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Should I Just Go All Raw??

ginamarie1221

Savannah Super Cat
Hi Everyone! Needing some advice here.

When I got my SV, breeder was feeding him raw chicken in conjunction to his dry food. Well, since he's been home, he hasn't been much interested in his dry food at all. He pretty much likes the chicken only!

At this point, I've been grinding chicken thighs and not adding anything else, and just leaving him dry food that's available all the time. But having noticed now that he doesn't touch the dry food, I'm wondering if I should just go all out raw and if so, what kind of supplements and where can I get them?

I'm a new owner, so I'm in the learning process as of now :)

Thanks in advance for any info,
Gina
 

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
Gina there's a lot to know before feeding a raw diet, especially if you are making the food yourself rather than feeding commercially prepared raw. I recommend that you read through the topics in this CatDiet/RawDiet forum and definitely read through the information at

http://www.catinfo.org/
http://www.catnutrition.org/
http://www.rawfedcats.org

Those sites will give you recipes and talk about supplements and how to ensure the cat's diet is balanced.

In the interim, you should at least be adding a balanced vitamin supplement like Mazuri to your cats chicken because just the thighs does not provide what he needs. He also needs organ meats and bone. I recommend supplementing with canned food if he'll eat it, until you get a chance to study the info above and decide whether you are ready to go all raw.
 

Sunny

Loyal Servant
Digestion is the key, how well they eat and void is going to indicate what percent of raw you go following the nutritional advice and best practices for preparation in my experience. It is a small cost saving depending what you feed normally and allows you to slip in taste bones for healthy teeth/gums. Even if they love it, imagine eating things that gave you indigestion your whole life. Misery!
 

ginamarie1221

Savannah Super Cat
Thanks everyone. I think I'll try getting him to eat canned food as well. I think going ALL raw might be a little too much for what I can handle at the moment, but I also want to make sure that he gets all the nutrition that he needs.

I'm confident that I can get him to eat some wet food, but not sure about dry. I some Natures Variety Instinct-raw and he won't eat that by itself, but if I mix it with ground chicken thigh, he'll eat it.

Let's say I stick with the ground chicken and mix with Instinct-raw and supplement (Mazuri); would that be sufficient? Is dry food necessary in a cat's diet?
 

ginamarie1221

Savannah Super Cat
Also... are there any recommendations for high quality wet food? Currently, I have cans of Royal Canin, but I'm willing to switch over to something else if the nutritional value is going to be better :)
 

Trish Allearz

Moderator
From what I've read over the years and years of raw- it's actually better to go all raw. It shifts the digestion rate of the food and is better on their system. Of course, I'm a kibble feeder- so what do I know? :p
 

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
Nature's Variety Freeze-dried
http://www.naturesvariety.com/
Stella and Chewy's Freeze-Dried Chicken & Beef Diet
http://www.stellaandchewys.com/index.php
Wysong's Archetype
http://www.wysong.net/products/archetype-raw-dog-cat-food.php
Ziwipeak food & treats
http://www.ziwipeak.com/

* EVO 95% – http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo
*Feline Caviar – http://www.caninecaviar.com
* Iceland Pet Pate for Cats
* Merrick Before Grain-- http://www.merrickpetcare.com
*Wellness 95%
Wysong's Au Jus

*AvoDerm Select Cuts
http://www.avodermnatural.com/Cat_Foods/index.htm
Fromm Family
http://frommfamily.com/
Halo/Spot's Stew

http://www.halopets.com/
*Merrick
*Natural Balance
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com
Nature's Variety – Instinct (not Prairie)
*Wellness (by Old Mother Hubbard). Two varieties, Grain Free and CORE
*Ziwipeak 'Daily-Cat Cuisine​
http://www.ziwipeak.com/
Weruva
www.weruva.com
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks everyone. I think I'll try getting him to eat canned food as well. I think going ALL raw might be a little too much for what I can handle at the moment, but I also want to make sure that he gets all the nutrition that he needs.

I'm confident that I can get him to eat some wet food, but not sure about dry. I some Natures Variety Instinct-raw and he won't eat that by itself, but if I mix it with ground chicken thigh, he'll eat it.

Let's say I stick with the ground chicken and mix with Instinct-raw and supplement (Mazuri); would that be sufficient? Is dry food necessary in a cat's diet?
I don't think dry food is necessary, a year ago I removed kibble from my household because my eldest (who will be 12 years old on Thursday) had gone into early kidney failure. He takes diuretics for his heart defect which has damaged his kidneys. By removing the kibble his kidney values have stabilized...and now everyone is eating just raw ground rabbit, raw chicken drumsticks and canned food. I add Mazuri supplements to the raw. The canned I feed is Earthborn Holistics Chicken Catchiatore and Weruva Paw Lickin Chicken. Recently three of my cats have had bloodwork done for various reasons and all were perfect...so I don't think taking away the kibble did any harm at all :)
 

scorpius

Chirps & Massive Headbutts
My opine, go for the raw! My SV's loooove raw. There's lots of good info on this board. Like your situation, my breeders fed them raw chicken (a bit of cooked too). I continued with raw chicken, they ate this well for 2 months and then told me, hey we need a change. So I'm currently in the raw beef epoch. It could turn back to a raw chicken epoch in a few months, time will tell! I do supplement the raw like many others here...

Ultimately, the decision is yours, do what you think is best. Oh yeh, one added benefit, my cat's #2 doesn't stink with raw :cool:.
 
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