Cat Owners -- Any raw feeders out there?

Cheryl · Post by **Cheryl** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:36 pm

There are so many cat lovers in this forum, I thought I'd ask if there were any raw feeders in this mix. My cat just underwent an $800 surgery to remove a bladder stone. I was told to get off kibble pronto.

Not having much success with the canned food I've purchased, so I'm branching out to raw. Does anybody feed their cats raw, and have any testimonials to share?

shakiboo · Post by **shakiboo** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:27 pm

What do you mean by raw? If you mean any meat uncooked, I wouldn't. I'd go back or call the vet and tell him/her the problem your having and see what he might suggest. When my cat was off her food for a while, I for a day or two let her be, sometimes they just don't feel like eating, for what ever reason, but made sure she had plenty of fresh water. Make sure she/he is drinking. Then I started searching for something she would eat. until then I cooked hamburger, rinsed off the grease with hot water, and mixed it with some rice. She finally ate that, and then I just started mixing a little canned cat food in with it, adding more canned and less hamburer till she was eating it. Good luck, but I'd still let the vet know the problem first. Hope things work out for you.

Cheryl · Post by **Cheryl** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:48 pm

Thanks for the input. Seems my cat is addicted to dry food, which caused her condition in the first place. I did find one canned food, Instinct, that she'll eat a bit of.

By raw I mean a "commerical" raw cat food --
they grind chicken, bone and all, then add egg yolk, taurine, vitamines & minerals, then quick freeze it and ship it. The theory behind it being that many consider the diet to be the healthiest for pets, including dogs.
It's very expensive, though.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:11 pm

We did that for a pretty long time- we bought bulk pounds of it and kept it in the freezer- then thawed each *tube* (the size and kind of package people buy sausage in) and by the time we finished the package it was still good, not yet expired. But we had 26 cats. Some we supplemented their food with *raw*- and some preferred it over anything else.
I'd forgotten we did that. We were a Cattery- small business license and everthing.

Any other raw meat- like hamburger- might cause worms more than any other problem. We did give raw hamburger every night to Bushrod Gentry, in little balls. He never really had any ill side effects. That was after we down-sized and stopped buying the bulk raw food.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:22 pm

The picture on the left is Bushrod FINALLY being caught eating regular canned cat food. It was a momentous occasion!
1984.

He was a red Persian.

Cheryl · Post by **Cheryl** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:33 pm

Oh my gosh, Kat, that cat was gorgeous. And he looks like he had the attitude to match his good looks!!

I'm so glad to hear you've tried the raw approach. It looks as though my Ruby is preferring raw over canned. I've actually thought about buying a grinder and doing everything myself to save some $$, but I'm trying to take it S L O W.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 5:41 pm

Well I just hope your kitty does well on whatever you decide to use. I'm not sure if the freezing of the product helps keep it safe...

In the first pic, Bushrod needs grooming- in the 2nd pic he is his sweet self.
Not the smartest cat we ever had- but pretty sweet.
We had cats that, once we retired, lived on to be 19, 20- even Bushrod's sister, a dilute-calico Persian, lived to be 22.

Tina-Kate · Post by **Tina-Kate** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:16 am

Baby-face! Cute!

I looked into the raw meat method when my boys got older. There seemed to be as many naysayers as there were fans. I imagine it would be very expensive as to do it properly, you are supposed to get special organically-grown meat. In the end I didn't go for it.

Good luck to you!

My guys did OK. Ben lived to be 15 & Mr Tigger was 17.