Feeding Cats Raw Food Advice?

[Magelet]

We're looking into adopting a cat, and after reading about Pottenger's cat studies so long ago, I don't think I could feed my cat anything but a raw meat diet. Doing a little research, I found one (and only one) website referencing feeding cats whole peices of animal (instead of the apparently common diet of ground raw meat and bone or ground meat and bone and plant matter) which is supposed to be good for their teeth and jaws and mouths. However, I would like to know more about this. (and in particular, about the proper balance of organ meat to muscle meat to bone, and more about organs and fish vs supplements, etc.)

Does anyone have experience with either type of raw feeding or more resource suggestions? Please tell me more! Thanks!

[Ola_]

I only have dogs at this point, but many of the resources are similar. Yes, feeding whole items is ideal for the tooth cleaning and jaw exercise benefits. Ground meat will remove the carbs, but not the other benefits of raw. Generally the BARF style diets tend to focus on ground items and veggies. FYI - cats (and dogs for that matter) do not need any plant matter in their diet. Ground items can be useful to get cats started on raw (some can be resistant) or when soft food is needed due to dental extractions or due to lack of/missing teeth. Some folks differentiate this from BARF by calling it "prey model" feeding, so that may produce some more search results.

Generally for both cats and dogs you want about 75-80% meat, 10-15% bone, and 5-10% organs. This is an "average over time" formula so you don't need to be that precise every day. Heck, you don't need to be precise period - I prefer to think of it as "lots" of meat, with "some" bone and a "little" organ meat. You will need to watch how the kitty does with that - you may need a little more bone at the beginning and less later. As a rule bone firms up stool, while organ meat (and to a lesser degree muscle meat) loosens it.

Some websites that may be useful:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawcat/
http://www.rawlearning.com/
http://www.rawfed.com/
http://rawfedcats.org/
http://rawfeddogs.net/ (I know, it says dogs, but it has some neat pictures of cats also in the Recipes section)

[Magelet]

Thanks!! I joined the raw feeding groups. They are a little overwhelming, but I figure if I have any questions as I go or before I get a cat, if anyone can answer someone there can.

[masja]

Make sure your cat gets enough taurine, you may have to supplement with a synthetic source.

[rayo de sol]

I like this site: http://catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htm#Introduction

She's a vet who tells you how to grind your own cat food.

But since I don't have a grinder yet, I've just been feeding ground meats and organs from the supermarket, to which I add bonemeal. It's essential to provide some sort of calcium in addition to the meat and organs.

[Pepper44]

I have four cats and I tried feeding them raw when we switched our dogs to raw. My cats wouldn't eat it!! One cat drug it through the house (ew!) and licked it.

How do you keep your cats from making a nasty mess with raw meat inside? This was something I could never figure out.

My dogs I just fed outside, they liked to run around the yard with it, roll it in the dirt, etc.

[Magelet]

I don't care so much about a cat making a mess in the kitchen, its linoleum and thus easy to clean, but can you train them to keep it in one place or otherwise find a way to keep them from dragging it on the carpet? Honestly, dragging the raw food on the carpet might be enough for the landlord to evict us or the cat, and thus disable us from getting a cat.

[rayo de sol]

The smaller the pieces of meat you give them, the less likely they are to drag it anywhere.

Also, feed the cats on old towels or scraps of cloth. It keeps your floor clean, and you can wash the cloths. And the cats are happy because they can eat their meat on a carpet-like surface.