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Xandria

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After raiding this great forum for information I've ventured out there (*points to that nebulous space call the interwebs*) and read as much about raw diets for cats as my brain could handle.

I'm presently of two minds:

1. Ground Raw w/ Chunks
This seems simple enough. Use the ratio, pick your animal, grind and chunk away and combine with Better in the Raw for additional dietary requirements.

2. Chunks of Raw (not ground)
This one appeals greatly, but I'm concerned about:
(a) insufficient vitamins, minerals, taurine etc. that would be obtained through something like BitR, and
(b) bones! OMG, Bones. I'd be afraid that my Sphynx might hurt itself on the bones.​

So my question is: Does anyone feed their nakeds chunks of raw with bone in and if so, what kind of supplements are used to complete their dietary requirements?

Thanks much.
 

assibassi

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1. ground raw you said with bones and all and added better in the Raw is wrong. Better in the RAw has bones and vitamins and supplements in it, you just ad regular meat chunks or ground up meat.
With the "better in the Raw" you do not need a ratio of meat /bones/ innards .

I use Better in the RAw and i make per week ( 2 cats ) 5 lbs of meat and the Ratio of BitR mix and water. Meat i use ground chicken and ground beef together. ( yes there is bone chunks in the BitR mixture and you can see them.
Once a week, we give ours like turkey neck pieces , yes Raw cut in small cubes with Bones and all. Our Hairy only loves to chew on the bones and you can hear him grinding them up in his mouth and eating them.
 

assibassi

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Thank you for the clarification. I was a little fearful of the bones.
ahh dont be fearful. My Husband hated me doing Raw at first, he was afraid of them getting sick etc . But I insisted and he is happy now, specially since the Vet visits are so good and i am told they are in perfect Weight. Oh and I have 3 cats ... i mis wrote that above.
I love the BitR , because its easy and quick. They do have trial sizes , so you can try it and see or your cats love /like / hate it. Mine all took very well to it .
One time I thought I give them a treat and bought the nuggets from I want to say Primal ? I got Rabbit , thought that would be a treat, yeah right NONE were eating it, they were all stuffing their nose up at it ! I had to mix it with other stuff to get them to eat it and then even only ONE could be tricked !! LOL
Ask away if you have questions, you can PM me too if you like. I been feeding Raw now for 1 1/2 years.
 

Xandria

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Thank you so much for continued help. I just want to provide a healthy diet for my future naked. For myself I eat meat and veg primarily, cook from scratch, minimal processed food, so I could do no less for my feline companion.

Maybe I'll do a combination of meat/organs/BitR for some meals and raw with bone for other meals.

If doing meat with bone what is the best animal and part of animal for this? Chicken thighs? Do I need to add any other supplements for this? Do I add in any livers and organs?
 

andreanar

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I used to do prey model raw. For bones, I gave chicken wings, not the drumsticks. The wings are pretty easy for them. I would open the wing and smash the bone a little with the hammer to soften it and let some marrow out, did this when they were first starting.
If you are doing BitR you won't need any supplements, and you can give a chicken wing or neck bone once in awhile for them to gnaw.
If you are doing prey model raw, as long as you have the ratio right, you don't need supplements.
Just remember, too much bone will cause constipation and too much liver will cause diarrhea.
I like the idea of using BitR, with a neck here and there for a chewing snack.
 

Xandria

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Great info. I am so so glad you people are here and able to answer my questions.

The reason for my wanting to do the bone in raw is for teeth and jaw strengthening -- plus, I'm sure kitty might find it fun too. For that purpose, would once a day or every other day or other be suitable for the purpose of oral strengthening?

I'm leaning towards meat (with chunks) + BitR at first and then may move to prey model raw. I'll have to see how it goes.

Thankfully, in Vancouver, we have amazing choices for all of this. My own butcher has even agreed to grind up what I need (and then I'd add the BitR).

Thanks again. So excited to be here!!
 

Xandria

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Great info. I am so so glad you people are here and able to answer my questions.

The reason for my wanting to do the bone in raw is for teeth and jaw strengthening -- plus, I'm sure kitty might find it fun too. For that purpose, would once a day or every other day or other be suitable for the purpose of oral strengthening?

I'm leaning towards meat (with chunks) + BitR at first and then may move to prey model raw. I'll have to see how it goes.

Thankfully, in Vancouver, we have amazing choices for all of this. My own butcher has even agreed to grind up what I need (and then I'd add the BitR).

Thanks again. So excited to be here!!
 

Kyla L

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I do BitR with turkey or chicken chunkies. I tried prey model raw but he wouldn't eat the bones. Even if they were broken up. He would crack them open, suck out or chew out the marrow and spit the bones back out. For the first week he had solid poos with no issues because he was eating rib bones no problem. Then we ran into where he only wanted the marrow and started to have diarrhea so we switched to BitR and he has not had any problems.

I think you just have to find what your kitty will eat when it comes to raw. There are lots of options and sometimes what works well for one person might not work for you.

I was so excited to do prey model and when he was eating it he was doing great.

But I'm more excited that he is very healthy on his BitR plus chicken. Whatever is healthy for him is what makes me happy.

Good luck in finding what will work for you.
 

Xandria

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Thank you, Kyla. Your feedback really helps.

Yesterday I was searching the 'net for raw food vendors in Vancouver, BC and came across a place that would provide live or dead mice. My husband found it amusing. I told him he could clean up after the naked in that case, to which he replied that we could always create a kill room for the cat. I was all "OH MY GOD!" We are not raising Dexter!!! Any way, it made us chuckle.

I just want to provide well for my furless wonder. If I put as much effort into my own diet, I can do no less for our feline companion.
 

