My raw feeding experiment

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Originally Posted by Siobhradh

Hi Antonia, thanks for your kind comments & also for the tips on what to feed for variety. I'll have a look at those links at the weekend. Your cats look gorgeous, I love his eyes in that 2nd last pic!

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Thanks for your kind comments on my cats. Yes, the eyes of little Minnie (she’s a girl btw) certainly show her mad streak … in Holland we call a girl like her a ‘durak’, which is Malaysian for ‘siobhradh’.:LOL:
What a shame raw meats and organs are so hard to find where you live. If you must supplement the raw diet with commercial food, I would strongly advise against the dry stuff. It contains far too much carbs, which can interfere with the proper digestion of raw meat. Better feed a grainfree canned food instead.
You are right about the day-old chicks… they are hardly more than eggs on legs. I only feed them as an occasional treat.

Take care,
Anna

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Originally Posted by Howlinbob

Not seen a mouse for weeks, so the lads must be doing a good job! It's not that they're eating loads of mice - rather, I think their presence is a deterrent to any mice thinking of setting up home down there. Anyway, they prefer the mice I give them out of the freezer to any mice they might come across in the cellar or the garden - only the best, eh?!

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So the hunky brothers actually eat the feeder mice? I wish my crew did… mice are so nutritious and also (AFAIK) don’t contain any nasties like antibiotics and hormones. Well, I will keep on trying – perhaps my furmonsters will see the light one day.

BTW, have you told your vet about your feeding regimen? I am ever so curious about his reaction.

Until reading this thread I had never considered or thought about raw feeding. Buddy loves the odd bit of raw chicken and beef and raw cod or haddock. He has also now taken a liking to pinks, day old baby mice that are furless. This was discovered when defrosting food for the snakes. He shows no interest in the furry ones, its just these that he likes. He has one when the snakes are fed.

Oh you most likely already know this but if feeding raw cod or haddock make sure you check for and remove the white worm. Easiest way to do it is from tail end, feel along flesh until you find the pin bone. Slice down each side of bone and pull out. Pull the white piece of string out and dispose of. Worm is harmless when cooked but may not be raw.

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Originally Posted by catslave

He has also now taken a liking to pinks, day old baby mice that are furless.

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I might try the pinkies out... perhaps they'll be more interested in them than in the adult mice. When I first saw the pinkies I thought: "Nah, they are so tiny the Coonies will swallow them whole." So I got the larger mice instead... most of which are still sitting in the freezer.:sad2:

By the 'white worm' do you mean the gut of the fish?

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Originally Posted by Antonia

So the hunky brothers actually eat the feeder mice? I wish my crew did… mice are so nutritious and also (AFAIK) don’t contain any nasties like antibiotics and hormones. Well, I will keep on trying – perhaps my furmonsters will see the light one day.

BTW, have you told your vet about your feeding regimen? I am ever so curious about his reaction.

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The hunky brothers! Love it!

Not 100% sure if my lads actually ate the mice, or just played with them. I never found them in the garden, so have assumed they did the necessary. Must try them again on mice - still got a couple in the freezer.

My vet's reaction to my raw feeding was fairly good overall, since she wasn't horrified and didn't lecture me. She's actually Dutch, by the way! I was hoping for acceptance, if not actual approval, which is more or less what I got. I waited till after the health checks and vaccs before I mentioned it, so she couldn't really argue with me. But to be fair to her, she did listen without discouragement. She had never heard of raw feeding for cats, only for dogs. She said 'oh, so it's fashionable for cats now?', which I found a touch dismissive. She did not catch me out on taurine, vitamins, or dental health. Then she said 'but cats don't eat bones' which astounded me. I had already told her I feed them chicken wings. And mice? What on earth did she mean. Anyway, I trod quite carefully as I have a good relationship with her and she treated our beloved Bob (RIP) with great sensitivity, and besides, I have no interest in falling out with her. She said she can tell from a cat's teeth whether it eats wet or dry food - wet food is too mushy so the teeth are better on dry food, but then there's the lack of moisture...Well, I said, with raw food you don't have to make these compromises. Then she gave me all these free samples of RC kibble for senior cats, intended for my old guy Barney, and when I got home and realised what the ingredients were, I was disgusted, as I posted earlier.

A few days later I handed in to her reception the four one-page guides from feline-nutrition.org, in the spirit of passing on a little knowledge.
One Page Guides in Feline Nutrition

I used to get big sacks of RC kibble from my breeder, as she would give me her discount, and she would deliver the kibble to our house and visit her babies at the same time, which was great. I told her I won't be placing any more orders for kibble as the lads are now raw fed. She's very interested in how things are going, as she knows a couple of other breeders who feed raw. She has a beautiful solid white male with odd coloured eyes, who is starting to do well at shows, and we've been dying to meet him, so we're going to visit in a couple of weeks. Trouble is, she also has a brand new litter, one of which is a solid white male....we are drooling over the pics already, so who knows what may happen when we visit....!

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Originally Posted by Antonia

By the 'white worm' do you mean the gut of the fish?

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No its just under the skin. If its bad you can see red bruises in the flesh as well.

Also, try asking in an exotic pet food shop for baby rats, same as pinks but bigger.

Zeus went off to his new home today, it was very sad for me, but he is going to live with a couple who recently lost their other Mainecoon at just over 20 years old...

When they enquired about Zeus the researched all the BARF feeding websites I gave them information on when they first came to visit us, and yesterday they filled their freezer with Tinlo for Zeus.. So he will be fed the way he has been used to..

Tinlo BV - Groothandel in kwaliteit diervoeding van oa TinLo BARFmenu - Vers vlees - glutenvrij kvv - zonder toevoegingen


Next week Khan goes off to his new home they too have placed their order with Tinlo....


I think I should be on commission... lol


I will share photos of them when I get them xxx

Tinlo is *awesome* food! My Coonies have tucked into it every morning for over a year now and never get bored with it. I like to think it is one of the reasons they look so good. :)

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Originally Posted by Antonia

Tinlo is *awesome* food! My Coonies have tucked into it every morning for over a year now and never get bored with it. I like to think it is one of the reasons they look so good. :)

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Mine have it also daily was a bit miffed to find out in Leeuwarden its cheaper than here !! grrr....