Feeding raw food to a cat

[paulineh]

My 10month old kitten does not really like tinned food. I do put out Royal Canin dry Kitten food not that she eats what they say she should but will leave any tinned . Does anyone feed raw / cooked food ie chicken etc.

She is in good health and does not look thin. She has bought a mouse in so maybe she is catching food for herself.

It's a long time since I had a cat in the house. I have one in my yard who is now 17 . She will eat tinned food without a problem.

 

[Fransurrey]

I used to have three on a raw food diet and they thrived on it. I would give them chicken wings, chicken mince (including ground bones), some offal (heart, liver, kidneys), with bits of veg (from memory it was carrots, broccoli, peas - anything we were eating with dinner, really). There was much more and I'm a little out of touch, now, as Rosco wasn't keen - but he hunted a lot, so I didn't worry too much. One of the raw food cats suffered diarrhoea before switching. He was full of health after starting it.

 

[doriangrey]

My cat was brought up on raw, I think it's important to include red meat and offal which is rich in taurine (which cats need for eye/heart health), but certainly I feed chicken wings. I used to chop it up fine for them until I saw Ash chomping down on a whole rabbit He's a fine, big healthy cat and a fabulous hunter.

 

[Mrs B]

There are quite a few raw foods on the market - you just have to be sure of what's in them (sounds obvious, but!) and whether they provide enough vitamins.

My two are fed a raw food by Natural Instinct. http://www.naturalinstinct.com/categories/cat-food/

It's delivered frozen in 500g containers and works out about the same cost as most main brand cat foods as it's high in protein and you have to feed less weight.

One container lasts my two about 4 or five days but I do mix in Applaws tins too.

I heard about the food from the lady who bred my 10 month old Bengal and decided to try it on my occasionally-fussy 10 year old Bengal-x. Both love it and never leave a mouthful. What really interested me was that when small Bengal was a kitten and still indoors with a litter tray, (and please excuse the topic!) when she was fed the Natural Instinct diet her poo hardly smelled at all - and we all know how bad kitten poo can smell!
(And a picture of Small Bengal at about 10 weeks, just cos she's cute )

 

[Leo Walker]

I feed raw as my dogs are raw fed. I had a massive stand off with Eric before I moved, and he refused to eat what i fed and started leaving the house at 8am and 4pm to clearly go and raid other cats houses for sugary whiskas! I've now moved 200 miles away and there is nowhere round here he can do the starving cat act! So hes back on raw. The first week he drove me mental! Waking me 5 or 6 times a night to tell he he was DYING of starvation. Now a month in, hes eating like a pig and realyl, really enjoying it! He was never fat, but now he looks leaner and fitter. I'm very pro raw so would recommend it to anyone! but cats are much harder to change over and manage. We did it by feeding lost of Natural Instinct, very expensive, but balanced and irresistible to cats! We are now slowly making the move to other foods. He gets one pack which is actually 2 packs of Natural Instinct, 2 packs of lamb, 3 packs of ox/liver/chicken heart and 4 days a week of cut up raw chicken. As time goes on we will move on to more whole foods and less minced foods the same as the dog, but for now everyone is happy as it is. I wish Id videoed him eating chopped lamb heart earlier! He ate it like a starving pig!

 

[cloverleaf1985]

I've got one cat who was a biscuit fiend when I got her, she on wet food now and will eat a bit of raw chicken breast, an I have one cat who loves wet, but won't touch raw at all.
I've tried warming it to mouse temperature but no luck.

Any tips? Also with the natures instinct, do you defrost a whole block at once and leave it in the fridge? How long does it last for for 2 cats on a diet?