To supplement or not?

[zoes]

Hi folks! I've been getting my cats more and more pre-made frozen raw food, and they seem to be enjoying it a lot.

I am starting to think about preparing my own, but I have a lingering question: do I need to add vitamin/mineral supplements, or not? I've seen recipes that include supplements and others that don't, but I can't quite figure out the "why" behind it.

My preference would be not to use supplements if I can achieve a balanced meal by using specific organ meats, but I worry about causing a nutrient deficiency.

 

[dhammagirl]

While you can do it by carefully selecting the right ratios of organs, bone, meat, it’s a lot easier to use a supplement and follow the recipes appropriate to each. I’ve used Alnutrin for several years.

 

[daftcat75]

You must supplement. Some nutrients degrade through processing and others are missing or in lower quantities because you aren't feeding whole fresh prey. Cats would normally eat eyes and brains. You are probably not including these in your organ grind. If you aren't including ground bone, you must add a calcium supplement. Supplementing isn't just a number that your other foods can make up for. It's also a balance. All meat and no bone or calcium supplement will throw off the phosphorous/calcium balance. Your cat will need to rob the bank (bones and teeth) for calcium to balance the phosphorous in the meat. Nutritional deficiencies take some time to develop and can be tricky to spot. It's better to supplement for insurance than to risk it because your cats seem okay.

Alnutrin is a great supplement mix. There are others like EZ Complete and TC Feline depending on taste and preparation preferences. EZ Complete is the easiest because it includes liver powder. But it also includes chicken ingredients if you are trying to avoid chicken. Alnutrin is the most flexible because you get to bring your own protein and organs to the mix. I believe TC Feline is similar to Alnutrin except it's got a Canadian store if you're in Canada. Or you can go out and buy all the supplements yourself.

But yes, you must supplement. This is non-optional. Throw away any recipe that tells you otherwise.

You can browse the Beginner or Nutrition pages on feline-nutrition.org for more details on the what and how and why.
StackPath

And "Easy Raw Feeding For The Busy Person" has a simple recipe if you're using your own supplements and links to some premix supplement powders. This would be a good first stop.
StackPath

 

[LTS3]

While you can do it by carefully selecting the right ratios of organs, bone, meat, it’s a lot easier to use a supplement and follow the recipes appropriate to each. I’ve used Alnutrin for several years.

The theory is that feeding 80% muscle meat (including heart), 10% bone, and 10% organs will provide all the necessary vitamins and minerals and no supplementation is necessary. Many people call this "whole prey" or "prey model" (PMR) or "frankenprey". There's info on that here: Raw Types: Comparisons and here: Raw Feeding Resources

For most people, using supplements is a way to ensure that the cat is getting all of the vitamins and minerals.

 

[zoes]

Thank you all for the advice. Is there any risk to over-supplementing if I use a supplement and organ meats? I know heart and liver are high in certain nutrients that can be dangerous if given too much, for example.

I imagine that good recipes take this into account, but I don’t know enough to tell a good recipe from a bad one.

 

[LTS3]

Too much calcium can cause constipation.

The recipe at Catinfo.org is a good one to use. So is the one at Catnutrition.org Both use a combo of meat with bone and some organs along with a few additional supplements.

 

[zoes]

Too much calcium can cause constipation.

The recipe at Catinfo.org is a good one to use. So is the one at Catnutrition.org Both use a combo of meat with bone and some organs along with a few additional supplements.

thanks very much! I do trust the info on that site so that’ll be a great place for me to start. Much appreciated!

 

[daftcat75]

Thank you all for the advice. Is there any risk to over-supplementing if I use a supplement and organ meats? I know heart and liver are high in certain nutrients that can be dangerous if given too much, for example.

I imagine that good recipes take this into account, but I don’t know enough to tell a good recipe from a bad one.

The feline-nutrition.org as well as the catnutrition.org breaks down the amount of meat, organs, and bone (or calcium supplement to use.) The premix powders will also tell you how much of each to use.

I believe the dose for Vitamin A toxicity is great enough that you'll probably get soft stools from too much organ meat before you have to worry about over-supplementation.

And over-supplementation of calcium will cause constipation. If you are using a bone grind or adding bone to your grind, you will want to find a premix powder meant for BYOB (bring your own bone.) If you are skipping the bone in your grind, then you'll need a premix that has a calcium supplement or add a calcium supplement of your own.