What
and How I feed my Cats...
I
have prepared this page to show some of what my
own cats and kittens are fed. While the very best
for our kitties is to feed them whole prey, that
is not an option for me - nothing like that is
available, so I try and get as close to the ideal
as I can. Sometimes, coming from a world where we
are used to just tipping kibble into a bowl or
opening a can, it can be confusing to start
feeding raw. Hopefully this page will give you
some ideas. The main things are; plenty of
variety, feed big chunks & bones requiring
chewing often, and to try and follow the
recommended Ratios below.
Raw
Feeding Recommended ratios
- these proportions are relatively the same in
almost every prey animal that carnivores are
designed to consume, and the percentages are,
approximately:
-
80
– 85% meat, fat, skin, sinew, connective
tissue etc.
-
10
– 15% edible bone
-
5
- 10% organs with half that amount being liver
(if
fed daily this would only equal about the size
of a grape or two).
These
percentages, although approximate, should serve as
the basic guidelines for a cat’s (or dog's)
diet. These exact proportions do not need to be
fed at each and every meal, but rather should
combine to comprise the overall diet over the
course of time.
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Here is a 5 week old kitten really
enjoying a chomp on a chicken neck - start them
young!
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For those
who always ask...no, I
DON'T feed any dry food to my cats
- despite what your vet (and Dr Harry) will tell
you - it is the very worst thing you can feed your
cat (or dog). Dry food is only about 10% moisture
whereas raw meat has around 70-80%, and cats never
drink enough to make up the deficit. Therefore
most dry-fed cats are chronically de-hydrated.
This is the MAJOR cause of most urinary problems. If you must for convenience occasionally
feed processed food - canned food (in my opinion) is a much better
choice than dry. For specifics on the dietary
requirements of felines, here
is an in-depth explanation.
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This page
is only my personal "What" of
Raw Feeding! The "Whys" &
"Hows" are very well explained at this
website: Raw
Fed Cats, and this wonderful site will
give you a good basic understanding of the
principles.
I recommend
you set aside a contained place for Kitty to eat
his meals. Cats tend to carry around their food
and it is rather nasty to sit on a piece of raw
liver on your couch! I use a large cage (actually
a dog crate) which has a plastic floor for easy
cleaning. I usually also put in a carpet sample
mat for comfort as the cats definitely prefer a
soft surface when chowing down. You could use a
towel which is easily tossed in the washing
machine. Some people use a large pet carrier to
feed their raw bones in, and others simply put the
cat in the bathroom or laundry to eat.
If your cat
is new to raw food, don't (for example) go out and
buy a whole sheep carcass, LOL as he might not
like sheep! Buy very small portions of lots of
different meats and offer these. If you have
trouble getting your cat to eat raw, I recommend
you join a free internet discussion group: RawCats.
There are many experienced and helpful people in
this group who give up a huge amount of their time
just to help newbies. You can ask questions and
will get helpful, informed answers.
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| Here
is my "feeding place". This is a dog crate
and is sometimes available at The Warehouse stores,
or at www.dealsdirect.com.au,
and also at pet shops (a lot more expensive there).
It folds away easily for storage. |
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| And
here is some of the things my kitties eat...to give
you ideas |
| Pictured
as bought |
How
I serve it |
How
"they" eat it |
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Whole Chicken
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I
whack these up into cat-sized pieces as on the
right. Smaller pieces for smaller kittens mouths and
larger for the grown-ups.
Much better than just feeding wings or necks as a
whole meal, as there is a better meat to bone
ration. |
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Chicken
Wings & Necks
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Good
for jaws, but not a lot of meat - so don't feed
these as a sole source of food too often.
For kittens I thump
them a few times to flatten and make easier to get
into their mouths.
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9 week old kitten
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Chicken Drumsticks
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With a
transitioning cat, you may have to whack the knobbly
bits of bone to crush them a bit & release the
smell of the marrow and get them started.
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I
usually cut from bone out thru meat to enable
cats/kittens to get their mouths around these.
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Chicken liver |
Adored
by my cats! |
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Beef
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Most
cats love beef - I cut it up into chunks and strips.
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Beef Tongue
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Really
tough and good for a jaw workout - but this grosses
me out so much-I have to get my son to prepare it.
