9 replies to this topic

[gilmacd]

I'm thinking about adding a few dog-friendly cats to my home. Probably Siamese or Tonkinese rescues. I have the raw fed dog pretty much figured out. A lot of my supplies including green tripe come from My Pet Carnivore. I read through all of these posts and I think the website I mentioned has everything I need to feed a couple of cats a healthy raw diet. I can get rabbit chunks and more importantly, ground rabbit, chicken, etc. I know they probably have to start out with ground foods first and introduce bones and chunks gradually, right? 

Thanks,

 

Mac

[gilmacd]

Just found this page. 

http://feline-nutrition.org/

[gilmacd]

After looking at that website I still need some help because they appear to be supportive of the BARF diet and that's just too much work for me. 

[naturalfeddogs]

One of my cats will only eat raw if he catches and kills it himself, but my other will eat any raw. When I started him on it, he was about 6 months old and I did start with chicken, but once I saw he loved it I just gave him whatever. Cats (at least mine) aren't as sensitive as dogs to the sudden protein changes. Just be sure you have plenty of heart on a very regular basis for them. Heart is probably the highest source of taurine which is an absolute MUST for cats. I have to feed some kibble to my cats as well, because I don't always have enough of a taurine source.

[gilmacd]

Thank you Jenny. I think that mypetcarnivore.com will probably be getting a lot more business from me. I buy my green tripe from them for the dogs. Also, another website that someone posted call hare today seems to have a lot of fresh, frozen natural foods for cats. 

Here's another question. What is the correct ratio and how often do you feed your cats? Is it once or twice a day? I think I read somewhere that cats can eat up to 10% of their body weight in food. Is this accurate?  

[gilmacd]

Ok, just found this page that says between 2% to 4%. 

http://www.rawfedcat...cticalguide.htm

[holycrapaiofe]

Ok, just found this page that says between 2% to 4%. 

http://www.rawfedcat...cticalguide.htm

 

It also depends on the cat and how active they are. I have an extremely active, feral cat. One day she caught and ate two adult gophers, one adult quail, three mice, and a lizard. And mind you, this was just what she brought to the house to show us. She's only a 9 pound cat. Lol.

 

[Edit to add: And she has never been fat!!!]

[naturalfeddogs]

I let mine tell me when they are ready to eat. They go to their bowl and just look at me. It's usually around two or three times a day. When I'm at work though, that's when I leave some kibble in their bowl. Cats are "grazers", so to speak who need to nibble pretty regular. They don't do real well for long periods of time without food, so I make sure they have something when we aren't home. 

[gilmacd]

Jenny, that's interesting because the woman above says that we shouldn't leave food down for them. That's the problem with the never ending bowl of kibble. Thanks for commenting. I wish more people would. 

[Jordann]

My cat isn't raw fed, but I always leave her food down. She eats 3-4 times a day. I don't want to mess with her liver acting up because I don't give her the food when she needs it. Just my thoughts. You need to find what works best for your future cat and go from there.