Raising Cats Naturally by Michelle Bernard
I finally finished “Raising Cats Naturally”; it’s not a long book, but I got sidetracked (Sons of Anarchy on FX is really addictive). I will not get into the diet specifics outlined in the book except to say that the most important thing I took away from it was to strive for “perfect packages of nutrition”, not variety over time like we do for dogs. The author makes a convincing (and perfectly logical) argument that wild cats are not like wild dogs in that they tend to rely on rodents, small birds, and rabbits which are eaten whole most days. Therefore they are getting bones, muscle meat, and organ meat on an almost daily basis. Believe me the book is well worth the $25 (you can get it here). Some interesting tidbits from the book:
- 100 grams of bone contains: 25,000mg calcium, 12,000mg phosphorus, 370mg magnesium, 700mg potassium, 9mg zinc, .5mg copper
- around 30% of bone is made of organic compounds, and 90% of that is collagen (important for skin/coat and containing amino acids that help prevent fat build up in the liver, helps the digestive tract run smoothly, and assists in assimilation and metabolism).
- cats (and dogs) lack the salivary amylase to initiate digestion of plant matter.
- fermentation of fiber may yield short chain fatty acids that are important sources of energy for horses and cattle (which can supply up to 75% of their daily energy needs), but provide less than 5% of the energy needs in dogs and cats due to their shot intestinal tract and quick digestion.
- when fed a proper diet of raw meat a cats mouth will remain acidic, which inhibits bacterial growth. feeding a food containing cereals or plant matter (even if it contains raw meat) will make the mouth more alkaline.
- cats cannot synthesize Vit. D from exposure to sunlight since they lack enough 7-dehydrocholesterol in their skin to meet their metabolic needs.
Anyway, the book itself is thoroughly researched, and goes into great depth on every aspect of feline nutrition, as well as general feline care, and holistic care. To be honest this is one of the best raw feeding books available, and certainly the best for felines that I’ve come across.
As wonderful and informative as Raising Cats Naturally was Kymythy Shultze’s book on feeding cats was disappointing. For the size it is extremely light on information at least as far as feeding a raw diet to cats, though it’s extremely useful in learning about what exactly is in dry and wet commercial cat food. Only about 30 pages of the almost 200 page book (don’t be deceived it’s very small in size, so the page count is higher) covers feeding a raw diet. I’ll save you $10: buy a cornish game hen, cut it up into 4 pieces and feed half of it per day w/ a little liver and heart. Seriously that’s basically it. If you’re going to invest money in a book on raw feeding cats get Raising Cats Naturally or Whole Health for Happy Cats; they are vastly superior in every way.
Raw cat food: homemade vs. premade
I have now had both the kittens and Riley on a raw food only diet for about the last month. I finally decided that if a bunch of cats from various raw feeding forums, newsgroups, etc. could live quite well on one or two types of raw food, so could Riley. So The Monster (Riley) gets NV pre-made venison most days, and a few times a week the rabbit formula of the same brand (I also give the kittens some when he gets it), and occasionally some of the homemade raw food the kittens eat.
Having had a month to judge the results of feeding homemade vs. premade I can say that I think the homemade I’m feeding is the superior product. The basis for this is entirely superficial; the kittens have developed soft, silky, and shiny coats that they did not posses before homemade raw, and Riley who eats premade has a much poorer quality coat.
I really sincerely wish that I could get Riley to eat homemade, but he just won’t touch it if I feed it more than a few times a week. And forget adding supplements to the NV; if he even suspects you did he’ll go on a hunger strike. Thankfully he will take a chewable multi-vitamin, but that doesn’t seem to be doing too much to help his coat. Thankfully since he’s decided to make friends with the kittens he’s much more active 
Anyway, though I think most premade raw foods are great, especially if they get owners who otherwise wouldn’t feed raw food to their pets. On the other hand, at least with Natures Variety though their meat comes from a “USDA inspected facility” it does not say that the meat is “USDA certified for human consumption”, which I’m not entirely comfortable with. I think the benefit of the homemade is two fold: 1.) I’m using USDA certified for human consumption meat, organs, etc., and 2.) the product is always fresh (the kittens go through about 10Lbs every 3 weeks), so the vitamins and minerals contained in the food and added supplements is at an optimum level. I have even stopped giving the kittens a daily multi-vitamin because it’s just totally unnecessary for them. On top of all of that homemade raw is so much cheaper. Here’s a breakdown of what it costs me to make one batch of food (enough for 2 kittens for 3-ish weeks):
- 2 whole chicken fryers totaling 8-9Lbs – $9.00*
- 1Lb chicken necks – $0.72
- 1Lb turkey hearts – $0.60
- 1Lb ground turkey – $1.20
- 6oz beef kidney – $0.20
- 2oz turkey liver – $0.10
- 2oz chicken gizzards – $0.10
- 3 eggs – $0.80
Of course I do add some supplements so the total of $12-13 for each batch is a little misleading, but it cannot be that much more since the supplements are not expensive on their own, and are used in such small amounts; I’d say it adds at most $3 more. So a total of $15 per batch, which is about 12Lbs, and lasts just over 3 weeks. For Riley a 6Lb bag of NV venison patties is $25 + tax and lasts him the same amount of time (give or take a day). I think the figures speak for themselves.
