New to TCS, wondering about Canadian options for raw meat

tiliqua

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Hi all.  In my frankenprey research I stumbled on this forum and found the raw subforum great so I decided to join.  :)

I have four of my own cats and I also foster.  Because of the fosters and a busy work schedule I can't feed 100% raw or frankenprey - when I'm away the boyfriend or petsitter will feed pre-made raw or canned but aren't so sure about frankenprey.  For the fosters, they get offered the same as the other cats but I have lots of grain free canned and if they are stubborn grain free kibble on hand - I don't try too hard to switch them to raw as their forever homes likely won't feed it, although lots of them have eaten the premade raw foods.  Invariably, my cats sneak bites of the fosters canned food or finish off whatever is leftover!  The place I foster with would supply all food / litter but I'd rather not have Science Diet in the house, and it is easier with so many cats to feed them a couple times a day, healthy meals and not try to feed everyone different foods!

For my four cats, 3 will happily eat most anything - chunks of meat, organs, necks, etc.  The oldest is a bit of a holdout, but she eats premade, commercially available raw food very well and I'm working on slowly adding more chewable raw foods in.  I've been taking a while sourcing everything to feed a healthy frankenprey menu so for now I've just been feeding raw organs / meat / necks etc as treats and less than 15%.  I think I'm pretty close to having what I need to feed a balanced frankenprey menu and could use some advice!

First off, do any Canadians have tips on where to buy raw food items?  So far I've been sourcing local farmers market vendors and I have a place to buy frozen mice.  Do we have anything like Hare Tomorrow in Canada?  And great supplement places?

I have access to (all organic except the mice):

- chicken (whole or meat)

- chicken necks

- chicken heart, liver, gizzards

- cornish hens

- beef heat / liver / tongue

- beef stew meat / muscle meat

- bison / turkey / pork cuts of meat

- mice

- eggs

More questions...

I read that if you are feeding grass fed / organic meat you don't need to supplement fish oils necessarily. I haven't found small, whole fish yet but I'm looking - I'll try to add those in or salmon, do you think it is totally necessary to add weekly, even if I'm feeding organic / grass fed meats?

My cats aren't huge egg fans - they lick up a bit, but not much - 4 cats plus 2 fosters don't finish a whole egg mixed with warm water.  Thoughts?  How hard should I try to get them to eat egg?

For organs - I've only been able to find liver, gizzards and heart (which is more of a muscle meat than organ).  Is liver / gizzards enough or should I look a lot harder to try to find kindey / pancreas / spleen?  I'd like to start feed about 50% frankenprey, but I don't want to start if I NEED kindey / spleen / pancreas.

Other than cat grass, that's all I have.  What is everyone's thoughts on probiotic supplements or taurine supplements?  I'm hoping to feed enough heart that taurine supplement isn't necessary, please let me know if you feel otherwise!  Is there anything else I should be trying to supplement / purchase?

I hope to add other foods in as I can buy them (duck etc).  Thanks for any advice and thoughts!
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I'm bumping this is for those Canadians out there!  I KNOW we have some who feed raw, just can't think of their names at the moment
.  As to supplements, I know TCFeline is a Canadian company, and their supplement line looks really good

As to your organ question, I, personally only feed liver to one of mine, simply because I order from Hare Today, and their ground mix with organ only contains liver (since hearts and gizzards are, as you noted, considered muscle meats).  One of my other cats currently eats only Frankenprey with Call of the Wild on it, therefore really eats NO "real" organs, just whatever is in the Call of the Wild, which replaces the need for organs.  I do have a bottle of powdered pancreas, but I forget to sprinkle it on but every once in a blue moon
.  Same with eggs.  Mine aren't really fond of it.  Even mixed into their food they aren't really fond of it.  But I DO give them Krill Oil every day, and Egg Yolk Lecithin, and the one who eats Hare Today ground also gets Alnutrin supplementation.  And they also get probiotics daily.  I, personally, think probiotics are important.  I take them too...the same ones in fact 
.  I don't add additional Taurine, however, because it's already included in the supplements that I add.  
 
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tiliqua

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Thank you so much for the TCFeline advice - that is very helpful!  What probiotics do you use?

I think I'm doing fairly well with this - since I posted, I've picked up whole sardines in water (my four weren't too fussed for them, the foster kitties were much bigger fans) and located an organic butcher shop that will sell bone dust, premade, ground dog / cat food (with 3-4% bone, 5% liver, 5% other organs and all chicken / beef or both meat), kidneys, other organs on request, plus a huge variety of beef, chicken, pork, bison, elk, veal, goat, lamb etc.  So I'm just putting together an order from this place, with all of this available I think I can safely switch to frankenprey with a nice variety.  The premade food is much cheaper than commercial varieties, so I will keep some on hand for convenience / petsitter / boyfriend feedings.

I also have a bunch of mice and rats coming, so those who will eat them will get some whole prey items.

I only have cornish hens and chicken, so I'm looking to get some more fowl varietey, although they all seem to eat red meat readily (I'd like to keep it to no more than 50% red meat).  I have one farm I can get them from but it is very pricey.

I'll come up with a rough menu and likely post it for feedback.  I'm feeling confident with this but I'd love comments and feedback from experienced feeders.  Thanks again!
 

obzilla

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First off, do any Canadians have tips on where to buy raw food items?  So far I've been sourcing local farmers market vendors and I have a place to buy frozen mice.  Do we have anything like Hare Tomorrow in Canada?  And great supplement places?
Hey there!

I can help a bit with the Hare Tomorrow question.

http://www.recorp.ca/order-live-pet-food.php

Scroll down, they have chicks, quail, along with rats and mice of all sizes (worms and such too if you're brave). I haven't used them yet, but I have sent an inquiry for shipping costs on what'd be my first order.

Also in Toronto, these guys https://www.facebook.com/WilkinsRodent

They deliver around the Toronto/Southern Ontario area twice a month. 

Also checking your local kijiji for frozen feeders should turn up someone who breeds mice and rats for feeders.
 
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tiliqua

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I can help a bit with the Hare Tomorrow question.

http://www.recorp.ca/order-live-pet-food.php

Scroll down, they have chicks, quail, along with rats and mice of all sizes (worms and such too if you're brave). I haven't used them yet, but I have sent an inquiry for shipping costs on what'd be my first order.
Thank you!  I haven't found rabbit, chicks or quail yet, that is great.  I have a good supplier for rats / mice already.  Can you let me know how reasonable the shipping is please?
 

obzilla

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Thank you!  I haven't found rabbit, chicks or quail yet, that is great.  I have a good supplier for rats / mice already.  Can you let me know how reasonable the shipping is please?
Will do. I asked for a shipping rate on Friday, I believe. I still haven't heard back. They're probably not in on the weekends. I'll let you know once I hear back.

 
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