Venison? Wild Meats?

[MollysMom]

Hi All,

I have been reading about all the wonderful benefits of the raw diet - yay!

Just a quick question -

I am fortunate enough to have unlimited access to all kinds of wild meats (the men in my family are all serious hunters, and this is what all of our families eat throughout the year). Are there any wild meats that are NOT ok to feed? The ones that I am thinking are venison (deer), elk, moose, goose and assorted fish (perch, walleye, etc.)

Also, I know that Molly is eating Taste of the Wild right now (Venison and Salmon), so what I am thinking of doing is feeding her dry throughout the day, and starting to supplement with a tiny bit of raw as "treats" to see how she does. I would probably be giving her just whole chunks of muscle or organ, or I could possibly grind them up together.

Thoughts?

 

[Cathie]

I dont remember any that are not good for them. I know to much fish is a bad thing. But some fish I dont think is.
And if it were me, I would just give them chunks of the meat, muscle and raw bone, not grind it. I think its better for their teeth and gums to have to use them as nature intended. I was giving mine entire chicken legs (raw). Until my piglet would try to eat it whole, and choke on the bone. Seeing your pick pig turn blue is NOT fun to deal with. He only started that when Cronus would finish his and try to take everyone elses chicken. Now, when they get treats, Cronus goes to the bathroom. and Piglet gets watched very closely.

 

[MollysMom]

Thanks! I did some more research online, and found that you can buy pre-mix powder to mix with muscle meat and liver (like TC feline). We have an awesome natural pet food store here, so I am going to go and get some from there, and my goal is to be able to mix that with the meat (minus fish) for her meals. She will be 12 weeks, so I am hoping she will take to it like a duck to water! She is already on grain-free kibble, and I saw a how-to about making the kibble into "wet food" to ease with the transition phase - basically use a clean new coffee grinder to grind the kibble to a dust, mix with warm water, and it will swell and become a "wet food". Also apparently a good way to increase hydration as well!

 

[SealySphynx]

If I were you, I'd just offer the raw by itself. Since she's only 12 weeks, she may very well just accept it right away. My Hadyn did, no problems what do ever. I agree with the post above about not grinding her food. I know some people on here do grind the raw, but it's som much better for their teeth and gums to chew chunks of meat and raw bones. Also, unless you are grinding you don't have to add anything as far as supplements go unless you are feeding grocery store meats, in that case give a high quality soy free fish body oil to balance out the omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. Since you have access to a lot of wild meat, I doubt that would even be necessary. As long as you are feeding meats that are naturally high in taurine like all red meats (including all hearts) and the dark meat on poultry, your cat will get plenty of taurine naturally.

As for game meats, the only thing I've heard not to feed is best if it's northern bear because there's a strain of trichinosis (I hope that's the right thing) that is freeze resistant. Unless you're positive the bear is from a warm climate, skip it. All other game meats should be frozen solid for at least 3 weeks and then they're good to feed!

 

[SealySphynx]

Oh and if your feeding fresh salmon from the west coast (I think) it needs to be frozen solid for at least 3 weeks to kill something or other. Check into that, I never really paid attention to that part because I don't nor do I plan to have access to fresh salmon.

 

[Nofuratu]

I didnt think feeding chicken bone was ok. It splinters and if it doesnt choke them it can cause intestinal disaster, perforation, blockage. So with chicken I would grind it for sure. You can feed chicken necks, gizzards, feet, hearts and livers as whole objects that will be good for their teeth for flossing, but not chicken bones.
I have no idea of other fowl bones are ok to feed without grinding like pheasant, turkey etc. Im sure more experienced people will pipe up on this!

 

[Cathie]

Chicken bones are ok as long as they are not cooked. Any heat, and they can splinter.

 

[SealySphynx]

Technically any RAW bones are safe. Cats have a more limited jaw strength than dogs do, so they won't be able to eat just anything but most if the bones from rabbit, quail, cornish game hen, and chicken should be able to be eaten (not right away, but as your kitten gets jaw strength, to start out you may have to smash the bone some for her). Also some bones from ducks and turkey should be edible as well. Even if the bones are too tough for your cat (like a turkey drum stick), you can still give her the whole thing and let her strip the meat off. Less work for you, better workout for her!

 

[SealySphynx]

Do watch her with the chicken necks though, the first time I fed them to Sealy I cut them up. Big mistake! He kept trying to swallow the chunks whole and kept throwing them up and re-chewing them until he got it worked out. If I give chicken necks anymore (which I usually don't as they're almost all none and barely any meat) I give it to him whole and he's fine.

 

[werecatrising]

Has anyone fed duck necks? I'm thinking of picking some up this weekend.

 

[SealySphynx]

Hadyn and Sealy split one this morning! They're much larger than chicken necks (at least the chicken necks I'm used to) so I just cut them in half and let them share. I have to smash Hadyn's because she's still a kitten and getting her jaw strength up, but Sealy just ate his half as is.