, and save money on veterinarian costs. What's not to LOVE?

AC

 

[maxkitteh]

So where do you get the raw meat from? Just any grocery store? And is it just the normal packages of raw chicken on a tray with plastic wrap in the meat section? Frozen? Fresh? Just curious, I am thinking of doing this, my cats would love it. They are little chubbies.

Sorry Jen! Totally forgot to respond to you. 

Raw diet comes from a few places. I basically use raw Primal brand formula as a base, since it has all the nutrients kittehs need, including bones and such. Unfortunately, Primal has 5% vegetable matter but I can overlook that, I guess. The lady at the pet-store tried to tell me that an obligate carnivore 'needs' 5% vegetables, but that makes about as much sense as an obligate herbivore having a diet of 5% meat. 

So, the Primal formula is something you could feed just by itself and your cat would get the nutrition it needs from raw, but I supplement various flavors of Primal with regular boneless raw meat from the grocery. Usually I buy whatever is on manager's special, whether it's pork, chicken, beef or various organs (turkey or chicken hearts, liver, kidney). Once in a greater while I throw in a sardine. I like to mix up the flavors so my cat doesn't get to used to one type of food in particular or bored with anything. 

Another thing is to make sure your cat isn't allergic to a particular type of meat, or even a particular flavor of commercial raw. I gave my cat one type of food at first to check for allergies, then moved to new types. Now that I know he doesn't have food allergies I just mix it up a bit more, with food frozen and thawing at any one time based on how much he eats and how long raw stays fresh in the fridge. 

The raw diet should keep your cats thinner, as it takes more work to eat but they digest it better too (the longer time to chew gets the stomach ready) and of course, no fillers. I know there is some good canned food without fillers too, but raw is ideal. Dry food is the reason most kittehs get fat from what I've read, as they're trying to eat more to feel satisfied, and dry is just bad in general with respect to urinary blockage, diabetes, etc. 

Good luck, and please report back if you start your cats on raw. 

D


 

 

[melesine]

Yeah, the runaway diner is one of the problems I hear about most frequently. My personal solution was to cage the cats that have a tendency to roam with or play with their food (the sound of a freshly-thawed mouse hitting the floor from a sky-high toss by an "exuberant" feline is something I never want to hear again!!). It might seem like overkill, but trying to keep a cat from doing as his natural inclinations dictate is not a fight that's worth pursuing, in my opinion. Far better to just give him what he's looking for - in this case, a secure place in which to consume his dinner. (I purchased these cages from Midwest, via Amazon.)

A wonderful and unexpected side benefit to crating them is that my lovely Rachel now feels confident and secure enough to take as much time as she needs to eat her full meal. Before, she was too nervous to stay at her plate long enough to eat everything offered, and her weight suffered a bit as a result.

You're right about the money, too. Though it's contrary to intuition for many, raw feeders almost invariably save large chunks of cash when they switch from canned to raw foods. My cat food bill, for six kitties, was literally cut IN HALF when I made the transition. (If you're at all interested, you can read about my transition on CatCentric.org.)

Raw feeders save money up front, save money on litter costs, and save money on veterinarian costs. What's not to LOVE?

AC

Those Midwest cages are what we use to crate our dogs. Our German Shepherd puppy ate her raw food in one of those crates for months until she was ready to join the big dogs outside during meal time. I thought I'd have to crate the cats, but it turns out that they want to eat on the counter because they know the dogs can't get their food there, so they don't run off with it.  

 

[auntie crazy]

Originally Posted by Melesine  

Those Midwest cages are what we use to crate our dogs. Our German Shepherd puppy ate her raw food in one of those crates for months until she was ready to join the big dogs outside during meal time. I thought I'd have to crate the cats, but it turns out that they want to eat on the counter because they know the dogs can't get their food there, so they don't run off with it.  

Ha! Smart kitties!

AC