Anyway, I thought it was an interesting comparison. I’m currently reading “Raising Cats Naturally”, and just finished Kymythy Shultze’s book on feeding cats; I’ll probably post about them in the next few days.
* I had to modify my recipe to include chicken fryers since the cats are eating much more than expected. It’s actually closer to the recipe included in “whole health for happy cats” now. I do remove the leg bones since I don’t think my grinder could handle them, hence the reason to add in some necks. Also keep in mind that the prices listed (aside from the whole chickens and eggs) are from products provided through SCB, so are probably lower than you could find in a grocery store.
Nutro Recalls Puppy Food
Every time a story like this comes out I’m happy that we switched our pets off commercial food. If you want to learn about the pet and human food supply chain in the US Pet Food Politics by Marion Nestle is an informative, if terrifying, read.
Nutro recalls pet food that may contain melted plastic
By Christie Keith
September 29, 2009
It started out as a rumor, but one of Nutro’s “Ambassadors” just confirmed it on her Twitter feed: Nutro is “voluntarily withdrawing” — or, in plain English, recalling — some puppy food sold through PetSmart and Petco stores:
EdnaAtNutro @cvec Hi! I’m with Nutro. Re: plastic-During a maint. shutdown, a bump cap inadvertently made its way into our mfg. process equipment….
EdnaAtNutro @cvec Nutro audited 3000 bags of potentially affected finished product that never left our mfg site.
EdnaAtNutro @cvec Out of abundance of caution, Nutro voluntarily retrieved pot. affected product in a small number of PS/PC stores.
EdnaAtNutro @cvec Consumers who have purchased pot. affected product should return it to their retailer or contact Nutro’s Consumer Care @ 800- 833-5330
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Waring Pro meat grinder & SCB order
Waring Pro 300w Meat Grinder
I have finally decided, after a few years of feeding raw, it was time to invest in a meat grinder. It’s not something I’ve been gung-ho about, but something I’ve kept my eyes open for a good deal on. I recently stumbled across one on amazon.com for the above pictured Waring Pro Meat Grinder. It is “remanufactured”, so was considerably cheaper than it otherwise would have been, and had excellent user ratings on amazon. I used it tonight to grind up boneless meat and organs, and it works very quickly and easily through them; for 5Lbs of turkey hearts it took a little less than 1 minute per pound. Assembly, disassembly, and cleaning was easy as could be, and in use it’s actually quieter than my blender. I know I geek out of kitchen gadgets and raw feeding, but it’s so freakin’ cool to use! It was like christmas morning
So I few new items from this distribution:
Instincts Ground Chicken Necks: I have purchased the ground duck necks before, and really liked them, and these are no different. A good size grind (I’d say “medium”), no skin, and conveniently packaged in 2/5Lb chubs.
Beef Kidney: I won’t lie; I got this because it’s cheap, and nutritious. I generally detest the smell of kidneys, but when they’re fairly well frozen you don’t notice it as much. I kind of panicked when I got the box home and it was labeled as “50Lbs”, but after weighing everything out it was indeed the 30Lbs I order, just mis-labeled or something. I gave each of the kittens a teeny-tiny 1/4tsp size piece of this each and then went nuts for it. I was a little worried that these would be frozen together in a solid block, and a nightmare to break apart, but there was enough room between them that they weren’t frozen together too badly.
Beef Hearts: these on the other hand were, and still are, frozen together in a solid block. Like the kidneys I got these because they were cheap, and can replace some striated muscle meat in the diet. The dogs like beef heart, and eventually I’ll (hopefully) be giving the cats some as well.
Turkey Hearts: I had been considering ordering the 40Lb box of these for some time, but always held off, until I was able to purchase them in a smaller quantity to try them, and found that they’re wonderful! This time around I will be grinding them up and using them in place ground turkey from the grocery store for the dogs. It will be considerably cheaper; the hearts cost 60c/Lb as opposed to $1+/Lb for ground turkey. The kittens and Riley both really like these too. If I haven’t mentioned it before, these are perfect “pill pockets”; I made sure to take about a pound out of the box and froze them individually just in case I need to give the dogs anything.
