Is a raw food diet feasible on a college budget?

This is a dedicated place for all of your questions and answers about Raw Diets. There are also some really cool groups like "Raw Fed" on the topic you can join. This forum is for people who already know they like the raw diet or sincerely want to learn more. Please remember that you are receiving advice from peers and not professionals. If you have specific health-related questions about your cat's diet, please contact your vet!

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Cleo

Queen of the- Nile

Purred: Fri Nov 16, '12 3:31pm PST


	I currently have my 6mo old cat on various types of "good" kitten formula kibble I've found on sale like Blue Buffalo, Wellness, and Simply Nourish supplemented with cans of wet food in similar/same brands. I have never heard of people putting their cats on a raw diet until recently, and I was wondering if anyone has a breakdown of the cost to feed one cat. I'm also curious where you source your raw foods- I've only seen one brand of pre packaged raw food which lead me to believe that a lot of you "make" your own food for your kitties. I'd like to put Cleo on a raw diet early, but my budget may prohibit switching over. Any help or advice at all would be appreciated EDIT: I forgot to ask! Does anyone have any recommendations on a meat grinder? I'm lost.. my mother never used one and I've never had a use for one Edited by author Sat Nov 17, '12 6:26pm PST

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Merlin - An Angel- Forever

*Poof*

Purred: Fri Nov 16, '12 5:03pm PST


	Here are some threads about the cost of raw food: http://www.catster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/749846 http://www.catster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/742522 http://www.catster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/730285 Homemade food is definitely the cheapest but depending on which homemade raw route you go (frankenprey, using a recipie, semi-homemade with a pre-mix, etc) you may need to spend some money up front to buy a grinder, supplements, etc. Those that feed homemade raw buy their raw whole cuts of meat (not ground meat) and raw organs from the supermarket or butcher shop or from an online source like Hare-Today.com Human feeds Nature's Variety frozen raw food. It's what's easiest for her to feed right now. There are lots of other commerical raw foods out there that you can find in independent/non chain pet stores: Primal Pet, Bravo, Feline Natural, etc. There are also brands that you can buy only online like Feline's Pride and Feline Instinct. Shipping may be pricey.

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Cleo

Queen of the- Nile

Purred: Sat Nov 17, '12 9:38am PST


	Thank you for your links!! I'll have to look over that chart that details different commercial brands, that looks very useful. Thank you for including where I can source meat as well. A few more questions to anyone who can answer: how long does as bag of natures variety last for you for a single cat? And would feeding raw Natures Variety as a supplemental treat be okay (similar to how I feed cans of wet food; I portion them out so they're not significantly affecting her caloric intake) or would that be too much variety mixing a raw and kibble diet together? I'm currently reading about cat nutrition and seeing what I should be grinding up for her, but I may have to start off with a commercial food to see if she even takes to it. Thank you again for your reply! Edited by author Sat Nov 17, '12 9:41am PST

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Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.

Purred: Sat Nov 17, '12 10:26am PST


	I can't help with your specific questions about Nature's Variety because I feed ground raw and Frankenprey, but I just want to clarify one thing. You should never mix kibble and raw within 12 hours of each other. The kibble takes so long to digest that if there's raw behind it it could stay in her system too long and let bacteria grow. If you're reading about feline nutrition you're probably coming across a lot of articles that explain how bad kibble is for them and how calorie dense it is. If you're worried about her weight you're actually much better off feeding her canned or raw only. Feel free to come back with more questions!

