Natural raw food for cats

When a small meowing pet appears in the house, a very important question arises: what to feed it. After all, the right diet for shaggy food lovers is the key to a long, healthy and happy life.

The ancestors of domestic cats in nature hunted small prey - various birds and mice. These instincts and needs are preserved in pampered pets. Therefore, raw meat and cereals are a more than logical food option for a small predator. Of course, whether it is possible to give a cat raw meat is up to each owner to decide individually, but if you follow simple rules, such a diet will definitely not cause harm.

Natural food or ready-made food

It may seem like why spend time and extra effort to prepare food for cats. After all, there is a huge line of ready-made animal food on sale, from the economy series to the premium class. But how healthy is this food for your pet?

Common inexpensive cat foods contain virtually no ingredients stated on the label. At best, the composition includes meat by-products and soy, which is absolutely not enough for the needs of the animal. But they contain a lot of preservatives and flavorings, which give the food an aroma and taste that is attractive to cats.

Experts do not recommend feeding animals such food for a long time or at least supplementing it with vitamins and mineral supplements.

In feeds of a higher price segment, the content of natural products is much higher. In addition, they already contain vitamins necessary for the animal, and they contain beneficial vitamin E as a preservative. Such food is not only healthy, but also tasty for your pet.

An alternative to these foods can be natural food. Just remember that feeding a cat and eating from the owners’ table are completely different things.

Meat and meat products in a cat's diet

Any lean meat is suitable for feeding cats - beef, veal, turkey, rabbit, chicken. For small kittens, minced meat made from a mixture of turkey and veal is ideal. Deciding whether it is possible to give your cat raw meat or whether it is better to boil it a little first depends on the animal’s preferences - some people do not like boiled food.

Meat by-products (chicken stomachs and hearts), previously well washed and deveined, are also useful for cats. Liver is also good for them, but you shouldn’t get too carried away with it - raw liver weakens you, while boiled liver, on the contrary, strengthens you. Therefore, pre-frozen liver can be given no more than twice a week.

What kind of meat should I give?

It is best to feed your cat an easily digestible meat product that is close to the animal’s natural habitat. Therefore, the best choice would be a type of meat such as:

• turkey;
• chicken or chicken;
• rabbit meat;
• horsemeat.

It is advisable to limit the following types of meat:

Lamb will be too fatty a dish for your pet.

• Beef meat. It should not be the main ingredient in a cat’s diet, since it contains a minimum of phosphorus and calcium, which causes problems with the musculoskeletal system. However, beef includes proteins necessary for the growth of muscle tissue, and iron - important for the synthesis of hemoglobin.
• Mutton. It is not advisable to give it due to its high fat content, which overloads the cat’s gastrointestinal tract. It is better to replace lamb with leaner lamb meat.
• Offal. You can enter the heart, lung, liver, kidneys, and ventricles into the cat's menu. They contain many useful substances, but they can be given no more than once every 1-2 weeks.
• Chicken necks, bone marrow. Bones and cartilage develop chewing muscles, but they can be given to a cat no more than once every 7 days.

Minced meat is undesirable in the diet because it is impossible to check the quality of the ground meat ingredients. In addition, the product does not undergo heat treatment before feeding the cat, and it may have been stored incorrectly. You can treat your pet to minced meat prepared only at home. You should not feed your cat too fatty varieties, as this can cause cirrhosis, pancreatitis or kidney failure. These varieties include:

• pork;
• duck;
• goose.

How to cook meat for a cat

To the question of whether a cat can be given raw meat, beef, the answer is yes, but with some conditions. Meat for feeding the animal must first be frozen in the freezer for about two days. This will remove parasites from the meat. Thawed meat should be thoroughly washed and cut into small pieces. Cats are predators; they do not chew their food, but swallow it in pieces; the digestion process itself occurs directly in the stomach. Therefore, the pieces should not be large, two centimeters maximum.

Some experts recommend pouring boiling water over the meat, but this is controversial. After all, in nature, cats hunt and eat raw meat.

If you have doubts about the quality of a meat product or want to diversify your pet’s menu, you can boil it or even stew it. The broth in which the meat was cooked can also be offered to the cat.

Features of feeding poultry meat

It would seem that in nature cats eat birds, and if you feed your pet bird meat, no problems should arise. This is absolutely true for turkey and quail meat, but with chicken it can be difficult.

Chicken meat is a fairly strong allergen, so it should be used with caution in cat food. Typically, signs of food allergies in kittens appear at an early age. However, they can also occur in an adult pet. This usually manifests itself in the form of redness of the skin, increasing itching, and hair loss.

Whether it is possible to give a cat raw chicken meat or not is determined by the owners only by experience. If the animal does not have allergic reactions, well-beaten chicken throats can be given to clean the teeth once a week.

