Silly questions about RAW.

Spooks isn't too fussed by wet foods, I've tried a few brands but he never eats the whole portion and it seems a waste of money I'm feeding him James WellBeloved dry, but I think it'd be boring to just have dried food so am thinking of trying him with some raw meat a couple of times a week to keep him interested.

Now, how do I go about doing this? Do you just literally buy raw meat from the butchers and feed it at your discretion? Also, is there any meat to avoid (I've read that pork isn't good), and anything which would be good to start with?

I'm totally new to the whole concept of raw so any advice would be welcome

 

That very much depends on whether you will be feeding raw as a treat or as an integral part of his diet. If the former, then meat from the butcher will be fine. Get it freshly butchered though. The longer it sits with them, the more chance of salmonella etc developing. For that reason, I won't feed supermarket meat even as a treat.

If you plan to feed it as a core part of his diet, I'd suggest starting with something like Natural Instinct as they're complete. With mine, I just put it down and they got stuck in. One needed a little coaxing, but I just dropped chunks of it in with her normal food. Another refused to eat it for weeks, but she's a stubborn old bird. With her, I kept pretending that I was feeding the others a fabulous treat every meal time, and gradually, her greed got the better of her and she just had to try it.

If your lad doesn't take to it, try crushing some kibble and sprinkling it on the top of the meat to encourage him in, or use a wet cat food that he goes mad for to introduce it. Something fishy normally works well.

 

Thanks for that, Carly, I'll have a look at Natural Instinct and maybe try him with that first to gauge how he takes to it. I'm thinking it will be a treat type thing for now, but if he really enjoys it I'll feed it more frequently.

I'll let you know how it goes, and if it gets Sir FussyPants' seal of approval!

 

Well, if you are only wanting to feed something as a treat then pop along to your local butcher/supermarket or market and get whatever chunk of meat you want. There really is no "best" one to start off with imo; my cats like lamb, anything gamey. Your cat might like chicken or turkey. When you go for chicken or turkey then go for leg meat (even if that means that you need to take it off the bone first) as the breast stuff is pretty void nutritionally in comparison.

Don't bother with minces - for two reasons: You don't know how long it has been since it has been minced and the other main one being that you want your cat to work for their food - i.e. chew, which is one of the main attractions of feeding a raw diet.

Best to start off in small chunks - say the size of your thumb or even a bit smaller. Some cats starting off with raw like to have thin strips (like short fettucini).

You can feed raw pork in the UK. There are parts in Europe (and world-wide) where pigs are infected with a pseudo-rabies virus, which means that pork meat needs to be cooked first. However, there hasn't been a case in the UK for decades. Matter of fact, many cats like the taste of pork.

If you want to feed raw as a treat then you can do so without having to worry about it properly balanced as long as you don't feed more than 20% of the weekly meals in raw meat.

Hope that helps and good luck!

 

Fantastic reply, thank you! I do love this forum

I'll go and see what's on offer at the local butchers and start small. Like you say, I'm attracted to the fact that he'll have to work for his food with a raw diet. Being an indoor cat, I'm always looking at ways to provide extra entertainment- he loves the natural treats such as Thrive freeze dried fish and prawns, so hopefully he'll like fresh raw meat, too.

I am veggie, so it won't be pleasant for me but if it makes my boy happy, that's all that matters!

 

We are vegetarians too - have been for 20 years. But as you say, it is what they need - irrespective of our sensibilities - that matters. I probably have better relationship with my local butcher and stands in our farmers' market than many a meat-eater!