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Cleo

Queen of the- Nile

Purred: Sat Nov 17, '12 11:22am PST


	This is the only information I've read about mixing raw and kibble so far, and it's on the Nature's Variety website: "Do I have to switch completely over to an Instinct Raw Frozen Diet, or can I continue to feed kibble and canned food as well? Nature’s Variety believes in offering more variety to your pet, and we encourage you to rotate between forms and flavors for better pet health and happiness. You can feed Instinct Raw as a sole diet, or you can mix it with any Nature's Variety Instinct or Prairie kibble or canned food. With Nature's Variety there's no right or wrong way to rotate – variety is the key! Click here to learn more about the feeding a variety for better health. If I feed my pet a mixture of Instinct Raw and Instinct or Prairie Kibble during the same meal, should I be concerned about the different rate of digestion? It’s important for pet parents to feel comfortable with their feeding process. We believe customers need not be concerned about mixing raw and kibble at the same meal. Raw is like canned food in terms of moisture content and rates of digestion; people routinely combine canned and kibble diets with no digestive upset or stomach emptying issues. There is no scientific evidence that combining kibble and raw food causes the raw foods to be digested at a slower rate." http://www.naturesvariety.com/learning/raw/QandA I' ll continue to read more on the subject, but this particular manufacturer insists that it's "okay", but maybe that's just for their commercial brand. And yes, I have found that kibble is not so great. I have an overweight Corgi at my parent's house, and she has always been fed the appropriate amount of kibble (Purina) yet she is built like a sausage. I don't want my kitten to become overweight on top of many other health issues that coincide with kibble, I just don't know if I can afford to feed her 100% raw.

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Merlin - An Angel- Forever

*Poof*

Purred: Sat Nov 17, '12 5:08pm PST


	I would not feed both kibble and raw food. KIbble takes longer to digest while raw is digseted pretty fast. A cat may get a pretty yucky upset tummy with eating both kibble and raw Canned food and raw food are ok together. A bag of NV raw medallions contains 48. If a single cat eats 2 medallions a day, the bag will last 24 days. Some cats may need more than 2 medallions a day Human's Leroy needs 3 but Emma only needs 2. NV has coupons for raw food all the time Here's the current one: http://hosting.fyleio.com/14321/public/sandy_recovery/Sandy_Raw_Coupon_Sm.jpg It would be ok to feed a NV raw medallion for a snack

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Cleo

Queen of the- Nile

Purred: Sat Nov 17, '12 6:24pm PST


	To clarify, it would be okay to feed a single medallion as a little treat even if she is still on kibble? It weirds me out that NV gave such conflicting information as I've read in many forums now that it is in many people's minds bad to feed dry raw. Thank you once again for the reply =^.^= EDIT: I edited the original post as well posing the same question, but if anyone has any recommendations regarding meat grinders it would be appreciated! I am so very lost Edited by author Sat Nov 17, '12 6:28pm PST

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Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.

Purred: Sun Nov 18, '12 5:41am PST


	Unfortunately I don't feel able to trust manufacturer's guidelines - they have a vested interest and are trying to sell products. This is just my opinion, I have nothing against Nature's Variety. Cleo would probably be fine, but personally, I wouldn't do it. Having fed both raw and canned food, I can tell you that canned does NOT digest like raw. You can tell when you clean the litter box!

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Merlin - An Angel- Forever

*Poof*

Purred: Sun Nov 18, '12 6:20am PST


	I don't think I would take a chance with any amount of frozen or homemade raw food with dry food Pet food companies sometimes tell you incorrect info just so they can market their products If you want to follow the NV rotation diet, I suggest feeding dry, then canned for a few days until the dry is completely out of the tummy, then feed some raw (without or without canned), go back to canned for a few days until the raw is out of the tummy, then go back to dry, and repeat. I'm not sure about freeze dried raw with dry food There is a list of supplies here: http://www.catnutrition.org/supplies.html and http://www.catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood The Tasin grinder is popular.

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Amber

I didn't do it!

Purred: Sun Jan 6, '13 2:26am PST


	I feed Dr. Pierson's recipe made with hare-today grinds now, but before I didn't use a grinder; I used two different premixes with meat chopped in a food processor: TC Feline(expensive) and Alnutrin (extremely cost-effective). Both already have calcium, so you don't have to worry about grinding bones. TC feline has formulas that already contain powdered liver which helps if you are a bit squeamish, and the Alnutrin offers a formula with eggshell calcium instead of bonemeal which appeals to people who are worried about heavy metals in bones. The Alnutrin is only about 2 cents per day more expensive than my current recipe ($0.81 per day, less than friskies cans over here); I switched only because I like the meat quality better than what I can find here, and I prefer my own supplements that are made in the USA. If you want a break-down of the cost of what I currently feed, let me know.

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