Trying to find an affordable way to provide a balanced raw diet

[laralove]

I've read the Dr. Pierson website and looked into what it would cost to do this. All of it seems reasonable up to the bone requirement. I cannot currently afford a $150+ grinder, and the cost for bone meal is around $10 or so (with shipping) for about 2 weeks worth of meals. That alone is close to what I pay for Fancy Feast. 

Is there another alternative? Additional supplements, for example? I know calcium supplements aren't enough, but I haven't been able to find it in my hours of research today about what other essentials are in the bones.

I know there's the option to buy from places like Hare Today, but that requires buying way more than I have room to store and the shipping alone is enough for weeks worth of Fancy Feast.

Any advice is appreciated. 

 

[ritz]

Congratulations for wanting to feed your cat raw.

Regarding calcium/bone requirement, you can use egg shell as a calcium replacement.  Here is a thread that discusses it:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263426/...hydroxyapatite-to-balance-meat-or-meat-organs (see especially post #11 and 13 for how to and quantity).

Hare Today sells Alnutrin; since it is NOT frozen, there is more flexibility in how much you order.

You can of course feed Frankenprey/prey model raw (basically appropriate amounts of protein, liver, kidney and bone). I don't have a grinder, don't want one, and that's what I fed Ritz.  I can save more money when I buy meat reduced in price because it is at or near its 'sell by' date.  International supermarkets tend to have a greater variety of organs and proteins and sometimes are cheaper than regular supermarkets.

Many people supplement raw feeding with egg yolk, krill oil and sardines.  If your cat has never been fed raw, it is recommended to also supplement with a probiotic.

Let us know what other questions you might have.

 

[fhicat]

I know there's the option to buy from places like Hare Today, but that requires buying way more than I have room to store and the shipping alone is enough for weeks worth of Fancy Feast.

Lara,

HT feels more like it uses up a lot of space than it actually does. Here's a thread when I first wanted to switch to raw - I asked questions about freezer space and made an amazing discovery about how much it actually uses. And I don't have a grinder. Maybe you'll find it useful!

HT is going to cost more than Fancy Feast, but less than the Wellness, EVO, et al. It's a significant upfront investment (purchasing more meat will drive down the cost per lb of meat), but it doesn't take much to get started. I am queasy about whole prey, and don't know enough yet about PMR, so I feed ground for now.

 

[laralove]

I'm reading over those links now. I just want to note that as for freezer size, I'm in an apartment with a very small fridge and the freezer is just ridiculously small, at least compared to what I've had every other place I've lived. Here's a pic:

Freezer.JPG

• laralove
• Dec 28, 2013

The blue baskets will not turn the other direction without blocking the door. And the door is full. This is a little less full than usual. We normally have some frozen meats (for ourselves), frozen herbs bagged in cubes, and my bag of ice is sitting on the counter waiting to be refilled. So that space right in front of the baskets is really all that's usually open. Even if I got rid of the stock of "UGH, I don't feel like cooking dinner tonight" frozen pizzas and lasagnas, it's not much room.

 

[fhicat]

Yeah that looks teeny.

 

[peaches08]

I'd start watching Craigslist for a deep freezer. Having a deep freezer is how you'll save money buying stuff on sale. I never buy chicken, beef, or pork unless it is on sale. When I make pork or beef, I use Dr. P's supplement recipe but add eggshells for the calcium source. For now you can feed 15% of the diet as unbalanced raw. If you feed twice a day, that comes out to 2 meals a week without worrying about balancing.

 

[laralove]

Okay, so I was looking at Dr. P's recipe. Would Alnutrin be the only supplement I'd need, instead of the various ones she calls for?

[Edit] Ah, I see. Still need to put something in for Omega-3 fatty acids. But I can just give him a sardine once a week, yes?

 

[pinkman]

Does the Dr. P recipe use secreting organ (not liver)? I can't really remember.

If you're going to use Alnutrin (without calcium) wouldn't it be better to do PMR with eggshell powder? Just 80% muscle such as thigh, hearts, gizzards, 5% liver, 5% secreting such as kidney, and 10% being bone (or egg shell powder - you'll want to read the eggshell thread that Ritz posted). Otherwise, I do know that Alnutrin makes one with calcium. You'll still need to include liver and muscle meat for that one too.

The other option would be just buying muscle meat and buy a different kind of premix such as TCFeline with liver included. 

