Haven't been on for a while as I've been busy researching and practicing raw food nutrition for my girls miso and sumi. Just for the record, for anyone interested (and I see there's a bit of bad feeling about raw feeders on TDK, pity) my gorgeous girl miso's asthmatic/bronchial/respiratory problems have virtually disappeared since going on a solely raw diet some five months ago. I have now taken her off her inhaler completely (much to her delight). Her coat is a soft chocolate puffball and she is bursting with health, easily maintaining her proper adult weight of 9lbs, at 15 months. sumi, now 9 months old, who had two serious illnesses as a tiny mite, is now an 8lb glossy, muscular little cat, full of energy and fun, eyes shining with curiosity and mischief, as affectionate as they come. They race and play around the house, and want food 3 times a day. sumi downs it in anywhere between one minute and three, whereas miso needs a good 20 mins, and has to be separated from the minx, else she steals it from poor gentle miso. I feed them chicken with bone, ground (I have a strong grinder); lamb chunks (which they go wild for); beef chunked and ground together; rabbit with ground bone. I follow strict recipes, adding many supplements, some for general immune system support, some specific to each cat, eg. stinging nettle for miso's allergic tendancies. Both get krill oil every day for omegas. There has not been a piece of kibble in the house since last september and I am more convinced every day that I have taken the best possible step towards longterm happy health for my girls.
Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Cats & Kittens
Raw benefits
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That is awesome Eleniki! I am convinced that is the way to go. Next time I get a new kit that is the route I will take. I sometime give jetta some raw food but at 16 and with beginning stages of CRF I don't want to rock the boat or upset her. I'm so glad your babies are thriving this way!
Posted 2 years ago by Jetta and Boo Boo's Mom #
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I'm glad Miso & Sumi are doing so well!
I've been thinking about making the switch to raw food. I don't feel comfortable preparing the food myself because of the risk of bacteria, etc., but most of the pet food stores around my area have a freezer case full of frozen raw food for cats (& dogs). Price-wise it seems pretty comparable to the higher quality wet foods, which is what my little ones eat now, and it's still grain-free, hormone free, etc.
Does anyone have experience with store-bought raw food?
Also, how much raw food do you feed your kitties per day?
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I have recently started feeding Stumpie raw food. He is by no means exclusively on raw food yet, he still gets to graze on the dry kibble all day, but he definitely prefers the raw. As it gets closer and closer to dinner time (when he gets his portion of raw chicken) he drives me insane with his screaming, runnig up & down, I can see the expression on his facce going "isnt it time yet???" Or "what the h#ll is taking you so long woman!!". I haven't seen any specific health improvements yet, since he's only been getting a piece of chicken every day for a few weeks now, so I guess its still too soon. And he's healthy to begin with, but my main focus with him and the raw is his FIV, I want him to have a good foundation of health to work from. But he has started growing like a little weed . . .
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Skyron it's great that you've taken a step down the raw food road. I know that little Stumpie would benefit hugely from a solely raw diet, but if the kibble still features, this could slow any signs of improvement. Also, there are many supplements you could give Stumpie (raw meat alone is not complete food) to help support, boost and build his immune system. If you are interested in looking further at the whole area of holistic treatment for Stumpie's FIV, you could mail me and I'll give you some links to an excellent source of information. My email is elenikiroy at gmail dot com.
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I'm glad that Miso is doing so much better!
Mine didn't start out with much health problems - just feline herpes. However that has greatly improved now and both Jack and Jill can see much better.
I never thought feeding a raw diet would do this but it has improved some of my cats attitudes. Blizzard is no longer such a twit to other cats when he is eating. Panther, Shadow, and Lynx are much more trusting of me. Aimee isn't nearly as grumpy as she used to be and feeding raw has helped her food agression problems.
Amiga was 4-5 lbs when she started to eat raw. She was 1 year old at that point so passed her growing stage. As soon as she started to eat real food she started growing like a weed. She now is 8-9 lbs!!!