How and how much to give?

Veterinarians do not recommend buying a turkey sealed in a vacuum bag, since pathogenic microorganisms multiply quickly in a humid environment and there is a high probability of buying a spoiled product.

Chicken can diversify your pet's meat diet.
The optimal amount of meat product is calculated based on the weight and age of the pet. However, the standard single portion is 30-35 g. You should not give your cat turkey every day, it is better not more than 2 times a week. Felinologists recommend alternating this type of meat with chicken and beef. To avoid the risk of parasite infection, you need to feed your cat boiled turkey meat. It is acceptable to give raw products if they have been stored in the freezer for 1 week before.

For kittens under 1 year of age, the meat should be boiled and pureed. It goes well with stewed vegetables, which will balance the animal’s diet. There is no need to fry or add oil to the turkey. It is important to remove all small bones, especially if the bird has been heat-treated. If a cat swallows a splinter, it can be fatal, especially in a kitten. With great caution, it is permissible to give large bones that the pet cannot swallow. Turkey allergies typically include rashes, scabies, and hair loss. If such symptoms appear, the bird should be removed from the menu.

Fish on the cat's menu

The prevailing stereotype that cats eat a lot of fish is absolutely not true. In the natural environment, cats have virtually no opportunity to catch fish.

Domestic cats are often given fish, and this is wrong. All types of river fish are not suitable for cat food: they are very bony and contain many parasites.

You can offer your cat some boiled and boned sea fish. Fatty varieties should also be excluded; excess animal fat will lead to kidney problems in the animal. Also, sea fish contains a small amount of salt, which is contraindicated for cats.

When deciding whether it is possible to give your cat raw meat and fish, the clear choice is made in favor of meat, and the fish must be boiled. You should treat your pet to boiled and deboned fish no more than twice a week. Occasionally, you can pamper your cat with boiled shrimp, after clearing them of their shell.

What meat should you not feed your cat?

Cats get proteins and amino acids from meat. They need proteins more than other domestic animals: if they are deficient, liver enzymes break down their own proteins. Meat becomes the main source of taurine. It is not synthesized in the body of cats; if there is a deficiency, vision decreases and the functioning of internal organs is disrupted.

The benefits of the product increase if it is processed correctly:

• The cats are fed fresh fillet of meat. Skin, bones, and fatty layers are removed. The exception is chicken necks and cartilage; they are ground in a meat grinder and periodically given to the pet.
• The pieces are cut into slices 1 cm in size: they give the necessary load to the teeth, gums and are absorbed normally.
• Minced meat is prepared from lean varieties, but is not given regularly.
• Before serving, bring to room temperature or 2 degrees higher: hot burns the mucous membranes, frozen is harmful to the stomach.
• During heat treatment, no fat, salt, or spices are added. It is useful to season with vegetable oil.
• Offal is included as an additional source of vitamins and minerals and is fed twice a week. The liver and heart are more useful, the lungs, kidneys, and stomachs are allowed if the animal loves them.

The types of meat alternate, they differ in the composition of useful components.

The diet cannot be composed of only meat “dishes”. They don’t have fiber, they don’t have enough vitamins and calcium to meet the daily requirement. The deficiency is compensated by fermented milk products and vegetables.

The harm of the fresh product is associated with possible infection with helminths and harmful microbes.

These include:

• Campylobacter lives in the intestines of animals and birds and causes the acute intestinal disorder campylobacteriosis.
• The “false rabies” virus is contained in pork; when infected, convulsions, paralysis, and itching begin.
• Escherichia coli, pathogenic strains provoke acute poisoning.
• Salmonella is most often found in chicken. Bacterial toxins cause vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration.
• Brucella enters the body with the milk and meat of sick animals. The bacterium affects nerve cells, blood vessels, and genitourinary organs. Brucellosis is not completely cured.
• Trichinella is found in pork. After entering the intestines, they penetrate the walls, spread through the bloodstream, and settle in the muscles. Trichinosis is fatal if there are more than 5 larvae per 1 kg of weight in the body.

It is better not to buy products in dubious places where the quality of the goods is not controlled.

Fresh meat is better digestible and retains nutritional components. Boiled is safer, cats often eat it more willingly, but the taurine and vitamins are partially washed out.

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Both types are allowed if prepared correctly:

• Do not serve raw without first freezing.
• When cooking, add a minimum of water or simmer in its own juice.
• Freeze the liver, chop it and scald it with boiling water.
• Do not combine fresh and cooked food in one feeding; different enzymes are required for absorption.

Meat is the main food of a cat's diet, but not all types are suitable for feeding a cat; it becomes useful only after processing.

