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prey, just like barf and other methods are simply a matter or preference.
but ANY raw feeding schedual, if your ding it right you shoudlnt NEED to supliment, and by doing it right i mean enough organs ect
i just find true prey model to be easiest, theres much less weighing, and no having to make sure my meat to bone ratio is correct ect.
i do agree it can be hard to seperate "pet" from "food" i used to have pet rats and love ratties, so its hard to see one my cat brings home, but welcome to nature...
my only rule right now is i must know that the "prey" was raised well and lived a good life while it was alive, the rabbit i get is colony raised on grass, so even young buns get real sunshine on their backs, real dirt in their wiskers and real grass under foot
If you're feeding dry, make sure that you do not feed any wet or, especially, raw for at least 12 hours (the length it takes for food to pass through a cat). This is because dry backs up and prevents other food to properly digest which can result in bacteria growth.
I personally feed whole prey and "frankenprey." The latter is a pre-cut/mixture of the required amount of meat, bones, and organs. How far have you looked into this? Do you know the correct ratio of different parts per week?
As for the transition, it varies from cat to cat. I've heard of some cats taking months to get accustomed (like a little kid not liking veggies ) and others take right to it. In my case, Odysseus had a 1 night turnover.
If you feed wet, I would feed a little bit of meat to your kitty and see how they take to it. I would personally skip the pre-packaged stuff all-together. Nothing is better than the real stuff (non-processed). Do you have a lot of ethnic (particularly Mexican and Asian) marketplaces nearby? They always have GREAT deals! Also, check with any local butchers and friends/family who might be hunters. Potential free = yayness.
As a quick side note, I also have had pet rabbits from age 10 until about 2 yrs ago (i'm now 32!) And it's a hard one for me to think about feeding my cats the bunnies. One of mine WAS a "feeder" rabbit saved from a pet store! LOL But I guess you do what you do for those you love and we move on....I will always order it pre ground as I am not about to send a bunny into my meat grinder. This way I don't have to think about it so much
Anyway. I'm on some other RAW boards, reading ALOT and making notes. I think I'm learning and If all kibble disappeared I think I could safely feed my furry ones tomorrow. However I am an over planner to the max! So I will continue to read and read for weeks with a binder of notes BEFORE changing anything LOL.
I kind of like the frankenpray model the best so far. I'm not about to hand my cats a whole chicken part and say "have fun". They will get ground meat. But that grind will contain meat, organs, and bone. The ratio of Calcium and Phosphorus from what I know is pretty much what you find naturally in those parts with the exception of very bony parts like necks so you de-bone a few and call it close enough for government work. At the end of the day it's making cat food and it's not rocket science!
I am undecided about the supplements. I read just as much info that says the need them as says the don't. I think my own perspective is there are plenty of thing that people don't NEED in our diets but we are healthier by having in our bodies. I'm still researching. I will make my own "supplement mix" doing natural carefully sourced rather than a commercial blend -isn't that the point of making my own food?
Thanks for the help guys! I really appreciate the different views! And now that someone mentioned it - I DO know someone that hunts in the winter! So I may ask them for any venison cuts they may otherwise scrap!
I think it's great you're helping your kitty to the fullest extent! I think all of us were hesitant at one point or another, but once we saw how healthy the results were, even us vegetarians/vegans have little to no problem cutting up correct portions!
Definitely continue to look into the supplements. When you grind, it does lose essential nutrients. There will always be a debate but if you think about it, a cat in the "wild" will eat a whole mouse. There are so many facts we do NOT know about kitty health. In fact, we only found out that taurine was an essential need because the cat food companies weren't adding it in and cats were dropping left and right. I can only imagine what is in cat food that should be that we just don't know about.
And don't forget that cats do need something to chew on. If you give them 1/2 of a chicken wing (tip portion) or, best, a chicken neck, that will help keep their teeth super healthy. Quail is also great.
Knowing hunters is great! Not everyone wants the brains and testicles, etc, and even some of the "untasty" meat, so why have it go to waste when cats gobble that up?