Though I have purchased their products since joining SCB, GreenTripe.com has started using new packaging, and I would be remise if I didn’t say it’s really very cute. Instead of the simple clear bag, it’s now white with green cow spots. Hopefully they stick with it, because it’s very eye catching.
Emergency ration for kittens – Thanks Riley
Peek-A-Boo kitten - Simca likes to watch me reading
I was supposed to have enough dry kitten food to last until this weekend, but Riley decided to intervene. It should be noted that though he’d never touch Felidae if I put it in his bowl, he had no problem gulping down the kittens portion of it behind my back. So last night I needed emergency rations; I considered giving them some of Riley’s NV venison medallions, but decided on employing a raw food recipe from “Whole Health for Happy Cats“. I had to modify it slightly since I didn’t have everything listed, but it seems to have worked out fine, and it’s only for a few days, so it doesn’t need to be perfect. You can find the original recipe here (it’s listed under “option 2″).
I have discovered over the last few days that both Simca and Hiro have sensitive tummies, and they’re both sensitive to different things. Simca doesn’t do well with lamb, and Hiro doesn’t do well with canned fish. Both of those can be easily avoided, but I was concerned that they would show some sensitivity to the food I was planning on preparing for them this weekend, so this “emergency ration” has sort of been a test run. thankfully they don’t seem to have an adverse reaction to turkey or chicken, so I’m going to stick with those two protein sources when I make their food this weekend, and I’ll try beef organs at a later date. I also had been rather dubious about the inclusion of water into the recipes I’ve seen for cats, but when I was mixing this up last night I saw what they mean about it “helping with consistency”; it was almost impossible to evenly distribute everything in the mix without a little water, and it did not make the recipe soupy.
So in light of all that, here’s the new version of what I’ll be feeding the kittens as of this weekend:
- 5Lbs ground chicken necks
- 3Lbs ground turkey meat
- 1Lb turkey hearts
- 8-16oz water
- 2oz turkey liver*
- 3 eggs (whites lightly cooked – yolks raw)
- 1oz chicken gizzards
- Supplements: 2tbls salmon oil – 1/2tsp dulse – 9000IU vit. E – 5000mg vit. C – 4000IU vit. D – 4cap Jarrow multi-B
* turkey liver is extremely high in vitamin A containing 3x the vitamin A per ounce of chicken liver, so I need to use only a small amount to get an adequate supply.
I have recently started giving both Riley and the kittens Pet Naturals of Vermont “Daily Best” Soft Chews. Riley has had lingering coat problems, and of course I want to make sure the kittens are getting all their growing bodies need, hence the daily vitamin. If you have a picky cat definitely give these a try; I have to hide the bag between feedings because all of them try to steal it they like them so much! You can find them at PetCo, and other retailers.
Kittens and a raw diet
I have brought our two new kittens (Hiro & Simca) home as of a few weeks ago. I had intended to put them on a 50/50 raw/kibble diet until out SCB order a week from today, but have had to keep them to kibble only, which I detest; there is nothing worse than kibble poop!
Shortly after bringing them home I gave them some pre-made duck raw food, which they loved, and agreed with their tummies. After I used that up I gave them pre-made lamb; Hiro handled it just fine, but poor little Simca puked it all up. In a way it’s actually a good thing I don’t have any more pre-made because now I will actually use up the 5Lb bag of Felidae.
But I did learn they they like raw. In fact they LOVE raw food, and don’t seem to be at all picky (very unlike Riley), which gives me hope for feeding them a homemade raw diet instead of having to stick to premade (again, unlike Riley). So for the last few weeks I have been obsessing their future homemade diet. I have only one book dealing exclusively with feeding cats raw food (“whole health for happy cats” – highly recommended), but there are many informative websites out there you can find with a simple google search.
I have a few contraints going forward; 1.) I must be able to buy the ingredients for a good price, 2.) I would like to use the same foods I use when feeding the dogs, 3.) it must not upset Simca’s tummy, and 4.) it must not be overly complicated. Thanks to the Holisticat website (run by the author of the book previously mentioned), and a few others I have come up with what will hopefully be a healthy diet for them. As they get older I will change things up, but for now it will contain the following:
5Lbs ground chicken necks
3Lbs ground turkey (boneless)
1Lb + 8oz beef heart
8oz beef kidney
2.5oz turkey liver
4 egg yolks
- 2tbls salmon oil
- 1tsp taurine
- 1/2tsp dulse
- 9000IU Vit. E
- 5000IU Vit. D
- 5000mg Vit. C
- 4 cap’s Jarrow Multi-B
To me the amounts of the last 4 supplements seemed excessive, but it’s enough food for the both of them for 40 days at 2oz/ea (10% current body weight). I’m shooting for a bone content of around 20%, but you could go lower or higher depending on preference by reducing or increasing the amount of chicken necks. I added in the taurine because it will be frozen for some time, and I’m hedging my bets (you can’t really give too much anyway).
