Old George and Raw Food

snip questions about raw

Feeding a raw diet entails much more than giving your cat a chicken
thigh. Raw meat alone is not a balanced diet for a cat and can result in
serious deficiencies which in turn can be harmful or deadly. Before
attempting to feed such a diet you need to do some serious research into
nutritional requirements and balancing ingredients, safe food handling,
choosing a reputable source for meat and many other things. It is also
necessary to make sure your cat is in good health before attempting to
switch to raw. This requires a vet visit, which in the months you have
had George has yet to occur.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

snip questions about raw

Feeding a raw diet entails much more than giving your cat a chicken
thigh. Raw meat alone is not a balanced diet for a cat and can result in
serious deficiencies which in turn can be harmful or deadly. Before
attempting to feed such a diet you need to do some serious research into
nutritional requirements and balancing ingredients, safe food handling,
choosing a reputable source for meat and many other things. It is also
necessary to make sure your cat is in good health before attempting to
switch to raw. This requires a vet visit, which in the months you have
had George has yet to occur.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

How can raw meat be bad for a cat, that's what they're built to eat! I
used to feed my cat mainly chicken & turkey (incl. all the offal, eg: heart,
lungs all of it) and she lived to be 18 and died peacefully in her sleep. I
started off cooking it but after she broke into the fridge and ate the
chicken raw, I gave it her raw and she loved it.

My theory was that I only fed her animals which she could feasible have been
able to kill herself eg. chickens, rabbits etc. (Rabbit was actually a
special favourite and very cheap if you know a gamekeeper or poacher, about
25p for a whole rabbit but I did have to skin them myself, but you can get
them ready skinned from the butchers for about £1 also). I steered away
from bigger animals like cow & pig as I figured she wouldn't naturally have
had access to that kind of meat.

It never did her any harm anyway and besides, have you ever seen a cat
cooking a mouse?

Jeannie

How can raw meat be bad for a cat, that's what they're built to eat! I
used to feed my cat mainly chicken & turkey (incl. all the offal, eg: heart,
lungs all of it) and she lived to be 18 and died peacefully in her sleep. I
started off cooking it but after she broke into the fridge and ate the
chicken raw, I gave it her raw and she loved it.

My theory was that I only fed her animals which she could feasible have been
able to kill herself eg. chickens, rabbits etc. (Rabbit was actually a
special favourite and very cheap if you know a gamekeeper or poacher, about
25p for a whole rabbit but I did have to skin them myself, but you can get
them ready skinned from the butchers for about £1 also). I steered away
from bigger animals like cow & pig as I figured she wouldn't naturally have
had access to that kind of meat.

It never did her any harm anyway and besides, have you ever seen a cat
cooking a mouse?

Jeannie

From: Marek Williams

I started Old George on canned Friskies, always the Senior or Special
Diet kinds. After reading in here about raw food, it occurred to me to
give it a try. Turns out he loves raw chicken and raw turkey,
especially the chicken. He also likes raw hamburger, but that's a bit
expensive. He seems to prefer the raw food over the canned food.

I can get ground raw turkey for about 98 cents a lb. I buy boneless,
skinless chicken thighs for myself for about $1.33 a lb. The canned
food was costing me about 30-35 cents a can, containing 5.5 ounces.
Doing a little math, the canned food was costing me about a dollar a
lb. In other words, the raw stuff isn't really much more expensive.

I have a couple questions --

1) If I feed him nothing but raw meat, is there anything else he needs
in his diet? I mean, this is what he was engineered to eat, so I
assume it has all the nutrients his furry little body needs, right?

2) Can anyone suggest other cheap meats besides chicken and turkey?

3) Considering that I watched him eat a mouse the other day, evidently
he likes them. Anyone know if there are any butchers where they sell
mouse? Safeway doesn't seem to carry it.

You can actually buy feeder mice and there is one place on line -
www.miceonice.com, I believe. As to a raw diet, I would recommend that you
feed a properly balanced diet. You can't just give a piece of meat. It's not
that difficult to do but you should do some serious research into it. Also,
you might want to join some of the raw diet lists. I have a link in my sig for
more information and if you email me, I can recommend some more. You might
want to check out this site and click on the left where it says "natural diet'.
I believe there is also a recipe on this site.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: Marek Williams

I started Old George on canned Friskies, always the Senior or Special
Diet kinds. After reading in here about raw food, it occurred to me to
give it a try. Turns out he loves raw chicken and raw turkey,
especially the chicken. He also likes raw hamburger, but that's a bit
expensive. He seems to prefer the raw food over the canned food.

I can get ground raw turkey for about 98 cents a lb. I buy boneless,
skinless chicken thighs for myself for about $1.33 a lb. The canned
food was costing me about 30-35 cents a can, containing 5.5 ounces.
Doing a little math, the canned food was costing me about a dollar a
lb. In other words, the raw stuff isn't really much more expensive.

I have a couple questions --

1) If I feed him nothing but raw meat, is there anything else he needs
in his diet? I mean, this is what he was engineered to eat, so I
assume it has all the nutrients his furry little body needs, right?

2) Can anyone suggest other cheap meats besides chicken and turkey?

3) Considering that I watched him eat a mouse the other day, evidently
he likes them. Anyone know if there are any butchers where they sell
mouse? Safeway doesn't seem to carry it.

You can actually buy feeder mice and there is one place on line -
www.miceonice.com, I believe. As to a raw diet, I would recommend that you
feed a properly balanced diet. You can't just give a piece of meat. It's not
that difficult to do but you should do some serious research into it. Also,
you might want to join some of the raw diet lists. I have a link in my sig for
more information and if you email me, I can recommend some more. You might
want to check out this site and click on the left where it says "natural diet'.
I believe there is also a recipe on this site.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: "Jeannie"

How can raw meat be bad for a cat, that's what they're built to eat! I
used to feed my cat mainly chicken & turkey (incl. all the offal, eg: heart,
lungs all of it) and she lived to be 18 and died peacefully in her sleep. I
started off cooking it but after she broke into the fridge and ate the
chicken raw, I gave it her raw and she loved it.

