Raw feeding and cats.

Hopefully someone here can help. I've switched Hazel(the cat) over to raw. But I do have a question in all the reading I've done on feeding raw with cats. Says that cats need a source of Taurine which comes in poultry hearts. But nothing tells me how much she will need. Do I need to give her a chicken/ poultry heart a day? I don't want to give her less than she is going to need.

You may be able to find some answers here

http://catinfo.org/

She has a detailed recipe of what she puts together to make raw cat food.

i believe every other day is fine, but i know people who just add it to their daily meat. Basically, you can't give too much.

I don't feed raw so I cannot answer your question. However, there is a cat forum I am on that has a raw feeding section that are pretty savvy with raw feeding cats. So you probably can ask them there.
http://www.thecatsite.com/f/65/raw-feeding-for-cats

Hey Jess, I have a sort of odd question for you. Is feeding ferrets like feeding cats or are they closer to dogs as far as their nutrition needs?

Cats.

Heats are the best source of taurine, but beef heart has the most. It's not something you can overfeed, so the more the better. Without taurine, cats will die.

Here is a good site that will help you http://rawfedcats.org

Thanks for the link!

I think I'm going to switch my guys over to raw too. After Grover's crazy stinky poops, I've had about all I can take!

Just wanted to say thanks to those who shared info/links. I've been looking into this for Brie as well.

Cats are a little different than dogs, and the older the cat the harder it can be to switch them over. Our indoor cat took right to raw at 6 months, but our outdoor cat who is around 7 years old, will only eat raw that he catches and kills himself. Rabbits, birds, squirrels etc... Other than that, we have never been able to get him to eat raw. You can't use the tough love method like with a dog. Sometimes a dog may refuse a new protein for days in the beginning before finally giving in. But a cat can't go for days without food. So, sometimes it can be frustrating.

Fortunately I've given Brie raw and cooked treats for a while now so she has remained pretty open to the idea of new foods, including raw. Not sure how she'd handle small bones though...

Our cat can do raw, but still 'needs' some kibble or she's a nightmare to deal with. Even with an 'all you can eat' method of feeding her some raw with hearts etc. in it and then letting her pick at the dog's thawing stuff (which backfired, she'd eat 3/4 of a pound of it in a night), she was still getting into cookies and such. So we opt for a small serving of kittycrack to keep her settled and out of trouble.

As far as I know all meat has taurine, but the "harder working" meat has the most. So obviously hearts would come first. You can also up the amount by feeding chicken thighs instead of breasts, dark meat generally contains more taurine. If you are worried you can always add a taurine supplement, you can't OD on taurine, or at least not easily.

Most of what I've found suggests cat need a little less than 100 mg of taurine per day. I assume this is based on an average sized adult cat. Unfortunately I don't know how much taurine is in various meats/organs, the USDA site which lists nutrient profiles for many foods does not list taurine (http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/)


Do remember if you grind the food you would need to supplement more than if you were leaving it whole, grinding degrades taurine.

Thanks guys. After friday I will have the room to get large amounts of turkey and beef hearts. Right now I've been giving her a chicken heart a day. But I wasn't sure if that would be enough. I think I would rather feed more than not enough.


I do have to say I am loving her on raw MORE than I do the dogs. That nasty nasty stinky smell from the litter box is GONE!!!!
She was pretty easy to switch over. But then again before the move she was an indoor/outdoor cat. So she caught plenty of mice and squirrels. So raw meat to her is not new. Then again it might have had something to do with her being a piggy.

Yeah my cat won't either. She's indoor/outdoor. She won't eat wet food at all either, just her Core kibbles! Weirdo cat.

I could not imagine the whole all you can eat buffet for her or the dogs. All 3 of them are pigs. I found that out the other night. Katie(the daughter) fed them all before going to see the fireworks. And I feed them again about an hour and a half later. All 3 of them where asking to be fed, like they hadn't. Yes I got totally suckered into feeding them all again. The pigs. She also apparently didn't read the kitty handbook about cats being picky eaters. LOL She likes weird things for cats, like potato chips, pork rinds and watermelon.

I have come to the conclusion that I can not have a "normal" animal.

Its so funny how crazy they can be! Gotta love em.