Raw Feeding a cat vs. Raw Feeding a dog

[stillandsilent]

What are the major differences? My beautiful Whippet/Bassett mix, Argon, has been raw fed for two years, and has never been healthier. I recently added a 16 week old persian kitten, Cheshire. I have had her on kibble while she transitions to my home (I am her third), but I would like for her to be raw fed also.
I have offered her pinky mice, which she was quite enthusiastic about, but I don't want to make the complete jump until I am sure I am doing things right.
Obviously, she will be getting much smaller portions than Argon, but what else should I know? Are there any meats that I should not give her, or that should be fed in moderation?
Argon does the Frankenprey model, but I'm thinking that whole prey might be better for a cat? She weighs right at 4 lbs. Is she too small for whole mice? The store charges the same for a whole mouse as it does for a pinky, so it would be a money saver if I could feed big ones.
She is also the first baby I will be raw feeding, so is there any difference between feeding her and feeding an adult animal?
Chesh is dazzled by Argon's meals, and has to be restrained from going in there and helping herself, so I think she would have an easy transition.

 

[sharky]

Dogs have a true need for a reasonable amount of veggie matter ... cats have a 3-5% vs 10-15% for a dog...

Personally feeding mice should be done cautiously... as only a few sites online use proper methods for growing and killing the mice...

kittens like puppies eat 4-10% of wt a day

10 lb adult or 5 lb kitten roughly 4-5 oz

 

[auntie crazy]

Originally Posted by StillandSilent

What are the major differences? My beautiful Whippet/Bassett mix, Argon, has been raw fed for two years, and has never been healthier. I recently added a 16 week old persian kitten, Cheshire. I have had her on kibble while she transitions to my home (I am her third), but I would like for her to be raw fed also.
I have offered her pinky mice, which she was quite enthusiastic about, but I don't want to make the complete jump until I am sure I am doing things right.
Obviously, she will be getting much smaller portions than Argon, but what else should I know? Are there any meats that I should not give her, or that should be fed in moderation?
Argon does the Frankenprey model, but I'm thinking that whole prey might be better for a cat? She weighs right at 4 lbs. Is she too small for whole mice? The store charges the same for a whole mouse as it does for a pinky, so it would be a money saver if I could feed big ones.
She is also the first baby I will be raw feeding, so is there any difference between feeding her and feeding an adult animal?
Chesh is dazzled by Argon's meals, and has to be restrained from going in there and helping herself, so I think she would have an easy transition.

The primary difference between feeding cats and dogs is that cats have no need to be fed anything that isn't animal-based. See Dr. Pierson's website catinfo.org for in-depth feline nutrition info.

The only difference between feeding a kitten and feeding an adult cat is that kittens eat more food, more often. Your kitty will let you know if she can't handle full-grown mice - I'd offer her a couple and see how she does. If she's reluctant, step back to the pinkies and slowly work your way up to adults. And I'd get her off the kibble ASAP, even if you have to transition her to canned before a full transition to raw.

Here's a thread with a bunch of frankenprey-related info: Natural Diet Information Resources.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[sharky]

Make sure you validate all online advise with a in the flesh professional

 

[mimosa]

Mothers in the wild will start offering mice to their young from 4 weeks onward. Kittens as young as five weeks have been observed killing and eating mice themselves. (source; the domestic cat; the biology of its behaviour, ed Dennis Turner)
From personal experience; my foster kittens ate whole adult mice at 5 weeks old with no problems. (they also stole half quails - as big as they were

- from my adult cats and ate parts of those)

There are only a few differences I can think of between feeding a kitten or an adult cat. Kittens need more food per kilogram of bodyweight, about 6% in stead of 3% for an adult cat. They need more frequent meals than adult cats because they cannot eat as much food in one sitting due to their smaller stomachs.
Adult cats can eat bigger bones (eg leg bones from chicken) with their adult teeth and better developed jaw muscles than kittens can.

A domestic cat would never be able to catch a big prey animal like a cow nor eat its bones because they are too hard.
That makes the "frankenprey" method of feeding a little more complicated, because your cat needs 10-15 % edible bone in its diet (or it should be replaced by calcium supplements) and a lot of cats even find chicken bones a tad hard to eat. But if you find a way around that (or if you have a cat like my Ernesto who is determined to gnaw anything you give him) you can definitely use that way of feeding for your cat too. They are quite a lot of people who do.

Feeding whole prey is a bit easier because in an (adult) prey animal all the nutrients are present in the right proportions plus when you feed the natural prey of cats (rodents, small fowl) the bones will be very easy for the cat to deal with.

 

[auntie crazy]

Originally Posted by Mimosa

Mothers in the wild will start offering mice to their young from 4 weeks onward. Kittens as young as five weeks have been observed killing and eating mice themselves. (source; the domestic cat; the biology of its behaviour, ed Dennis Turner)

Good reference, Mimosa!

 

[sharky]

Mice are not the issue ... the care of pet store feeders is ... I suggest researching it prior to feeder mice ... Countries also vary on what can be feed, killed etc