Raw or Lightly cooked?

[2crazykittens]

Hello

I have a question about the raw and lightly cooked meals and hope you all can lead me in the right direction.  I have two 9 month old kittens and a dog. They all currently eat a variety of canned food and we just started on the refrigerated lightly cooked meals by Freshpet. I really want the pets to eat a healthier diet but I do struggle financially and can only afford to feed them all for around 30-35 max dollars a week.

The kittens eat about three 3oz cans of food a day each so feeding raw exclusively seems a bit out of my price range. I could likely commit to at least feeding one or two of those meals a day raw, and still keep the canned food in the diet too. What do you think I should do?

The choices I have when it comes to the frozen raw and freeze dried raw I will list.

Honest Kitchen Freeze dried

Nature's Variety Frozen/Freeze dried

Primal Frozen/Freeze dried

Stella And Chewy's Freeze Dried (they have frozen but are listing their diets as good for both cat and dogs)

Freshpet Vital or Deli Fresh lightly cooked refrigerated meals

It would be helpful to know what brands are most popular with the cats. For now I just plan on starting them out on it as a treat, or a side to their current meals. I do have a mildly picky kitten so any flavor that anyone could suggest for a picky cat would be great!

 

[cprcheetah]

I feed 2 cats (one is 11# and one is 15#) a homemade raw diet for $5.25 a week.  They get chicken thighs from Sam's club, I follow the recipe on Catinfo.org. 

 

[2crazykittens]

Well making my own does seem like the better alternative to saving money. I am a little scared though to do it myself because I don't want to not be giving the right amount of the supplements. I don't have a meat grinder so that is out of the question, but i do have a food processor. Both my cats like chunky food so I wouldn't mind cutting it up for them.

I am looking at a website where I can get TCfeline plus supplement and only meat is required. If anyone has tried that product out I would love to hear how things went with that. Also I was hoping to get the cats started on partial cooked meats first then over to more raw later down the road as they get used to it, I am not sure if the supplement can be added after lightly cooking or if I put it in before I cook it???

 

Well I did find this on their site... http://tcfeline.com/2012/08/19/transition-challenge-1/ maybe i could try this idea?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

You can definitely use TC Feline with cooked meat.  Here is one of their recipes:  http://tcfeline.com/2010/08/16/cooked-meat/

And it is DEFINITELY much cheaper to make your own!  MUCH!!!!!   As far as that transition idea, rather than go to all the trouble of buying a BBQ chicken and having to take all the meat off the bone, I've just baked some boneless chicken thighs in the oven with some water added to the pan, tightly covered and used that for my protein, then added the supplements, more liquid if needed, etc.  Works the same and the cats loved it.  Saved a lot of time

 

[ldg]

Raw as a treat or one of the meals is always a healthy choice.

Several TCS members that I'm aware of have tried the Honest Kitchen, and I haven't seen any kitties like it yet. :dk:

The FreshPet is cooked, not raw, and rather heavy on the veggies.

The freeze dried Stella & Chewy's for cats is the most "species-appropriate" of the raw foods, but more expensive to use than the NV or Primal.

Cats generally seem to like NV and Primal. Both are somewhat fatty, that's why the cost is lower. Cats do well with fat though, it just means they need a little less because it's got more calories.

You can also just feed some chicken wings (the two smaller bones) and raw meat as treats. If you limit it to treats (totaling less than 15% of their total diet weekly), it's a great way to introduce healthier choices into their diet! :rub:

Oh - for your picky cat? As picky cats all have very individual taste, it's really just hit or miss. Just another reason to slice off bits of whatever you're making before you season and cook it - you won't waste money on a protein she doesn't like. :lol3:

 

[cliff conquest]

I ordered the sample size mix from tc feline and mixed it with boneless chicken I had ground up, but from what I gather as long as your kittens are up to it you can cut the meat into chunks and it will do the same thing. I gave it to my 12 year old who is generally finicky and my 16 year old, and they both cleaned their plates with gusto, so in my very limited experience I wouldn't say the partial cooking is needed. I would guess if you buy the mix for meat with bone, if it might be a little harder to get the bits of bone down to a manageable size without a grinder, but that said a manual (crank) grinder isn't all that expensive, it just needs a little elbow grease.

The only reason I bring up the bones is that (obviously) you'll be able to get the meat with bone cheaper (I am using chicken thighs, my first batch was boneless chicken breast). I would say you could do all this within your stated budget, and in theory save some $ in vet fees down the road. Cornish hen (bones in) also seems relatively inexpensive.

 

[2crazykittens]

Thanks!

I really appreciate all the helpful information. I think maybe I will start with the Freeze dried Stella's and just give the kitties random pieces of meat before I season it or feed it to them lightly cooked without seasonings while I wait for the supplement to come in. I love the idea that I can feed my kitties a nutritious meal at less of a cost than it is to feed them now on a commercial canned diet. Not to mention that the litter box will smell a little less offensive.

I feed 2 cats (one is 11# and one is 15#) a homemade raw diet for $5.25 a week.  They get chicken thighs from Sam's club, I follow the recipe on Catinfo.org. 

You can definitely use TC Feline with cooked meat.

Thank you mrsgreenjeens for clearing that up. I have saved the link to my favorites. 

That is a great idea LDG! I am surprised I didn't think of that.

My kitties always want whatever meat I am preparing at dinner time, must be a hint that they want real meat.

 

I ordered the sample size mix from tc feline

That is another great idea Cliff Conquest, just order a sample and see how it goes. I really like that you can do that before committing to a $45.00 bill.

I am glad I asked because I have really been thinking about doing this but have been putting it off due to a lack of information. I suppose I will also need a food scale to weigh the meat right?

 

[cprcheetah]

I don't have a grinder either.  I use boneless thighs and chop/grind/mix up in my Ninja food processor.  Works great for my crew.  I do add the eggshells for calcium though.

 

[cliff conquest]

Ozeri Pro Digital Kitchen Food Scale, 1g to 12 lbs Capacity

I bought this one from amazon for $16.95, and ordered with some over stuff to get the free shipping.