Are you people buying these ground bunnies and other creatures online? I've asked everyone I know if they know of somewhere to get ground whole animals and no one even heard of such a thing where I live. That includes my vet. Google and Bing brought up nothing. I can't even find organ meat here anymore. All they have is liver and chicken gizzards. I used to find brains, kidneys, sweetbreads etc. But not anymore.
I don't buy online, but a favorite that I've seen a lot of people use is Hare Today. I get all my meat from hunter friends and Asian/Mexican marketplaces. It's more of a convenience things for me, really. A LOT of people are happy with buying online.
I don't buy online, but a favorite that I've seen a lot of people use is Hare Today. I get all my meat from hunter friends and Asian/Mexican marketplaces. It's more of a convenience things for me, really. A LOT of people are happy with buying online.
There's an Asian place here also, but they don't sell ground anything. Just an unusually large amount off seafood and meats found in the grocery stores. Little Mexican foods here since the economy tanked and they left.
I can't imagine shipping frozen meat in the heat of summer.
There's an Asian place here also, but they don't sell ground anything. Just an unusually large amount off seafood and meats found in the grocery stores. Little Mexican foods here since the economy tanked and they left.
I can't imagine shipping frozen meat in the heat of summer.
Oh, I don't ground his meat. I feed him franken so he gets chunks. I'll buy x pounds and distribute 80/10/5/5.
How it apparently works for those that live in HOT areas is that it gets shipped overnight and it's still frozen by the time it's delivered/they're home. I don't have any personal experience, so I can't really say for sure.
Are you people buying these ground bunnies and other creatures online? I've asked everyone I know if they know of somewhere to get ground whole animals and no one even heard of such a thing where I live. That includes my vet. Google and Bing brought up nothing. I can't even find organ meat here anymore. All they have is liver and chicken gizzards. I used to find brains, kidneys, sweetbreads etc. But not anymore.
I do get a lot of stuff (for dogs and cats) from a butcher, hunters, and in the grocery store but places like this is the only reliable way to find things like tripe, goat/mutton pieces, rabbit, etc.
Make friends with a butcher. A small butcher I go to gets me stuff by the case, and since he knows I'm feeding dogs and cats, sometimes sets aside almost at the expiry-date meats and sells it to me extremely cheap.
I sometimes get whole (pre-killed for me; I pay only $2 per rabbit for the killing part) rabbits from a show rabbit breeder. Show breeders have a LOT of culls and are usually very happy to find a taker....plus from what I've seen, show rabbit people take very good care of their bunnies. Up until they end up as food, anyway.
PS, Hare Today is pretty good product, I used to order from them years ago. The delivery charges killed me though, and since feeding this way has become more common, there are now several local distributors and people I can buy from.
for the pre made raw youll find it in most pet stores nowerdays, for other versions i personally get it form a local guy who breeds the animals for his snakes...
most people i know who do raw are hunters, raise their own meat or know people that hunt/raise their own meat.
others just buy whatevers on at the grocery store and do it that way, and others order it via online sources, ive never done that method so i cant help you on that front.
in terms of bone to meat ratios...
remember, not every meal has to be perfectly balanced, its balance over time that counts...
so say your doing prey modela nd decide 'this week im doing chicken" so you have chicken neck, back, wings, legs, and breast...
one day you ight do the neck, the next mabe rib in breast, the more meat of the breast on day 2 balances out the more bone from the neck on day 1...
i hope that makes sense...
my adult female is very small, my 16 week old kitten is also very small...if i were to do chicken..theres no way either of m cats is going to eat a whole chicken in a day...
so instead id break it up...
day 1 they may get neck, day 2 a breast with ribs, day 3 wings, day 4 thighs, day 5 leg, day 6, back, day 7 organs...
ect.
the ideas is balancing the bone to meat over the space of a week is perfeclty fine, you dont nessicarily have to go around deboning your chicken necks ect...just make sure if you do all neck one day you do something like breast another.
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