Let's kick-start the raw feeding section!

[Pinball]

Hands-up, who feeds raw or is toying with the idea? 

[Mo]

I feed a prey model raw diet to 20 cats, half raw/half grain free canned to 8 cats, and all grain free canned to Nightmare. 

I started to feed most of mine full raw on August 7, 2009 - so it has almost been two years

[Pinball]

Nightmare living up to her name re raw?

My ones are on about 75% raw and 25% grain-free wet food but sometimes the raw is upped to 100% or sometimes it is only 50% of their diet. Neither me nor the cats would have it any other way now...

[Lola]

I keep toying with the idea back and forth.  I have read info provide by Dr. Lisa A. Pierson a bazillion times. http://catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood  When I finally think "I can do this," I then start to panic over being able to trust meat sources.  Not being able to cook out ickie stuff is my hang-up.

I "know" people, on the Internet, that are VERY successful with raw feeding. So I KNOW it can be done.  Then there is the people that raw feed, and their cats are sick with alllllll kinds of elements.  I'm NOT judging, but one person I "know" won't even consider that MAYBE it is the raw diet.  Stuff like that adds to my worries.  I don't want a house full of sick cats, due to MY error.

[Shadow]

We are still trying!! Wilson no problem...Shadow on the other hand is being quite difficult about the whole thing.
just have to keep trying. Its just that they are so used to eating a little bt then coming back to it a few times, sometimes it can take an hour before they eat it all, and I am a bit leary to leave out Raw for too long.  this being "premade frozen Raw".  Shadow only has her fangs and inscissors.

[Lola]

When someone says they feed raw, my little brain always thinks they are feeding a raw diet that THEY put together.  (To explain my post above.)   

[Pinball]

I make my own food. For 2 reasons: I know a lot about raw feeding (yeah, they all think they do  - i know) and the situation over here is very different. We don't have very many raw food providers - well, we have a few but very few of those say that they follow the correct ratios, fewer of those then say exactly what they put in (other than just say - they are balanced), only 1 (yes 1) has any information about macro-nutrients (protein, fat etc) and 0, yes 0, have any more information. Well, to be fair, 1 has info on the taurine content (!) but then promptly uses a wrong comparison with a mouse (using a comparison of mg/kg instead of mg/100g) to make their food look better than it is.

I know what you mean though Lola. I have come across some right horror stories of people thinking they are doing the best for their cats by making their own food but instead of making themselves knowledgeable, they have only picked up pieces of info here and there that suited them and have ended up with a completely deficient diet. But hey, all is right isn't it because their kitties coat is shiny (from all the fat), so she must be healthy?! (just in case it is too subtle - the last sentence is meant to be sarcastic!)

[Lola]

At one time, I did check into one (or two) raw foods.  The shipping would have cost me more than the food itself.  I can't bring myself to buy meat locally, and trust it enough to feed it raw.  My paranoid scale is waaaay over the top lately.    

Pinball,
Add smileys to your sarcastic comments.  That USUALLY helps the reader to "get" the tone.    Usually.  I have a pretty dry sense of humor...the smileys don't always help.   

[Shadow]

 My paranoid scale is waaaay over the top lately.

Mine too.  Today I was in Superstore and they had some chicken backs and necks, so cheap.  How would I prepare these? would it be easy to grind? I probably wouldnt buy them there, but I did see them at a local farm market too very cheap.

[Lola]

Let me just say this...it is one thing for a person to not SEE how raw meat is handled, before being purchased...knowing it will be rinsed and cooked.  It is another thing to know how meat is handled...and not be able to cook it.  BUT...I'm also a borderline germ freak   and raw meat makes me nauseous, in general.  Sooooo, I tend to get "worked up" more than the average Joe.

[CarnivorousCritter]

Ok I know I can ask y'all this very stooooopid question without   flashbang

   I've seen guides where the meat is grinded/ground and it's kind of confusing. Is it just meant for the bigger bones, and folks just chuck the meat in sometimes too?

[Pinball]

Ok I know I can ask y'all this very stooooopid question without   flashbang

   I've seen guides where the meat is grinded/ground and it's kind of confusing. Is it just meant for the bigger bones, and folks just chuck the meat in sometimes too?

Not a stupid question at all. Yes, there are people who grind everything - bones, meat and offal. A lot of the "recipes" found online are ground ones. Matter of fact, ground is the only way you get commercially prepared raw food here in the UK whereas in Germany (for example) and the US you can get other consistencies, such as chunks.

[CarnivorousCritter]

Thanks, Pinball.

It's the US that has me scratching my head, with grinding the meat,  

Some people who are considering Raw and are on the fence may feel like they might "need" a grinder for the meat, when the cats' teeth can easily take care of the meat themselves.

I know some people IRL who are obsessed with "whatever is quickest & easiest" and one less step on the Road To Raw, the better (at least until they get acclimated to how easy it may prove to be for them, depending on the individual person of course.)

[FurMonster Mom]

   Raw feeder here 

I have been feeding a franken prey style diet for nearly 3 years to all my furmonsters (4 cats, 1 dog).
I do not grind
I do not add supplements (except the occasional fish oil capsule).

I do have a 4 meat rotating diet, and use the 80-10-5-5 rule.

Since I live in the middle of the desert, all our food sources are shipped in. 
That means that I am relegated to what I can get at Costco and the asian market.
Unfortunately, there are only 2 "true" butcher shops (their meats are still shipped in, though) in the entire city.

I buy my meats in volume, then vac-pack and freeze large daily portions (daily for all 5 animals).
Each day then, I portion out by meal.  This reduces the amount of surface area exposed for any length of time.

I love to hear about how other folks manage their meals, and what they include in their diets.
I think of it as an ever educational experience.
 

[Lola]

I want to buy a raw food that has all the nutritionally needed stuff already in it.  I don't know if it is possible, but I would prefer something more in a pate style...rather than chunks or obvious body parts.  I want to introduce a little bit and see what the reaction is at my house.

Any suggestions?