Questions regarding muscle meats, bone content etc.

[rescuekitten]

I've only posted here a few times before, regarding some issues with my three cats, but I figured this would be the place to come now that I'm thinking about switching the kitties to raw.

I've added a kitten recently (a stray, a week ago) to the mix so the cat roster is: Mom (approx. 4 - 13'ish lbs) Ira (approx. 3 - 20lbs) Sickey (approx. 3 - 18'ish lbs) and lastly, the newb, Nyx (approx. 7months - 4.5 lbs)

I feed my dogs raw so the meats I have readily available in large amounts are; tripe (I don't think I've ever heard of anyone feeding this to cats) turkey/beef/bison heart, beef/bison liver, turkey wings, chicken carcass/neck, beef lung and a ground offal mix (beef kidney, spleen, liver, lung). I think I got it all. I could get a ground bone in chicken mix if necessary.

What's the best choice for bone?

Is it okay for a large portion of their muscle meat to be heart?

The new kitten Nyx has taken straight away to eating raw. This is her second day eating full raw meals but the rest of my cats clearly need some coaxing. I read on a website to switch them over to a canned diet, and mix in some raw pieces to get them used to the texture and taste. I have a whole case of likely a nasty brand, Fancy Feast, that was intended to make the introduction process more positive with the new kitten so I'd like to use that up, but what brands of canned food are recommended?

 

[sharky]

most start with necks if chicken

 

[auntie crazy]

Chicken ribs are good, too. They're small, thin and easy to crunch through - which makes 'em good starter bones. My cats - go figure - still don't like to eat necks, so they get chicken wings (the tips and middle pcs) twice a week and ribs once a week.

Oh, yeah, quail, chicks and mice are good, too.

Feeding lots of heart is fine, but keep in mind you do want as much variety as you can get.

If you need to mix canned with the raw to get the cats transitioned to raw, I'm thinking it doesn't really matter what kind of canned - as long as the cats like it, of course. :-) If you're offering a LOT of canned, then I'd go with a grain-free kind like the Wellness Grain-free varieties.

 

[alias]

Alot of heart can cause a dicky tummy in cat's apparently but i haven't found this. You should be feeding 80% muscle meat such as chicken, pork, turkey etc with around 15% of this being heart. Heart, allthough considered offal is sometimes descibed as muscle.