What is a good alternative to Cat food..??

Question

I have decided not to feed my cat cat-food anymore and need some alternatives to give him the best diet possible.

I am horrified to learn what cat-food is made of, http://www.messybeast.com/cat-food-industry.htm so would love to hear from anyone who has opted for an alternative diet for their cat.

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Wow!  Lots of bad info out here so far.

First, do NOT feed your cat tuna.  It can eventually be deadly.

And you cannot simply throw down a can of Dinty Moore beef stew and call it a day.  Cats MUST eat balanced diets.  Cats are not human, they are carnivores.  They cannot survive eating the same foods we do.  All they really need is meat, and not meats in gravy or processed meats.  They need raw or plainly cooked meats.

Making your own cat food isn't that difficult.  There are lots of recipes out there.  One or more can be found here:  http://www.catnutrition.org/foodmaking.p...

And you can learn about raw feeding from my blog:

This blog is not intended to serve as your one-stop-shop for raw feeding. But hopefully it'll help you focus on what you need to decide and give you ideas of where to look for more info. I personally chose to feed ground whole prey so I do not supplement*. I still serve some canned food for variety and likely will always have some on hand. I am feeding chicken, turkey and rabbit, and perhaps other meats when they become available.

(This ground meat does nothing for their teeth, so I also give the girls 1" or so pieces of raw chicken neck to chew on.  I do this a few times a week.)

*Unless you are truly feeding whole prey (e.g., a mouse) then it's perhaps a good idea to do a bit of supplementation.  The members of Whole Cat Health overwhelmingly favor the Nu-Cat multivitamin - either chewable or tablet.  Note that their recommended dosages are half what the mfrs. suggest, so instead of 4 pills per day, give 2.  Instead of 2 chewable, give 1.  In addition, I add about 100mg of Taurine to each 2oz of meat - perhaps a bit more if it's rabbit.  On top of that, I add fish oil and probiotics.  So to sum up, to each meal (2oz meat/bones/organs), I add one crushed multi-vitamin and the taurine.  To every other meal, I add about 1/4 tsp probiotics.  I add the fish oil at the time it's served because I don't want it to interfere with the flavor of the food.

So you've decided to feed raw. What's next?

It's actually pretty simple. You need to find a supplier. You need to decide on a method (ground, whole, etc.) You need to decide which meats to use. You need to know whether you need to supplement, and if you do, what supplements to use. And most importantly, you need to get your cat to eat it.

1. Finding a supplier.

A. Find a local supplier. If you're in the midwest, I recommend Taylor Pond Farms. I buy my meat from them and it couldn't be easier. They now rely mainly on local distributors who have the orders shipped to them (or keep some on hand), and they then make the deliveries.  It's much better this way because now there are no minimum orders, which was sometimes a problem when I was buying for just one cat. www.taylorpondfarms.com. They also have Yahoo groups for specific areas (http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=tay... You can also join http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawme... http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Carni... http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Whole... and look through their list of links.

B. Buy online. One site used by many is www.hare-today.com. There are many other sites; the WholeCatHealth links above will help you find them.

C. Buy meat at the grocery store. Your choices will be limited but if all you're going to feed is chicken, that's fine. Just be sure that the meat is hormone and antibiotic free - or organic.

2. Choosing a method.

A. Whole prey. This may be either meat, bones and organs all ground together, or it may be chunks of meat and whole bones and organs. With this method you do not need to supplement; your cat will be eating a properly balanced meal (almost - see the above asterisked paragraph regarding supplementing.)

B. Just meat. Again, this can be either chunks of meat or it can be ground. If you do not include bones and organs, you will need to add supplements to ensure that the meals are complete and balanced.

To learn more about these methods, check out these Yahoo groups: (http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=raw...

3. Supplements. If you've chosen to serve meat without organs/bones, you will need to add supplements. There are a few different ways to do this. You can purchase a ready-made supplement such as Instincts TC (http://www.felinefuture.com/) or Wysong's Call of the Wild (http://www.wysong.net/page/WOTTPWS/PROD/... Or you can put together your own mixture. There are tons of recipes out there. One example is here (http://www.catnutrition.org/foodmaking.p... One of the raw feeding groups is dedicated to one particular supplement: (http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/felin...

