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you can watch it here, he uses beef, turkey meat, and even some organs...can I do the same?
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What do you think about this raw meat selection that this guy prepares on video?
- Thread starter sickmomcat
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Feeding raw meat is a great idea. There’s lots of us on these forums who make our own raw cat food. I don’t think this guy’s recipe is nutritionally complete though. It is boneless so the cat wouldn’t be getting enough calcium. There is also no iodine source. Those of us who make our own cat food follow established recipes. This recipe on feline-nutrition.org is well established and easy to follow. I would recommend you use this instead:
feline-nutrition.org
If you want a video tutorial this guy uses the recipe linked above:
Making homemade cat food is more complicated than just mixing meat and organs together so you need to be prepared to spend time learning.
Feline Nutrition - Feline Nutrition's Easy Homemade Cat Food Recipe | Hare Today
feline-nutrition.org
If you want a video tutorial this guy uses the recipe linked above:
Making homemade cat food is more complicated than just mixing meat and organs together so you need to be prepared to spend time learning.
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I watched the video all the way through because I wanted to see what kind of cat was going to eat all of that. Caesar is a king! I wish the battery hadn't run out on his camera. I'd like to see him finish it all. All but the pate apparently.
If you listen to him, it's obvious he's done his research. He even says that meat alone is not complete. He does include bone-in chicken thigh and he probably has some idea of how much bone to include. And although he didn't call it out specifically, he may have included some thyroid for iodine. But this is also one meal a week. Caesar is presumably a feral and hunts his food the rest of the week.
My recommendations for you:
1. Do some reading at feline-nutrition.org about what makes up a cat's diet so you'll understand why certain ingredients are included and why you shouldn't skip on them.
2. You could try it like he does where he just chunks up the different cuts and has a cat who will eat it all. But if you don't have a cat that will eat it all, including the bone, many raw feeders take the choosiness out of the picture by grinding it all up. After all, if your cat won't eat the heart, liver, or bone, it's just as problematic as feeding only meat.
3. A Weston #10 Manual Meat Grinder is a very competent meat grinder at a fraction of the cost of an electric grinder. Once you know your homemade food is a success with your cat(s), you can upgrade your equipment. A pair of poultry scissors (like what he was using to cut through bone) is the other piece of equipment I'd recommend to start with. Optional: a stock pot, crock pot, or Instant Pot to make meat stock from any leftover cuts of meat or bone that you aren't feeding to the cat(s).
4. Start slow. If you want to feed whole cuts like in the video, I'd recommend starting with one meal a week to see how your cat(s) handle it, what they prefer, what they don't like, etc. If they only eat part of the meal or only certain cuts, this is only one meal out of the week that's not nutritionally balanced.
5. If you make ground food, you can freeze what you aren't planning to serve in a day or two. My cat only gets 1 oz (out of 8 oz total daily food) of homemade boneless ground raw per day. I split that over 3 servings of 10 grams that I give to her before her scheduled meals. When I make a batch of raw, I portion it out to individual baggies--1.5 to 2 oz or 42 to 56 grams per snack bag, pressed as flat as I can get it before I freeze it. This does two things: it squeeze out as much air as I can which reduces the chances of freezer burn and it speeds up the time to thaw from freezer to plate under luke warm water if I forgot to take a portion from the freezer to the fridge the night before. Even at 1 oz per day, it took a week or two to get to this amount. And if I try to give her an extra 10 grams somewhere else in the day, it doesn't go over so well. So I'd say start slow and don't leave yourself without any options if your cat doesn't like your homemade or won't eat all the cuts.
6. And finally, if you just want to get started and see if your cat will like raw meat, with bone, and organs, keep whatever you give him under 10% of his total daily diet, e.g. within his treat budget. Or one meal a week if you're going to plate a whole mess of meat and organs like the video. This way, his regular diet corrects for any shortfalls while you are learning and getting your supplies, recipes, equipment, and logistics in order.
