Hey guys! I'm new and looking for some info on feeding a cat raw. My fiance and I are going to meet our hopefully new addition on Sunday and am super excited because I've wanted a cat for so long!! He is currently fed Blue Buffalo dry and "treated" to Friskies now and again but I would like to change him to raw. I feed my Pekapom raw and it is SO much cheaper than actual "pet food" which I'm sure would be the case with cat food too. I know cats are obligated carnivores which happens to be how I feed my dog too because she cannot have ANY grains, fruits, veggies, whatever or she completely breaks out in bloody hot spots all over her body. So she only eats muscle meats, organs/offal and bones. She gets a wide variety of body parts and animals to keep a good balance of nutrition. Would this be enough for a cat too or do I have to supplement anything specific? (IE. Do I need a taurine supplement even if I feed parts high in it) I'm just not sure how much difference there is or will be required altering what I feed my dog vs. What I'll need to feed the cat.
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Raw Fed Dog vs. Cat?
- Thread starter chwx
- Start Date
Hi and welcome to TCS and especially the Raw forum. This resource stickied thread http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources will answer all your questions. Are you feeding your dog frankenprey style or ground raw?
If you're feeding frankenprey (Prey Model Raw) in the classic 80% muscle meat / 5% liver / 5% other secreting organ / <10% bone, some PMR feeders would argue you do not need to supplement. Personally, I would still supplement some extra taurine (although extra heart would be fine too) and supplement occasionally with raw egg yolks and sardines/salmon oil as well.
If you're feeding frankenprey (Prey Model Raw) in the classic 80% muscle meat / 5% liver / 5% other secreting organ / <10% bone, some PMR feeders would argue you do not need to supplement. Personally, I would still supplement some extra taurine (although extra heart would be fine too) and supplement occasionally with raw egg yolks and sardines/salmon oil as well.
I agree with vBall91. Cats are obviously smaller than dogs, you'd just have to adjust the amounts accordingly. This is especially true regarding bone. I feed the low end of bone (7%) because Ritz gets constipated easily. With a cat (unless he/she is outdoors) you have an easier time checking the state of his digestion--what goes in (hopefully) comes out. In other words, you can easily check the consistency of the poop and amount of pee.
You might want to start your cat on probiotics; the way a cat digests raw is quite different from dry. Check out the transition threads.
I feed prey model raw (frankenprey). I personally only supplement with the occasional 1/2 cooked egg yolk and krill oil. I do give her a probiotic daily,
If you can feed it to your cat, you can feed it to your dog (the opposite is not always the case).
You might want to start your cat on probiotics; the way a cat digests raw is quite different from dry. Check out the transition threads.
I feed prey model raw (frankenprey). I personally only supplement with the occasional 1/2 cooked egg yolk and krill oil. I do give her a probiotic daily,
If you can feed it to your cat, you can feed it to your dog (the opposite is not always the case).
The main difference is that cats tend to imprint on their food so can be harder to transition to raw (most dogs will eat anything!) and you can't let cats go hungry in order to get them to eat their raw (cats can get hepatic lipidosis if they go too long without food). Other than that, prey model raw for a dog and prey model raw for a cat are the same.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
I actually feed both depending on what I can get. I do feed a lot of hearts since they're cheap/free depending on the seasons. I'm lucky to have access to a huge variety of animals including chicken, beef, turkey, lamb, venison, quail, squirrel, rabbit, ect and could possibly get the stomach to offer whole foods such as mice for kitty if he will eat it. Lol! I also feed eggs a lot because I get them free from my moms neighbor. I could work around bone percentages easily with everything I feed. My main worry is taurine since it is such a vital nutrient for cats. But as stated before, a variety of animal hearts are fed as a main muscle meat since I have several sources that offer them cheap/free to me. Mostly chicken, turkey and beef hearts but others when I get the chance to snag them. I just want to know that this would be enough to not need a supplement. (Though I can buy one if I need to)
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
Noooo I won't starve kitty over it! I'm hoping he takes to it otherwise I'll try and go slow with minuscule amounts and build it up. If nothing else, she said he REALLY loves canned food so at least getting him off dry stuff would make me feel better. I'm just so partial to raw because of the benefits I've seen feeding it to my dog. I want kitty to live a long, healthy and happy life like Zoey has. (Soon to be 15! 
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)I think if you feed hearts regularly, you're probably fine without supplementing taurine. Many PMR feeders do not supplement because they don't feel it's necessary. I think those of us who do supplement taurine just like the additional peace of mind from supplementing it because it is so important, and it's almost impossible to over-supplement it. Or they feed some or all ground and are not sure how much is lost in the grinding process.
