To grind or not to grind, that is the question

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ZORRO : little by little, Claire let us get to raw feeding.

She inquired, read with a lot of interest articles of friends who feed already like that, she still inquired, and to be sure, still inquired. She finally stopped inquiring after 2 years, and to our immense relief, she started.

It’s at the time of preparing our first meal that she had a big existential interrogation : to grind or not to grind ?
franken prey
It’s necessary to know that raw feeding comes in three variants :

  • Grinding : all the ingredients are grind together.
  • Franken Prey : the meat is roughly cut into pieces, and every meal represents artificially a whole prey (meat, giblets and bone) in the good proportions (just like Frankenstein with his creature 😉).
  • Whole Prey : small preys as chicks, mice, … are served whole. Mother Nature did right, and all the nutriments which we need are present in the good proportions.

Claire chose the Franken Prey model. She also thinks of ordering us frozen chicks as soon as she will have bought a small freezer only for us.

Raw food… It’s as if I had waited for this moment for all my life ! What happiness ! It’s almost as delicious as a sparrow or a mouse freshly hunted !
First raw food for Zorro
Pixie is less enthusiastic : she eats two or three pieces of meat then has enough. She likes chicken necks, but is not fan of giblets. That’s going to happen…
First raw food for Pixie
A huge thank you to all these people and all these buddies for the quality information we found on their site :

28 thoughts on “To grind or not to grind, that is the question

  1. frimousse

    Raw food… My Master thinks I am too old (I am 16) to change my food habit.
    And my friend RouXy has urinary food at home and when he is here he eats as I do. But it is difficult. When RouXy swallows big pieces he vomits a moment later, when he swallows pate, he… vomit a moment later (!) Solution? Give him a small quantity and wait a quarter of an hour to give him some more. But that’s not easy and it doesn’t always work….

  2. Kitty Cat Chronicles

    We have done both the frankenprey and ground diets. Haven’t decided which one we like best though. It is easier to buy ground if you can find a good source, but that’s not always easy. If you are making yourself, the frankenprey is easiest. I think the cats like the frankenprey too. Good luck with your transition. Looks yummy!!!

  3. easy rider

    I think you made the best decision. we sometimes give Easy the whole prey but he always brings his “prey” in my bed… and that’s nothing what brings sweet dreams lol

  4. Timmy Tomcat

    Dad tried the grind but we just would not eat it. At the time Buddy was a kibble addict and 21-22 pounds with sore legs from the weight. We did make a switch to wet from kibble so that was good. Dad wants to try raw again and franken prey looks right
    Purrs

  5. Ellen Pilch

    When you don’t grind the food, how do you add the extra supplements/nutrients that are in the ground raw food recipes? I am curious because I would like to switch to raw, but the thought of all that grinding is overwhelming for 13 cats.

    1. The Swiss Cats

      Mum doesn’t add supplements. If you have the right amount of meat, bones, and stuff like liver, heart, … you don’t need to supplement. As it is the very beginning of raw feeding for us, Mum is monitoring closely what we eat, when, and how for the moment. I eat everything. Mum noticed that Pixie tends to put liver away. Maybe would it be better to grind one small portion of meal with liver and heart for her, so that she eats all the nutriments she needs. Mum is going to try to do it for Pixie. Before doing this, Mum wants to try to spread parmigiano on liver to make it more palatable. Purrs, Zorro

  6. Canadian Cats

    Very interesting. Definitely a great way to feed cats. I’m just unsure. I could try and grind a small chicky boob to see if they would eat it…how do you get them interested in such food?

    Jean

      1. The Swiss Cats

        Seriously : she gave us only chicken meat for a few days, then added some chicken necks to the meat for a few days, then liver and heart. Step by step, she added something new. And after that, she introduced slowly a new meal (turkey). And she will go like this for duck, rabbit, and beef. She kept canned wet food just in case we wouldn’t eat, but since we began, she gave it only twice to Pixie. Purrs, Zorro

  7. Cathy Keisha

    Glad you guys are enjoying the raw. Are you sure you don’t need to add taurine to the Frankenfood? TW says raw isn’t in my future although it sounds like a good choice of diet.

    1. The Swiss Cats

      Yes, we’re sure, as long you don’t cut or grind liver and heart. But if you have to do it, it’s better add taurine. Mum has taurine powder “just in case” if Pixie doesn’t eat enough liver (she doesn’t like it so much, but it looks like it tastes better with a pinch of parmigiano 😉 ). Purrs, Zorro

  8. Melissa & Mudpie

    Good for you guys for taking the plunge! Sadly, I just don’t think raw is something Mudpie would go for. She’s not even a fan of 99% of the wet foods I give her!

  9. Nellie (who use to be the cat from hell)

    Mommy tied us on raw about 8 years ago when she started making the dogs foods.
    Wes would has NOTHING to do with it.
    And she has continued to offer it to us ever since. As a mater of fact when she was cutting up a chicken for the freezer today, she tried to gices mes some raw chaicken and mes turned my nose up at it (Chicken is my favorite food)
    Though, me will eat some raw salmons….
    Mes
    PS Don’t forget to stop by my blog on Monday – mes will bes talking about my special weekend

  10. Dragonheart, Merlin, and Devi

    We used to eat a commercial raw food (our mom could never get into making it herself). But when Merlin was diagnosed with cancer, his health care team, including the oncologist, advised us to stop the raw. So we did. A number of Sphynx people have virtually attacked our mom for stopping the raw food, but she trusts our veterinary care team, including one who is an expert in companion animal nutrition (our vets are at a veterinary college) and who normally supports raw, so she feels she’s doing what’s best.

  11. Jenna Meow

    Congratulations! I’m so happy they starting eating it. Cornelius refused to eat chunks until Elizabeth came home to show him how. It’s normal they don’t like the liver. Too much liver can be toxic for cats and its important to keep liver only 5% of their diet and not more.

  12. Little Binky and Granny

    This looks good, Zorro and Pixie, but I prefer a fishy plate…or rosted beef 😀 Granny’s first cat always ate raw food…the livers were still intact, no poisen arrows like nowadays….those were the days, huh 😉 Double Pawkiss and enjoy your dinner 🙂 <3 <3

  13. da tabbies o trout towne

    pixie & zorro…..ewe both iz now like feerce lionz & tigerz & pantherz & all R big cat cuzinz; tho we due knot think claire will let ewe haz wilde beest ore gazelle ~~~~ 🙂

    best two ewe both on yur switch, we hope it werkz well for ewe & claire all sew !! ♥♥♥

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