If you listen to him, it's obvious he's done his research. He even says that meat alone is not complete. He does include bone-in chicken thigh and he probably has some idea of how much bone to include. And although he didn't call it out specifically, he may have included some thyroid for iodine. But this is also one meal a week. Caesar is presumably a feral and hunts his food the rest of the week.
My recommendations for you:
1. Do some reading at feline-nutrition.org about what makes up a cat's diet so you'll understand why certain ingredients are included and why you shouldn't skip on them.
2. You could try it like he does where he just chunks up the different cuts and has a cat who will eat it all. But if you don't have a cat that will eat it all, including the bone, many raw feeders take the choosiness out of the picture by grinding it all up. After all, if your cat won't eat the heart, liver, or bone, it's just as problematic as feeding only meat.
3. A Weston #10 Manual Meat Grinder is a very competent meat grinder at a fraction of the cost of an electric grinder. Once you know your homemade food is a success with your cat(s), you can upgrade your equipment. A pair of poultry scissors (like what he was using to cut through bone) is the other piece of equipment I'd recommend to start with. Optional: a stock pot, crock pot, or Instant Pot to make meat stock from any leftover cuts of meat or bone that you aren't feeding to the cat(s).
4. Start slow. If you want to feed whole cuts like in the video, I'd recommend starting with one meal a week to see how your cat(s) handle it, what they prefer, what they don't like, etc. If they only eat part of the meal or only certain cuts, this is only one meal out of the week that's not nutritionally balanced.
5. If you make ground food, you can freeze what you aren't planning to serve in a day or two. My cat only gets 1 oz (out of 8 oz total daily food) of homemade boneless ground raw per day. I split that over 3 servings of 10 grams that I give to her before her scheduled meals. When I make a batch of raw, I portion it out to individual baggies--1.5 to 2 oz or 42 to 56 grams per snack bag, pressed as flat as I can get it before I freeze it. This does two things: it squeeze out as much air as I can which reduces the chances of freezer burn and it speeds up the time to thaw from freezer to plate under luke warm water if I forgot to take a portion from the freezer to the fridge the night before. Even at 1 oz per day, it took a week or two to get to this amount. And if I try to give her an extra 10 grams somewhere else in the day, it doesn't go over so well. So I'd say start slow and don't leave yourself without any options if your cat doesn't like your homemade or won't eat all the cuts.
6. And finally, if you just want to get started and see if your cat will like raw meat, with bone, and organs, keep whatever you give him under 10% of his total daily diet, e.g. within his treat budget. Or one meal a week if you're going to plate a whole mess of meat and organs like the video. This way, his regular diet corrects for any shortfalls while you are learning and getting your supplies, recipes, equipment, and logistics in order.
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I think I skipped over the part where he cuts the bones. I saw him cutting stuff and thought to myself, "no way anyone can cut bones with scissors!".... I really want a pair of those shears now.
It would be helpful though for beginners if he gave some instructions in terms of amount of bone and ingredients. He might be doing more of a prey raw model type thing where he just feeds different kinds of proteins and bones with variety. But, since he says he's only doing it once a week I guess he also doesn't need to worry as much about nutritional completeness.
It would be helpful though for beginners if he gave some instructions in terms of amount of bone and ingredients. He might be doing more of a prey raw model type thing where he just feeds different kinds of proteins and bones with variety. But, since he says he's only doing it once a week I guess he also doesn't need to worry as much about nutritional completeness.
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He's probably winging it. Except with thighs.
It's a lot easier and more forgiving when you only have to prepare one meal a week and your customer eats it all.
I'm still at the "thinking about it" phase of raw feeding, so doing lots and lots of reading.
This has to be one of the best tips that I have read yet for the purposes of freezing portion sizes. I totally would not have thought to do that. So thank you
daftcat75
This has to be one of the best tips that I have read yet for the purposes of freezing portion sizes. I totally would not have thought to do that. So thank you
daftcat75
