How to properly feed a cat?

[noobiechickenlady]

What the heck do I feed a kitty????

Mice. Get a boy and a girl mouse from a pet store and get breeding mice!



That's not really a joke. I did it!

I was about to say...

Seriously, I've been feeding my hunter the entrails of our butchering, fish skin when we eat grilled fish, plus he eats all the birds, baby bunnies, lizards, mice, cockroaches, moths, ect that he can catch. When we (rarely) get a mouse in the house, we bring him inside and he earns his keep.

He gets no bagged feed and is huge, healthy & shiny.

 

[Occamstazer]

One caution about homemade cat diets: cats are obligate carnivores, they can't produce certain amino acids on their own and have to eat meat to get them. Taurine in particular is important, if you don't add it to your raw recipe or feed them whole things (as in, the whole squirrel guts and all) they become deficient. They'll go blind and have heart problems if it goes on for long enough.
I'm a vet tech, and unfortunately I've seen a cat who had this happen. It was really sad, his owner was devastated that she'd unknowingly caused his issues. Homemade diets can potentially be great, but you might want to run them by your vet to catch anything they're lacking. Also remember that parasites and bacterial illness is a possibility if the meat isn't cooked.

 

[freemotion]

Taurine is plentiful in poultry and other meats so adding it to an all-meat diet is not an issue. There is a site on feeding cats raw somewhere that is very good. It advocates grinding with the bone and gives percentages and such, and grinder recommendations, and talks about acceptable bone fragment size...very detailed. Anyone know what I am talking about? It's been a while since I searched.

I am due to make another batch of cooked veg for him too, so maybe I will try to up the amount....it needs to be cooked and pureed right, not just cooked?

I feed raw puree'd veggies....can't remember, did your dog not do well with the raw veggies? Or your food processor couldn't handle them? Raw is easier to digest than cooked in a healthy digestive system. Of course, it takes a while for the digestive tract to heal, so he may not be ready for raw.

 

[Dace]

Ok well I misunderstood, I thought the veg should be cooked. He got the runs when I gave him a small bowl full...maybe a cup or more. I will try raw veggies and see if he tolerates that better.