A few weeks ago I asked about what to feed my cat. I came across an answer leading me to http://www.catinfo.org/ . Skeptic about it I still read and have gradually changed my cats diet. I was feeding them dry food and cheap canned food. I thought that if I saw a sale at the pet store it would be ok…a lot less expensive i thought.
Anyways, Its been two weeks since I have not fed any dry food(I still serve them a bit on a bowl just in case they don’t like their new diet but they don’t even touch it any more).
Since day one they liked raw chicken. I served them a bit at a time along with canned food. I have read the labels on every can at the store and got the best I can afford guiding myself with catinfo.org and a few people that advised me on what to look for.
I am not kidding. Their fur is shiny and very silky. Their poop is not smelly any more, or at least not as much and they seem very very energetic.
Finally, for my question: Im ready to change to an all raw meat diet and will finally try the recipe given on catinfo.org. The question is: How much should I feed my cats(how many oz a day). They are both around 9lbs and are a year old now.
I am very proud of myself for finding this new diet. I can tell by how they act with me and how happy they look playing with each other.

I am trying to calculate how much raw cat food my cats should receive. So, I have some questions.

1. How many times a day do you recommend feeding?

2. How many ounces of food a day should a cat receive?

I know that this information can vary, based on weight, age, health, and exercise. I am really just looking for general amounts that I can adjust, as needed. If it helps, all of my cats age from one to nine years of age. None of them are overweight or have any health problems.

I also have some more questions.

A. Do you prefer BARF, whole prey model, and/or frankenprey? Why or why not?

B. What "recipes" do you use/follow?

C. If you follow whole prey model, how do you go about feeding your cats?

D. Have you had difficulty finding a veterinarian who agrees with your cats’ diets?

E. How much do you spend, daily, weekly, and/or monthly on food, per cat?

Any other information is appreciated. 8)
Also, you do not have to answer every single question–just the ones you want to.

Okay, so I plan to attain a kitten in the near future… and have researched what type of diet I would like to feed to my cat… having read what they put in canned and dry food I am determined not to give this to my future cat, and have read that using a meat grinder on chicken meat and bones is good for a cat and also that grated carrots are good for them also.. so I was just wondering if there is anyone out there that has some nice recipes that they feed their cats. I am not looking for peoples opinions on whether they think this is a bad idea, I have done my research for it, and I am confident that this is the right approach.

I have 3 dogs and 2 cats.
Both cats are indoor/outdoor and hunt occasionally when out. I fee them Blue Buffalo Wilderness – Duck(Grain Free)
1 of my dogs is on Nature’s Recipe Grain Free Salmon, Pumpkin, and Sweet Potato
1 is on Blue Buffalo Large Breed Fish and Oatmeal
1 is on Blue Buffalo Puppy Lamb and Oatmeal

I know the main concern with switching to raw is that its grain free, but if my cats and 1 dog are already on grain free diets, is there really that much of a difference?

Also, I am very busy (law student & dog trainer), so I wouldn’t be able to feed them raw in the morning. My dogs eat twice a day and my cats eat sparingly. No one is overweight, but I was wondering if I can feed their kibble in the morning and raw at night, or would that throw them off?

Also, I know to feed them 2-3% of their body weight, but I have a 28lb corgi, a 100lb lab, and a 19lb corgi puppy. I can do the math, but I have yet to find recipes or examples besides just ingredients to give them. Anyone have any suggestions for exactly what to give at meals?

Also, I supplement my dogs with fish oil (omega 3 &6) every night, would I need to keep doing this if on raw? How much omega 3 &6 are in actual fish?

SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS!!! THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

I was asking a question last night about a cat food by Taste of the Wild and I had a couple answers that informed me of how bad dry food really is for cats…I was shocked to find this out. So apparently more canned food would be better or just switching to a raw diet. I would like to do the raw diet if someone can give me a good, easy, cheap recipe to do it. I also don’t have a meat grinder, so is that something you HAVE to have in order to feed raw since cats are supposed to eat a small amount of bones?

If you feed your cats raw, please list what foods you buy and how much you feed them daily and WHAT meats you feed them daily. Also, how much a month approx would it cost to raw feed 2 cats? Tell me all you know! I looked at some sites, but none were really explaining the types of meat to buy.