My theory was that I only fed her animals which she could feasible have been
able to kill herself eg. chickens, rabbits etc. (Rabbit was actually a
special favourite and very cheap if you know a gamekeeper or poacher, about
25p for a whole rabbit but I did have to skin them myself, but you can get
them ready skinned from the butchers for about £1 also). I steered away
from bigger animals like cow & pig as I figured she wouldn't naturally have
had access to that kind of meat.

Hi Jeannie,
You're lucky, rabbit where I live is very very expensive. I did buy it once
but my little beasties didn't like it. Their favorite is quail and rock
cornish game hens

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: "Jeannie"

How can raw meat be bad for a cat, that's what they're built to eat! I
used to feed my cat mainly chicken & turkey (incl. all the offal, eg: heart,
lungs all of it) and she lived to be 18 and died peacefully in her sleep. I
started off cooking it but after she broke into the fridge and ate the
chicken raw, I gave it her raw and she loved it.

My theory was that I only fed her animals which she could feasible have been
able to kill herself eg. chickens, rabbits etc. (Rabbit was actually a
special favourite and very cheap if you know a gamekeeper or poacher, about
25p for a whole rabbit but I did have to skin them myself, but you can get
them ready skinned from the butchers for about £1 also). I steered away
from bigger animals like cow & pig as I figured she wouldn't naturally have
had access to that kind of meat.

Hi Jeannie,
You're lucky, rabbit where I live is very very expensive. I did buy it once
but my little beasties didn't like it. Their favorite is quail and rock
cornish game hens

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

In article ,
Marek Williams wrote:

1) If I feed him nothing but raw meat, is there anything else he needs
in his diet? I mean, this is what he was engineered to eat, so I
assume it has all the nutrients his furry little body needs, right?

Picture a Prey Animal.

Is a mouse nothing but meat?

Or is there bone and organ in there?

In my humble opinion, they's gots guts an' they's gots skellytons.

More meat than the other stuff, but that doesn't make the other stuff
negligible.

I feed my cat his meat ON the bone, and offer him a variety of organ
meats every so often.

Last night he did an admirable job on about a third of a chicken leg
quarter, which included some thighbone, some backbone, and some bits of
organs attached to the backbone. Yummers!

2) Can anyone suggest other cheap meats besides chicken and turkey?

It's not all about cheapness. You need to provide variety to ensure a
well-rounded nutrient profile. Try to get some red meat in there; offer
a whole cornish game hen to give him a good long gnawing experience; if
he'll eat rodents then by all means feed 'em; rabbit's good and
species-appropriate too.

Check out hare-today.com for a variety of products your cat will
hopefully love!

3) Considering that I watched him eat a mouse the other day, evidently
he likes them. Anyone know if there are any butchers where they sell
mouse? Safeway doesn't seem to carry it.

I think some pet stores will sell frozen pre-killed mice; or you could
purchase feeders and pre-kill them yourself (DON'T just let a feeder
mouse loose with Old George, even if he is a proven hunter, because
unless he kills on the first strike it's horribly cruel to subject the
mouse to that kind of terror...plus the mouse might choose to defend
himself and put a puncture in Old George). There are plenty of websites
for feeder animals including the miceonice that somebody posted (I think
minimum order is 100 or so, so clear out some freezer space!)

Best of luck. If you're interested in a mailing list/group with hundreds
of members many of which have been feeding natural diets for 8 years or
more to dozens of animals each and are willing to offer advice, check
out the Yahoo! group rawfeeding.

-Alison in OH

In article ,
Marek Williams wrote:

1) If I feed him nothing but raw meat, is there anything else he needs
in his diet? I mean, this is what he was engineered to eat, so I
assume it has all the nutrients his furry little body needs, right?

Picture a Prey Animal.

Is a mouse nothing but meat?

Or is there bone and organ in there?

In my humble opinion, they's gots guts an' they's gots skellytons.

More meat than the other stuff, but that doesn't make the other stuff
negligible.

I feed my cat his meat ON the bone, and offer him a variety of organ
meats every so often.

Last night he did an admirable job on about a third of a chicken leg
quarter, which included some thighbone, some backbone, and some bits of
organs attached to the backbone. Yummers!

2) Can anyone suggest other cheap meats besides chicken and turkey?

It's not all about cheapness. You need to provide variety to ensure a
well-rounded nutrient profile. Try to get some red meat in there; offer
a whole cornish game hen to give him a good long gnawing experience; if
he'll eat rodents then by all means feed 'em; rabbit's good and
species-appropriate too.

Check out hare-today.com for a variety of products your cat will
hopefully love!

3) Considering that I watched him eat a mouse the other day, evidently
he likes them. Anyone know if there are any butchers where they sell
mouse? Safeway doesn't seem to carry it.

I think some pet stores will sell frozen pre-killed mice; or you could
purchase feeders and pre-kill them yourself (DON'T just let a feeder
mouse loose with Old George, even if he is a proven hunter, because
unless he kills on the first strike it's horribly cruel to subject the
mouse to that kind of terror...plus the mouse might choose to defend
himself and put a puncture in Old George). There are plenty of websites
for feeder animals including the miceonice that somebody posted (I think
minimum order is 100 or so, so clear out some freezer space!)

Best of luck. If you're interested in a mailing list/group with hundreds
of members many of which have been feeding natural diets for 8 years or
more to dozens of animals each and are willing to offer advice, check
out the Yahoo! group rawfeeding.

-Alison in OH