Just started prey model raw today!

[catinthemirror]

Hope it's ok to post this link:

Answers: How Much Heart is Too Much?

I found this really helpful when I was trying to figure out how much heart was enough. These days they get heart a couple times a week.

[beckyhiker]

That's a great link catinthemirror, thanks for posting it!

Another reason to not feed raw fish too often is that raw fish contains the enzyme thiaminase which destroys thiamine (Vitamin B1), resulting in thiamine deficiency. It probably wouldn't hurt to feed it every few weeks or so, but I personally stick with canned fish for the very few times that I give it to my cats.

[Alpaca]

Always learning...thanks for your info beckyhiker, catinthemirror, Muzby. Didn't know you could feed too muchheart and although I knew fish wasn't good, didn't know it could also cause thiamine deficiency. Jack has some dandruff sometimes, now I know it could be that he's not getting enough fats.

Nymphicus, I also was afraid of not getting the right balance so I opted to do a 50% raw/50% canned diet to help.

[beckyhiker]

Instead of feeding fish itself, you can add fish oil to their food. Many people add salmon oil, but I personally use sardine/anchovy oil; I use this one Iceland Pure Unscented Sardine-Anchovy Oil Dog Cat Supplement

[Nymphicus]

AN update.

Chomp chomp chomp, they can eat a whole chicken neck in five minutes.

[Auntie Crazy]

I feed packed-in-water-no-salt-added sardines, as well as eggs and crickets once a week as snacks. They add important nutrients to the diet, but can't be overdone because they'll cause a variety of issues. (Watch out for fish oils, especially in the liquid form, as they can go rancid fairly quickly.)

Heart makes up three meals per week - no more.

I skin the chicken quarters and breasts, but not the wings or the turkey drumsticks... skin is fatty, which is a good thing as cats need about 25% fat content in their diet, but too much skin can cause vomiting or loose stools.

Here's my weekly menu.

AC

[beckyhiker]

Hi Auntie Crazy. I was reading your menu for which you posted the link above. Are your cats able to eat all the meat off of the turkey drumsticks? Can they get through those thick strands (ligaments?) that run through the meat? Do you give each cat a drumstick? I'm assuming that you don't count the drumstick as a bone meal? I used to just cut the meat off and give it too my cats but that's such a pain that I don't bother buying them any more. Also, what is a chicken quarter, the thigh w/ drumstick attached?

Sorry for the questions and thank you very much!

[Auntie Crazy]

Originally Posted by beckyhiker

Hi Auntie Crazy. I was reading your menu for which you posted the link above. Are your cats able to eat all the meat off of the turkey drumsticks? Can they get through those thick strands (ligaments?) that run through the meat? Do you give each cat a drumstick? I'm assuming that you don't count the drumstick as a bone meal? I used to just cut the meat off and give it too my cats but that's such a pain that I don't bother buying them any more. Also, what is a chicken quarter, the thigh w/ drumstick attached?

Sorry for the questions and thank you very much!

Never apologize for questions! :-}

Both the turkey drumsticks and the chicken quarters (yes, that's a thigh and drumstick combo) are deboned before feeding - and the meat is divided between all six cats. None of my kitties have any trouble with those tough tendons that run the length of the turkey drumsticks.

My knife, on the other hand! *whew!* I only cut the turkey drumstick meat lengthwise, paralleling the tendons, never across them.

AC

[beckyhiker]

Thank you A.C. for your response! I have one other question. The rabbit/chicken ribs that you feed, do you detach them from the backbone or leave them for the cats to chew off themselves? Do you seperate the ribs into sections of 2 or 3 ribs or so? For me the problem with feeding only the ribs from a rabbit is that there just aren't that many to be had.

Thanks!

[Auntie Crazy]

Originally Posted by beckyhiker

Thank you A.C. for your response! I have one other question. The rabbit/chicken ribs that you feed, do you detach them from the backbone or leave them for the cats to chew off themselves? Do you seperate the ribs into sections of 2 or 3 ribs or so? For me the problem with feeding only the ribs from a rabbit is that there just aren't that many to be had.

Thanks!

I use kitchen shears to remove the ribs from the backbone. Whether I separate the ribs or not depends upon how big they are. If each side is appropriate to be fed to a single cat, I don't cut them down, if there's enough to feed more than one, I cut as needed.

AC