And I'd start looking into getting a used freezer of some sort. When I only had the apartment-issued fridge/freezer combo I literally did not have any human food stored, and I also only had one cat. It worked, but you'll have to sacrifice human-food space.

 

[peaches08]

Okay, so I was looking at Dr. P's recipe. Would Alnutrin be the only supplement I'd need, instead of the various ones she calls for?

[Edit] Ah, I see. Still need to put something in for Omega-3 fatty acids. But I can just give him a sardine once a week, yes?

Yes, Alnutrin would be complete. I think when I compared costs, it was a little more expensive than her supplement recipe. But as a student I'm trying to cut every cost that I can.

You can feed sardines and egg yolks now. They're fed in such a small quantity that you won't have to worry about balancing.

 

[laralove]

I tried giving him an egg yolk, he was having none of it. He liked the Sardine alright, which I mixed with some raw chicken that I chopped into tiny pieces. He grumbles at his Fancy Feast now and begs and begs and begs for more raw when he gets it. So I'm eager to get him transitioned soon because now that I've given him a taste, I can see how much he prefers it.

I did just find the Alnutrin with egg shell calcium, which says works for no-bone raw diets. That's just what I needed, I think! I'm also a student on a tight budget, but that will allow me to get a small grinder (that can't handle bones) and do my own since I have such limited freezer space and Hare Today is thus not feasible. 

 

[Willowy]

Try him on chunks of meat. . .if he'll eat chunks you won't need a grinder at all (even a meat-only grinder). Or, if you already have a food processor you could just pulse it in there (carefully so it doesn't turn to soup! :lol3. It's good that he likes the raw chicken so you shouldn't have much trouble transitioning .

 

[peaches08]

If he'll eat chunks, then there is no need to get a small grinder. Just cut the meat into chunks, add appropriate amount of Alnutrin and water, and he's got dinner. You can add an egg yolk per 1-2 lbs of meat if you'd like.

 

[laralove]

He won't eat chunks. We tried that first. But I did cut a little chicken up for him tonight when I was cooking dinner and I made the pieces bigger than I normally do. He ate it without issue. 

I realized, I have a very small food processor. It only holds 3 cups, but I'm going to be preparing meals 5 pounds at a time, so that wouldn't be a huge issue. However, the grinder I'm looking at is this one, and it has other functions (such as pasta) that would be useful to me. And for less than $25, it fits my budget. Well, it will fit my budget once my school disperses financial aid for the upcoming semester.

 

[ritz]

You could also look on Craig's List for a grinder--especially now that people have (maybe just maybe) gotten a super duper deluxe (expensive) grinder and are wanting to sell their old grinder.  Or, estate sales (also listed in Craigs List).

Regarding Freezer--make sure you have sufficient electrical current for it.  That's a problem I ran into when considering buying an electric freezer.

 

[laralove]

I found a $50 freezer on Craigslist, but it's not in my budget right now. I over spent big time for Christmas this year, so I'm going to check back in a few more weeks when my finances are back in order. 

 

[meranaldar]

 
I tried giving him an egg yolk, he was having none of it. He liked the Sardine alright, which I mixed with some raw chicken that I chopped into tiny pieces. He grumbles at his Fancy Feast now and begs and begs and begs for more raw when he gets it. So I'm eager to get him transitioned soon because now that I've given him a taste, I can see how much he prefers it.

The only way I can get my cat to eat egg yolks is to mix it thoroughly with the sardine, and to make sure it's all heaped up (not spread over the plate). She really seems to like it like this, whereas I had tried quite a few different methods of getting egg into her before with no success.

 

[ritz]

Ritz won't touch raw egg yolk but loves cooked egg yolk.
I eat egg whites (cooked) on a regular basis, so I just freeze the cooked egg yolk and give her a smidgen every couple of days.

 

[laralove]

When I made deviled eggs for Christmas, I dropped a little cooked yolk in his bowl. He didn't eat that either. Maybe he'd like them scrambled, though. That may be closer to the texture he's used to. I may try.

 

[laralove]

I joined the local Yahoo! group for feeding raw in my area. It only took a few minutes to get approved, but as soon as I was I saw that the group not only hasn't been very active since 2008, but all the information is for dogs. So that was sort of a let down.

 

[peaches08]

Most of the locals that I have talked into feeding some raw have dogs. However, one of them might can source buffalo for me. That's my goal is to source meat/organs. Diet/nutrition info I get here at TCS.