thinking about starting raw food

[frankthetank]

My husband and I have 9 indoor only cats and have been thinking about switching to raw. We have a 1 yr old male cat with possible kidney issue, who is on prescription food. Currently, for the rest of the cats, we have been free feeding dry food, and splitting two cans of wet food daily.
We have done a lot of research this past week about food, after our cat Joey has a sudden onset of kidney issues. We would like to feed something with a higher water content then dry, such as more canned wet, or raw food. Does raw food have a better water content that wet would? Feeding exclusively wet food gets expensive, we think we would want to still leave some dry out overnight for treat/snacking purposes but are looking for a more natural/healthy dry for that.
I am trying to think of logistics for raw feeding. How often would I need to feed the cats daily? What is the best meat to start feeding? Should I have multiple bowls/plates, or just a big one? Joey needs a low protein diet for his kidney issues, should he stay on his prescription wet food, or could he eat raw food also? How much do you typically serve daily?
We are both vegetarians, and don't keep meat in the house so anything I buy for them would be exclusively theirs. I also don't think I could do the whole animal type feeding, it would have to be something already butchered/cut up...would this make raw feeding not as worthwhile?
Sorry for all the questions I have been browsing some threads but am trying to get as much info as possible before trying this out.
Thanks for any help/info!

 

[jalindal]

You should keep Joey on the prescription diet the vet ordered for him.

With kidney issues, an exclusively protein-heavy diet would probably be a bad thing, but you should talk to your vet and see what they think. From your other thread, it sounds like your vet is very keen to talk to you about everything to do with Joey's care so I'm sure he wouldn't mind!

I hope Joey's still doing well. I didn't realise he had 8 brothers and sisters!!!

 

[frankthetank]

So far Joey has really taken to his special food which is a definite plus!! We figured he should stay on it, I just wasn't sure if he could try raw at all. Depending on how the visit tonight goes, I was going to ask the Vet about raw food and see if he knew much about it.

Joey has a big family!! When I met my husband he had 4 of our current cats. We brought in two strays to find them homes but they were too skittish, no one wanted them...and eventually they have bonded to us and our other cats. Then we got Joey after deciding we wanted a kitten. He was supposed to be our last cat @ 7 cats...until we found out that a 10week old blind kitten was about to be surrendered to a shelter where it would most likely get put to sleep. So we adopted Billy....about 2 months after we brought Billy home, my husband went out to feed our chickens, and found Toby stealing the chickens food....he was a tiny scrawny starving kitten, probably about 10-12 weeks old. He bonded instantly with Joey and Billy...so we kept him too. We definitely have a big cat family.

 

[jalindal]

Seems like your cats are the ones that adopted you, rather than the other way around!

 

[auntie crazy]

Actually, there is recent information that indicates a high protein diet is NOT detrimental for cats with kidney issues; in fact, feeding a raw diet has helped many cats make astonishing improvements in their health. (It's now believed by many that focusing on reducing phosphorus levels is the better choice.)

Frankthetank, my recommendation would be to conduct additional research, after which, you will likely want to drop the kibble altogether - it's not at all healthy for cats and causes all kinds of issues, including kidney-related problems. Whether you chose canned or raw, your cats will be healthier than on the kibble (especially your sick cat).

The benefit of feeding canned is the convenience; the drawback is the cost and the lack of control over quality. The benefits of feeding raw are a lower cost (generally much lower, but not always), vastly improved and more readily-digested nutrition, and control over the quality of your cats' menu; the drawback is the learning curve and the work involved in serving the meals. I have six cats, so I can tell you from experience you'll be spending some time on buying/cutting/packing and thawing their meals.

Here are a few articles from the Feline Nutrition Education Society's site you may find interesting / useful:

Answers: Sandy's Question of Kidneys
Answers: Crystals in Urine on the Facebook Wall
Species-Inappropriate: The Dangers of Dry Food
Feline Cystitis and Bladder/Kidney Stones

I'd recommend some other sites, but there just aren't that many who have the motivation, background and resources to pull together scientifically-based information on feline nutrition.

There is, however, a thread on TCS that you might find helpful: Natural Diet Information Resources

To answer your specific questions:

How often would I need to feed the cats daily?
Changing to raw doesn't mean you need to change how often you currently feed. Since cats evolved to eat many small meals a day, however, I always recommend three for adults and four for kittens.

What is the best meat to start feeding?
Anything at all, really. You can give your kitties little bits of whatever you're having for dinner to test their interest level and go from there. Chicken is one of the easiest to procure and softest to chew, so it's a good option, but - as long as you don't offer anything to difficult to start with (like gizzards, beef and bones) - anything goes.

Should I have multiple bowls/plates, or just a big one?
However you feed now is fine.

Joey needs a low protein diet for his kidney issues, should he stay on his prescription wet food, or could he eat raw food also?
This is a question that you and your vet have to answer. If your vet isn't raw-savvy, however, I'd recommend talking to one that is.

How much do you typically serve daily?
My menu is here: What does your menu look like?
And the story of my transition is here: Taking the plunge into raw.

Best regards and good luck with your furbabies!

AC

 

[goingpostal]

Raw has a little more water content than most canned, but it's pretty close. For meat to try, I would go for chicken, or cornish game hen, that seems to be a hit around here and small bones so they can work their jaws up to strength. I feed 3x a day whether it's canned or raw, my 10 pound cat gets about 5 ounces a day, more or less, I don't really weigh it out, just eyeball and cut her back or add more as needed. Some cats take to it like naturals and others are going to stare at you like you're nuts so just try small chunks and see what they think. As long as you are feeding bone in meat you are getting the same teeth cleaning and health benefits of whole prey, however I find it easier to toss a mouse at the cat then handling slimy raw meat.