One last question-one of my cats is a kitten, would a raw diet give him all the nutrients he needs?

THANKS!
Ok, now i’m getting confused. Everyone was saying that a raw food diet is so much better because cats are carnivores and most of the proteins in dry food are plant proteins while proteins in canned food or raw diet are animal proteins.
I don’t want to risk them getting a disease from infected meat so I guess I will continue to offer them dry food at all times, I’m going to use Taste of the Wild Rocky Mountain Feline and then I’ll give them a canned food once a day…That sounds easier anyway. I just was curious about the raw food because everyone said it’s the healthiest for them.
I too know of several cats that lived solely off of dry foods and they lived to be 15+, I just thought maybe raw would be better…but I’m too afraid to do it because I’m afraid I wouldn’t get the right amounts of different nutrients etc.

My little angel sake has blocked twice in the past six month… Not sure what brought this, my guess is dry cat food diet and stress of moving to a new home with new kitty rules as well… either way i never want my little baby to go through this again. It was hard enough for me to see him go through this I can only imagine what he went through. Unfortunately my vet (a local VCA) wasn’t very clear on how to prevent this from happening again (i asked a lot of questions). With the research I have done I know a raw food diet or a more better pricey brand of cat food is the best thing, the only problem is the lack of funds (lets just say my cats probably eat more than me). What I have been feeding them is purina special diet, it say it helps reducing urinary ph. I know that it is not the best but I figured it is the next best thing to dry food. So finally my question is are there any better canned foods or recipes to feed him that will make his urine is less crystally and also be affordable for me as well…

something you should know…

first:
I have two cats both boys. Sake (salmon in japanese) the one with flutd and Samson, he does not but we want to make sure he never does.

second:
I spend about 2.00 a day feeding them which come out to dollars a month, but if budget more I can spend up to to 0 dollars.

third:
For the past three month we have only feed them both canned food and created a less stressful environment, and since then he has not blocked but I am very paranoid.

Thank you all so much!!!
just if i happen to be unclear (which happen a lot) i now only feed them purina canned cat food…

sorry if t was confusing
also when looking into raw food recipes i can not find most o the supplements to add and also what meat is the best and least expensive…

Hi, I just got my 3 month old cat yesterday and the breeder wants me to feed him 1lb raw ground beef and 1lb ground turkey blended with 2 yolks Instincts powder mix and probiotics. This has become very hard and a lot of it gets wasted because he barely eats it and its the same recipe she was using. How do I get him off of this diet safely without him getting sick (she said he would get sick if I did this) and onto dry cat food called evo which is grain free and organic. Thanks!
a detail he is a pure bred so they are more sensitive than normal cats. He is a male himalayan
oh and I dont feed him 2lb of meat I portion all of that into almost a 1/2 a cup and he only takes like 3-4 bites and then he wont eat anymore and I know this is not enough.

I’ve read good words on the raw diet.It sounds great, cats evolved to eat meat & you can be sure that they are get proper nutrition assuming you get a proper recipe.

My vet’s against raw diets b/c of the risk for bacterial infection.I understand.I’m a medical student and even the human stomach’s pH can go down to 1 during digestion, but raw foods are also risky for humans.

Assuming that I am careful with the source of the meat (I’m thinking of whole rabbit carcass cut into chewable pieces, much of the bacterial infection is from grinding meat and mixing meat from an infected animal with meat from other animals), storage, and get a proper recipe, is this ideal compared to highly respected cat food brands like Wellness?

What were the opinions your vets had?

What have you found helpful? Just like human medicine, vets are trained to use commerical products like meds and Rx foods. Little education is given about preventative nutrition. Have you had any useful reads on nutrition?

Yes, I did already ask this but no one really answered my question…please don’t tell me I shouldn’t switch my cat’s diet as it is neccessary for my one cat’s health as 1 is sick because of the commercial food.

