start of a raw diet

[selfus]

I've been transitioning my cat to a raw meat diet; I wondering if someone could give me feedback about what I'm currently feeding her (if it's OK or not), since I'm new at this. I've been reading www.catnutrition.org and plan on following the main recipe.

Today, I put 12 oz raw organic beef liver and 24 oz raw locally-sourced chicken thigh (previously had been frozen in bite-size pieces in sandwich bags) in the food processor, and portioned this mixture into 1/2-cup servings into individual plastic bags (to put in freezer, and one bag for the fridge). I'm feeding her twice a day, each FEEDING consists of 1/4 cup of the liver and thigh mixture, mixed in with 1/2 can of store-bought wet food (I've been buying Core Wellness trout flavor).

Does this sound like a good recipe for my cat until I can purchase a meat grinder (eventually I want to be including raw chicken bones).

 

[selfus]

I forgot to add that my cat is a Maine Coon mix (I think, I adopted her a few years ago), and she weighs 15 pounds. She is slightly overweight, as Maine Coon females apparently are supposed to weigh 12-13 pounds. Do I need to be feeding her more than what I listed above? I don't want her to lose that excess weight too quickly; it's difficult to tell when a cat is hungry, so I don't know if I'm putting out enough food. I don't want to put her at risk for any disease due to not having enough food/not frequently enough. Should I be feeding her 3 times a day? So far today, I've put out her serving for 30 minutes and let her eat as much of it as she wanted; she ate most of it, then left and came back in 5 minutes to eat more, left and came back for 5 mins again, and finished it up.

 

[Willowy]

That's too much liver . I'm surprised she hasn't had an upset tummy, as organ meats are quite rich. And beef liver is very high in copper so you want to go easy on it (chicken liver is a better source for the daily diet). You want to keep liver to 10% of the diet (well, ideally, 5% liver and 5% other organ like kidney or pancreas, but 10% liver will do if you can't get other organs). Plus, 1/2 cup of raw and a whole can of cat food is likely too much food; most adult cats only need about 4 oz of raw or 5-6 oz of canned per day, so giving her both is kind of double-feeding.

We have a whole subforum dedicated to homemade diets! Check out our resource threads:
http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263955/helpful-resources-raw-home-cooked-cat-food-forum
http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources

ETA: Saw the new post---yes, most cats prefer 3 meals a day---many of us do it before work, after work, and before bed (for people who work; of course some people have more flexibility). As for what she should weigh, go by body condition, not weight. Can you see her waist? Does she have a lot of flab hanging down? Is she noticeably round? Can you feel her ribs at all?

 

[selfus]

Thanks for the reply. I don't want to throw out all the beef liver/chicken thigh if I don't have to, can I still give her some daily? Should I throw it all out?

 

[mschauer]

You don't have to throw it out but like Willowy says it has way too much liver. With 12 oz of liver you should have used about 240 oz of meat, not 24 oz.. Using it in the short term isn't likely to cause any problem beyond what Willowy mentioned, stomach upset.  The biggest concern with liver is vitamin A toxicity. But you would have to feed her *a lot* of liver over a long period for toxic levels to build up in her system.

Personally, I would add a bunch of meat to it to dilute the liver.

Is there a reason why you didn't follow the catnutrition.org recipe???

 

[ldg]

As to how much to feed her, you don't run the risk of fatty liver if she's eating at least 50% of her lean body weight (ideal weight) need.

Yes, it's best to have them lose weight slowly. But as Willowy said, most adult cats only need about one 5.5 ounce can of food a day. My adult kitties, that weigh between 11 pounds and 14 pounds all only needed one can a day. On raw, they need different amounts, but that ranges from 3.6 ounces a day for the (now) 13.5 pound cat to 4.2 ounces a day - 4.5 ounces a day for most of the rest of them.

I don't let my cats snack: meal time is meal time. I put the bowl down, they eat all of it. But I'm using measured amounts of food.

The best way to manage it is to put out measured amounts of food at each meal. Either expect her to eat all of it, or weigh how much is left when she walks away after however much time you're comfortable leaving it down - whether that's when she first walks away, or if you want to leave it out for half an hour. But the point is to have a "set" amount of food she's "supposed" to eat in whatever time-frame, so you know how much she's eating at meals.

For the first few months, weigh her once or twice a week to keep track of her weight, and adjust the amount of food she gets at each meal accordingly. I take their daily need to maintain their stable ideal weight, and divide it into three meals. I feed them before work, after work, and before bed.

 

[selfus]

I'm not yet following the recipe on catnutrition because I don't have a grinder yet.

I looked at the feeding guide on the Nature's Variety website, and for her weight and activity level, she should be eating 7.0-7.5 oz of canned food per day, which seems like a more reasonable amount than 5.5 oz. I fed her 2.75 oz canned food at 7:30 AM, and by 12:30 PM she was already really hungry. Until I get the grinder and follow the recipe on catnutrition, I'm going to feed her 1 1/3 cans of food, split up into 3 meals. Does that sound OK?

I also can't weigh her as I don't have a scale. I know her weight from the vet visit last Spring, and she looks the same now as she did then.

 

[Willowy]

How old is she now? Is she spayed? Most manufacturer's suggestions are too much for an adult spayed/neutered housepet; I think they're based on a fairly active intact cat's caloric needs (being in heat burns calories :tongue2. But of course you need to go by her body condition, not by how much she "should" be eating, one way or the other. So start with the 1 1/3 cans and if she starts to get chubby, cut back, if she looks too thin, bump it up a little.

If she's adventurous and will eat chunks of meat, it's not necessary to get a grinder. It's easier to get a commercial-food addict to eat ground raw, but if she doesn't mind chunks, no reason to grind. Try offering her chunks of meat and see what she thinks. You can even try a chicken wing to see if she knows what to do with bones.

You can still use the thigh/liver mixture, just add some more muscle meat to it and keep it to less than 15% of her diet until you figure out a calcium source. If she likes it, no reason not to!