For Those Who Feed Raw...

[Lori Greer]

My cats only like chicken! well, somtimes they will eat turkey. I always use hearts in my raw. Also, taurine is water soluble so, I always add it to the defrosted I take out for the day.

Smart method MK!! Taurine is a very degradable nutrient so is best added at the point of feeding (like you have incorporated) as opposed to being frozen and thawed in the mix.

 

[admin]

Raw is the best, I think - if they will eat it. if they won't, what is the point, right? I know there are probably many people who will disagree with me, but you can only do so much...`

 

[Lori Greer]

Make sure your kitties are getting enough taurine. You may want to have a blood test or whatever kind of test is necessary run to make sure the raw food or whole prey food is giving your cat enough taurine!

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ccah/local-assets/pdfs/Role_of_diet_feline health_Glasgow.pdf

I feed my dog raw and have not regularly fed my cats raw yet because I am still trying to figure out how I want to approach it with my cats.

There is a school of thought among breeders that Savannahs (especially early gens) may actually process more or require more taurine in their diets than other breeds and/or later generations. I am aware of 3 instances where Savannahs of different generations have had heart issues (NOT HCM) that are directly linked to a lack of taurine in the diet. We also know that FCK syndrome as well as other skeletal defects are directly related to taurine - meaning the problems seem to decrease or disappear in subsequent litters when the amount of taurine in the diet is increased.
Good luck on feeding. I use the recipe with bones here: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood

 

[admin]

Make sure your kitties are getting enough taurine. You may want to have a blood test or whatever kind of test is necessary run to make sure the raw food or whole prey food is giving your cat enough taurine!

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ccah/local-assets/pdfs/Role_of_diet_feline health_Glasgow.pdf

I feed my dog raw and have not regularly fed my cats raw yet because I am still trying to figure out how I want to approach it with my cats.

There is no test for making sure your cat has enough Taurine that I am aware of.

Taurine is easy to supplement though...you can either buy the capsules and open them to add to raw or buy something like kitty bloom, which contains Taurine. Also, if you are freezing raw, you should supplement with Taurine as it degrades in the freezing process.

 

[Trish Allearz]

I bought the tablets from GNC, grind them, and dust them onto the dry.

 

[DChap]

I bought the tablets from GNC, grind them, and dust them onto the dry.

Great, thanks. I was just going to ask where you get taurine.

 

[J.B.]

My cats only like chicken! well, somtimes they will eat turkey. I always use hearts in my raw. Also, taurine is water soluble so, I always add it to the defrosted I take out for the day.

Are you grinding your own food? What containers do you store the food in?

 

[admin]

Great, thanks. I was just going to ask where you get taurine.

You can actually get the Taurine at any good vitamin shop - GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, Vita cost, etc

 

[Jacq]

If you find a canned food he likes, mix some into the raw. My guys like it that way. I only mix 1/3 of a can in a big bowl of meat, but it gives it a flavor they like.

 

[admin]

If you find a canned food he likes, mix some into the raw. My guys like it that way. I only mix 1/3 of a can in a big bowl of meat, but it gives it a flavor they like.

That's a great idea, jacqui!!! I have done that a few times and it works well!