Raw food as an extra

[Sol]

BengalCat: The recipe can be used but you don't have to add all the supplements. You don't have to supplement with glandulars, gelatine or dulse.

I recommend joining the yahoo-group RawPaws. You'll get some great info from all the members there and you'll get access to some really good info about how to start. They have some really good articles to.

[Sol]

Here's a rough idea how my catfood is combined:

55-65 % muscle meat
20-30 % heart
10 % liver
5 % veggies

I supplement with calcium (when I don't use bones, but when I feed chicken I grind the chicken bones), iodine, fish oil and vitamin B-complex.

I like to keep it simple.

[Bengal Cat]

Thanks Sol...........

[genEus]

Originally Posted by Sol

Here's a rough idea how my catfood is combined:

55-65 % muscle meat
20-30 % heart
10 % liver
5 % veggies

I supplement with calcium (when I don't use bones, but when I feed chicken I grind the chicken bones), iodine, fish oil and vitamin B-complex.

I like to keep it simple.

Do you just supplement with Calcium supplement or some specific food high in calcium? What about 4% cottage cheese or 12% milk or half and half?

[Sol]

Originally Posted by genEus

Do you just supplement with Calcium supplement or some specific food high in calcium? What about 4% cottage cheese or 12% milk or half and half?

Usually my catfood contains enough bones to cover the calcium needs, but when I don't use bones I supplement with calcium lactate. I never feed dairy products. My theory is to feed my cats as natural as possible and that do not include dairy products. But if ones cat tolerates dairy products it shouldn't be a problem to supplement with cottage cheese or such, but I have no idea how much one would have to give.

[kim]

yup to what sol said

there are supplements in that food that are nowhere near necessary. at this point, i havent supplemented my cat with anything though i may consider a "one a day" type supplement. the dog gets a few things only because i need extra hip/joint/neck support for his 100 lb frame.

i think that you can manipulate a diet tp provide essential nutrients. i think that is more natural than anything - and id ont believe that each and every meal i feed needs to be balanced.

[Sol]

I've found out that the longer you've been feeding raw, the less supplements you give.

When I started out, these are the supplements you could find in my kitchen:
- bone meal
- calcium lactate
- calcium carbonate
(Yes, THREE different kinds of calcium supplements, everyone thinks the other one is better than the other)
- wheat germ oil
- kelp
- salt substitute
- brewers yeast
- fish oil

Today I use:
- calcium lactate (when I don't feed bones)
- kelp
- fish oil

Brewers yeast is given for treats. With time I hope I'll be able to exclude supplements completely. I'm using the last few drops of fish oil now and don't plan on buying any more since I've started to feed small amounts of raw fish.

[kim]

that is definitely the truth - i think in the beginning we are all so concerned about nutritional imbalances that we overreact (isnt that true with everything?) - and most of the commerically available recipes contain a lot of supplements, a lot of veggies, grains, etc --

as time goes by, i just become more comfortable in what i feed. its a natural thought process, as well as just more assured. when i first started feeding raw, i was concernd my dog would vomit or choke, concerned about a lot of things. i wantd to do it, but was prepard to stop at any point if i saw things that were not working.

now, i know how far i can take things, and feed much more whole prey, etc. i had supplements in the beginning too - lots of them. now they sit in my kitchen unused except for some random ones.