I have been thinking about switching my cats to a raw diet for quite some time. Since I’m going to be getting a dog soon, I’ve decided there is no better time than now to really work towards switching them to a new diet. I do have a couple of questions though…first of all, if I am understanding the information I have read so far correctly cats have much more extensive nutritional needs than dogs…this slightly freaks me out as I’m afraid I won’t supplement their raw diet correctly. So look online I found this pre-mix for raw foods it’s called alnutrin, does anyone know anything about this? Do you think it is quality? You have to add raw meet and water that’s it. It’s fairly cheap w/o shipping and says it makes 32 pounds of food.
Also, I can’t find anything like this for dogs…is it because it isn’t necessarily needed? Can anyone recommend a pre-mix of quality for raw diets for dogs?
Does anyone have any recipes for making a homemade dry kibble, as I would still like to free feed my cats throughout the day, or any other recommendations for switching my cats (and soon to be dog) to a raw diet?

Here is the link to the stuff I am looking at http://www.knowwhatyoufeed.com/alnutrin_with_calcium.html

I have been thinking about switching my cats to a raw diet for quite some time. Since I’m going to be getting a dog soon, I’ve decided there is no better time than now to really work towards switching them to a new diet. I do have a couple of questions though…first of all, if I am understanding the information I have read so far correctly cats have much more extensive nutritional needs than dogs…this slightly freaks me out as I’m afraid I won’t supplement their raw diet correctly. So look online I found this pre-mix for raw foods it’s called alnutrin, does anyone know anything about this? Do you think it is quality? You have to add raw meet and water that’s it. It’s fairly cheap w/o shipping and says it makes 32 pounds of food.
Also, I can’t find anything like this for dogs…is it because it isn’t necessarily needed? Can anyone recommend a pre-mix of quality for raw diets for dogs?
Does anyone have any recipes for making a healthy dry kibble, as I would still like to free feed my cats throughout the day, or any other recommendations for switching my cats (and soon to be dog) to a raw diet?
Sorry I meant to attach this earlier this is the link for that mix stuff:

http://www.knowwhatyoufeed.com/alnutrin_with_calcium.html

Ok first of all…the reason I want to change my cats diet is because they have been eating commercial cat food which is terrible for them, my senior cat is pre-diabetic and needs to lose some weight.
Second, my cats have been exposed to dogs because I believe in socializing my animals to people and other animals…really who doesn’t do this?
Third, I think you can make homemade kibble and that’s what I would be interested in doing…PLEASE ANY RECIPE is greatly appreciated.

I got a free meal from my a school event today. It was so packed and so hard to find my friends (who don’t care to use their cell phones except at night) that I decided to grab the meal and eat at our student center, an 8 minute walk away.

When I arrived and sat down, I discovered that my sandwich, which I’m certain I picked from the "veggie" table, was actually roast beef. I’m currently a pescatarian, (seafood eater) and plan to be full vegan by the end of the semester. I’ve not eaten a bite of meat or poultry since late June, and when I sat looking at my sandwich today I was like a recovering alcoholic looking at a beer. I love the taste, but I know it’s not healthy and I can’t turn a blind eye to livestock cruelty.

I ended up taking the meat off the sandwich and tossing it. I didn’t want to be wasteful of the poor animal’s flesh, but I felt like eating it would be cheating my ethics. What do you guys think? Would eating it have been morally permissible?
Clarification: I noticed the meat before I took a bite. I opted to eat everything on the sandwich except the meat since nobody I knew was in the dining area. In hindsight I suppose I could’ve saved it for some of the cats on campus, but the cats don’t trust people so I don’t know if they’d have eaten it.

My motivations are dual: Despite loving the taste of meat, I don’t want to eat it because it’s unhealthy for me and it comes from unethically treated animals. Additionally, I feel like I’m kicking an addiction and I don’t want to even put the real thing in my mouth or else I’ll break my stride.

Hi. I got a Raw Cat Food Diet Reciepe off the net and was running it thru here to see for sure if it gets cat owners ok.
Didn’t want to feed my cat things that may harm her.

(Raw Bone Diet.)
The Recipe Ingredients are as follows:
Raw chicken. Meat and bones Grinded up.
raw Chicken Liver 7 oz.
raw Chicken Hearts
raw egg yolks
Raw Glandular supplement
salmon oil
Vitamin B complex
Kelp
Dulse
Psyllium
Tarium

Does this sound like a safe, good healthy raw bone diet for Cats. Thank you for your most important help. God bless.
Proabbly only those feeding raw bone diet to there cats would know, so this is who this question is directed to more so.
:)
My recipe is for 4 lbs. of meat (chicken)

She has had diahrrea lately. Well it’s super bad. IDK if its the food or what. I think my cat Leo HAD tapeworms. I think they are gone now. But when he had them he had diahrrea too. Is it possible to pass on tapeworms?

