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Simple Raw Guide

2K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  hoofmaiden 
#1 ·
Looking through the thread titles here, I didnt really find anything suitable, so can anyone name a couple of quick items I should base her diet on? Is beef best? Do raw chicken wings work? Other chicken parts? Does raw pork work? Chicken and pork make me think of worms? Thanks a lot for any pointers.
 
#3 ·
Actually, I thought I'd posted this in that forum lol...I hope it'll get moved there in that case, and please, if you do have time, an answer would be great. Im annoyed at my local pet store dealer who told me that dryfood these days was the best food (hes been wrong about everything so far), so Ive been busy rectifying her diet with good quality canned meat. In fact, she'll only eat the most expensive brands naturally, lol. She wolfs down anything with beef, shes not as interested in other meats, poultry or fish.
 
#4 ·
You can pretty much feed any meat, Willie loves chicken, rabbit and pork. If you freeze meat for a few weeks/months any parasites will be killed. For the most part I don't worry about that, some parts of the country do have to worry about their pork, so you'll have to look into that, other members might know and I do remember a thread in which it was mentioned, I'll have to look. Willie also eats beef and venison (I do freeze this for several months before feeding because it's wild) but it took much longer to get him eating it and will still snub it now and then. Some cats are sensitive to beef and will vomit it back up, so you'll have to see. Feed as many different meats as you can.

As far as bones go though, you are limited. Chicken wings are good, as are chicken ribs (Willie likes ribs). Willie eats everything from small rabbits and cornish hens, all quail bones should be fine too. From the chicken I cut up the only bones I saved were wings, neck, and back bone. Never feed beef, lamb, goat, etc. bones to cats, they are far too heavy and dense and may break the cat's teeth if he tries to eat them.

Fish can be fed but not too much, and stick to small oily fish like sardines.

Remember to feed 80% meat, 10% bones, 5% liver and 5% other organ (heart is not considered an organ, it is used as muscle meat, good source of taurine). The organs can come from any species, but be aware some cats like liver from chicken, but not from beef, or vice versa, so if you're having trouble it's always possible it's a species problem.
Feed 2-3% of the cat's weight. If you need help crunching numbers I can help, but probably not until later in the afternoon, I'm going to the dog shelter in a couple of hours.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the excellent info. I was thinking about freezing the meats much as one often does with sushi fish. Chicken organs are fine too? Thats good, because theyre very easily found around here and reasonably cheap. Beef is around 3 times as expensive as chicken so it would be great if she gets into chicken wings and organs etc. Ive noticed the appropriate proportions before, as well as caution with fish. Ill be trying this starting today, so thanks a lot!

Oh well, she was insulted at the mere mention of veal liver, although the smell excited her. Waiting for the chicken to dethaw to see what she thinks of that.
 
#7 ·
A lot of cats dont like raw meat at first.. and it's not even that they dont like it.. it's that they've never had it, and are therefore suspicious. ;)

The best thing to do, is sneak some tiny bits of meat into her canned food. A few at a time. She'll eat them, then you slowly start sneaking more in. One day, she'll be eating some canned smeared atop a bunch of chicken and be happy as a lark! :)

Patience and perseverance, my friend!
 
#9 ·
Can you get quail? That's a great bone source for cats b/c the bones are small, like animals they would be able to actually bring down. Chicken bones are pretty big for cats. I give 1/2 quail each to my cats and they eat everything. These are processed quail -- like chicken w/ the feathers and guts removed.

The key is to remember that cats need a LOT of meat, a little bone, and a little organ. That's 80-85% meat, 5-10% bone, and 10% organ, half of which must be liver. This is fed over time, not necessarily exactly in those numbers every day. I feed a lot of mice (dead/frozen/thawed--feeder mice for reptiles), which is the PERFECT package, but when I feed other stuff, I just toss in a little liver and kidney every 3 days or so. Works out great. :)

This is a great website on raw feeding for cats-its Practical Guide page will give you some more ideas:

http://www.rawfedcats.org/
 
#10 ·
Quail eh? I cant even afford to feed myself quail ;) actually, Ive noticed before with canned food that she much prefers beef to the several different types of poultry Ive tried or fish. I think Im going to convert her solely to canned from kibble first and then try to introduce raw food.
 
#12 ·
Hmmm, I could probably find dried stuff like that in asian shops anyway. Finally found unspiced chickenwings today anyway (there's a million curry, tex mex, smokey hickory, honey, etc etc etc), and they were cheaper than kibble lol. Froze them in for when shes ready currently Im serving her favorite Purina gourmet beef with tomato with a little raw chicken in. Not quite sure how its going yet. She seems to leave it until last but I think she does eat the chicken eventually. Its very finely cut though at the moment.
 
#13 ·
faithless said:
Hmmm, I could probably find dried stuff like that in asian shops anyway.
Huh? What "dried stuff"? That's NOT what I'm suggesting and cats don't need "dried" meat. I'm talking about actual raw meat. Perhaps you don't have the same kind of Asian groceries as we do . . . Here it's just a grocery store with a few more "exotic" kinds of meat and other stuff, and usually much cheaper than fancy grocery stores.
 
#16 ·
I buy frozen quail in the Mexican grocery - I've never really heard that they cook a lot of quail, but for some reason they carry it - four frozen quails in a box...

Gracie eats light and dark chicken, light and dark turkey, chicken liver and whole quails, plus good canned food. I will sometimes give her snippets of beef if I am cooking something for dinner, but I don't usually give her beef for her raw meals, and I don't feed her pork at all. She loves venison as one of her canned food flavors...

:) Fran
 
#17 ·
Mak gets pork heart, kidney and liver, half a quail twice a week as a "treat" (it's his favourite!), "stewing beef" (ie, tough scraps butchers package and sell for very cheap) and every part of a whole chicken. In Chinatown I buy 4 whole chickens for $10 and butcher them, then spread the meat out accordingly.

re:quail, I buy 6 quail for $7.50 in Chinatown and that lasts me 6 weeks since it's more of a "treat" than a staple. He goes nuts for it though.

I don't bother buying packaged chicken wings, drumsticks etc because they tend to be more expensive than just buying a whole chicken and butchering it myself.
 
#18 ·
Fran said:
Gracie eats light and dark chicken, light and dark turkey, chicken liver and whole quails, plus good canned food. I will sometimes give her snippets of beef if I am cooking something for dinner, but I don't usually give her beef for her raw meals, and I don't feed her pork at all. She loves venison as one of her canned food flavors...
Just curious why you don't give her beef much or pork ever? Mine love both! If you can get real venison, they go nuts for that, too. I get a lot of free venison in my Craigslist hauls. :)
 
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