Raw Food Diet (for a cat)

Handling raw food – prevention of bacterial contamination¹

• Thoroughly wash hands, utensils and food preparation areas before and after handling raw foods.
• Refrigerate raw foods below 40°F.
• the danger zone for bacterial growth is between 40°F – 140°F.
• When unsure throw away.

Cat breeders seem to use different methods to feed their cats but the ones who feed raw food diet report benefits to their cats’ health.

The underlying methodis meat (protein) in the form of chicken (usually), to which is added a range of supplements.

Chicken is the usual meat content of raw food diet recipes. No doubt this is because of price and its suitability for a cat that must eat flesh.

The Raw Food Diet Recipes – these all come from the USA

First a little video. Below are some recipes from breeders.

Mark’s recipe

Mark Pennington of Mystre Bengals (located in Houston, Texas, tel 281-538-9590) uses a sophisticated blend of chicken, organ meats and beef. It is a recipe that has proved successful for many years.

Mark uses the following ratio when making raw:

» 2/3 of the total mix should be chicken, bones and all (uncooked)

» Of the 2/3 chicken, 1/3 of that should be organ meats such as chicken livers and chicken gizzards.hearts

» 1/3 of the mix should be beef, Mark uses beef stew meat from Wal-Mart

» (actual amounts /weight of each is up to you depending on how much you want to make, Mark uses 10 whole chickens, and about 6lbs of the stew meat and that makes about 8-10 gallons of mix and feeds all our cats for about 3 months)

» 2 small containers of plain yogurt, non flavored

» 2-4 jars of squash baby food

» 1 can of 100% pure pumpkin

» Kitty Bloom – Mark adds about ¼ tsp per serving (Kitty Bloom is a complete supplement containing 16 Vitamins, 10 Minerals and taurine, a proven essential ingredient in the feline diet – see more about supplements below).

Mark figures he can get about 6-8 servings out of each bag of raw we make so depending on how much you make add that much to total mix, or in each bag and mix up in there, or you can add to food daily. I’ve mentioned taurine above. Taurine is an essential amino acid for cats. Some breeders think Bengal cats need more than other cats. This spreadsheet sets recommended dosages but remember please the jury is out on amounts.

In the USA, Kitty Bloom can be ordered it from this page. I am not sure if they ship internationally.

» You can find a local retailer for Chicken Soup for the Kitten Lovers Soul here [as at Nov 2016 this link has been removed as it is broken].

The grinder he uses is here: Northern Industrial Electrical Meat Grinder

April 11th 2010: Update on Mark’s work

I want to thank Maryll for pointing in the roght direction for this useful update. I mention her recipe below.

Mark buys his supplies from wherever he can. On his website he features Walmart.

Mark likes to keep things simple in his raw food diet and says that the ingredients are very simple, which I like to hear as it encourages us to try it. The objective is to feed meat and not a lot of vegetable matter. He adds “squash” (this is a USA term please note) and pumpkin. The Squash is itended to replicate the stomach contents of the prey of a wildcat.

I have taken the liberty of reproducing the same photo, above, that is on Mark’s site, here for the sake of accuracy. As mentioned it is baby food squash.

The pumpkin adds fiber which equates to the fur and feathers of the prey. Mark buys 100% pure pumpkin in a can.

As mentioned Mark adds Kitty Bloom. Mark recommends this. I think he manufacturers it! But I am not sure. It contains the supplements cats need in addition to the meat and fibers.

You can buy it here: Kitty Bloom

Mark adds a quarter of teaspoon per cat per day. In the video below Mark makes 10 gallons which provides 120 bags and 12 servings per bag making: 1440 servings.