4. Meats. Most meats are appropriate but you may want to avoid pork. The most commonly used meat is chicken. My vet suggested feeding a variety, so my choices are chicken, turkey and rabbit. If it becomes available I'll also try venison. Lamb and duck were rejected. It'll be up to you and your cat what to feed.

5. Converting your cats. If you've got a kibble junky on your hands, it might be easier to first convert him or her to canned food, and then try the raw. This has been a tried and true method for many including myself. Once the cats are happily eating canned food, start slipping a bit of meat into it. Just a speck to start with. Gradually increase that a

Answer 2

Try here: http://www.rawfedcats.org/ for information about raw feeding.  And look up raw feeding cats and you will find plenty of other information too.

Cooking meat takes away many of the nutrients cats need.  Raw feeding requires that you add supplements too, especially since it's common to freeze some of the portions.  For example, cats absolutely need taurine.  Without it they can suffer a variety of complications - blindess, heart problems...

Cats are meant to eat raw meat and even raw bones (never cooked bones).  Their digestive systems are set up to handle it.  But adjust them slowly.

But some cat foods aren't so bad: http://www.naturapet.com/default.asp

It's something to consider, but a complete raw diet is probably the best thing you can feed them if you do a bit of research and follow appropriate guidelines.  

Answer 3

Raw is the best for them- you use only "species specific" meats such as chicken, cornish hens, duck and rabbit- these last two are harder to find and more expensive- choose to get your own meat grinder- there is a small one that works really good and only costs 99 bucks- its a good investment if you are going to feed raw- it is made by Maverick.  I include the organ meat and add- Vit E,  Salmon oil, Taurine, one egg yoke (no egg white) and B vitamins-  I grind the meat- pack it on a per day basis- that means if I have three meal to prepare a day than that is how I pack it for freezing- I bag it - make the bag flat so that when I remove it from the freezer it will only take a few minutes to thaw under hot water- I also make sure all the air is out of the bag so that there is no frezzer burn- I add all the ingredients once the meat is thawed- I do not add them before I freeze- It is a real commitment but it is the best for you carnivore- good luck I hope this helped-feel free to email if you have any more questions

Answer 4

wow well that's interesting! you can feed your cat human food! just make sure its cut up into pieces small enough.. you can also buy some "Nutri-Cal For Cats", which is in a tube, its a gel like supplement for cats who don't eat as much as they should be in a day, or who are picky eaters.. not to feed your cat this as meals, but you can give your cat a little a day just to make sure he gets all the proper nutrients, to make sure he stays healthy! :)

Answer 5

human quality tuna

Answer 6

go to yahoo groups and join one of the groups about raw feeding or prey model feeding or BARF (bones and raw foods)   for cats.  Many of the people ther have been feeding this way for many years and have it down to a science.  You have to be careful when preparing your own food to keep it nutritionally balanced, and certian things in large quanaties (such as tuna) can cause problems.     You can also purchase prepared raw diets from several sourses generally by mail order.  

Answer 7

Fresh or frozen chicken, in gravy. fish which you can get from the fish and chip shop, they do off cuts for cats. Also red meat in gravy. Pretty much whatever the can says it's meant to be.only made by you and you know what's going in it.

Answer 8

Chicken Giblets

Answer 9

I use to feed my cat the left overs that we had for dinner. Just make sure there are no small bones.

Cheers,

http://www.threewisemonkeys.com.au

Answer 10

i give mine tuna but take out all the brine  ,chicken, biscuits i used to have to give mine beef burgers because she wouldn`t eat anything else then gradually moved her onto chicken,and tuna good luck  

Answer 11

This is interesting, you have to decide what's best for you.

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Answer 12

Not all cat food is bad. Some of the higher quality foods put out now use all human grade, organic ingredients. Here's what to avoid and what to look for:

Examples of low quality foods to avoid: Anything you can find in a grocery store will be low end, Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Whiskas, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Meow Mix.

Examples of high quality foods to look for: Innova, Wellness, Solid Gold, Felidae, Fromm Four Star, Merrick, GO Natural, Nature's Variety Prairie, Nature's Logic, Artemis Fresh Mix, Timber Wolf Organics.

Another option for feeding cats is to feed raw. This is something that should be thoroughly researched before being attempted:

http://www.barfworld.com/

http://www.rawfedcats.org/

http://www.rawfed.com/

http://www.wysong.net/controversies/rawm...