Making raw for the baby

[MermaidsandCats]

Ok so I have a Kitchen Aid mixer thing and it has attachments that you can use to grind meat. I plan on using this to make ground food for my kitten and I have a few questions. 1) will I need to add in extra vitamins? 2) will chicken/beef/meat product from walmart work or should I get it from an other source? 3) should I include the bone, if the mixer can handle it?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[WitchyWoman]

I don't think your grinder can handle bones. You have to include a calcium source in the food which is included in a multivitamin supplement such as Mazuri for slab meat http://www.mazuri.com/MazuriCarnivoreSupplementforSlabMeat.aspx

You also need to include the proper ratio of bones/organ meat/meat. We have an extensive section on nutrition here and with a lot of helpful links to sources that provide a guideline for a raw diet. If you haven't spent time reading that forum, I recommend it before you attempt to feed a raw diet.

Also, if you do a search for "grinders", you can find threads where brands/models are discussed. Have you thought about a whole prey diet? You don't have to worry about meat/organ/bone ratio so much since you're feeding bodies. Rodent pro carries a variety of prey. Hare-today has some prey as well as meat and organ meats.

 

[MermaidsandCats]

Thanks Witchy. I did read the forum before posting. I plan on doing a high quality dry and do the raw/whole for a meal and/or treat. Every one seems to have their own opinion on what's best for furbaby (raw, whole prey, canned, etc) and the different combinations of each. It's just a bit confusing as to what the PERFECT diet is.

The mixer has a 325-watt motor. I'll look at some of the other grinders and see if it's comparable. More research for me yay!

 

[DumaLove]

I have a Kitchen Aid mixer and grinding attachment and thought that would work just fine for making raw. Until I took it out of the box and actually looked at it. Most of it is plastic and the auger is tiny. I then looked at reviews of it and most people said it didn't even work well for regular meat (suggested freezing it first). Also had many complaints of getting metal shavings in the ground meat! So it definitely wouldn't do bone (manufacturer states no bone), and I refused to even use it for anything. It went back in the box. After doing much research on this subject, the minimum I would use to grind meat with bone is a Tasin 108, but it will probably take a while since you will have to cut things up to fit in it. We ended up with a Weston 22 because we got a great deal on it, and we couldn't be happier. It eats whole drumsticks and thighs like nothing. And if something happens to get stuck there is a reverse switch. We have never needed this and have been using it for about a year. Good luck in your search!

 

[MermaidsandCats]

Thanks Duma!

 

[WitchyWoman]

I plan on doing a high quality dry and do the raw/whole for a meal and/or treat.

You can skip the grinding altogether and just feed chunks. Might be a better option than investing in a expensive grinder. I feed chicken/turkey legs, thighs, hearts, livers, gizzards as well as stew meat and beef heart and tongue which I chop up and add to the stew meat. Depends on the cat, of course, some like soft food and some like chunks. Mine don't like ground food for which I am eternally grateful because I'm too lazy to go through the work of grinding. I use a seal-a-meal to freeze the food and it stays nice and fresh.

 

[MermaidsandCats]

That's actually brilliant as we have, as my husband calls it, a cut n suck. Lol

 

[Kristin]

If you go to a butcher, you could otherwise see if they will grind it down for you.

 

[MermaidsandCats]

Cool! That's a good idea Kristin!