How to transition to raw?

[Cay]

Is it more preferable to feed a large variety of meats? We are currently feeding beef, chicken, and salmon, but would prefer to just do chicken and salmon, or just fish altogether. Are there more preferred kinds of fish (I'm assuming just fatty fish)? It may sound weird, but we're vegetarians and would prefer just to feed fish as we can't stand the smell and sight of beef and chicken! Haha

 

[WitchyWoman]

Variety is better. There is a chance that allergies can result from one or two protein sources leading to inflammatory bowel syndrome. And fish is not a good choice in great quantity as it causes vitamin K deficiency. The fatty fishes in particular also have high levels of environmental toxins in them.

The key to a healthy cat is a healthy diet. Although I am a die-hard advocate of raw diets for cats & dogs, I'd rather see them on kibble than fed an unbalanced diet of a single or two proteins. How do you feel about canned food. You could always feed canned or kibble or a combo of the two and feed raw meat as a treat 1x per week.

 

[Cay]

We're not opposed to feeding a variety of meat if it will provide all nutrients. What's best for Duma is what we want to do, so we will continue variety. Do you know what are the best organ type meats to feed? We have access to some pretty good natural meats out here, but I will definitely note the ET of fatty fish. Is fresh Pacific sockeye a good choice for the fatty fish? They catch it right off the coast here.

 

[WitchyWoman]

Heart, kidney, & liver. The breakdown for a balanced raw meat diet:

• 80–85% meat (besides boneless muscle meat, this can and should also include things like fat, skin, sinew, tendons, cartilage and any other soft connective tissue etc.) With chicken, legs & thighs have a higher taurine content so are better than breast meat.

• 10% edible bone

• 5-10% organs (with half that amount being liver).

Another feeding model is whole prey which is what I use. It may be more difficult for you to feed bodies than meat but it's easier to ensure the proper meat/organ ratio.

 

[Cay]

Can I buy feeder mice? Is there any particular type of heart, kidney, and liver? (Cow, Chicken, Deer, etc?)

 

[WitchyWoman]

Can I buy feeder mice? Is there any particular type of heart, kidney, and liver? (Cow, Chicken, Deer, etc?)

You can experiment with the organ meat to see which he likes. I buy most of my prey from rodent pro. Their food is relatively cheap; they have a variety of sizes of mice, rats, guinea pigs; the shipping is expensive. Same with hare-today -- great selection of meats & organs.