At What Age Should I Start Feeding Raw To My Kitten?
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Oct 5th, 2009 |
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what kinds of foods?
I just deleted this question but asked it again.
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Good for you!
I believe that they could begin eating raw as soon as they are weaned.
I’m assuming you’re aware of the fact that unless you feed the whole prey model, you need to supplement? If you’re not aware of this, you’ll have a bit of research ahead of you.
I do feed some raw myself – the whole prey model – in addition to canned food, but I didn’t start until mine were 2 years old. Incidentally, not on purpose. So I’m not really up on feeding raw to kittens.
I do believe it’s an excellent idea and it’s what I would do in future and wish I had done from the beginning.
I’m going to have to defer you to anyone else who might answer, but I’ll dig up some links for you.
What I can tell you in the meantime though is that there are a number of meats you can try. You don’t have to feed all of them, but I think it’s a good idea to offer some variety, perhaps 2-3 meats in rotation.
Good, common meats are rabbit, venison, chicken, turkey, pheasant…..less common but still ok would be duck, lamb, goat, bison, elk…..
Ones you typically won’t feed are beef and pork.
I’m pretty sure you can start as soon as they’re weaned, but I don’t want to make assumptions. Mainly I’m concerned about how much to feed to be sure you’ll meet a kitten’s greater needs for calories, etc. So I’m going to suggest you join any and all of the Yahoo groups devoted to raw feeding. I’ve linked to 2 below for starters, but just go to Yahoo groups and search for raw cat. You’ll find lots of groups.
Each of these groups have their own philosophy about HOW to feed raw and what types of meat to use, etc. But you shold be able to get decent info on getting kittens started.
Good luck!
Also, are you aware of where to find meats? If not, I can help you a bit here too.
Meat sources: If you’re in the midwest, check into Taylor Pond Farms. This is where I get my stuff. http://www.taylorpondfarms.com. You can also buy online – http://www.hare-today.com is one that’s used by many. You could also get some meats from the grocery store, either pre-ground or you could grind it yourself.
Also:
Carnivore feeders and feed suppliers http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Carni…
MidAtlantic Raw Feeding Supplies
http://http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/MidAt…
NY Raw Feeders
Westchester/Putnam counties http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/NYRaw…
New York Raw Feeders
Phyllis’s group in NYC http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ny_ra…
PA & NJ Raw Feeding Network http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/PA_NJ…
Raw Feeders of Columbus, Ohio http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Rawfc…
Aunt Jeni/Homemade4Life http://www.auntjeni.com/homemade.htm
Big Apple Herpetological
(prey supplier) http://www.bigappleherp.com
Big Creek Farms
(prey/meat supplier) http://www.bigcreekfarms.com
Bravo! http://www.bravorawdiet.com
Eat Well Guide
(search directory for sustainably raised meats) http://www.eatwellguide.org
Eat Wild
(directory for grass-fed meats) http://www.eatwild.com
Halshan http://www.halshan.com
Hare Today
(prey/meat supplier) http://www.hare-today.com
My Pet Carnivore
(prey/meat supplier) http://www.mypetcarnivore.com
Nature’s Variety http://naturesvariety.com
Oma’s Pride http://www.omaspride.com
Pep’s Poultry
(prey/meat supplier) http://pepspoultry.com/store/index.php
Prey4Pets
(prey/meat supplier) http://www.prey4pets.com
Primal Pet Foods http://www.primalpetfoods.com
Rodent Pro
(prey supplier) http://www.rodentpro.com
Steve’s Real Food http://www.stevesrealfood.com
Urban Carnivore http://www.urbancarnivore.com/
Whole Foods 4 Pets
(rabbit supplier) http://www.wholefoods4pets.com
And last but not least, here’s a link to a recipe should you choose to go that route: http://www.catnutrition.org/foodmaking.p…
now why the hell would you do that…..stick to high quality cat food and everything will be good.
Kb ~~ don’t think u want to go there..
It is expensive.. it makes Ur cat screwed up.. it begins to like raw meat,,. and won’t eat canned food..
You need to stick to a plan… once u make it..
staying consistent is important…
don’t switch around…
keep them on the same thing.. they will become finicky.. and u will be trying different foods to get Ur cat to eat..
good luck..
cook anything you give to your cats.
I feed raw to my cats, and often give it to my foster kittens. I got the recipe here – a site run by a vet who feeds it to her own cats http://www.catinfo.org
She is fond of saying that there are no “kitten mice” in the wild, so there really is no need for kitten food. You simply have to feed a good quality food which raw is. So you can start now. Just slowly transition. Cats on raw can become constipated because they aren’t used to having so little waste (as a result of using up most of the food) do 25% raw to 75% old food for a week, then 50/50 then 75/25 then 100%
I’ve just put cats on raw and not had a problem, but it is recommended to slowly tranisition them.
It depends what kind of raw food you are talking about. If you want to prepare a raw diet for your cat from scratch then you might need probiotic to help with your kitten’s disgestive tract against pathogens. It will also stimulate immunity, and secrete digestive enzymes. There are a lot of raw diet recipes out there but some are dangerous so I would look into finding a reputable website with proper raw diet recipes to give your kitten a balance diet.
If you really want to feed your kitten raw diet but doesn’t want to deal with making it from scratch, I would recommend Nature’s Variety. This food is best when rotated from their various varieties.
If you have a trusting vet that cares about animal instead of the kick back then he/she would be your best source.
Unless you really, really know what you are doing, and are prepared to follow specific recipes precisely, you are setting your kitten up for serious problems. Besides contamination from improperly stored food, you can be missing the trace components that your cat absolutely must have for growth and development. Leave out taurine, and you will slowly wind up with a dead cat on your hands.
There are recipes available, but make sure you follow them with no changes. A raw diet is not something that is trivial to do. And if you find a raw food diet, don’t just assume it is a proper diet just because you found it on an internet site. Investigate to make sure it is a proper diet and a valid site, not just someone’s puffery.
don’t fed your cat rotten meat because that cat can turn carnivorous.
I wouldn’t give anything but cat food to my cats. Anything else spoils them and they may rely less on the cat food. It’s a nasty habbit to get cats into. I’ve seen cats act like junkies when they don’t get people food when they’re hooked on it.
Stick with the kitty food. It’s formulized for their dietary needs.
i would never give my kitten or cat raw food. when ever i make tuna, they both get a little piece of tuna in their dish and thats it. I buy them tasty wet food as a treat twice a week and they love it.. otherwise its dry food and only cat food
whenever its weaned from its mother
You should never do that anyway, it makes them greedy thinking meat is the only good food around. Dry food is the best for cats like Iams they are good for them. They give them great teeth and are a much heathier option
Kibble is the worst food for cats, even Iams. Read the lable. Cats are carnivores and kibble is corn, wheat and other things cats should never eat including road kill. Kibble is addictive and full of carbs. Person16, raw meat *is* the only good food around. Kibble causes diabetes, kidney damage and worse.
Kibble is not formulized for their dietary needs. It is made from leftovers from human foods. It is made from rendered animals. Anyone that believes that has been watching too many cat food commercials.
As I said, cats are carnivores and people are waking up from their commercial laden comas and realizing that we\’ve been killing our pets with commercial foods. Look at all the overweight pets out there!
Cats naturally eat mice, small birds, bugs and lizards.