Wanting to switch to raw ,,, need help please.

[buteman]

Little Henrietta is almost six months now, she is our beloved sweet Ragdoll and I can't tell you how much joy this little cat has brought into our lives.

Her well being will always come first, she returns the love to my wife and I in so many ways. We do realise that her nutrition is most important and I have read numerous articles from qualified professionals and from ordinary cat lovers / owners such as ourselves.

We purchase canned food from our local pet shop, this outlet does not sell any pet foods that contain animal by-products and I am well aware as to what animal by-products are.

We would never put a dollar figure on her nutrition, we are seriously considering a raw diet for her but finding a " recipe " is the issue.

By the way a short example regarding pet food ,,, and no wonder the supermarkets have ridiculous amounts of space for pet food. The profit margins are huge, and I do mean huge, ever really figure out the actual cost of canned cat food ?

Here is an example, " Almos Nature " a .70g. can of shredded chicken, I noticed ( in the small print ) that it's a product of Thailand, in the contents section  it states " 78 % moisture ,,, without removing the moisture the actual cost is $ 19.97 ( Can. ) per kilo.

I have access to high quality fresh meats and fish of a wide variety, I can purchase fresh local, boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $ 10.98 per kilo.

One of our local supermarkets has whole beef tenderloins this week for $ 16.97 per kilo ,, really ! ,, three dollars a kilo less than what came out of the can from Thailand.

In any event I did come across a short video on " You-Tube " showing how to process raw food for cats ,, all very well but the amount of supplements added to the raw food was practically endless and I do know for a fact that some of the items ( eg. human grade bone meal ) are not available in our town.

I can purchase a freeze dried raw food at my local pet store but the contents are nothing but pure protein which I can obtain myself at a fraction of the cost.

So if anyone has a recipe for raw I would appreciate any advice you might care to pass on.

Thank you.

 

[ldg]

:nod: Cost and control are the main reasons we switched. The kitties eat human grade food, fresh, with no unnecessary "stuff" at a fraction of the cost.

If you're interested in buying a grinder that can handle bone, Dr Pierson has an easy recipe that is time-tested. http://www.catinfo.org then click on the link in the bar on the right for "Making cat food".

There are links to other methods in the Raw Feeding Resources thread stickied at the top of the Raw and Home cooked sub-forum.

If you want to grind meat but not bone, you can use real bone by making your own "bone meal." There is a link to that too.

Or you can just feed prey model raw. Again, there are links to sites that will describe that and how to do it.

And we're here for questions, of course!

 

[Willowy]

Can/will you order anything online? Some things are hard to find locally and it can really broaden your options.

 

[goingpostal]

If you feed prey model you don't need to grind or add supplements.  I buy whole chickens, ducks, rabbits, turkeys, chop them up and feed.  I buy bits and pieces as well sometimes, you can do that too, variety both in cuts and proteins is important though ie don't feed only wings or only necks or only breast.  In a given week my cat will eat 2 days of rabbit meat, 1 day of mice, 1 day of duck, the rest chicken, turkey, game hen, grouse and anything else I can get her to try.  I have bought ground if the price is right but it's considerably messier imo and doesn't give the benefits of chewing and teeth cleaning bones do.  It's really a trial and error to see what your cat will eat though.  My cat was fed kibble for the first 8 or so years, then slowly switched to canned then to raw and she took right to it.