[Meena]

Just wondering, if I get minces, can my cat eat it too? Should I do anything differently with the cat? I just feed the dogs bones but she is sooo tiny I don't think she could break the bone up.. Her poos smell worse than the dogs on the best days. She is on csj dry at the moment and considering changing her to raw.

 

[Jesthar]

Hi Meena,

I'm not one of the raw feeding experts, but no, you can't feed a cat the same stuff as a dog. Cat raw feeds have to be quite a precise mix to give them all the nutrients they need, in particular taurine as cats can't synthesise that themselves.

Cat poo is often pretty smelly when they are on a dry diet (from what I hear, my girl gets mainly wet food with some dry down for when I'm out just in case), as they aren't designed for that kind of diet and can't digest it properly. It also tends to leave them dehydrated as they are designed to get most of their moisture from their prey, and therefore have a nearly non-existant thirst drive and don't drink enough on a dry diet. Certain types of wet food can give some cats smelly poos, too.

There is a sticky thread on raw feeding at the top of this forum page: http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/111455-thinking-about-raw-feeding-basic-guide.html

You may find your cat needs some time and encouragement to switch from a purely dry diet if it is all she has ever known, though. Why not try her with a raw chicken wing as a starter - my little girl LOVES those as a once a week treat and eats them bone and all

 

[lymorelynn]

Raw for cats has to be properly balanced but if you can get it right it is a great diet for them :thumbup1: Have a look at the raw feeding sticky mentioned by Jesthar :thumbup1: or have a look at Natural Instinct for cats.
I use NI for mine and also some of the minces from Woldsway but I have to add taurine to those

 

[cookiemom]

In terms of meat proteins they can eat the same things but cats are not dogs and the approach to feeding needs to reflect this, in addition to the sticky this is a good website to help get an understanding of feeding raw to cats:

Raw Fed Cats