Do It Yourself and Save $$

 If you want to save money and chop or grind grocery store meat yourself, you can save hundreds of dollars! Look for deals on chicken & Pork and make those a staple in your cat's diet. The following are my tips to DIY raw.  

 You never know when questions might come  up along the way, so get direct answers to experts and fellow breeders who have been feeding raw for over 40+ years! It's important to follow only one group at a time so you don't get conflicting information. After much research the Facebook Group: CRAP (Cats Raw and Proud) is the ONLY group you should follow. 

This group has plenty of 'Recipes for Dummies'.

 The major components to a raw diet for a cat is meat, bone and organ. Typically the meal should be made up of 80% boneless meat, 5-10% bone and 10% offal (organ).

You will add in things like oily fish and raw eggs a couple times a week. Many people make a huge batch once a month and save big. Your goal is to use as much whole ingredients as possible without using 'completers' or dehydrated products. No cutting corners! 

 You can also decide if you want to give your cat(s) the most nutrient diversity possible by offering frozen pinky rats and day old chicks to their diet. Usually you feed each 1-2x a week. If you can afford to, do it! Typically each product is around $1 each. I used to have it a more frequent staple in my cats meals, but was spending way over budget. Now its an occasional snack. You can purchase these from Layne Labs.  

 I recommend going to your local butcher and asking for your meat purchases to be ground or chopped. Chopped is better for cleaning your cat's teeth. You can also use a meat cleaver for chopping. For Grinders I recommend STX MAGNUM 1800 Platinum Edition Air  or Weston 10-120W #12 Pro Series Electric Meat Grinder

• 0.8 pound of chicken wings (chopped or ground) you can also use chicken thigh bones or pork rib bones.
• 2.14 pounds of boneless meat (see step 1 below this recipe about varying meat bases. For example you can can make one chicken & pork recipe, one beef & pork recipe, or one turkey & duck.) Make sure none of the meat is sodium injected! Too much salt is toxic. All meat has naturally 20-75 mg of salt. 
• 1 pound boneless pork or duck (these are mandatory fattier meats that are needed in a cats diet)
•  0.460 pounds of any liver except pork (you can find organs at your local Asian Market)
• add 1 cup of water or bone broth per pound of total meat in recipe.
• add 0.5 pounds of heart
• add two whole raw eggs without shell
• add 0.4 lbs of tinned sardines (in water no salt-canned okay, salmon also okay see step 4 )
• Mix all ingredients together, store in serving sizes. 

Multiply recipe x3 for 15lbs for a single kitty's one month supply. *This is a rough estimate*

You must rotate recipes with different boneless meats every 3 to seven days. You cannot feed the same recipe consistently.

Photo by SFRAW 

 Decide what meats you are going to use based on the info green graphic above. The cheapest and most available meats are chicken, turkey, pork, duck and Beef. Venison & Lamb are also great. Red Meats should make up majority of your cat's diet. You can grind this meat yourself or buy ground from the store (no sodium injected). You can also buy those base meats bone-in from Blue Ridge Beef. I get their chicken (15% bone)  & venison (12% bone) then mix in store bought ground beef and pork to lessen the bone content.  

 Cat's need between 5-10% bone in their meal. Look at the green info graphic for acceptable bones. You can grind chicken wings, ribs, chicken feet or chicken thighs. You can also buy already ground bone-in meat from Blue Ridge Beef. The cheapest will be to grind/ chop everything yourself. When you've added too much bone your cat's poop will become white and chalky! If you haven't added enough it will be soft and shapeless.

The key is to “feed the cat in front of you”. Take advantage of the resources and community of the Raw Cat group CRAP (Cats RAW and Proud) on Facebook. 

 Study the white info graphic on Offal (a.k.a organs) so you understand what is declared as meat and what is declared as organ. Cats need 10% offal with atleast 50% being liver. You're welcome to feed all 10% liver and its perfectly safe.  Organ can be found at your grocery store, Asain market or from premade company like Raw Feeding Miami. 

 Adding fish to the meal is very easy! You can purchase canned sardines, mackerel or salmon in water and feed a spoonful 2x a week per cat. This is important for omega-3. You can also add a raw egg at the same time so you don't forget.

Raw fish is not recommended unless you freeze it 3 weeks beforehand due to parasites.  

• Meal Prep for the following weeks or month by making portions and freezing. You can putting portions out the night before in the fridge or using cold water to defrost the portion. Do not microwave or leave on counter to defrost. 
• Remember meat is only good in the fridge for 3 days, then you must discard.
• Buy meat from only reputable sources. Always inspect it and never feed meat that smells off.
• Never buy sodium injected meat
• Cat's require more fat in their diet. Fattier meats are duck and pork so make sure to include those in every meal. 
• Its best to rotate meats. For instance, I might feed chicken & pork for 3 days, then venison & duck for the next 5 days. 
• Cats need taurine which occurs in small amounts in the meat they're eating already, but chicken thighs & heart are the best source so make sure to include them in your recipes for balanced meals. 
  •Keep in mind you are balancing over time. Do not worry if you mess up, have a missing ingredient or forget to add some thing for one meal. Cats can handle missing nutrients for a decent amount of time.

 If you have a cat who has never eaten raw and/or suffers from Gastro Intestinal problems and food sensitives, please order 5Strands Pet Food Intolerance Test for Dog's and Cat's on Amazon so you know what meats to avoid!

After you've received your raw test results you can then transition your cat to raw.

I practice the hunger method for transitioning cats, especially picky eaters. Please only do this if your cat is healthy.

On average it takes 2-3 days using the hunger method to transition your kitty to raw if the only food available is the premade. I have had some stubborn kitties take up to 5 days!  During this time make sure your kitty is drinking plenty of water. If your kitty experiences any signs of major illness, stop immediately and seek veterinary assistance. 

Hunger Method: For adult cats & kittens, remove all commercial pet food and offer only a spoonful of raw food for the 1st & 2nd day so as not to waste food. You can offer more once your kitten starts eating. 

Second method: You may also try a gradual approach that can take several weeks to several months. This entails  adding a tiny bit of raw food to your kitty's usual diet while gradually increasing the amount with time. You can also cook your raw food while slowly decreasing the amount cooked till your kitty is eating 100% raw. Cooking causes loss of nutrients, but can make the transition easier.