Ollie

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ahh dont be fearful. My Husband hated me doing Raw at first, he was afraid of them getting sick etc . But I insisted and he is happy now, specially since the Vet visits are so good and i am told they are in perfect Weight. Oh and I have 3 cats ... i mis wrote that above.
I love the BitR , because its easy and quick. They do have trial sizes , so you can try it and see or your cats love /like / hate it. Mine all took very well to it .
One time I thought I give them a treat and bought the nuggets from I want to say Primal ? I got Rabbit , thought that would be a treat, yeah right NONE were eating it, they were all stuffing their nose up at it ! I had to mix it with other stuff to get them to eat it and then even only ONE could be tricked !! LOL
Ask away if you have questions, you can PM me too if you like. I been feeding Raw now for 1 1/2 years.
Ollie doesn't like rabbit or lamb from Instincts either but seems to enjoy the other "regular" flavours from both Instinct and Primal. I'm lazy I guess, hate the thought of making my own.
 

Ollie

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Thank you, Kyla. Your feedback really helps.

Yesterday I was searching the 'net for raw food vendors in Vancouver, BC and came across a place that would provide live or dead mice. My husband found it amusing. I told him he could clean up after the naked in that case, to which he replied that we could always create a kill room for the cat. I was all "OH MY GOD!" We are not raising Dexter!!! Any way, it made us chuckle.

I just want to provide well for my furless wonder. If I put as much effort into my own diet, I can do no less for our feline companion.

Eeek! Hiding my head in horror. I know cats eat mice but I would be totally disgusted to watch it in action. Is there fur on them? Wow that is going above and beyond those who feed prey model raw. I would be so freaked out they might remove it from the dish and I would find it some where. I remember my son feeding his snake frozen mousicles, used to disturb me every time I opened the freezer. I like frozen blocks, I realize now I'm the squeamish type. LOL
 

Xandria

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LOL. Fur and all -- I don't think they shave the mice ;-)

Hubby and I had a chuckle discussion about the naked running off with a half eaten mouse carcass to eat in private elsewhere. Hence the kill room remark. As it is I will be feeding wings and necks and I'm devising a feeding area that will hopefully prevent them from dragging the food around. But you never know!
 

MollysMom

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LOL. Fur and all -- I don't think they shave the mice ;-)

Hubby and I had a chuckle discussion about the naked running off with a half eaten mouse carcass to eat in private elsewhere. Hence the kill room remark. As it is I will be feeding wings and necks and I'm devising a feeding area that will hopefully prevent them from dragging the food around. But you never know!
I joined a raw feeding group on facebook, and promptly unjoined lol. There were people feeding dead whole fuzzy chicks. And ordering them by the case. For some reason, it bothered me that so many individual lives were being ended. I know it makes no sense. At least feeding from a larger meat source, I don't feel so bad knowing they are eating 3-4 animals per year. Not hundreds:(
 

MollysMom

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Oh also if you are in Vancouver, look ip TC Feline powder supplement. The lady who makes it and sells it lives on Salt Spring Island. I used it for awhile before we switched to BITR.
 

Ollie

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Eeeeek now I'm totally squeamish, baby chicks!?! I'm all for feeding raw, and I'm not judging anyone but nope, no way, couldn't do it. I thought I would loose my mind with the snake when my boys were teens but he didn't crunch and munch and have the potential to leave bits everywhere. I'm sticking to the wimpy pre- made raw stuff and the freeze died raw treats.
 

Xandria

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I joined a raw feeding group on facebook, and promptly unjoined lol. There were people feeding dead whole fuzzy chicks. And ordering them by the case. For some reason, it bothered me that so many individual lives were being ended. I know it makes no sense. At least feeding from a larger meat source, I don't feel so bad knowing they are eating 3-4 animals per year. Not hundreds:(

I agree completely. I love my meat but pay extra to know it was a happy, well cared for food animal. And the fact that I can share some of that with my future nakeds, then all is good... knowing that nothing goes to waste. That facebook group would have totally squicked me out -- such wanton waste is unfathomable.

HUGS
 

Xandria

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Oh also if you are in Vancouver, look ip TC Feline powder supplement. The lady who makes it and sells it lives on Salt Spring Island. I used it for awhile before we switched to BITR.

Awesome, thank you. Hubby and I usually spend a few days on Salt Spring every year to buy some wine and chill!!! Thank you.
 

curlysue

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So I tried the RAW thing and did bone in but they never would really eat it. I bought the grinder and everything.....sugh!

I saw these little treasures at Petsmart and about puked! This is the first thing that popped into my mind when @Xandria talked about fur and all" LOL had to share I knew I took these pictures (about two yrs ago) for a reason.
"
IMG_1134.jpg
IMG_1135.jpg
IMG_1136.jpg
 

Xandria

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Lol. Those boxes are hilarious. I know the target audience are snake owners, but omg... The packaging.
 

Bobbafett

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So I tried the RAW thing and did bone in but they never would really eat it. I bought the grinder and everything.....sugh!

I saw these little treasures at Petsmart and about puked! This is the first thing that popped into my mind when @Xandria talked about fur and all" LOL had to share I knew I took these pictures (about two yrs ago) for a reason.
"View attachment 45620View attachment 45621 View attachment 45622

As a snake owner, I can say these are ridiculously overpriced mice that aren't even great quality.

I breed African soft fur rats and sell breeding colonies when I get too many. I've had a few people buy them to breed to feed their cats.
 

Ollie

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MollysMom

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I just gave mine chicken wings for the first time tonight and they devoured them! I took a whole wing, smashed the bone up a bit, cut it into a few chunks, and sprinkled a crushed treat on top. They totally loved it, and I could hear lots of crunching, which means lots of teeth cleaning!
 
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