How To Make Raw Cat Food

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Felines accept been eating raw food for thousands of years. Even though cats have been domesticated, they still catch and consume mice, rats, and other rodents. This shows that they nevertheless need meat in their diets in order to become the complete nutrition that keeps them salubrious. If you're tired of buying expensive commercial cat food, consider making your ain raw cat food. While you'll need to practice some prep work, making your own food can keep your cat healthy and happy.

Ingredients

4.4 pounds (2 kg) raw muscle meat with bones
xiv ounces raw heart, ideally from the same creature equally the meat. If at that place is no heart bachelor, y'all must supplement with 4000 mg taurine.
7 ounces (200 g) raw liver, ideally from the same animal as the meat. If you tin can't find appropriate liver, you can substitute xl,000 IU of vitamin A and 1600 IU of vitamin D, but try to utilize real liver instead of substitutes.
Additional musculus meat if you lot're substituting organs with taurine, vitamin A and vitamin D. For case, if yous can't detect heart, add another 14 ounces of meat with bones.
xvi oz (ii cups) water
iv raw egg yolks (preferably from free-range, antibody-free chickens)
iv capsules raw glandular supplement
4000 mg salmon oil
200 mg vitamin B complex
800 IU vitamin E. The powder is easy to use, only you can likewise use oil-filled capsules.
ane/four teaspoon of kelp powder and one/4 teaspoon of dulse pulverisation (1/2 teaspoon total), optional.
4 teaspoons psyllium husk powder or viii teaspoons whole psyllium husks, optional.

1
Go your cat examined. Your cat should be completely healthy before y'all brainstorm feeding her a homemade diet. Take your true cat to the veterinary for a thorough examination. You should also bear witness the nutrition and recipes to a certified animal nutritionist to make certain they provide all the nutrients your cat needs.
- The veterinary can aid you locate a certified beast nutritionist in your area or yous can find one online.^[1]
2
Be prepared to supplement. When you grind and freeze raw true cat food, this reduces the amount of taurine available to the true cat.^[two] Y'all'll demand to supplement this amino acid to prevent major eye and cardiac bug.^[iii] Recognize that a taurine deficiency doesn't show upwards immediately. Instead, it will have a few years, but by then the damage may be irreversible.^[4]
- Ask the beast nutrition expert to recommend a specific dosage for your true cat.
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3
Practice rubber food handling. Any time you handle raw food, you need to wash your easily oft and safely shop the meat. This is of import to preclude salmonella poisoning.^[5] Always use fresh meat, never meat that looks like it's starting to get bad. This can increment the run a risk of illness.
- Treatment raw meat when pregnant can increase your hazard for toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease. Wash your easily frequently or habiliment gloves when handling meat.^[6]
- If yous're concerned virtually the nutrition of a raw diet, understand that no nutrients are lost past preparing raw food rather than cooking it for your pet.^[7]
4
Purchase the meat. Depending on what meat y'all choose to use, you may accept a difficult time finding high-quality meat. While it might be easy to purchase a whole chicken from your grocery shop, yous may need to seek out a local farmer or butcher to become organ meat. If you lot tin only observe whole chicken to use, only grind up and offer basic that are small. All the same, if you include bones that are likewise large, your cat will just avert them. Just make certain not to melt the basic, which can cause them to splinter and damage your cat'due south digestive arrangement.^[8]
- Fortunately, pre-made mixes of ground raw meat are increasingly available in refrigerated and frozen sections of pet stores. All y'all need to do is thaw and add supplements to the meat.^[9]
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1
Fix the meat. Cut upward the carcass and dissever the muscle meat. Cut the muscle meat into chunks or process it through a meat grinder using the extra-big grinding plate. Leaving chunks of meat can give your cat something to chew on and gives adept tooth and glue exercise. Fix the meaty bones aside. Identify the prepared muscle meat in the refrigerator.^[x]
- If using chicken, remove as much skin every bit possible. Craven necks are a good option to apply since they're generally cartilage, are easy to chop, and are piece of cake for the cat to digest. You lot tin likewise use rabbit or dark meat from a chicken or turkey.
2
Procedure the organ meats. Once y'all've prepared the muscle meat, use a scale to weigh out the organ meats. Grind these through a meat grinder or food processor and set them in the refrigerator while you fix the remaining ingredients.^[eleven]
- At this bespeak, you tin also take the meaty bones out of the refrigerator and pass them through a grinder. Avoid using a food processor to grind the bones, since it's probably not equipped to handle them.
3
Whisk together a supplement slurry. In a split bowl, whisk the salmon oil, glandular supplement, kelp, dulse, vitamin Eastward, vitamin B circuitous, egg yolks, and water until it's combined. If you're using the psyllium, add it last and stir again.^[12]
- You can discard or shop the egg whites for another apply.
four