I should really get a baby scale to wiegh them now, I have all their wieghts from when they got spayed/nuetered but they haven't gotten wieghed since. They probably all wiegh more - less fat, lots more muscle :)
Posted 2 years ago by furryfriends50 #
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That's a good point about the muscle FF - sumi's little body is lithe and hard - she seems to be pure packed muscle! Never thought I'd see the day, when she was so sick as a kitten, and so emaciated! Miso has that pouch Skyron! She developed it very quickly after her spay, but she was also on the dreaded steroid meds for her so-called asthma, which can put up weight quickly. Now she's on raw alone, the pouch is diminishing gradually, and she's a perfect weight, but she'll always be a cuddly cloud of silk, and she's gorgeous.
Interesting too about the improved personality traits FF - I had read that in the Pottinger study. Have to say, no such tolerance around food with sumi - it's every girl for herself as far as she's concerned. My partner calls her the Dyson, as she hoovers up anything within jaw-range, including miso's dinner, which is why they have to be separated at meal times. She would eat all day if allowed - doesn't seem to have a 'full' button. Think I need to do a fecal test on her again, to check for parasites.... -
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Hi Jen. Here's a link to the stinging nettle page on iherb.com, where I order all my supplements, both human and feline.
http://www.iherb.com/search?kw=stinging%20nettle
Recommended for cats from this page are:
Eclectic Institute- Freeze-Dried (FD) Nettle capsules, 300 mg capsules
Planetary Herbals, Freeze-Dried Stinging Nettle, 420 mg capsulesOr, non freeze-dried: (some cats are more amenable to this over freeze-dried):
Now Foods- Stinging Nettle Root Extract, 250 mg capsules
Nature's Way- Nettle Herb, 435 mg capsulesActually the brand I'm using is Nature's Way 'Nettle Leaf', 435mg capsules. I was told to give miso one capsule (emptied out in her food, throw away capsule) per day, but it's quite a lot, and it probably has quite a taste, so I've cut it down to around half a 435mg per day. However, some of the above brands are 300mg, which is significantly less, so one a day of those might work. You can order online - I found them very efficient and quick in delivering.
Nettle leaf for CRF - it's great for lungs, coughing, allergies, but hadn't heard of it in that context before.
On iherb you can get all sorts of other great supplements that are great for kits too, eg. the essential taurine powder, which I add to their raw, and which probably should be added to canned food too, as it rarely contains enough of this vital amino acid. -
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I did a search of topics on the rawcat yahoo group and came up with this:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawcat/msearch?query=CRF&charset=windows-1252
I'm really wanting to get my CRF cat, Milo, onto raw as well. There is a quail thawing in the fridge for later tonight to see if he will eat it.
You want to feed the fattier meats to CRF cats so chicken, pork, beef tend to be fattier - quail isn't the ideal but cats tend to love it so great to try start out with. Fat is lower in phosphorus and provides the calories a CRF cat needs.
Also you may want to use a phosphorus binder, http://members.verizon.net/~vze2r6qt/supplies/binders.htm, on the food as well. CRF cats need to have reduced phosphorus - NOT reduced protein.
You may also want to check out this book: http://all-about-cats.com/your_cat.htm which has a whole chapter about proper nutrition for the CRF cat.
If your vet didn't prescribe it you should really ask for some Benazepril as well. It helps the blood vessals relax making it easier for the heart to pump blood throughout a cats body. Here is a great site about CRF which has a section about Benazepril: http://www.felinecrf.org/treatments.htm#ACEI
Posted 2 years ago by furryfriends50 #
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Aimee still has to be put in a dog crate to be fed but at least she doesn't try bite my hand off at feeding time anymore :) She was feral so very protective over her food. I just try give her more of the RMB's which takes more time (and energy) to eat.
I'm sure mine would love to join for some lamb chunks! The only lamb I can get for cheap enough is ground lamb (with heart/liver) or lamb heart, liver, and kidney.
Starfish - You need to feed 2-3% of your cats body wieght a day. So a ten pound cat needs between 3.2 - 4.8 ounces of raw a day. At least...if I did the math right lol! I have never fed store bought raw. However on Catster there are a few people that do. If you want to you can ask on this forum there: http://www.catster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet
Also there is very little need to worry about salmonella and the like. It may seem difficult to make your own raw but it really isn't. Once you get the right porportions it doesn't take long to make some up :) Plus, with homemade frankenprey raw, you get the dental benifit as well as control over the ingrediants.
Posted 2 years ago by furryfriends50 #
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