Raw Feeding for cats

Ooh glad you posted this! As my dogs eat raw, and my cat doesn't but is always VERY interested in the dog food!
 
I would imagine you just skip the veggies.
My cat is mostly on a self imposed raw diet which seems to consist of mostly bunnies with some wood pigeon and squirrel thrown in too
 
milo'n'molly said:
I would imagine you just skip the veggies.
My cat is mostly on a self imposed raw diet which seems to consist of mostly bunnies with some wood pigeon and squirrel thrown in too
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Its not quite as simple as that, unless you want to end up with all sorts of trouble later on down the line.... Trust me - I have had to do a HUGE amount of research over the last year into feline nutrition because my beloved precious Milo is so ill with Thyroid - tho I do believe (with him) that there are other factors at play.. (his is not all diet related tho - it has to be said but research shows that a high proportion of unbalanced / deficient diets do result in Endocrine issues)

The raw diet must be balanced, to include bone and organs. CatInfo.org and other sites do have all of this info. It is a good idea to do a heck of a lot of research first so you are clear in your mind as to what it is that a cat requires in his diet.

Pouch foods, whilst convenient, are a fairly recent "invention" for the busy household, but are kinda like McDonalds... Some do well, some not so - a higher proportion, not so... :-/
 
Sorry, that was meant to be a little tongue in cheek. I don't feed raw to the cat but he is not interested in his regular food atm as it seems he'd rather find his own food
 
Oh wow! Thank you for the information - I will peruse and take notes (that won't make any sense later LOL).
My dogs do brilliantly on raw, and I find it so easy and satisfying to feed them this way.
I have Maine **** cats fed on JW but every so often they go off this, and I was wondering if raw was an option.
I know you have to add taurine and various other things (seems like much more complicated than raw feeding dogs), and be careful with the various ratio's.
I'll have to invest in a mincer, I think, as bones have to be minced - unlike with the mutleys.
 
Natural Instinct, the frozen stuff in the white tubs increasingly available in pet and feed stores, does a cat range as well. I haven't really looked at the cat product but their dog food comes in a variety of 'balances' - working, senior, light etc.
 
Absolutely NO Natural Instinct for cats! Baaaaad Baaaaad news!

Mine rejected it. I found out later (too late) by vets that they had concerns over the contents and how ethical the company actually was.

They add kelp to their feeds. This is not recommended for cats. There is a higher incidence of them going on to develop endocrine problems. It is not something they would necessarily find in the wild - so why ask them to eat it...
 
There you go, learn something new every day.

I always wonder about feeding cats fish though . . . how much of their diet would that make up in the wild?
 
Crazyfresian - that is worrying, what are the concerns on NI? Do they apply for dogs too?! Just started feeding this to my dogs!
 
Crazy Friesian said:
Absolutely NO Natural Instinct for cats! Baaaaad Baaaaad news!

Mine rejected it. I found out later (too late) by vets that they had concerns over the contents and how ethical the company actually was.

They add kelp to their feeds. This is not recommended for cats. There is a higher incidence of them going on to develop endocrine problems. It is not something they would necessarily find in the wild - so why ask them to eat it...
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What do you mean by "how ethical the company actually was"? I have no links with NI (other than as a sometime customer), but they seem highly ethical, both in their sourcing of meat and in their care for the quality of their product.

Some vets just dislike raw feeding.
 
I'm curious, too. I've looked around for negative reports and not found anything particularly damning, at least not relative to other meat sources.
 
I have been feeding cats raw for about fifteen years now. My cats live on a basic diet of chicken wings & raw pet minces. Then they get eggs about once every two weeks, with a small amount of mushed veg & oil in it. Offal about once every two weeks. Fish usually about once a week. That pretty much does them - and they all seem to look very well & healthy, with great bone density, heavy cats for their sizes, and live to old ages.
 
Varkie that's interesting - so, notwithstanding concerns from the poster above, in theory that's not a million miles different from the dog diet i am feeding from NI?
 
Inthemud said:
What do you mean by "how ethical the company actually was"? I have no links with NI (other than as a sometime customer), but they seem highly ethical, both in their sourcing of meat and in their care for the quality of their product.

Some vets just dislike raw feeding.
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Nothing to do with the raw feeding - as you can see, my guys are raw fed - this was in discussion with several vets regarding raw feeding - and obviously names were bandied around etc. As I say - I got the same "concern" raised from DIFFERENT unrelated vets regarding NI. These were with well known Holistic vets who really know their stuff. I don't know their sources etc. I haven't the time to go down that route - too busy trying to keep up with Milo and his illness. But I totally trust these vets - who have NO connection or particular prior interest any of the feed companies. It was just the advice I was given by them.

I have to mention that I was in the process of transitioning my guys to raw (on NI) when Milo developed HyperT. How or if this was related, I do not know...

I have been struggling with my cat re Thyroid issues and have therefore been doing lots of research on the best diet I could persuade him to eat. One thing that has been thrown up in my research is that it would appear that cats who have a higher inclusion of Iodine in their diets are more likely to develop Endocrine problems.

It has to be said that I tend now to err on the side of caution and avoid anything with high iodine content in any of the "lil treats" that they may get - Milo is a total No No, Missy may get the odd "treat".
 
Inthemud said:
What do you mean by "how ethical the company actually was"? I have no links with NI (other than as a sometime customer), but they seem highly ethical, both in their sourcing of meat and in their care for the quality of their product.

Some vets just dislike raw feeding.
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My daughter's chihuahuas are on Natural Instinct and I would be very cautious about anything a vet said to me with regard to raw feeding of dogs or cats. Most of them are rabid antis, a few sensible ones think it's great and the rest are cautiously OK about it. Call me a sceptical old cynic, but since my boys have been raw fed - 10 years - they never have to go to the vet except for when they've had accidents. Ditto all the tens of owners that I have converted to raw. The 2 most common things new raw feeders say to me is how lovely their dogs now smell - they now smell of nothing! - and how they are saving a fortune on vets fees.

For these reasons alone I would always be very suspicious of anything negative that a vet said about raw feeding.
 
Right, a little update on my puddy tats:

We started them about a week ago on Natural Instinct just to see how they got on (and the fact that it had everything they needed in it). Initially they weren't keen, so we let it stand til it was room temperature and mixed a tiny bit of Whiskas in with it for flavour, and whoosh.......it was gone in seconds.

A week later, and they still love it, even though we are weaning them off the Whiskas - they won't even look at the kibble now!

We are swapping to Landwoods or Berriewoods this week - as they are cheaper, and have found a supplement for raw fed cats called Pet Plus for Cats. Even with this, it works out much more reasonable than NI.

So, I think, so far, the change from kibble to raw has gone surprisingly well :D

Thank you for all your advice, it was most helpful.
 
What exactly is raw?? Our cat lives at the stables so gets a fair bit if 'raw' food as in he catches rabbits. He still does get fed cat food but we often find rabbit remains around so he's obviously supplementing on raw! ;-)
 
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