Raw Diet / Canned Foods / Dry Food Combinations?

[DocMac]

Did you bring him a fishy souvenir?

 

[DChap]

He wont eat fish but he certainly enjoyed all the new scents on all our stuff we hauled back home! I think he walked around sniffing everything for 2 hours!

 

[Richeyrich]

http://www.wildkittycatfood.com/taurine.htm anyone ever used this brand whats your thoughts?

 

[gahnja77]

so the raw meat diet is worth it outside of telling people yeah my wildcat eats raw meat? i gave gahnja a piece of raw chicken and he loved it but it gave him horrible gas haha he chows down on his dry food tho

 

[Medesha]

so the raw meat diet is worth it outside of telling people yeah my wildcat eats raw meat? i gave gahnja a piece of raw chicken and he loved it but it gave him horrible gas haha he chows down on his dry food tho

The reason he chows down on his dry food is because it is coated in fat. Pet food companies spend loads of cash on the 'animal digest' formula they coat their products with. The cat cannot resist, and would not touch the food without it. It's like asking a kid if they want candy.

I believe that the raw meat diet is worth it. It means that I'm feeding my babies a species-appropriate diet, with quality ingredients all from the USA. It also has the appropriate amount of moisture in the food.

As the descendants of desert creatures, cats evolved to take most of their water from their kills. A mouse is considered the perfect prey for a cat, being 70-80% moisture. Dry cat food, on the other hand is only 10% moisture. Because of their arid environmental origins, they have a very low thirst drive. Even when water is provided for them, cats do not drink as much as they need to, so when eating dry food, they go around in a mild state of dehydration, which can put a lot of pressure on their bodies over a long period of time.

And that's before taking into consideration the fact that most dry foods have far too many carbohydrates and veggies in them, things that cats as obligate carnivores, have very little need of.

I tell everyone I know with a cat to consider feeding their cat raw, or at least, a high quality wet food diet. It really is something to see- my kitties barely spent 3 minutes at a time at the food bowl before when I was feeding them canned. But now they sit at the bowl and crunch and munch and have to put some effort behind eating. It strengthens their jaws, cleans their teeth and provides mental stimulation.

 

[shelby]

Thanks for letting me know how much Tojo loves the duck. There's so many of them, you never really know which one to try out. I'll have to try the Duck and see how Shelby likes it. Hopefully he likes it as much as Tojo does. So far we've tried the chicken and salmon which Shelby really likes. And, we've tried out the Rabbit. I don't know if it's an acquired taste or what, but Shelby wasn't interested in the Rabbit at all, it smells like wet grass lol. We still have a full bag of the Rabbit, so I'll have to try it again. If he's still not interested in it again then maybe I can mix it with his canned food rather than giving it all to him separately.

I would try cooking the raw rabbit if Shelby doesn't seem interested in the raw. Shelby may be picky like me ...when it comes to food. Might just be a Shelby thing;>) LOL

 

[WitchyWoman]

http://www.wildkittycatfood.com/taurine.htm anyone ever used this brand whats your thoughts?

Overall it's a good choice. As is the case with most commercial foods, it has additives that aren't particularly great for cats but may not cause harm in the long term (wheat germ, wheat germ oil, apples, flax seed, flax seed oil, and Lecithin which is almost always from soy).

 

[gahnja77]

The reason he chows down on his dry food is because it is coated in fat. Pet food companies spend loads of cash on the 'animal digest' formula they coat their products with. The cat cannot resist, and would not touch the food without it. It's like asking a kid if they want candy.

I believe that the raw meat diet is worth it. It means that I'm feeding my babies a species-appropriate diet, with quality ingredients all from the USA. It also has the appropriate amount of moisture in the food.

As the descendants of desert creatures, cats evolved to take most of their water from their kills. A mouse is considered the perfect prey for a cat, being 70-80% moisture. Dry cat food, on the other hand is only 10% moisture. Because of their arid environmental origins, they have a very low thirst drive. Even when water is provided for them, cats do not drink as much as they need to, so when eating dry food, they go around in a mild state of dehydration, which can put a lot of pressure on their bodies over a long period of time.

And that's before taking into consideration the fact that most dry foods have far too many carbohydrates and veggies in them, things that cats as obligate carnivores, have very little need of.

I tell everyone I know with a cat to consider feeding their cat raw, or at least, a high quality wet food diet. It really is something to see- my kitties barely spent 3 minutes at a time at the food bowl before when I was feeding them canned. But now they sit at the bowl and crunch and munch and have to put some effort behind eating. It strengthens their jaws, cleans their teeth and provides mental stimulation.

ok so although i bought the expensive eikanuba dry food i should still scrap it? and as far as where i go to get the meat i m guessing just hit up petsmart? i noticed that he didnt enjoy his canned food that the breeder sent home with me...he actually barely ate any of it, he eats a cup a day of dry food tho...but if its bad for him or will affect his growth then im def taking him off it!...im just a newbie savannah owner and wanna make sure im doing everything right!

 

[admin]

You can buy raw food at hare-today.com or Blue Ridge Beef or a variety of other foods...we have a list here under savannah cat diets...or you can feed something like weruva, which is a high quality canned food and you can feed dry as well, if you want.

My F4, Zuri, eats raw and some canned and a bit of dry when she feels like it...

 

[Samber]

The reason he chows down on his dry food is because it is coated in fat. Pet food companies spend loads of cash on the 'animal digest' formula they coat their products with. The cat cannot resist, and would not touch the food without it. It's like asking a kid if they want candy.

I believe that the raw meat diet is worth it. It means that I'm feeding my babies a species-appropriate diet, with quality ingredients all from the USA. It also has the appropriate amount of moisture in the food.

As the descendants of desert creatures, cats evolved to take most of their water from their kills. A mouse is considered the perfect prey for a cat, being 70-80% moisture. Dry cat food, on the other hand is only 10% moisture. Because of their arid environmental origins, they have a very low thirst drive. Even when water is provided for them, cats do not drink as much as they need to, so when eating dry food, they go around in a mild state of dehydration, which can put a lot of pressure on their bodies over a long period of time.

And that's before taking into consideration the fact that most dry foods have far too many carbohydrates and veggies in them, things that cats as obligate carnivores, have very little need of.

I tell everyone I know with a cat to consider feeding their cat raw, or at least, a high quality wet food diet. It really is something to see- my kitties barely spent 3 minutes at a time at the food bowl before when I was feeding them canned. But now they sit at the bowl and crunch and munch and have to put some effort behind eating. It strengthens their jaws, cleans their teeth and provides mental stimulation.

You forgot to mention potential issues with urination due to crystals in the urine from dehydration. This was a major issue for my sisters cat. ate almost all dry and crappy dry food at that. he would end up peeing everywhere but the litter box. stopped after he was put on a special diet the vet gave.

This is the biggest reason i do all raw diet with my 2. they get so much moisture from the raw i never see them drink any water. there is always water out for them but they never drink it (sometimes they play with it though).