Raw food diet for cats

[SpunkyMama]

How much does a raw food diet cost you? Do you serve your pets organic, free-range, conventional meats?

How long did it take to change over?

We have 3 large cats (1 17 lb and 2 15 lbs). They could each stand to lose a pound or two, but they are still large cats.

We currently spend about $60 a month on our 3 boys for cat food. They get fed Innova Evo dry 2x a day and Natural Balance wet 1x a day.

[NaturalMamma]

Here is a good web site about nutrition and raw food diets.
http://www.catinfo.org/
HTH

[Ola_]

A good website that may be helpful: http://www.rawfedcats.org/
(I don't have any cats, just dogs that I feed raw, so I can't share any personal experience).

[outlier]

I posted my experience with changing over my cat on another thread. I'll copy it for you here:

"I switched my 8 1/2 year old cat to raw food about 3 weeks ago after a lifetime of kibble. It's not easy, I'll tell you that much! I used to do the all-day kibble buffet, so I began by offering it only twice a day for about an hour at a time, and then started offering small chunks of raw chicken before the kibble. Once I felt like she was eating enough meat that she wouldn't starve, I stopped offering the kibble. It's been a slow, two-steps-forward-one-step-back kind of process, and some days she probably goes a little hungry, but we're getting there. At this point I'd like her to eat more pieces of bone and some organ meat, but she still rejects those outright. Sigh.

So far, she has a LOT more energy, especially soon after she eats. She went from throwing up every night for a month (this is what prompted the diet switch) to only once in three weeks, and that time was clearly due to a hairball. I think she lost some weight initially, but has since gained it all back.

If you do go raw, just be patient and go very slow. I've learned that my cat is more stubborn than I ever gave her credit for!"

*******
To answer your questions:
--Keep in mind we're newbies to this, but my guess would be we spend $10 per week. I'm sure there's a cheaper way to do it, we just haven't figured it out yet. Right now she's eating roughly one cut-up chicken thigh per day, so assuming those packs of four thighs cost $4, that should be about right.
--We feed her conventional chicken meat (from Walmart) because it's much cheaper than any other option around here. Even dh and I don't eat organic meat.
--It took 1-2 weeks until she was completely on raw food. I'm sure she was pretty hungry at times, but I never let her go with an empty stomach. Fortunately I was able to be home much of those two weeks so I could closely monitor her food intake.

Good luck! My cat's been raw-fed for about six weeks now and she's doing well. In fact, lately I've been trimming more of the fat off her meat than I used to because she's put on a bit of chunk!

[SpunkyMama]

Thanks for the responses. We gave our three boys their first meal of raw three days ago. One jumped right in and wanted more, the other nibbled on the edge of the chicken breast, and the third didn't eat it but tried to bury it!

Day two went much better, and they all gobbled up their chicken - bone and all! We gave them turkey today and they all seemed to like it. They are transitioning so well - I can't believe it! We are keeping some canned food on deck though in case they reject something.

We do need to find a more cost effective way to feed them though...

We are excited to see the changes in their coats, if they stop throwing up, etc.

[snguyen]

Hello again, Spunkymama! (I responded to your Crunchy MN post, if you're wondering who I am.) We have one large (11 lb.) housecat who we feed a lot of raw meat, and she LOVES it, as long as it's not red meat. For some weird reason she won't eat beef or venison, just likes poultry and fish.

Her diet is about 1/3 no-grain kibble, 2/3 Nature's Variety raw meat patties. We spend about $110-$150 per YEAR to feed her. First, a holistic vet told me when my cat hit over 14 lbs. that most house cats are fed way too much, especially since they rarely/never have to hunt for their next meal or burn many calories to stay warm or safe like outdoor cats, even if they play. 1-2 small portions all day are all they need, one of them preferably at night. Adding the meat to replace most/all kibble was also suggested as she would lose some weight that way, and she did about two pounds between that and the smaller portions. We split the patties into small pieces, enough to last several days. That also saves us money.

The nice thing is, at the Chuck & Don's pet food stores around MN, they send out quarterly newsletters with lots of coupons, including $3 ones for the meat patties. They also have brand loyalty cards, where if you buy ten of a particular brand you get the 11th one free. This is nice when buying $20 6 lb. bags of meat! The patties my cat prefers are made from conventional poultry mixed with eggs, fruits and vegetables, but for a few dollars more they have an organic version of it, too.

For what it's worth, Nature's Variety is a Nebraska brand...

Originally Posted by SpunkyMama

How much does a raw food diet cost you? Do you serve your pets organic, free-range, conventional meats?

How long did it take to change over?

We have 3 large cats (1 17 lb and 2 15 lbs). They could each stand to lose a pound or two, but they are still large cats.

We currently spend about $60 a month on our 3 boys for cat food. They get fed Innova Evo dry 2x a day and Natural Balance wet 1x a day.