But now my kitty Shadoe is sick just like Holly, tho not quite as bad. Shadoe was like this too when she was little. Does anybody know what is wrong maybe? I don’t give them milk, and they eat Special Kitty cat food (in the green bag).
I forgot to say that are outside cats 24/7.

Their mom was a stray. (She recently got ran over). Graycie had Leo (it’s her son). And Shadoe & Holly were her granddaughters.

Hi,

At the moment we’re feeding our cats Tuna & raw meat. They seem to be thriving on it really well. They are active, don’t get sick much, accept for the occassional cold.

We also have used in the past regular store bought dry cat food. They were ok with that accept a bit chubbier.

Which do you feed your cat & why? Is it better to give them store bought food?

Thank you.

Thanks.

I am hopefully getting a cat (or two) in a few weeks, and I’ve been reading about raw food diets for cats. It seems like a great idea but I’m not sure I’ll be able to afford it. Is it expensive to keep cats on a raw food diet? Also, is it necessary to shop at a butcher, or is supermarket meat okay for cats?

Why do so many people have cats that are 7-15 years old or older that have been eating store brands (Friskies, Purina, etc.) for years? Before this ‘health food’ kick for cats started.

The recall was a fluke (it was terrible, but it could have happened to any product in any food). BUT even then, the store-bought brands, like Friskies, weren’t affected. The diets in common brands were developd by scientists, and have been improved over the years. If all the food on the shelves were bad for your cat’s diet, they wouldn’t all still be there.

Sure, it’s good to watch the food that your cat eats, but buying all this high dollar ‘specialty’ cat with ‘nothing’ in them I think will cause more problems in the end because the ‘fillers’ and so-called junk they put in the food is also needed as part of their diet.

I know alot of people won’t agree, but my cats have always eaten Friskies, and I’ve never had one sick from a poor diet.
Iams used to farm out their testing to other companies but because of the cruelty, they started doing their own in-house safe testing on animals.

ok i dont trust commercial cat food at all.
nobody regulates it really.

its complete garbage.

i want to start my cat on the raw food diet, but all the research i do i dont understand it all sounds like "blah blah blah" with alot of words i cant define.

so is there like a "raw food diet for dummies?"
and where can i find the supplements for thet cats at?
and what the heck is a grinder?

im dumb, i need i explained to me like you would have to explain it to a 4 year old.

and were can i find really fast recipes?
do you realize thats what they would eat in the wild?

you feed your cat crap!
it will probably end up with a liver damage

so you know how much ash and fillers are in cat food, do your research.
the cat food companys slide buy with the minimal nutrients in it.
Also please dont awsner my question if you have no idea of the benifits of the raw food diet.

this is manly for people who are feeding there cats that.

So please refrain from anwsering my question if you are not educated in this topic

I was wondering about the benefits and deficits of a raw food diet for my cat, considering that in nature cats would eat raw meat. I am aware of the risks for parasites and I know that livestock and dogs eat certain plants that rid them of stomach parasites, particularly clover because it contains tannins. I also know that cranberries contain tannins and have recently been added to many commercial cat foods, but because cats are carnivores I am unsure to whether or not they would be able to digest the fruit. Also, this website has a recipe for raw cat food and I was wondering if it is correct: www.wikihow.com/Make-Raw-Cat-Food . I would inform my veterinarian of this decision before I enacted it but just was curious.

Aaaalright. I’ve posted a billion times about my cat Jezebel who was throwing up.. we took her to the vet… then she was throwing up green bile… then she seemed better….

So. I’m trying really hard to find the source – the vet didn’t feel any obstructions and I’m hoping not to get an x-ray (I’m in college… I don’t exactly have money – I’d have to borrow, steal, or beg to pay for that).

Anyways, I have a clip-on toilet cleaner in my bathroom. I keep my toilet lid down at all times because my cats sleep in there and the box says to keep animals away from it. Sometime last week.. or possibly this week… I can’t remember, my mom cleaned out the litter box before I was awake and I guess used my toilet too because the lid was up (Even though she knows to keep them down since she has a clip-on in her bathroom too).

