Food question - who feeds raw?

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Barbara

Barbara

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Robin, I think I read one time you feed raw? Do you make up your own? I know for sure I couldn't do that....makes me gag just thinking about it. :lol: I'm pretty squeemish, in case you didn't notice. Has anyone tried Feline's Pride or are there any other's out there?
 
Never did. Dr. Lisa likes Feline's Pride. The nice thing is that you can get a little bit and if you can't deal with it, or Thumper won't eat it, you haven't made a big investment....
 
I feed raw "treats" from time to time. Like little chunks of raw chicken breast if that's what's on the menu for *me* and I'm in the kitchen preparing dinner.
But I don't feed raw as a meal. I would like to though. Just not sure if I could afford that route at the present time.
 
I never even thought of the cost involved. I've got pretty limited income right now. The whole idea is just so foreign to me....I would never have even thought of giving them raw chicken, etc when I'm cooking for us. You wouldn't believe how paranoid I am about getting salmonela from raw chicken. I bleach everything I even think it might have come in contact with & only use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I once threw a whole pack of chicken away cause it just looked nasty to me, all the veins & whatever on the back side of a chicken breast that was still on the bone. I know I sound crazy! :lol: That's why when I first heard raw I thought no way, but I thought the same thing about giving shots twice a day also. So, I guess there's no concern about them getting anything from the raw?
 
I think the benefits would probably only come from a full diet of raw, not snacks. I am sure you have read Dr. Lisa's stuff on raw?

Feline's Pride: (www.felinespride.com) This is my favorite commercial food. If I did not have the time to make my own cat food, this is what I would be feeding to my cats. This is an expensive food due to the fact that it is shipped to your doorstep frozen, but I think it is worth every penny if you can afford it. This is what Bennie ate to lose weight and what he is still eating. (See Bennie's blog on the Feline Obesity page.) One of the reasons why I like this food is because it has a great protein/fat/carbohydrate composition.

Nature's Variety Raw Medallions: (www.naturesvariety.com) This diet, unlike many raw diets, has a reasonable blend of only 5% fruits and vegetables. Many raw diets contain a much higher level of species-inappropriate ingredients.

I know some people feed their cats a mixture of commercial food like FF and raw. Don't know if that would help.
 
Klinger used to eat Nature's Variety raw chicken and rabbit medalions. One day, he just stopped eating them and we went back to Fancy Feast.

Recently, I made Dr. Lisa's recipe using chicken thighs and mixed it in with Klinger's FF. He ate it for a few days and then stopped eating it. "sigh" I probably should try making it with rabbit because that was his absolute favorite. But, I haven't done it YET. Maybe this week...

I've also heard good things about Rad Cat raw food.
 
I knew Callie Mae wouldn't reap the benefits of a raw diet from just feeding the snacks. I just decided to giver her a bite one day to see how/if she liked it. Just as a taste.
I found Dr. Lisa's web site LONG ago before Callie had diabetes and just found it to be very interesting. At the time, we were doing our RV thing, and well, those freezers aren't that big. :lol:
So I put the idea in the back of my mind as one of those "one of these days" things.
She does like it. Even though it's just a bite or 2.
She absolutely LOVES beef. She tries to grab it out of my fingers when she sees it coming towards her face.

Barbara,
I don't think you need to have the same concerns with the raw for Thumper. Their digestive system is totally different than ours. WE can't eat raw meat, but think about it. You ever seen a cat cookin' a mouse over a campfire? :lol:
Or asking for a side salad? (In reference to vegetables in pet food)
 
Yep, I feed exclusively raw. My vet suggested it for multiple reasons, diabetes, overall health, etc.

I wasn't sure how they would take to it but when I brought it home and took the lid off of the tub 2 civies jumped up on the counter (huge no no) and started eating it right out of the tub. I still mixed it in with the Wellness for awhile to transition them.

