I'd love to hear about Dawn's experience with it so far. I've been raw feeding for nearly a year now and I am soooo happy with it...

How does that work?

The cats were on a diet of 50% wet / 50% dry. I transitioned them to wet food, then to ground raw food, and finally to whole raw meat, bones and organs. At first it was a little time-intensive, but now it's just a matter of cutting up a chicken and giving it to them, bones and all, with some organ meat on the side. Very, very easy.

Why do you prefer it to store-bought food?

Because it's biologically appropriate. It's what the cat body was optimally designed to process. And because it has made such a miraculous difference in the health of my cats. Their coats are incredibly shiny, soft, have no odor and very little shedding. They maintain their ideal weights, and they have a lot of energy. Their teeth are sparkling white and they have fresh breath. Best of all: their poops don't stink! Not a bit. People who've met our cats have asked what we're feeding them ;)

Three of my cats were diagnosed with FLUTD last year, and were having *serious* urinary tract problems. Since switching to a raw diet, we have not had one. single. problem. After months of constant vet visits. And Steph has had very few problems with the luxating patella (loose kneecap) in her back leg. I know a lot of owners who have cured their cats IBD by switching to raw. If that's not a testimonial, I don't know what is.

Is there much of a difference in nutritional value?

Yes and no. Prepared foods are 100% nutritionally complete. But, IMO, a raw diet presents those nutrients in their whole form. As opposed to re-adding nutrients to meat that has been cooked and canned (or kibbled). So I believe that, just as with humans eating whole foods, the nutrients in a raw diet can be optimally utilized by cats.

I am newly raw feeding my cat (my dog too)

The transition went very fast for me! :jump:
First I got the kibble out of the house,
so I could successfully feed him all canned food
without him smelling the kibble.
Secondly, I introduced him to the pre-made raw frozen patties.
I have to mix them with some canned food,
I noticed he was increasingly more interested in the meals I was
giving to the dog. Especially raw liver. He was all over me, meowing and nudging
me to give him some. I did...I enjoyed watching him scarf it down.
That was almost a month ago. He enjoys his portions of everything I feed my dog.

I am now transitioning him to whole prey,
He LOVES the frozen pinky mice and fuzzy mice.
I am sooooooooo happy for him!
After watching him eat those mice I cant deny him that pleasure.
I am ordering 200 to start with. :)

:shock:
I didn't think it was a good think to feed them Mice!

I would like to know the advantages of not feeding kibble. I was always told that dry food is better for the animal's teeth ... which is why I'm so set on feeding dry. This is an honest question, guys. ;) I really want to know!! :)

The myth of kibble keeping teeth clean is a myth. Kibble does not clean teeth.
The truth about keeping a carnivores teeth clean
comes from them chewing and crunching
raw meaty bones, muscle meats, grissle, tendons, etc.
Cats and dogs are carnivores!
Raw food is an exceptionally healthy feline diet.
Ideally mice, chicks, quail, any small prey animal.

If these items are unavailable, you can imitate what nature intended
by feeding a raw diet that consists of....
10% organ meat (half of which should be liver)
10% bone
80% meat

I second what Dawn said. But have to run. More to say later. ;)

Thank you. :)

I have another question! ;) Since it's what nature intended, do these foods naturally have the taurine that is needed for cats' cardiac and visual health?

Although I'm not sure I could ever feed them mice, etc. :bawling:

Wow, great info here! I have to discuss this with Erik later and see what he thinks.

I can definitely understand what you guys are saying - when Erik and I make chicken or steak, there's always an extra one made for the cats. They will eat a whole chicken breast over a can of wet food any day, they go crazy for it.

With us strictly raw feeding just isn't an option...too many kitties...too many won't eat it (same ones that won't eat wet food)...too many weekends away at cat shows.

But I do agree about the advantages of raw diets. I free feed mine dry food and then alternate days giving them wet food one day and a pre-made raw diet meal the next day usually.

Lisa,
Yes, Heart muscles and oysters are very rich in taurine.
Beef heart is what I currently have.
Beef is also very good in lowering urine ph. (which is an issue for my cat)
Remember, if you cook the raw meat you will cook the taurine right out of it.

Taurine is also a available as a supplement,
for those who choose to use supplements.

The mouse really wasnt bad at all...but I can understand that a newbie would not be ready for that. LOL!
I never thought I would do it.
Once I did....there is no going back.

more testimonial...
This applies to both my cat and dog.
They barely shed...and I am not kidding!
They feel like mink's.
They urine in large amounts.
Less frequent poo's that are
very small, firm and easy to clean up.
My dog does not smell like a dog! LOL!

I might ad more later as I think of more stuff.
:)

I just talked to Erik about it and we have more questions...

1. Money-wise - what's the price comparison do you think between raw feeding and a store-bought diet.

2. We leave dry food out 24 hours a day and some of our cats prefer to eat at night after the others have eaten. How do you deal with that?

3. Do you have any good webpage references for us? We're going to be researching on our own as well, but if you found any to be helpful we'd love to look at them.

Here are 2 that I found helpful.
www.rawfedcats.org
www.felinefuture.com

As far as a price comparison. I have not done that yet.
I know that can vary though depending on freezer space.
I have a freezer so I am able to buy in bulk.

I purchased feeder mice from here.
www.themousefactory.com
They had a great price for their product plus shipping.
I will share about the quality of the mice when I get them.

ETA: About leaving food out...plenty of raw feeders do, without thinking twice about it. (including me)
Whatever my cat does not eat by morning...I feed my dog for breakfast.
I am home during the day though, so I am able to feed multiple times

It's worth noting that the prescription urinary foods are heavy on beef content.

