The Fastest, Easiest, Less Gross, Cost Effective Home Raw Recipe???

[lavishsqualor]

Please don't ever use supermarket ground meats! My current vet told me that the only illness/death she's ever seen from raw feeding was from ground meats purchased at the supermarket. They are absolutely laden with bacteria that whole meats don't have. Salmonella and E. coli are present in much higher instances in ground supermarket meats. Even Feline-Nurition.org will tell you never to use ground meats from the supermarket.

 

[10009891]

Lavishsqualor, bacteria? Dogs eat poo. Cats and dogs sniff each others' butts. Walk outside in who knows what. Cats dig "around" in a litter box! My point is, there's always bacteria around. As long as you don't give french kisses to them right after eating, it's not all that risky in terms of bacteria. I will continue investigating. I do not have a grinder and quite squeamish when it comes to handling/cutting raw meat myself. Thanks for the info though.

 

[Sallysoo]

Hi TroyRag, I can understand that it can be not so nice in cutting raw meat. If you still go for ground meat, would it be possible to get those from pet store that are prepared for pets? It could be more costly though. Is really to hit a balance between what you can and cannot and the trade offs in providing raw diet.
My local wet market butcher does provide cutting service but I prefer to do that at home. Yes, many information do mention to avoid supermarket ground meat for the pets. We do understand that cat has the kind of digestive acid to handle the bacteria, however some owner may choose not to explose the risk to their pets especially due to any medical condition the pet may have.
Coming to your main subject, is your kitty now on canned food? Or both dried n canned food? Have you let the kitty try on small pieces of raw meat to see whether it will eat it. I started off with just pieces of raw meat which he ate and then I started the food transistion, ie mix with canned food, after 1.5 week he is really to fully on raw diet.

 

[lisahe]

Please don't ever use supermarket ground meats! My current vet told me that the only illness/death she's ever seen from raw feeding was from ground meats purchased at the supermarket. They are absolutely laden with bacteria that whole meats don't have. Salmonella and E. coli are present in much higher instances in ground supermarket meats. Even Feline-Nurition.org will tell you never to use ground meats from the supermarket.

This is a good summary. The advice on using supermarket ground meats is pretty universal from raw feeders: Don't do it. It's just way too risky.

Sallysoo has a good point about ground meat made for cat food: lots of people on the site buy from Hare Today.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Lavishsqualor, bacteria? Dogs eat poo. Cats and dogs sniff each others' butts. Walk outside in who knows what. Cats dig "around" in a litter box! My point is, there's always bacteria around. As long as you don't give french kisses to them right after eating, it's not all that risky in terms of bacteria. I will continue investigating. I do not have a grinder and quite squeamish when it comes to handling/cutting raw meat myself. Thanks for the info though.

I appreciate the fact that you want to do the best you can for your cat. However, raw feeding is something that has to be done precisely. There are no short cuts. Taking short cuts can and will harm your cat. Given that you say you're squeamish and dislike handling and even cutting raw meat, I think commercial raw would be a much better fit for you. Rad Cat is an excellent commercial food and widely available.

Also, to clarify about supermarket ground meats . . . Meats in supermarkets are ground for human consumption and are therefore intended to be cooked. Because Salmonella and E.coli generally live on the surface of meats, once those meats are ground these bacteria proliferate inside the ground meat over time. When you purchase ground meat from your supermarket case, that meat has most likely been sitting there for days. When you purchase, say, ground rabbit from a raw supplier such as Hare Today, that meat is frozen immediately after grinding which dramatically slows the growth of any bacteria.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I appreciate the fact that you want to do the best you can for your cat. However, raw feeding is something that has to be done precisely. There are no short cuts. Taking short cuts can and will harm your cat. Given that you say you're squeamish and dislike handling and even cutting raw meat, I think commercial raw would be a much better fit for you. Rad Cat is an excellent commercial food and widely available.

Also, to clarify about supermarket ground meats . . . Meats in supermarkets are ground for human consumption and are therefore intended to be cooked. Because Salmonella and E.coli generally live on the surface of meats, once those meats are ground these bacteria proliferate inside the ground meat over time. When you purchase ground meat from your supermarket case, that meat has most likely been sitting there for days. When you purchase, say, ground rabbit from a raw supplier such as Hare Today, that meat is frozen immediately after grinding which dramatically slows the growth of any bacteria.

^What Lavishsqualor said.

I bought ground meat (for us humans) once from the store that had an expiration date that had not arrived, when I got it home I began prepping it and found small pieces of green mold. How disappointing and what a terrible waste. I'm weird about ground meat now..
Some supermarket meat has solutions (salt, etc.) injected so really read labels and know what you're buying.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Lavishsqualor, bacteria? Dogs eat poo. Cats and dogs sniff each others' butts. Walk outside in who knows what. Cats dig "around" in a litter box! My point is, there's always bacteria around. As long as you don't give french kisses to them right after eating, it's not all that risky in terms of bacteria. I will continue investigating. I do not have a grinder and quite squeamish when it comes to handling/cutting raw meat myself. Thanks for the info though.

I don't stress over the bacteria in raw meat, unless the meat isn't what I consider clean (source) or handled properly. I agree that bacteria is everywhere, but the species barrier between dogs and cats is there, digestion included...my dogs eat dead things, roll in and eat livestock manure (I really wish they wouldn't, sigh) and lick their butts. One of my dogs happily snarfed down a huge pile of hoof trimmings after a visit from the farrier. The dog didn't get sick. While I've caught my cats licking their butts (they'd kill me if they knew I was sharing that), I've never seen them eat anything they find that's dead (fresh kill only), they don't roll in stuff and don't eat poop, their own or the poop of other species. Very un-feline xD
If I had a cat that decided to scavenge and eat 3 day old moldy dead things they find in the yard, their own poop or the poop of other cats/dogs, I'd be talking to the vet immediately because IME that's not a normal behavior for a healthy, well fed cat.
My dogs seem to do fine with meat that's freezer burnt or gamey. Not so with the cats, they won't touch it.
My big fear with supermarkets and big box stores that carry meat is the handling, as other said the freeze/re-freezing times, and many times I've seen packages of meat and other things that need refrigeration or freezing sitting unattended in carts at the return counter. :/

 

[LTS3]

One last question, can I also buy pre-ground supermarket turkey meat and add the Ezcomplete premix?

It's not recommended. Many pre-ground packaged grond meats are thawed and refrozen who knows how many times before it gets to the store. And who knows how clean the grinderse are?

It's best to buy whole cuts of meat and chop or grind it yourself at home. Check the package as some meats may contain broths and flavorings and other stuff. The Shady Brooks Farm brand of turkey products contains rosemary extract which I wouldn't be comfortable giving to a cat.

Or buy a chub of boneless meat from a supplier like Hare-Today.com or from an independent pet store. Some brands of chubs include bone and organs which can't be used with EZComplete.