Since the switch their fur is soooo soft and silky, their eyes are clear and bright and my civie has stopped licking her belly bald.

Since I can buy it locally it is cheaper than the Wellness. We have a pet food shop that grinds the raw almost daily and mixes in the suppliments. I re-package it at home in meal size portions and freeze it so every meal is as freah as the day it was ground. I've attached the link to their website, they don't ship it out because of the cost but they have alot of great information there. Maybe there are some shops near you that do this too.

http://www.woodyspetdeli.com/

I hope this helps.
 
Not me, and never will. I know that it works for some, but I don't buy any meat except in a can for my cats and it will always be cooked. I know that Dr. Lisa is a raw food evangelist, and I've read her site along with others, but I'm not convinced raw food is always appropriate for all cats. If a cat has an intact immune system and GI tract, they should be able to handle raw food I'd think if that's what you want to feed them. If a cat has renal failure in particular I think raw food is risky since they are immune-compromised. A cat like Shaikha has no immune system either not to mention a compromised liver, so no way raw food touches her lips either. Besides, I can barely open a can of cooked cat food without wrinkling my nose since I'm a vegetarian and have been for many, many years. In some ways I think that's why I fed kibble for so long, since it didn't seem so much like meat. I know that I could not handle raw meat, in a can or not. I love my cats, but they will have to do with cooked canned food. I probably should put on my flame-proof suit now....
 
wombat88 said:
Besides, I can barely open a can of cooked cat food without wrinkling my nose since I'm a vegetarian and have been for many, many years. In some ways I think that's why I fed kibble for so long, since it didn't seem so much like meat. I know that I could not handle raw meat, in a can or not. I love my cats, but they will have to do with cooked canned food. I probably should put on my flame-proof suit now....
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I hope you don't get any flak for giving your opinion & thanks for giving it! I sort of feel the same way, I'm not a vegetarian but you can probably tell from my earlier post I'm not crazy about gross raw meat. I really am more comfortable with a can food. I was reading some on the raw today & although it does sound like it would be good I think it's just too much for me to handle. I think part of it is I'm just too lazy to deal with it. I already hate dealing with the can food, I think it smells awful & I've become the bleach queen. I'm not convinced what I'm feeding is good if she might have pancreatitis, on the other hand I don't want to increase her carbs especially at this point since she's getting some good BG readings. They seemed to like the FF beef so that's what I've been giving them lately but I just noticed last night it has fish in it....who knew something called Classic Beef would have fish? I guess I need to go over the list again & possibly find something lower fat without too many more carbs.
 
I'll chime in...I have fed raw in past and have always given raw meats, mainly chicken, to my cats as treats.

After the Ptitis dx this week, I asked the internalist at the vet school about feeding all raw---thinking it would be a good alternative to low carb and low fat. The internalist told me not to feed raw, for pretty much the reason's Wendy mentioned. He said that due to high kidney values and the Ptitus, it would do more harm than good. He also mentioned the immune deficiancy issues.

I think that this is one of those ECID issues. It makes sense to me, that you would need to make the decision based on the health conditions of the individual cat.
 
Barbara said:
I hope you don't get any flak for giving your opinion & thanks for giving it! I sort of feel the same way, I'm not a vegetarian but you can probably tell from my earlier post I'm not crazy about gross raw meat. I really am more comfortable with a can food. I was reading some on the raw today & although it does sound like it would be good I think it's just too much for me to handle. I think part of it is I'm just too lazy to deal with it. I already hate dealing with the can food, I think it smells awful & I've become the bleach queen. I'm not convinced what I'm feeding is good if she might have pancreatitis, on the other hand I don't want to increase her carbs especially at this point since she's getting some good BG readings. They seemed to like the FF beef so that's what I've been giving them lately but I just noticed last night it has fish in it....who knew something called Classic Beef would have fish? I guess I need to go over the list again & possibly find something lower fat without too many more carbs.
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LOL on the bleach! I don't even like canned cooked cat food touching my countertops or floors, but I've learned to make peace with it being stored in a special container in my fridge. ;-) If you are squeamish, then a raw food diet probably isn't a place you want to go. When Shaikha first developed pancreatitis and we also suspected IBD, I did a ton of research and the two meats that seemed to cause problems for most cats were beef and fish, the latter in particular. I had a Himalayan rescue years ago who was severely allergic to fish, and at the time I had a horrible time finding any cat food that did not contain it. There weren't the novel protein diets we have today on the market, so once I found a food that didn't contain it, that was all he ate the rest of his life. If you do think pancreatitis is present, then just try to find a lower fat food if you can. Some cats seem fine with higher fat, but many do seem sensitive to it. That's definitely the case with Shaikha. In her case we opted for novel proteins as well to start and she did markedly better, but she also had diarrhea at the time in addition to the pancreatitis. The novel protein did help firm things up pretty quickly, so we do think she had food sensitivities as well.
 
wombat88 said:
LOL on the bleach! I don't even like canned cooked cat food touching my countertops or floors, but I've learned to make peace with it being stored in a special container in my fridge. ;-)
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Oh, I found this stuff by Clorox you can spray on your countertops. I think the lady at the store thought I was nuts when I went in there & purchased about 6 bottles at one time! :lol:
 
I wouldn't worry about fish in other flavors. I think you just need to feed straight fish flavors infrequently-because of the mercury issues and because cats can become so interested in fish, they don't want to eat other flavors.

No horse in this race. I am too lazy to mess with raw and luckily, at this point, Niko doesn't need a special diet.
 
Why would anyone flame you for you views about food? ECID and every bean is different.

The raw food doesn't bother me. I spent almost every summer of my childhood living on a dairy farm, I'm in the Midwest, go figure. So far since the switch I like the difference that I can see in them.

Although my use of bleach has increased, just to be safe.
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
I wouldn't worry about fish in other flavors. I think you just need to feed straight fish flavors infrequently-because of the mercury issues and because cats can become so interested in fish, they don't want to eat other flavors. No horse in this race. I am too lazy to mess with raw and luckily, at this point, Niko doesn't need a special diet.
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It kind of depends, I think. Shaikha and my other cats that were sensitive could not have even a tiny bit of fish (to include fish oils as a supplement). If a cat has kidney issues, fish also tends to be high in phosphorus, so that's another reason not to feed it that often in addition to the mercury problem you mentioned. Funny, but up until Hobbes I never would have thought a cat would be allergic to fish! I figured out the problem by trial and error, actually. It took a lot of comparing of ingredients before I finally figured out the common denominator in why he reacted to some foods and not others. In his case, he had a definite allergy in addition to what I suspect now was IBD. I only found one commercial cat food that did not contain fish meal at that time, so that's what he got the rest of his life (no other flavors either). Thankfully, he loved the food and never tired of it.
 
I feed raw to my crew - not only for the health reasons, but also because I can feed all three of mine for around $30 a month - TOTAL. WAY cheaper than the $90 a month I was spending on fancy feast, which isn't even a high quality food. I use Dr. Lisa's recipe. I buy Purdue chicken at my grocery store when it is on sale. (Purdue chickens are fed a vegetarian diet with no animal meal/bi products). One of my kitties would never eat the raw chicken treats I gave to my crew, so it took me the better part of a month mixing the raw in with the canned and slowly adding more and more raw until it was all raw. Now she prefers the raw over any canned food I put down!

I am on a very tight budget too. I bought my Northern Industrial meat grinder off Ebay for $50. I used some of the money I got for Christmas to purchase it, but I saved more than that in one month by making my own food. Once you get the hang of it, you can prepare a month's worth of food for 3 cats in about 2 hours (set up to clean up).