Here's a couple more links I have bookmarked:

http://www.naturespet.com/barf.html
http://www.catnutrition.org/
http://www.rawfed.com/

Dawn and Emily have been so good about providing information that I don't really have anything to add, except WHY am I feeding raw?

I got seriously interested after Twinkie's bout with crystals. He didn't particularly like the prescription food, although it did work. But he lost a fair amount of weight during the month he was on it. Researching raw diets, I became aware of the connection between modern commercial cat diets and modern cat health problems, and the urinary health connection was close to home for me. So Twinkie was my main motivator. Also, I want to give my cats the best nutrition I can.

So far it's worked out very well for the cats. The transition was a little rocky I introduced it a little too fast and had some G-I upset issues. But since that hurdle was cleared they've been doing fine. They do love their raw food. It's worth comparing the YEAR I spent transitioning Mellie from dry to wet versus the WEEK it took to get her to like raw. She still won't eat "chunky" stuff, but I'm working on it.

My main issue is the time involved. I spend about an hour and a half a week's worth of food ready for the freezer. But I can process a larger batch in about the same time, so I'll have to start doing that. The other time issue is warming up the food for serving. I like to warm it up to body temperature in under 20 minutes, and I haven't yet found any way to do that to my satisfaction.

It's still an ongoing experiment. Twinkie hasn't had a follow-up urinalysis yet while he's been on the diet. But his litter habits indicate no recurrence of his UTI. So far so good. :)

Ooh, awesome - I'm so excited to read more about this! I think it would be something great to get our cats on, and Erik agrees it's worth a try. :)

http://www.serve.com/BatonRouge/taurine_chmr.htm

I found this site with everything you 'ever' need know about taurine.
This was posted on yahoo rawcat.
Scroll down towards the bottom for taurine amounts in raw meats.

Thanks, Dawn, that got bookmarked. ;)

I'm going to bump this thread since there's some good information for those considering it.

I have been suspicious of vet's claims that dry kibble is good for their teeth for a long time. I read some info on carbohydrates and teeth, and I'm firmly convinced that the huge amount of carbs in dry food is what causes so many dental problems in cats.

I don't know why vets are so adamant about feeding cats dry. Unless they're thinking about all the money they would lose from those outrageous dental procedures? That seems a little unbelievable.

A lot of the carbs they use in cat foods are simple carbs, and turn to sugars in the mouth, causing a lot of plaque build up. If you're feeding a raw diet, you're eliminating the cause of the tarter.

I may try it one day. But I need to get them all to where they will eat food with less carbs. A couple don't really care for wet food. And I'm not switching WillyB's diet. He's doing so well, and I don't want to mess with it.

This is all very encouraging, though. :thumbsup:

Lisa, I'm trying raw right now to see if they'll catch onto it. All you have to do is go and buy some chicken, turkey, whatever (but the site said to avoid pork) and cut it up into bits and see what they think. I guess you're not supposed to give bones at first until they get used to it. The majority liked it last night and I'm going to try it again tomorrow.

I'm going to try asking this here. Do cats have a natural immunity to salmonella and E Coli?

I was thinking I would try giving them, as kind of a treat, some pieces of raw meat occasionally. But I don't want to risk making them sick.

These are more worrisome to humans. Cats are much better able to resist these organisms. They eat their prey raw. Their digestive systems are designed to handle raw food. Their stomach environment is highly acidic, helping to break down and digest meat. Also, their digestive tracts are shorter than ours, and food spends a lot less time being broken down, digested and absorbed or eliminated.

I mean, think of it this way...a cat in the wild that hunts on mice, birds, etc. They eat them raw, they don't bring them home and cook them first! ;)

:wave:

I have given small bits of raw prime beef and venison on occasion and they all seem to really like it.

Today I picked up a package of Whole Foods pet raw diet. It 'may contain any of all of the following: Ground turkey or chicken; turkey or chicken livers, turkey or chicken giblets, turkey or chicken necks, turkey or chicken backs"..... It's thawing now and I'll try it on them later.

I doubt I'll go completely raw but I think for our situation, on occasion, wouldn't be bad! :wha:

JJ, I thought that would have to be the case, but I didn't know if they had gotten soft living indoors. I wanted to be sure before I gave them some nasty raw chicken parts.

Gaby, I think i'm going to try it, too. I'll just start out with some from a chicken I'm cutting up to see if they even like it, and work from there.

They can eat the chicken from the grocery, right?

:wave:

Well, the raw poultry was a bust!!! NOBODY wanted any of it! It looked good too! :wha:

Luckily it wasn't expensive! :rolleyes:

Dang. That's what I was afraid of. Any time I've ever tried to feed them a small piece of chicken or seafood, they've turned their nose up at it.

The only one here that likes anything close ot raw is Bella. She loves a nice, juicy rare steak.

Try par boiling it they might like it better when its cooked.

:ack: OH SHOOT!!! Why didn't I think of that! I put it back in the freezer to toss...so I can't thaw it again.... :bawling: Next time I'm there, I'll get more and try that!

What a dope I am :rolleyes:

I had the same reaction to the Prowl food...much to my dismay! It's freeze-dried raw food, it looked and smelled good. Like soup! Maybe I'll just eat it myself. :(

I tried Bravo frozen raw food about a year ago, and they refused it too. Like Gaby says, I'll probably have to cook it if I want them to eat food I make for them. Little buggers! :pullhair: