Moving From Raw To Cooked

[qissycat]

I’ve been feeding my cats raw since they were about 3 months old (one is 1 year old, the other is 9 months). I buy my raw from a small local business that follows Dr. Pierson’s guide pretty closely, just not partially cooked. Aside from Ms Picky needing fishy toppers with her raw, they do beautifully on the diet. But a logistic situation has arisen where I need to feed them the cooked equivalent of what I’ve been feeding them for about 2 weeks – a month. So all meat and no carbs/fillers etc.

Questions:

- Is cooked food worse than raw because of the lost nutrition, or are they equal if the nutrition they are getting is the same amount? How do I ensure they will be getting the same nutritional value as raw food?

- Are there any quick and good cooked recipes? I can’t do what most people here do where they buy pre-ground meat from Hare Today and supplement with a pre-mix. I am based in SE Asia and no such thing as pre-mixed supplements here. I would have to buy each supplement separately.

- Do I have to go through the transition process with my cats from raw to cooked?


Thank you in advance!

 

[mschauer]

Below is a link to a bunch of cooked recipes, including nutrient analysis, I've developed for various people over the years. Most of them don't require a pre-mix but use individual nutrient supplements.
Cooked Recipes - Google Drive

I don't know of any evidence that a raw or cooked diet for a cat is better or worst. Some vitamins are degraded by the heat of cooking but a significant amount remain. I do personally prefer that as many nutrients as possible come in their natural form from animal meats and organs but I also know there are actually some nutrients that are more bioavailable in synthetic form so ... Cooking at low heat will minimize nutrient loss.

The only transition you might need to do is for getting them to accept the different food. No transition period is needed for health reasons.

 

[qissycat]

Wow thank you so much mschauer! Found most supplements that you used in the recipes, just need a couple of clarification:
- Is the NOW Taurine that you used double strength? I found this one locally: Now Foods Taurine 1000 mg - 100 Caps - eVitamins Malaysia
- What dosage of chelated manganese. I found this brand, is it okay?: Carlson Labs Chelated Manganese - 100 Tablets - eVitamins Malaysia
- I can’t get Morton lite salt in my country. What can be substituted here? We have Pink Himalayan Salt, or regular table salt.
- For the salmon recipe, can I substitute the salmon with equal amount of mackerel? It’s cheaper and more widely available here.

Thank you again!

 

[mschauer]

The NOW Taurine used in the recipe provides 1000 mg taurine per 1/4 tsp. You can use that to determine how much of your product to use.

The manganese in the recipes is 10 mg manganese per capsule.

The lite salt called for is as a source of iodine, not salt. In the US iodized salt ( salt with added iodine ) is pretty common and is labeled as "iodized salt". But the regular type isn't appropriate for use in our recipes because the sodium content is too high. So, in our recipes we use lite iodized salt to get the iodine but less sodium.

You can look for a light iodized salt product or else use a straight iodine supplement. I'll have to look when I get home to see how much iodine the Morton's product actually provides.

I'll have to look into the mackerel question when I get home also. Are you planning on fish making up a significant part of your cats diet? I ask because fish usually has a good bit of iodine already but exactly how much isn't so easily found.

 

[mschauer]

OK, the NOW powered taurine has 1000 mg taurine per 1/4 tsp.

Substituting mackerel for salmon results in a pretty similar nutrient analysis. Note though that that food falls short of several important nutrients like iron. It should only be used for occasional feeding and shouldn't make up a large portion of the diet.

 

[qissycat]

Thank you so much for clarifying!

I think I've found something similar to Morton Lite here. The product is light salt that is iodised: Fine Foods™ - brand originates from the Consumer Division of LCP Supplies (M) Sdn Bhd (ignore the pushy marketing talk)

I was planning to feed fish one day a week, at least for my fish-loving cat. Do you think that's too much? Should I do that once a month instead?

 

[mschauer]

I don't see anywhere on their web site that says how much iodine it contains. Maybe you can contact the manufacturer and ask them?

Personally I would be comfortable with once a week.

 

[qissycat]

Thanks, I've sent them an email. May I know how much I should be aiming for?

 

[mschauer]

The Morton's lite salt contains .06 mg Iodine per 1/4 tsp. You can use that to figure out how much iodine each recipe requires.