This is mainly for Hobbs, but i'd be grateful of anyone's comments

I've been considering this for a while but think i've now decided - I want to change to an 100% raw diet.

I've been looking at places online and really like the look of 'Raw To Go'.

Is it just a case of buying the meat and feeding it? Are any of the products suitable and 'complete'?

I noticed they sell Taurine powder as a supplement, do i need to buy this too? How much would i add to the food?

Can i use raw for weaning kittens?

Finally, what do i do if they (some or all) won't eat it? I've tried Natural Instinct mince and only 2 of them eat it, the rest won't touch it!!!

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Ali.

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I have been emailing the woman from raw to go today. If you email her she will answer any questions you have. Their minces are complete but they also sell taurine powder as some people use it as a supplement. It isn't needed as it is in the minces but it's down to personal preference whether you want to add more as a supplement.

I'm not sure what to do if they don't like it, I will probably be doing it like I would if I was changing on to a different wet food and mix it in with what they're on just now.

Any other questions the woman from raw to go would be happy to answer I'm sure.

ETA: some people have cats that will eat it and cats that won't. I think spid says she has to feed one cat wet still as it won't eat raw.

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Hmm.. The woman from RTG believes it is complete, however various people have received various different responses I believe from the mince producer (DAF) about what they actually contain. The latest was that the minces may contain 10% offal, but only 1% of that is liver which obviously isn't enough.

The taurine levels aren't clear either, so I would be adding this to it also + salmon oil.

As for them not liking it, 3 out of 4 of mine wouldn't touch the stuff, the one kitten who did may or may not have become ill from eating it (I can't prove it was the mince, but she was eating nothing else) - and it pongs to high heaven.

Apart from that, I believe there are plenty of others forum users who have no problems whatsoever

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I didn't realise that. What other websites/shops would you recommend for minces?

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Spot on Dante!

Next time anyone emails R2G about their claims that you don't need to add any because there is enough in the meat ask them to provide you with the analysis that shows that. To my knowledge, DAF hasn't done this. So, I would take any claims in the absence of any further concrete knowledge with a large pinch of salt.

TBH, I am getting quite frustrated with some raw food manufacturers as they are even worse in their transparency than some commercial wet/dry food manufacturers. Yes, they allegedly contain the stuff in the right ratio but when asked what that contains in detail, they don't come up with the goods.

Also, all too often they also haven't spent any money on doing any analyses (apart from maybe the most basic macronutrient one) to explore how many minerals and vitamins are in the food they provide. At least when badgered most commercial manufacturers will share their more detailed analyses; however, so far, none of the raw food providers are able to do this (as far as I know).

Would I feed food like that from commercial manufacturers if they couldn't provide me such info (ingredients, analyses)? No, I wouldn't. So, why would I make an exception just because they are providing me with raw food that is allegedly healthier and more like the stuff they would eat naturally. I have to take their word for it, and any word from any manufacturer of any kind and the inevitable PR machine that surrounds their food needs to be taken with a mountainous pinch of salt.

The beauty of raw feeding is that you know what you are feeding and don't need to rely on others to big up their food or put a spin on their claims. Why don't you just read up on providing a good raw diet, do some research into sources and do it yourself.

Now, I'm going to stick my neck out here and say ... the more I hear about R2G the less I like

BUT the minces they sell come from DAF, and I think that maybe R2G are just not quite getting it right I don't know if they use temperature controlled vans to deliver, but something is going wrong occasionally, and I suspect it might be because of the extra travel the mince goes through to reach it's final destination.

I get my DAF minces from a lady in Lincoln, they do use a temperature controlled van, but even then sometimes some of the minces seem to be a little off. Though to be fair, if we keep them then next time they come with the order they take them back and replace them.

Having said that, I do find some batches of lamb (for instance) the girls LOVE, so much so they will consume a large amount. But then the next batch to arrive seems to get a much reduced enthusiastic reaction. But the doglets still eat it. I only know the batch is actually off and it's not just the girls being picky if the doglets wont touch it either.

In the full year and a bit we have been using DAF we have perhaps had 2 batches of one specific mince (each time, so not the whole order just one kind of mince) returned.

I do agree you have to add Taurine (250mg per kitty, per day minimum), salmon oil is also good to add a couple of drops per cat a week ... and definately need to add another 4% liver to each meal. They do sell liver chunks as well, so it's no big deal

To be totally honest, these minces are best given as part of their diet not all of it. If you can still feed a day or so of commercial wet food once or twice a week, and give them occasional chicken wings, necks or some other cut of meat and bone ... then you can find a happy medium and be confident they are getting every thing they need.

With the Natures Instinct minces ... if you have any left give it another go. My girls turned their noses up at it the first couple of times I tried them on it. Then all of a sudden they took to it like ducks to water. However I did experience some very hypo kitty attacks when they were on those I think they put really high amounts of Taurine in the minces (or did). It won't hurt them at all, but I do think it may have been responsible for the hypo crazy cat behaviour

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The whole raw feeding thing confuses me, I know it is best for my animals which is why I've started looking into it but I think it's the trying to give them everything they need in the right ratios that confuses me. This is why I thought feeding the 'complete' minces would be best. I don't mind having to add taurine powder, salmon oil and livers.

I was also planning to give wings, necks etc a couple of times a week. I wouldn't mind going with Aurelia's suggestion of minces but also wings, necks etc and some wet food. It's just the ratios etc that confuse me otherwise I would probably do it solely myself.

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I am considering offering my cats a 50/50 split of a good commercial food in the morning and a couple of raw meals in the evening when I have more time after work.

The biggest question I have right now, is the viability of it without a grinder. I think you can't use store bought mince as it has bacteria all over it. I guess the only remaining option is literally chunks of meat, liver, heart, calcium powder, salmon oil, eggs, vitamins just mixed together (roughly chopped of course). What do you think about that?

NI is complete and I've always had great service and it's so easy

Now r2g - I emailed and emailed and contacted and out of 5 emails I got one response, I tried to place an order and didn't get a response at all - in the end I gave up and get for NI cos I needed food like NOW! Haven't been impressed with what other have said either. It may be cheap but needs supplementing and I don't have time for that.

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Problem with NI is that it is currently only one flavour, so not ideal if you just want to feed raw.

They also don't use any other offal/organ apart from liver and their is some internal confusion as to how much bone they use.