Combine the meats and supplement mixture. In a large bowl, combine the manus-chunked muscle meat with the footing meat and ground bones until completely mixed. Add the supplement slurry and stir over again until it'southward evenly distributed.^[13]
5
Package and store the food. Spoon the finished cat food into manageable containers such as freezer bags or one-cup plastic freezer containers. Avoid overfilling the containers. Instead, go out at least ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) gap or headspace at the pinnacle. This will allow the food to aggrandize as it freezes. Label the containers with the blazon of meat and the date before freezing.^[14]
- Wide-rima oris stonemason glass jars can go along the food fresh for longer, only be sure to buy jars specifically fabricated for freezing, non just canning.
half-dozen
Serve the nutrient to your cat. Remove the nutrient from the freezer during mealtime and warm the nutrient in a baggie. If yous have some of the food in the fridge, you'll all the same need to warm it up before serving it. Some cats volition vomit raw food if it'south cold when it hits the stomach.^[15]
- To warm the baggies, just run them under hot water until warm to room temperature or just above. Never use the microwave to warm the food, especially if yous've used bones. Cooked bones splinter and can exist very dangerous to a true cat, but raw bones are soft and easily digested past a cat.
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Add together New Question

Question

Can cats become parasites or bacterial infections such equally salmonella past eating raw meat?

Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinary with over 30 years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion animal practice. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinarian medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same animal clinic in her hometown for over 20 years.

Veterinarian

Proficient Reply

Yep. The increased risk of infection from leaner and parasites is i of the arguments against feeding raw meat. Some people suggest freezing the meat and then defrosting, but some bugs volition survive this. Some other trouble with freezing is that information technology damages the thiamin molecule and tin can crusade accidental thiamin deficiency, leading to blindness and heart affliction.
Question

What should you non feed your true cat?

Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinarian with over xxx years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion animate being do. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinary medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same animal clinic in her hometown for over xx years.

Veterinarian

Expert Respond

The biggest no-no is a vegetarian diet. Cats lack the ability to produce certain vital amino acids. When fed a vegetarian nutrition, the cat may develop heart problems and get bullheaded. Just like dogs, there is a concern well-nigh feeding grapes, chocolate, xylitol, and yeast dough to cats. However, cats tend to be fussy eaters and are generally sensible enough to leave these alone.
Question

Can cats eat cooked meat?

Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinarian with over 30 years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion animal practice. She graduated from the Academy of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinarian medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same fauna clinic in her hometown for over 20 years.

Veterinarian

Expert Answer

Yes, just make certain the diet is balanced. Meat alone (without the os, peel, hair, or stomach contents) is not a balanced diet, and volition pb to weak basic that fracture easily. Also, avoid highly processed cooked meats; it's all-time to feed actual meat that has been roasted or boiled, rather than candy cooked meats which contain preservatives and additives.
Question

What kind of human food can cats eat?

Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinarian with over 30 years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion fauna practise. She graduated from the Academy of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinary medicine and surgery. She has worked at the aforementioned brute dispensary in her hometown for over 20 years.

Veterinary

Skilful Answer

Cats are carnivores and then avoid giving highly processed foods that are high in sugars or carbohydrates. Choose non-processed meat products that are depression in common salt. As such, beef and chicken are skillful, while feeding a lot of pork or bacon is not.
Question

How can I transition my cat to raw food?

Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinary with over 30 years of feel in veterinary surgery and companion animate being practice. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinarian medicine and surgery. She has worked at the aforementioned animate being dispensary in her hometown for over 20 years.

Veterinarian

Expert Answer

Take up to two weeks to get the digestive system acclimatized to the new diet. Do this by calculation in a trivial raw food to the existing diet. Equally the days go by, increase the amount of raw nutrient and decrease the corporeality of kibble. If at any stage the cat refuses to eat or gets a stomach upset, then slightly decrease the amount of raw food and crash-land up the kibble.
Question

Can I requite my cat raw meat?

Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinarian with over 30 years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion creature practice. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a caste in veterinary medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same animal clinic in her hometown for over 20 years.

Veterinary

Good Answer

The arguments for and confronting raw food for cats are numerous. While many owners detect a raw nutrition extremely beneficial for their pets, most vets do not recommend a raw nutrition. This is considering it can exist hard to feed the right balance of calcium and phosphate in the diet, and also considering of a significantly greater risk of picking up an infection such as salmonella.
Question

What kind of nutrition does including the bone provide, and tin can it exist left out?

Yous have to have some source of calcium, but y'all can utilise bonemeal or eggshells in identify of actual whole basic.
Question

Tin I feed my cat staff of life?

Cats are obligate carnivores, which means their diet dies non crave anything other than meat products. If your cat does eat some bread, still, it won't damage the animal.
Question

Tin can cats be given boiled fish or meat?

Yes, you lot tin can. But never can give just that. Always keep feeding it with kibble likewise.
Question

How much should I feed my cat at a fourth dimension?

It depends on what'south in the food and the size of your cat. I accept a pretty small cat and I feed him one/ii loving cup servings.

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You tin feed this to kittens or developed cats. You may want to gradually innovate this food into her nutrition.
If y'all volition non be using the food immediately and freezing for more than a week or 2, toss in 4000 mg of additional taurine to make up for annihilation lost during storage. It is a good thought to sprinkle extra taurine from a capsule on the food equally you're serving information technology 2 or three times a week, just to be certain your true cat is getting plenty of this disquisitional amino acid.
A bit of variety is helpful in keeping firm cats interested in their nutrient. Good options include: rabbit, chicken, Cornish game hen, turkey, and republic of guinea fowl. Some cats also love beef and lamb, but non all cats that accept been eating commercial food for a long time assimilate beefiness or lamb easily at first.

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An all-meat nutrition can chop-chop go unbalanced. Unless you lot understand feline diet, it is imperative that y'all follow the recipe without amending or substitution.
Don't try too hard to "bribe" your cat to eat the raw food. If you lot apply also much loftier-value blackmail, similar tuna juice, your cat may refuse to swallow annihilation that isn't "spiced upward" later.
Intestinal parasites are as well a concern. Parasites tin can form cysts in the musculus tissue of livestock. Consider keeping your cat on parasite prevention bachelor from your veterinarian.
Some vitamins are water-soluble, which ways if yous apply more than than the recommended amount, you're not putting your true cat at hazard for toxicity, equally any oversupply of water-soluble vitamins will be excreted. On the other hand an overdose on fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and 1000) are dangerous since the trunk is unable to excrete them. Vitamin A can cause toxicity in cats in the form of musculus soreness. Removing excess Vitamin A tin can reverse this trouble.^[sixteen]

About This Article

Commodity Summary 10

The easiest way to prepare your cat some healthy raw food is to buy a pre-fabricated mix of raw meat from a pet store. At domicile, make a supplement slurry by whisking together some salmon oil, glandular supplement, kelp, dulse, vitamin E, vitamin B complex, egg yolks, and h2o in a big basin, and then combine this with the meat. To serve the nutrient, oestrus upward a single serving in a freezer bag by running information technology under a hot tap until information technology reaches room temperature. For more than pointers from our Veterinary reviewer, including how to break down raw meat yourself, read on.

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