Cut it up into chunks and strips.
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Photo coming
soon...
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Lamb Heart
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Rather
tough meat, much loved by all my kitties. Treat it
as both muscle meat and/or organ, I feed it twice a
week or so as a whole meal. High in Taurine. Good
for building jaw strength on transitioning cats. |
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Lamb Off-cuts
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Cut into strips to
enable them to fit into little mouths. |
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Lambs Fry (liver)
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Important
part of the diet to provide Vitamin A. Should make
up around 5% of the overall diet. Over feeding liver
will cause runny poops, and also can cause Vit. A
toxicity. Only very occasionally will I feed this as
whole meal. |
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Lamb Kidney
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Treat
as the "organ" part of diet. I normally
mix it in with my mince mix, some cats don't like it
on its own.
When feeding organs for the first time, only use
small portions until your cat's tummy gets used to
it. |
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Pork Roast
...don't chop
it up Mum, we'll just eat it as is!
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Most
of the cats adore pork.
I chop it up into large hunks - if I get a chance!
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Pork Ribs & Rashers
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Fed
just as you see them.
Rashers - I cut lengthwise for little kittens as the
skin is quite tough.
Ribs - The cats will strip almost all of the meat
off, and some will chew through the bones as well. |
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Raw Fish
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Feed
whole, or chop into cat sized pieces if it is a
large fish.
Don't feed too often, once a week or so, or as an
occasional treat is plenty. |
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Rabbit
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Much
loved by my cats but very expensive here in QLD
where rabbits are illegal. If it is available to
you, rabbit is an excellent all round meat for
general feeding. |
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So
use your imagination - if it's meat - give it a try.
You can see by the concentration on my cat's faces
that they really love meal-time here!
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| And
here are some very "occasional" treats... |
Whole prawns - definitely feed these outside or
contained, the cats love to play with them as much
as eat them! |
Cooked leftovers - remember to never feed any bones
that are cooked! |
Canned Tuna or Salmon - in Spring Water
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Duck, goose, emu, ostrich, quail, pigeon. All
excellent if you can get them. |
More coming soon...
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More coming soon...
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It
is not recommended to feed ground meat often, as
cats need the workout and the mental stimulation of
eating whole foods, plus the benefits for teeth and
gum health. However, because of costs and time (and
the odd finicky cat) I do make up a mince mixture
and freeze it, so it is ready to serve as a
reasonably well-balanced meal. Below is how I
prepare this.
Note: It is recommended when using
"parts", that all the parts come from the one
species when feed at the one meal. As you can see below, I don't do this with my mince mix.
While I do aspire to feed this way, and certainly
would if I only had one cat - availability, cost,
storage and numbers of cats affect the way I make up
my mince mix. |
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Chicken mince -
this is ground frames - what is left after most of
the meat is removed for human consumption. Here you
have bone & marrow, skin, fat etc. and some
meat. Available from Chicken shops and Butchers as Pet
Mince. But please check just what they put into
their mince - you want only chicken frames & no
preservatives. Some butchers put all their fatty
off-cuts and rubbishy stuff in, and this would mess
up my "formula" of the raw feeding ratio.
Some of my new
kitten owners enlist their butchers to grind up a
mix of chicken frames, organs and meat for them in
rough Prey-Model Ratio amounts, to save a whole lot
of time and effort.
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I mix the chicken
mince around 20-30% to Roo mince, which I buy direct
from the Paws Pet Food factory - they make it up for
me with no preservatives. I add a small amount of
chopped lambs fry (liver) and freeze it.
I prefer Roo meat, as it is a wild game meat-there
is almost no chance that they have been vaccinated,
chemically wormed, hormone treated etc. Roo meat is
very rich so can cause dark, soft poops at first or
if fed alone. It also has almost no fat (which cats
require).
With regards
to wild animals carrying bacteria/diseases etc.,
these are not a problem to a healthy cat, after all
they have been eating wild meats for how long? And I
feel it is also important that their immune systems
are challenged. However, I do avoid Roo for babies
just weaning onto solid food.
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Here
is my attempt at creative photography of the
finished product - didn't last long, hee hee hee!
Bailey
- Hey, what's up there?
Oh
gosh - LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!!
Shove
off
- I found it so it's all mine!
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