Substituting bone for egg shell

[catman12]

My cat is older with a kidney issues, and I'd like to try to put him on raw. The main problem is bone phosphorus. Instead of the 6% bone, can I add ground egg shells instead and keep everything else the same PMR wise?

 

[StefanZ]

What about phosphorus, I dont know. Bone or egg shells are usually used as a source of calcium. (and yes, its often the question of balance calcium and phosphorus, when phosphorus is from meat, calcium from bones or egg shells. Or goats milk or youghurt.)

I personally dont know the exact count of bone contra egg shells, but egg shells as such, crushed into a fine powder, is a good source for calcium.

 

[catman12]

Yeah, the phosphorus would come from the meat. Also egg shell powder would have a higher calcium content than bones. How can I know how much powder to add? I want the ratios to be right.

 

[minish]

Here is some info:
Whole Bone Alternatives: When and How to Use Them in a Raw Fed Cat's Diet.
Some recipes have Eggshell alternatives and there is also some info here in the older threads

 

[catman12]

That's exactly what I needed! Thanks!

 

[Tobermory]

I use eggshell calcium that I make myself. This site has info about how to make your own and how much to use. StackPath

Feline-nutrition.org and catinfo.org are two of the most reputable sites for information on making your own cat food.

 

[catman12]

Ok got it. Now another question. How would I transition him? Can I buy Darwins 2lb pre packaged food and slowly add it into his canned food and slowly wean him off canned? This seems to be the easier route, since it already has organs and different meats. Or should I start with chicken and do the usual introduction? If it's the latter, how would I go about it? Do I just add chicken to canned food and slowly get him off canned? Then start with different protein, then organs, etc? Thanks

 

[minish]

Here is the link from feline nutrition
StackPath
I have no need for transitioning for minish since I switch her foods frequently. Her digestion is very adaptive. Another reason for transitioning is the cat may refuse the new food. I'm lucky that way too.
I don't feed her totally raw so I haven't encountered it but another issue seems to be constipation. There are solutions in the former threads here for that.
I suggest you offer the raw food first as a treat and move from there. Good luck

 

[Tobermory]

Can I buy Darwins 2lb pre packaged food and slowly add it into his canned food and slowly wean him off canned?

You could do that...buy one of the complete meal commercial raw foods and slowly mix it in with his canned. That would have worked with two of my three. The third absolutely refused any commercial raw.

Or should I start with chicken and do the usual introduction? If it's the latter, how would I go about it?

I started by giving each cat a small piece of raw chicken to see if they’d eat it. I didn’t mix it with their canned. They gobbled it down like it was candy. So I just went all in and made their food following the recipe at catinfo.org. They ate it right away without any transition period. Not all cats will do that. And while they all liked chicken, they weren’t as excited about rabbit and one of the three didn’t like turkey. She also wouldn't eat pork.

But gradually, over the past three years, all three have decided that they like the rotation of chicken, turkey, and pork. Sometimes, one of them will turn her spoiled little nose up at one of them, but I’ve always been able to lure them back by using toppers or mixing in a very small amount of canned. I can’t blame them for wanting variety!

 

[catman12]

Alright got it. Another question is I know with dogs you want to introduce a new meat source every 3-4 days to check for allergies, only after introducing 3-4 meats would you do bones, and then organs from what I understand. Is it any different for cats? That's the biggest fear I have right now, introducing everything too fast.

 

[Tobermory]

I haven’t come across that in the reading I’ve done about introducing cats to a raw diet or to any new food. I didn’t do that, but each cat responds differently, so introducing new foods slowly is never a bad idea. For example, I started out grinding bone (like the recipes in both catinfo.org and feline-nutrition.org) but had to switch to eggshell calcium when the two older cats developed problems with constipation.

 

[catman12]

Thanks for the quick reply! Got it!