I’m wondering if this is what is ailing Jeze – because she was super affectionate this morning, not lethargic at all. I let them out of the bathroom around 5 this morning while I was studying and she spent all morning curled up with me – and even did her kneading routine where she kneads the bed, purrs, and stares at me with loving eyes and yells at me if I stop petting her. She really seemed better! She sniffed her food, still didn’t want to eat, but she didn’t throw up when she smelled it. And she was able to keep water down.

DIDN’T THROW UP ALL DAY, which is why I didn’t take her back to the vet.

Then… our handyman came over to stick a kitty-door in our kitchen door, leading to the garage so I can get that litter box out of my bathroom….
I was gone for a few hours, came home, greeted the cats, and within 5 minutes of being home Jeze puked all over the floor. This stuff smells worse than diarrhea… I didn’t know something so nasty could come out of that beautiful face.
I went into the bathroom and saw that the handyman had put the toilet seat up (both parts of it, ick) ! I was infuriated… not at him, just at the situation.

Okay, all this to say… if the chemicals from the cleaner is what’s ailing my kitty is there something I can do (other than getting rid of the stupid clip thing) to help her – besides another vet visit (that’s obvious, i hate when that’s the only advice people give).

This could totally not even be it, but I’m considering anything at all right now.

Thank you :-)
More home-made tummy-help suggestions would be appreciated – as soon as this monsoon stops outside I’m going to try to find the oils someone was talking about and possibly the yogurt, though she won’t even eat the hairball medicine she loves…
… that’s what I said – BESIDES removing the cleaner. I’ve already done that.
Kia – thanks. I’ll try that. I reeeeeally hope this is it – it’s a lot harder watching an animal suffer than suffering through it yourself!!

I can manage to do the raw diet (it is more time consuming though, measuring all the muscle meat, bone content and organ content) but I like doing it because I know it’s healthy. Then there’s EVO/Wellness canned food that I am also considering. I can’t make up my mind. Both of my cats love either or. Which one should I do?

So, I’ve been feeding raw food to my cats lately. 2 of them absolutely love it and the other 3 just smell it and walk away. Is there anything that I can add to it to make it smell more appetizing to them?

I buy the food frozen from a very reliable store near my home. I want to get them used to the raw diet before I start making it myself.

Thanks
Ocimom- I do let it thaw out and make sure that it is completely defrosted before I give it to them. I also stick it in the microwave for about 15 seconds to take the chill out of it!
Natalie, I know what needs to be in the raw food.. thanks though.

I would like to start my 5 month old pitt-bull mix on a raw food diet. Does anyone have a recipe or know of a web-site that they know is good? I googled and came up with tons of sites but I hate using just any recipe, I’d rather use something that others have tried! also most raw food diets are a basic recipe, is there any changes that need to be made because Max is a puppy?
I would like to do an all raw diet, I found one for my cats that I will be starting in the next few weeks: www.catinfo.org that is raw chicken legs ground up with some added supplements. would this recipe work for dogs too? thanks for your help!

Ok so I’ve decided I want to try my cat on the raw food diet…I’ve been on the internet looking at all different sites and am a little confussed. I’ve seen on some sites the BARF diet which says its best to leave the bones and grind them up too then I’ve been to other and they said not to put the bones in and use a supplement powder…So which one is better or are they pretty much the same??
What do you give to your cats??
Also if you are feeding your cats a raw diet what sort of grinder do you have and does it grind bones??
I think that’s all I’m confussed with at the moment…thanks :-)

So it’s official. Price per pound, it’s way cheaper to go the raw food diet than buying the quality dry cat food. So that’s what we’re doing.

My cats already eat it as a treat, but they make a HUGE mess dragging it around. How can I keep things clean and easy to pick up?

And I have four of them, one of them has aggression issues and another guards his food (canned and raw, dry he doesn’t care). Besides feeding them in different rooms, how can I keep all 4 happily eating their own?

I want to switch my cats over to a BARF diet, after about three months consideration and research, but I can’t afford a grinder at the moment. I have everything else available to me, but grinders are expensive. I would like to buy premade food from a pet supply store but I haven’t been able to find any myself.
I live in Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada which is about 15 minutes away from Houlton, Maine, USA.