Supplementing Existing Raw Food Diet?

[lupyskids]

Hi all! Wondering if I could get some feedback on my current raw food diet. Both of my cats have been on an exclusive homemade raw food diet for some time now- I would like some advice/ critique about my current recipe/method before adopting a kitten shortly.
I use Hare Today for all of our raw food needs (such a great company BTW)- we feed approx. a 75% mix of fine ground turkey with bones and organs and 25 % fine ground whole rabbit carcass (fur, bones and organs) 2x a day. I was just sprinkling on Wysong Call of the Wild Supplement, but when I was not longer able to get it at my local pet store, I switched to Alnutrin for diet with bones. ( Although the cats seemed to prefer the Wysong..) I sprinkle a generous amount on each serving and add a few tablespoons of water.
Because I am feeding them organs, bones, and fur I have not added any supplements beyond the sprinkle of the above supplements...is this enough? I should say that they are extremely healthy, happy, gorgeous coats- all with normal litter boxes.
Thanks in adavnce.

 

[missmimz]

You def don't want to just be sprinkling, you need to make the batches up property with the right amount of alnutrin added. Hare Today's grinds are not balanced on their own and you must supplement to make them complete. Be aware as well that their turkey and bone grind is really high in bone and ideally should be diluted with boneless meat.

 

[maureen brad]

missmimz is right you need to add considerable boneless meat to balance the high bone content in the turkey.Also, the rabbit contains thyroid so you should not use the Alnutrin for that, to much iodine/sodium in the diet puts at cat at risk for hyperthyroidism. here is a supplement recipe I use ( from feline nutrition) this is specifically for 5 lbs ground with bone and organs. Just leave out the salt for the rabbit---------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a supplement recipe for five pounds of pre-ground meat/bones/organs:

• 8 to 16 oz water, use 16 oz if your cats like it soupier, 8 oz if they like it firmer
• 4 raw egg yolks
• 4000 mg taurine
• 4000 mg wild salmon or wild caught small fish oil
• 800 IU Vitamin E (use dry form)
• 200 mg Vitamin B Complex
• 1 ½ tsp Lite Iodized Salt
• 4 tsp psyllium husk powder (optional, mostly recommended when your cats are starting out on raw)
  Read more at file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/User/Desktop/Easy%20Raw%20Diet%20Feeding%20for%20the%20Busy%20Person%20-%20Feline%20Nutrition.htm
  Follow us on Twitter: @felinenutrition

 

[orange&white]

I use the same supplements as Maureen (except I feed a few ounces of tinned fish per week instead of fish oil). The recipe at felinenutrition makes about approximately 6 pounds of food, so it's easy to split the supplements 25% for each 1.5 lbs of meat.

You do need to add meat and liver to the Hare Today grinds, and do not add a supplement with bone or calcium.

Here's an example for 1lb of Hare Today ground turkey:

Hare Today Turkey
1lb (16 oz)
As Sold Ounces
Meat 68.00% 10.88
Bone 27.00% 4.32 ounces (4.32 x 10 = 43.2 = 2.7 lbs of food.)
Liver 5.00% 0.8

(4.32 ounces of bone is 10% of 43.2 ounces of food, or 2.7 pounds of food.) Next...

Balancing 43.2 ounces to 85/10/5 (ideally you'd have 80% boneless, and 5% "other organ" like kidney/spleen/pancreas)

Desired Total Ounces
Meat 85.00% 36.72
Bone 10.00% 4.32
Organ 5.00% 2.16

------ The bottom line -----
Add to 1lb of Hare Today Turkey w/bones and liver:
Add Boneless Meat
25.84 ounces
Add Liver
1.36 ounces
------

That gives you close to 3 pounds of food, so I would add 50% of the supplements/amounts that Maureen listed above.

 

[sophie1]

I don't see the issue with adding Alnutrin at serving time, as long as it's measured appropriately. Doesn't sound that way from the post though.

Lupyskids, you probably want more variety than what you're feeding. At least 3 proteins, preferably 5. Try the cavies, duck, chicken, pheasant? My cats also like pork, goat, and venison. Quail and mouse are good too, but they're smelly and some cats might not take to them (mine didn't).

Some boneless meat is a must. If you're against the idea of pre-mixing and freezing in ready to serve containers, you could feed the boneless separately. I balance the 2 lb chicken or turkey grind and the 3 lb coarsely-ground pheasant with 2 lb boneless meat and 1 lb chicken organ mix (containing liver, heart, and gizzard). Or, you could just get fresh liver and freeze in small portions. Feeding three meals of boneless + liver/organ for every two meals of the turkey grind would get you pretty close to the ideal 80/10/10 proportion.

 

[missmimz]

I don't usually add anything to whole ground rabbit with fur except for taurine, since rabbit is low in taurine. But, I don't feed rabbit that often. If I fed it a lot I'd probably supplement more.