cat food

[Hinotori]

My cats eat a lot of rodents. Well a lot of rodent heads. Our voles are big and make more than a meal for a cat.

The cats and dogs also get scrambled eggs regularly because I have them. Never just egg whites because of the issue with eating just whites causing a biotin deficiency in mammals. The yolk is full of biotin to more than counter that.

On a note. If I ever have to hunt down something to eat here with my bare hands it will be voles. Even my fat butt can chase them down and catch them. I do it for fun sometimes when I scare them out of the marsh grass.

 

[baymule]

Welcome to the forum @Annabellam !!

 

[Annabellam]

Tilapia is quite expensive here as well. Quite a pricey meal that is.

 

[Britesea]

Up until the 20th century, there was no such thing as "pet food". Dogs and cats ate what their owners ate. As a matter of fact, that is why dogs are no longer obligate carnivores as wolves are. Cats still are, because they still go out and hunt (almost impossible to stop them as a matter of fact)

I believe that the primary source of calcium for hunting carnivores is the blood of the prey, not the bones. That may be one of the reasons the typical "raw diet" is incomplete.

 

[tortoise]

I believe that the primary source of calcium for hunting carnivores is the blood of the prey, not the bones. That may be one of the reasons the typical "raw diet" is incomplete.

I find this fascinating! You're inspiring me to investigate and crunch numbers.

The online-advise-givers like to say to feed muscle meats with some egg shell for calcium. (Hah) Or feed raw meaty bones, and a little pat of liver (hah) The first is too low in calcium, and the second has so much that dogs tend to get constipated. Raw feeders extol the virtues of white crumbly poops that deteriorate quickly and don't require yard cleanup - the same effect can be achieved by feeding bone to a dog also fed kibble. The crumbly poops are not a virtue of raw diet, but the effect of excess bone/calcium/mineral/ash. Hence internet-advice-givers then prescribe pumpkin puree to treat constipation (caused by excess bone).

I think it's extremely difficult to describe or teach raw diet to a person without experience butchering heritage livestock or wild game. A chicken back and neck from one of my Rhode Island Reds is different than what arrives by the case ordered from a meat market! The stuff by the case has excess skin - enough skin (fat) to kill a dog. There's much less meat on meat market cases of back and necks - hence, constipation can be a serious issue.

 

[lcertuche]

My neighbor traps beavers and feeds the carcasses (minus the pelts) to his dogs. I think he said he keeps them in the freezer. I would think probably raccoon hunters probably feed their hounds the meat again minus the pelts. Most people around here don't eat raccoon much anymore. My dogs like to catch possums, armadillos, cats (I hope ferrell), and my chickens eat frogs, lizards, snakes, bugs, and anything that doesn't eat them first.