I will be preparing it for the first time next weekend, and I’m really looking forward to it I will update when I’ve done it.
Picking the Bones of the Raw Diet Debate
An excellent article from Christie Keith. SCB recently had her as a lecturer and had it not been held at CSU Dominguez Hills I would have attended.
Picking the Bones of the Raw Diet Debate
Linguist George Lakoff rose to national prominence during the 2004 presidential campaign for pointing out that conservatives have done a much better job than progressives at framing political debate, and for encouraging the left to stop shooting itself in the foot with the words it uses. While no doubt the good professor would be surprised to hear it, his ideas also shed some light on a very canine subject: the war of words being waged over raw diets for dogs.
Pro-raw feeding extremists tend to be bombastic and refuse to admit any variation among individual animals, nor the needs, wants or desires of the owners of these animals as regards diet. Any problem can be solved by diet, and if problems persist after switching to a raw diet, then the diet needs to be further refined and tweaked. They tend to be anti-veterinarian, anti-commercial foods, anti-cooked food, anti-grain and often anti-supplement.
If your dog fell down the stairs and sprained his shoulder, diet caused it and a diet change will fix it. Raw meaty bones are the universal prescription.
Anti-raw feeding extremists tend to be bombastic and refuse to admit any possible benefits of a raw or homemade diet. They lump all homemade diets together as unbalanced and dangerous. All raw meat, from contaminated ground meats labeled unfit for human consumption to a $19-a-pound grass-fed steak, are considered equally dangerous.
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New Additions :)
Though we haven’t brought them home yet, I thought I’d share some pictures of our soon-to-be felines, and their siblings and mother. She’s a stray who adopted our barn as a home and had a litter. She will be getting spayed soon! Anyway, it will probably be a couple of weeks before we bring them home because they’re still nursing a bit (but mostly solid food at this point).
This is the Mommy Cat - My neighbor has dubbed her "Sasha"
This is one of the kittens I'll be bringing home - I've named him "Zero"
we will also be bringing home the white one w/ black markings, but I haven't decided on a name yet.
Borage Oil For Allergies?
borage flowers
So a few weeks ago I decided to try adding borage oil to the dogs food. I will occasionally try out certain supplements just to see if they make a difference, and usually they’re not at all useful. However, Abby has been struggling with airborne allergies all summer, but only receiving minimal relief from OTC medication like Benadryl and Allevert. I didn’t want to have to put her on shots and everything from the vet unless absolutely necessary, so we tried borage oil.
Before I get to the results, some info:
The main interest of GLA lies in the fact that it orientates the metabolism of fatty acids towards the synthesis of hormones whose anti-inflammatory effects are well-known. This production is done at the expense of other hormones that promote inflammatory mechanisms. Then, GLA supplementation allows to limit these inflammatory phenomenons in animals that suffer from allergic diseases, or various cutaneous problems. In older animals, GLA has got a positive effect on the hair sheen, the suppleness of the skin.
The only ones oils that bring an interesting quantity of GLA are: borage oil, evening primrose oil, and black current oil. Among them, borage oil is the only one that contains more than 20 % of GLA.
Therapeutic using of borage oil
Positive effects are especially obvious in dogs or cats that present an hypersensitivity predisposition. In the majority of these cases, a regression of most of the cutaneous irritation symptoms can be observed a few weeks after the beginning of the dietary supplementation. Only itching seems more difficult to control. Results are also promising concerning problems due to hyper-secretion of sebum by the skin (seborrhea).
When chronic cutaneous diseases make compulsory a medical treatment, borage oil supplementation can make possible to reduce the necessary doses of the drugs. Consequently, it limits the risk of undesirable secondary effects due to the medical treatment.
So I have been giving it to Abby for about 2 weeks now, and only on days when she doesn’t get raw eggs since they are excellent sources of omega-6 fatty acids by themselves. I wasn’t expecting immediate results, but that is what I got! Within 3 days of being on borage oil her itching subsided considerably. Now after a few weeks I have taken her off the OTC allergy medication entirely, and she’s not itching at all, and the small hotspot she developed under her arm is almost completely healed. I wasn’t expecting any positive results this soon, or at all really, so it’s been quite a pleasant surprise.
Though higher doses are indicated in some of the information I found regarding borage oil I have seen results with 125mg daily. I don’t think this is a substitute for a good diet though, and the first line of treatment should always be that. Since my dogs get plenty of animal fat in their diet (fatty cuts of lamb and duck 3x a week, raw eggs 3x a week, raw fish 2x a month, and a high quality fish oil daily) I am confident in their diet. Of course not all dogs need supplements and unless your pet is having allergy or other skin issues in light of a healthy diet only then should additional supplements be introduced in my opinion.
