Raw diets

[2kdime]

Getting ready to pick up another pair of Bengals and am really intrigued by the raw diet reviews and was wanting to give it a try once they get here.

Was curious if anyone had any SOLID recipes for Bengals or just cats in general that would be a staple diet for them.

Can it be fed exclusively?

Thanks for any help y'all

Trevor

[Jay_Bunny]

Raw diets for cats are not hard to achieve. They are rather simple. I fed my cats exclusively on a raw diet for a month to see what the results would be. I did not have a vet monitor anyone but I saw great improvements in the cats.

I basically fed them like I did my ferrets. The bulk of their diet was raw muscle meat (which also includes hearts) with 4-5 of their meals (they each got 2 meals per day) out of the week containing some kind of bone. Chicken legs, wings, and turkey necks were some of their favorite. Organ was offered 1-2x per week in the form of liver or intestine.

The amount you should feed is based on the cat's weight and activity level. If you are getting some young, active Bengals, you should probably feed more. My 16lb long-hair (who is not very active) should get around 7oz per day, while my little 8lb short hair would only get about 4-5oz per day.

Any kind of meat is okay to feed as long as it is from a clean source and is handled properly (just like you would for your own dinner). Fish should be offered sparingly since it is high in fat and mercury. My cats and ferrets normally only got fish 1-2x per month.

You can add supplements if you are worried about deficiencies, but a well balanced raw diet should not require any sort of supplement. I would switch all my carnivorous animals to a raw diet if I could afford it. It really is one of the best diets out there.

If you have any questions about switching your cats, you can PM me or sign up here

http://holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?

Their main focus is ferrets but they have a section for switching cats and dogs. Great people with lots of knowledge.

[2kdime]

An affordable raw diet has been found, as well as an all around supplement is sold by the same guy.

The kitties are already eating raw chicken mixed in with their wet, whoo-hoo!!

http://www.mystre.com/making_raw.html

[wstphal]

What about the whole prey you already have? I know a vet tech who saved the life of a cat who stopped eating (cats do NOT tolerate fasting well) by offering various dainties from her freezer that had been purchased for her snakes. The cat started eating again, and was eventually switched back to a regular cat diet after recovering some condition by eating thawed raw whole prey animals.

[wstphal]

PS Cats are designed to be mouse specialist hunters, so suitable numbers of adult mice would probably work.

[Miss Tuniwha]

Long story short.. raw is the best thing you can do for cats, as well as dogs.

If you don't feel like figuring out the proper amts of meat to calcium etc, there are a handful of foods that are frozen, raw, and ready to go at pet stores.

( I know, because I have worked there for many years )

Most popular is Natures Variety.. it comes in convenient sizes, with a variety of flavours..

there is also Primal, Bravo, and many others..

This is more expensive then if you worked with a butcher, but it is way more convenient, and you don't have to worry about forgetting any crucial ingredients/nutrition..

[TessadasExotics]

Personally I think the pet store raw diets are way over priced and are no better than what you can get from a butcher. We are still trying out different foods for our Bengals, trying to find the best for them. Seams to me that even the high end pet foods are still nothing but crud. I have read some where of some breeders feeding their cats whole rabbits. Maybe we should start raising rabbits and starting our cats on a rat/soft furred/rabbit diet.