I would not recommend a raw diet to any cat with renal insufficiency or with a severely compromised immune system. Yoda takes meds for his stomatitis that suppress his immune system a bit, but he does absolutely fine on a raw diet. With my crew, within a month I noticed shinny, silky fur, more energy, sweeter dispositions, and more activity than I ever had before.

The commercially prepared raw diets can get expensive, so another way to get around that and not invest money in a grinder is to buy it ground and flash frozen from a company specializing in raw diets for pet owners. A local company for me is www.mypetcarnivore.com. They have delivery routes in adjoining states and also ship. Another site is www.haretoday.com. I am sure there are others too. This week I need to make another batch of food but don't have time to grind it myself so I am ordering it from My Pet Carnivore pre ground and I'll just add the supplements and water in to the mixture.
 
dmartini4 said:
I want to talk about this more, I was thining of doing this but I am afraid
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Afraid of the ewww factor? (I do have to admit that I have to take a shower sometimes after making a large batch and don't want to eat chicken for at least 24 hours :lol: )

I was more afraid that my one kitty would never switch over to it since she didn't like the 'meaty bits' I gave the boys as treats.
 
I think it is everyone's choice whether they would like to try raw or not.
But I would be afraid to feed it to a cat taking a med that supresses their immune system or with a chronic condition that affects their immunity.
I guess most feed chicken or rabbit?
Another fear I would have with beef is mad cow disease, but I have a paranoia about that anyway and it has been found in cats in Europe.
I can't stand to smell most meat especially beef and don't eat it.
 
totallybeachin said:
You ever seen a cat cookin' a mouse over a campfire? :lol:
Or asking for a side salad? (In reference to vegetables in pet food)
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Now that you mention mice....probably when Thumper & her sister were only about 2 or 3 years old we got a mouse in the house & the thing had babies...ugh...I was terrified for days. These two silly cats couldn't even catch those baby mice. I had a basenji (barkless dog - I got him cause they are cat like LOL) and he actually caught the mouse while the cats just sat there & looked at him! I didn't think I would ever have mice since I always have had at least 2 cats around. Soooo...maybe they wouldn't even eat the raw food! :lol:
 
Angela&Henry said:
I think it is everyone's choice whether they would like to try raw or not.
But I would be afraid to feed it to a cat taking a med that supresses their immune system or with a chronic condition that affects their immunity.
I guess most feed chicken or rabbit?
Another fear I would have with beef is mad cow disease, but I have a paranoia about that anyway and it has been found in cats in Europe.
I can't stand to smell most meat especially beef and don't eat it.
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Raw food isn't for everyone, that is true. I know with stomatitis, that a raw diet is actually encouraged because there are no preservatives, artificial anythings, chemicals, etc. I can't afford to feed a human quality ingredient canned food since it is about double the cost of the fancy feast per month. I know some stomatitis cases are partially caused by all the additives and chemicals in processed commercial foods. As far as the mad cow thing - mine don't get beef. They only get fed chicken. Oscar is sensitive to beef and his glucose raises 200-300 points after eating it. Plus, as long as you are buying meat you would eat yourself, you have little to worry about. I think most do not feed beef since it is highly unlikely a cat could take down a cow in the wild :lol:
 
Kelly & Oscar said:
I think most do not feed beef since it is highly unlikely a cat could take down a cow in the wild :lol:
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:lol:

Mine for some reason decided they preferred the FF beef & I couldn't figure out why it smelled so bad till I finally read the can & saw fish listed! I wish I wasn't so squeemish & could deal with the raw but I'm afraid to try it. I just don't know what's the best to feed for Thumper at this point. With no real diagnosis, just my assumption that it's pancreatitis, I just figure I need to try to find something with less fat & not too many carbs. It also looks like her sister might have some kidney problems so I need to keep that in mind. For the life of me I can't remember what the vet said about Callie's blood work but something was a little "off". Geez, I'm gonna call them tomorrow & get a copy of the lab results. I can't remember anything these days!
 
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