How to diversify your cat's diet

You cannot feed your cat only meat and meat products. It is very useful to supplement his diet with a variety of cereals (rolled oats, buckwheat, rice, millet). You need to boil porridge in water, although you can use broth from lean meat. Experts recommend adding a little natural vegetable oil to this mixture, this improves the functioning of the animal’s intestines.

Low-fat fermented milk products are also beneficial for domestic cats - yogurt without additives, kefir or sour cream with a fat content of no more than 9%. Contrary to popular belief, milk is absolutely not healthy for cats, and sometimes even harms digestion.

For your pet’s well-being, it is better not to mix meat and dairy products, for example, give porridge with meat and vegetables at lunch, and a bowl of low-fat yogurt or yogurt in the evening.

Cats love domestic eggs, but they should not be given in large quantities either; excess protein can lead to health problems. A raw quail egg can be offered to the cat as a whole, but only the yolk can be given from a boiled chicken egg.

Is it possible to give raw meat to a cat, and what should it be combined with? Vegetables are great. Your pet's diet can be quite varied. If taught from an early age, the cat will eat boiled vegetables (beets, carrots, cauliflower, zucchini) well. They are mixed with meat or boiled fish.

However, there are quite serious restrictions on mixing feed and natural nutrition.

Why raw meat can be dangerous

The harm of the fresh product is associated with possible infection with helminths and harmful microbes.

These include:

• Campylobacter lives in the intestines of animals and birds and causes the acute intestinal disorder campylobacteriosis.
• The “false rabies” virus is contained in pork; when infected, convulsions, paralysis, and itching begin.
• Escherichia coli , pathogenic strains provoke acute poisoning.
• Salmonella is more often found in chicken. Bacterial toxins cause vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration.
• Brucella enters the body with the milk and meat of sick animals. The bacterium affects nerve cells, blood vessels, and genitourinary organs. Brucellosis is not completely cured.
• Trichinella is found in pork. After entering the intestines, they penetrate the walls, spread through the bloodstream, and settle in the muscles. Trichinosis is fatal if there are more than 5 larvae per 1 kg of weight in the body.

It is better not to buy products in dubious places where the quality of the goods is not controlled.

Is it possible to give a cat raw meat and dry food?

Ready-made animal feed and natural food are absolutely incompatible. When bringing a small pet into the home, the owner will need to decide whether to give the animal food or feed it meat products.

Feeding different types of food at the same time can quickly lead to serious problems with the gastrointestinal tract in a cat. This is due to different principles of food digestion. Dry food must be washed down with plenty of water; it swells in the stomach and only then is digested. But with natural nutrition, the food already contains moisture, and the process begins immediately. A cat's digestive system cannot quickly switch from one mode to another.

Therefore, to the common question of whether it is possible to give raw meat to a cat if it is fed dry food, the answer is unequivocal: it is not possible. Sometimes they try to combine wet food with natural food. But taste enhancers and flavorings are often added to ready-made varieties, and after trying them, animals are reluctant to return to regular food.

At what age are kittens given meat?

When should kittens be given meat for the first time? Complementary feeding begins at approximately 3-4 weeks. At this time, they still eat their mother's milk, but they are already trying adult food. The ideal option is to give the children the same thing as the mother if she is a raw foodist. If she eats industrial food, then the kittens are given a separate bowl of meat. Babies always need to start digestion, starting with raw meat.

The editors of the Murkotiki website often receive questions about problems with the gastrointestinal tract caused by improper complementary feeding. Many insufficiently competent breeders, unfortunately, give kittens porridge with boiled meat and immediately offer dry food. This almost always leads to small (unnoticed by the owner) or even big problems. Food can be added to the diet when the kitten already knows what meat is.

Restrictions when feeding natural food

When accustoming a small cat to natural food, you need to carefully monitor the reaction to the products offered. Cats, like people, have allergies, sometimes quite serious.

You should be careful when giving your cat chicken, eggs, and dairy products. If the animal is reluctant to eat cereal, there is no need to force it. Whether you can give your cat raw meat or boil it is best to decide based on your pet’s preferences.

Under no circumstances should you offer your animal fatty meats (pork, lamb), butter, or fruit. Cats do not tolerate onions well in any form, both raw and boiled. Potatoes are also undesirable; they contain a lot of starch, which they cannot digest at all.

Nutrition for sterilized pets

Natural food is also beneficial for these pets. Can neutered cats be given raw meat? Yes, but you need to calculate the amount correctly.

Neutered animals are less active and more prone to obesity. They can be fed in smaller portions, focusing on lean meats and pureed boiled vegetables. It is also better to choose dairy products for sterilized cats with low fat content.

Regardless of the choice of food for your pet, the main thing is that he is cheerful and energetic, with shiny fur and a good appetite.