Trying to relax about raw

[The Birds]

My cat prefers raw food over cooked, and really doesn't want to eat anything in a can at all. I just adopted him at the age of two and I've never had a cat that ate raw before. It goes against everything I was ever raised to believe about bacteria and parasites haha, but I want him to be happy, if it really won't hurt him!
How does it work? Do you just serve them up the raw meat and hope for the best?
Can you give them the over-the-counter wormer a couple times a year and forget about it?
I have a high quality supplement to give him with taurine and calcium etc., so I'm not worried as much that he will be malnourished.
Anyways, thanks so much, I'm out of my depth here haha.

 

[WitchyWoman]

You can't just throw meat on the floor and hope for the best. There is excellent info here http://www.catinfo.org and although extensive, I encourage you to take your time and read it all. It will likely ease your concerns about a raw diet.

This is a good source of info too http://www.rawfedcats.org/nature.htm. The link takes you to the page that tells you the proportions of meat/organ/bone to feed which is crucial to good health. Scroll down to Basic Proportions of a Prey Critter.

I feed a whole prey diet (rodents, quail, chicken) and meat such as buffalo and rabbit. I use Drontal for the cats 4x per year which is available from a vet. I have no idea whether over-the-counter wormers are effective.

Most of us who feed raw freeze meal-size portions and thaw out enough food to last for a few days. The fresher the food, the better. I warm the thawed food in hot water until it's close to what freshly killed beasties would be.

 

[Patti]

I don't know how you obtained your F1 but if you have contact with the original owner I would find out what they were feeding him and provide a similar diet. If you want to switch over to something else you should do it gradually in order to avoid tummy upset. I am curious to know which high quality supplement you have, and if it is to supplement a slab meat diet or a whole prey diet?

There are several commercially available raw diets but most are not specific to cats so still need a supplement. Many folk make their own BARF (bones and raw food) diet at home, but that requires a bit of an investment, starting with a high grade grinder that can handle small (bird, rabbit, etc.) bones, and sometimes even a dedicated freezer, to store the food in until needed.

 

[The Birds]

Oh wow, the step by step instructions help a lot. I'm not a great chef but this looks feasible. I will keep reading!

 

[The Birds]

The supplement I have is called "Wild Trax". Honestly the previous owner was feeding him mainly canned food from the grocery store. But I feel that he was eating it because he didn't have much choice. When I offered him various stuff, he would leave the canned food there and never touch it.

 

[The Birds]

He was so nervous the first few days of being in a new house, he didn't have much appetite. The only thing I felt he truly wanted was uncooked turkey burgers. Now that he's more relaxed, I'd like to get him started with the best possible routine. I don't have a meat grinder, but I'm not opposed to the idea. Usually I don't eat much meat myself, and if I do, I try to stay organic. I've never concentrated much on what my cats ate in the past, I guess because I was in denial a little bit about how much meat it is!

 

[Patti]

I believe Wild Trax is for cats on a BARF diet, so if you are not feeding Cal meat and bones he is not getting enough calcium in his diet.

 

[The Birds]

Will they sometimes eat the bones if they aren't ground up with the meat and skin? Or do you have to sneak the bones in there?

 

[WitchyWoman]

Will they sometimes eat the bones if they aren't ground up with the meat and skin? Or do you have to sneak the bones in there?

Depends on the size of the bone. For fun, try giving him raw chicken necks, turkey necks, chicken legs & thighs and see how he handles the bones. If he hasn't been on a chunky meat or meat w/bone diet for long, his jaw muscles will need to build up strength.

Mazuri is an excellent supplement. There is one for meat diet that contains calcium http://www.mazuri.com/MazuriCarnivoreSupplementforSlabMeat.aspx and one for meat/bone/organ diet that does not contain calcium http://www.mazuri.com/tabstemplate-2-1.aspx

 

[The Birds]

I'll work on it and post my results...