No experience

[mishi]

Hi once again everyone,
I'm totally new in keeping a cat. After reading many of the posts here on this forum about Raw food I decided to add a bit raw in my cat's diet as she ONLY intakes Royal Canin dry food.
I did a little research on youtube which seemed like a whirlpool of unknown ingredients too me and left me more and more confused.
My request here is that can any one of you please share the easiest way to feed my 3 years old cat some raw food? How also how many times a week? Considering she only LOVES her dry food.

Thanks.

 

[pawpurrints]

I'm new myself to raw (but I'm lucky in that I have 4 week old kittens whose food palettes aren't formed yet so I get to form it for them!).  But for starters, just add a few pieces of raw chicken in their dry and see if they notice.  Increase it little by little, then diving into the more balanced recipes out there.  But I would think with anything the key is gradual switcheroo.

 

[furmonster mom]

Congratulations on choosing to feed your furbaby a raw diet. 

Transitioning to raw should be done gradually.

First question I have is, are you planning to feed commercial raw, homemade (ground) raw, or prey model (whole or frankenprey)?

Second question I have is, how are you feeding now?  Scheduled feedings?  Free feeding?

Transitioning from one food to another should always be done gradually.  This is true even if you were switching up brands of kibble.  It's even more important when transitioning to raw.

The first step is usually to set a feeding schedule.  Set out a specific amount of food at specific times.  No more free feeding.

Personally, I recommend transitioning to canned food before transitioning to raw.  Introduce the new food literally a spoonful at a time with one meal.  Little by little, increase the amount of new food until you are feeding one meal of new food.  Once you're at that point, you could probably go a little quicker with transitioning the second meal (and then the third, if you feed 3 meals).  This process may take a few weeks, be patient.

Once you have successfully transitioned to wet food, and after a few months to stabilize, you can begin the process again with raw food.

Transitions take time and patience.  There was a video by Dr. Becker that someone recently posted, you might want to take a gander at it. 

 

[mishi]

@Furmonster Mom: i prefer feeding homemade raw.
Answer to second question is that i have been free feeding her since 1 week but I'm deciding to set up a schedule for feeding. The thing is she meows & asks for food and sits outside the room where her food is, like every 3 hrs. :/

Actually i've been told to not feed canned food, one of the reasons to this is because we don't have quite good brands here. ;(

So can someone tell me an easy way to make raw food? I'd be glad.
Thanks for replies guys.

 

[ritz]

Mishi, good for you for trying to feed raw.

I see  you're in Riyadh, so forgive my ignorance but:  what meats (protein) do you have ready access to?  Do you have a grinder (or, can you get one).  One that can grind bone (unless you can get eggs/egg shells).  With this information, we can maybe help you more.

Meanwhile, go wo www.catcentric.org for some good articles about feline nutrition and raw feeding.

And do check out the Resource Thread--lots of links to lots of good articles/links, including various options to feed raw (whole prey, frankenprey-prey model, homemade).

For an idea what a homemade raw diet consists of (versus prey model role), see Making Cat Food.  The author (a vet) lists the ingredients needed for a homemade (grind) diet.

 

[mishi]

As for meat, we have chicken and goat/cow meat easily available. And yes I have a grinder.
I saw manh recipies online, even on the sites you mentioned but I'm still very over whelmed. I don't have access to vitamins and supplements. I'm too confused. Can someone guide me to make raw in an easy way?
Please.
Thanks.

 

[Willowy]

For now, just start by giving her a small piece of raw meat every day. As long as it's only a small piece (less than 15% of her diet), you don't have to worry about it being balanced. When she gets used to that, you can expand, so you have a lot of time to research.

Read all the links Ritz posted, anything you need to know should be in there. There are ways to source any nutrient naturally, so you can do without supplements---it just takes extra effort. But do they have human vitamins in the stores there? They don't have to be special vitamins for pets. You just need to find out the proper dosage for a cat.

 

[furmonster mom]

okay... you don't have access to vitamins or supplements... do you have access to heart and organ meats? such as liver, spleen, lungs, brain, kidneys, or any other parts, excepting the entrails?

You may need to come up with your own recipes... don't get scared, there are lots of folks here that can help.

The first step in creating your own meals is going to involve some MATH... hey!  no running!

The basic premise is that you want your recipe to follow the 80-10-5-5 rule:

80% muscle meat (heart is considered muscle)

10% bone

5% liver

5% other organs

For an example, let's break that down by one pound.  One pound is 16 ounces, sooo...

80% * 16 = 12.8 oz

10% * 16 =   1.6 oz

5%   * 16 =     .8 oz

5%   * 16 =     .8 oz

The motto of most raw feeders is that variety is key.  

So, maybe one recipe is chicken with bones, heart, beef liver, beef kidney, and maybe toss in an egg for good measure. 

But then you might have another recipe with beef, eggshell, liver, and spleen. 

Maybe another would be goat meat, chicken backs/necks, liver, lung, and maybe some brains to boot.

Those are just some simplistic ideas.  I'm sure that other folks will be able to work with you to get a more complete nutrient profile.

 

[mishi]

Wow, thanks! I couldnt find a recipe anywhere else without vitamins and suppliments. You're great. May God bless you.

 

[furmonster mom]

Remember, that's just a starting point.  You'd still need to evaluate your ingredients for nutrients. 

Taurine is an important one that you might see a lot of people fussing about.  If you feed a variety of heart meats, you should be fine.

The bone/calcium ratio is the one that trips most people up.  There are a few threads here where folks discuss it in depth.  A lot depends on whether you decide to use whole bones or eggshell in your recipe.

There are also all kinds of little extras you can give on the side (outside of your recipe): sardines (in water), a dallop of yogurt, a little hard cheese (like parmesan), ... the important thing is variety.

Take your time transitioning, for kitty AND for yourself. 

Transitioning cats to new foods should always be done slowly, so Willowy's suggestion is spot on. 

While you are transitioning kitty, use that time to do some reading through the links in Ritz's post.  Take your time.  Maybe study one link/site at a time.  Eventually all the little details will soak in, and it will all click to together.  Once it does, you'll be amazed at how easy raw feeding can be.

 

[ravencorbie]

Just a quick note on dairy: some cats have dairy allergies and will throw up if they get dairy. I know this is true of my cat: I was giving her some parmesan cheese as a treat, and that very night she threw up twice. That's the only time she's ever thrown up. One of my mom's cats also throws up with dairy. I say this not to discount Furmonster Mom's point, but that if you DO give your cat dairy as you're transitioning, and she throws up, it might just be the dairy. Maybe give it to your cat in isolation and see what happens, or wait until you know how she acts on the rest of the raw diet.

 

[furmonster mom]

Heh... good point RavenCorbie.  I tend to forget that most folks only get the processed milk in the grocery store.  I have a source for raw milk, which includes the enzymes that balance the lactose.  Also goats milk is generally low in lactose, so goat cheese and yogurt should be on the safe list.  But, as you say, best to test with a small amount first. 

 

[rv-kitty]

I'm new here and have 4 cats from age 11 months to 4 years.  I've been feeding them raw meat along with their canned food. They get some kibble at night as a treat. I want to learn more about raw feeding. 

 

[pushylady]

Hi RV Kitty! You've come to the right place to learn about raw. Please browse this forum and start your own thread if you have any questions. There are a lot of very knowledgeable people here who can help.


Good luck with the transition Mishi! At least you're trying to get your cat on a better diet.