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Raw feeding advice and loose stools

2K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  alixtaylor 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello,

I have two British Short Hair cats, Elsa & Casper, Elsa is 3 years old has had a history of diarrhea, after months of vet visits and endless tests, the diarrhea was constant and getting both her and me down, with vets not being able to shed any light on it.

After some reading and research, I decided to once again try and switch her to a raw diet.... (I'd tried in the past with Natural Instinct - but failed). I decided to try 'Purform' and the day after the first solid stool in months! It was a godsend, cured her! The problem was that she would only eat the rabbit variants of the food which either left me with plain rabbit and ground bone and rabbit with ox heart. I have tried calling her bluff and only giving her different variants but when she doesn't eat for 1,2 days alarm bells go ringing and I give her the rabbit, I've tried mixing in all sorts of ratios, if she even gets a wiff of anything else mixed in she leaves the lot. You name it I've tried it.

I know she likes venison but it's a bit of a pain getting hold of it - that was the only variant from Natural Instinct she would eat - but they discontinued it.

Anyway... months of perfect solid stools but the last few days she has started to get soft stools and my worry is because she has been only having rabbit she has started to develop an allergy to it, like with previous food. She is a house cat and from past experience, I am pretty certain this is again food-related. I am pulling my hair out trying to find an alternative, I am more than prepared to make my own if I HAVE to but ideally I could buy ready-made complete raw which I can give her, because I am not clued up enough to be confident I am giving them everything they need.

Does anyone else use another brand that offers good quality at a decent enough price ideally no more expensive than Purform because it's bad enough as it is for two cats. I have come across kiezebrink but none of them seem to be complete? I am more than happy to get that but as long as I know what else to give them to make sure they are getting everything they need (that's the main worry for me, I am not educated enough in what they actually need as a full balanced diet, Purform said their tubs are complete and do not require anything else, So I took their word for it.

Thanks for anyone that helps I am desperate.
 
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#6 ·
@OrientalSlave
Sorry, I confused EZ complete with Felini complete but EZ complete does include taurine in the list of ingredients.
I have seen people on the forum mention using pre mixes so it assume it is possible to get one brand or other in the UK.

@Third_Hyperion
Maybe try this one but the one I mentioned does include taurine, though you may not be able to find that particular brand.
By using a mix you can alter the variety of mince you use.

https://www.zooplus.co.uk/feedback/shop/cats/supplements_specialty_cat_food/vitamins/155860
 
#8 ·
@OrientalSlave
Sorry, I confused EZ complete with Felini complete but EZ complete does include taurine in the list of ingredients.
I have seen people on the forum mention using pre mixes so it assume it is possible to get one brand or other in the UK.

@Third_Hyperion
Maybe try this one but the one I mentioned does include taurine, though you may not be able to find that particular brand.
By using a mix you can alter the variety of mince you use.

https://www.zooplus.co.uk/feedback/shop/cats/supplements_specialty_cat_food/vitamins/155860
Ah found it, but no mention I could see of how much will be in the final mix made as directed.
 
#9 ·
@OrientalSlave - is this maybe what you were referring to?

Felini Complete feeding guide:
"Application & Dosage:

Felini Complete contains sufficient taurine. It supplements pure meat to achieve a balanced meal. No other supplements are necessary.

A fully grown cat weighing 4.5kg requires approx. 130g of meat spread out over 2-3 meals. Mix 65g of meat in with 0.8g of Felini Complete (flat spoon) and 2 tbsp of water. For the preparation of larger amounts give 12.5g of Felini Complete with 31 tbsp water per 1kg of meat.

Cat's weight----- Amount of meat in g/day------------- Felini Complete dose in g/day
4kg ------------------------- 120g ------------------------------------------1.5g
5kg ------------------------- 150g -------------------------------------------1.9g
6kg -------------------------180g ------------------------------------------ 2.3g
7kg -------------------------- 210g ------------------------------------------ 2.6g
8kg-------------------------- 240g ------------------------------------------ 3g

Please store in a cool, dark and dry place. Always read the instructions supplied."
 
#13 ·
If your meat grinder is for domestic use, you will be able to grind up chicken bones including the carcass, small turkey bones, rabbit bones including the carcass, and bones and carcasses from birds such as pigeon, pheasant etc.

But your grinder will not be powerful enough to grind the bones of larger animals, e.g. pig, cow, lamb, goat, deer etc . To try would seriously damage your machine.
 
#14 ·
I know she likes venison but it's a bit of a pain getting hold of it - that was the only variant from Natural Instinct she would eat - but they discontinued it.
Not sure if you're aware, but in case you haven't heard this food was discontinued because of a link to Tuberculosis (m.bovis), over 100 cats have tested positive after eating the food. Some symptomatic (active) and some not (latent).

Here's the link to the research paper released in May 2019: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/fu...FIocsTrkXYJydZb1vRKy0G0FUx5P8baEgk8nNL16Yy2k&

If you fed your cats the NI Venison food during the recall time period you may want to look into having them tested.
 
#15 ·
Paleo Ridge do cat-suitable venison complete, and they're a company who are super conscientious about batch recalls and are open about why that ever is (unlike certain other brands). However after the TB thing @alixtaylor mentions I haven't felt confident enough to buy deer from any company.

I'd be cautious feeding rabbit without added heart on account of the taurine issues though, so I'm not really sure what the health-safe answer would be for you. You can get powdered taurine-only supplements easily enough though as it's sold on ebay by weight for human bodybuilders.
 
#16 ·
I was never contacted about a recall do you think that would suggest I didn’t but it during the recall period? It was over a year ago that I bought it, I do remember contacting them asking where it had gone and they just said it’s unlikely they will be doing it again? Never said anything about a recall to me or warn me of the issue.

would the powdered taurine for human be sufficient to add for cat?

Has anyone ordered from Kiezebrink (UK). They sell like raw food in a sausage shape? And you add a supplement yourself.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I was never contacted about a recall do you think that would suggest I didn't but it during the recall period? It was over a year ago that I bought it, I do remember contacting them asking where it had gone and they just said it's unlikely they will be doing it again? Never said anything about a recall to me or warn me of the issue.

would the powdered taurine for human be sufficient to add for cat?

Has anyone ordered from Kiezebrink (UK). They sell like raw food in a sausage shape? And you add a supplement yourself.
Here's the link to the recall: https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-65-2018

If you fed NI Venison in 2018-2019 then I would recommend speaking with your vet and looking to get your cats tested. New cases are still appearing who fed this food to their cats during this time, but the TB has been suppressed until now.

NI keep burying their head under the sand, please don't trust anything they say!
 
#17 ·
@Third_Hyperion - yes I buy raw meat from Kiezebrink regularly and they are fairly reliable. However like Torin I would never buy any venison for raw feeding from any source now, after the awful business with cats getting TB from the NI venison. I just could not trust raw venison any more.

As I remember the recalls of the NI venison were about a year ago, maybe a bit more than a year. You could email the company and ask them to give you the dates of the TB infected food, for your peace of mind. If they coincide with the times you were feeding NI venison to your cats I would advise (as Alix said) getting your cats tested for TB. Symptoms of an infection may not be outwardly apparent.

As I recall the sausage shape of raw from Kiezebrink contains bone so if you are adding a completer supplement you must ensure it doesn't contain calcium. I think Feline Complete make a calcium-free completer supplement,
 
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