After six months of raw feeding, here is a first review :

Preparation

Claire uses a ceramic knife and a board to cut the meat roughly pieces which we shall have to rip and chew. Meanwhile, Momo separates the frozen necks of chickens with an ax and cuts them in two, because they are too much tall to enter the containers. He also separates the frozen chicken hearts and prepares small dice of liver (frozen also). It needs approximately 30 minutes in all (20 minutes for two) to prepare the portions for two cats during a week.

We eat mainly chicken, turkey, and beef, and sometimes rabbit or duck. Zorro eats finally his chicken necks without Claire has to cut them in slices, but Pixie still toys with the liver : thus the meal which contains giblets keeps being ground just before being served to prevent she from sorting out. Once a week, we eat small whole sardines, but Pixie does not like it very much.
All the used utensils as well as the chopping blocks are then carefully washed with soap then disinfected with vinegar. They are dried then immediately.

Storage

For the moment, Claire prepares the portions for seven to ten days only because we have a quite small freezer. But soon, we will be able to have more reserve. We are delighted, because we will be able to store whole chicks and whole mice also.

Quantities

With raw feeding, it is necessary to count between 2 and 4 % of the weight of a grown-up cat in food. As we are young and active, and as we can go out, we are at 4 %, that is 220 grams for Zorro and 140 grams for Pixie. This quantity includes meat (60 %), meaty bones (30 %), and giblets (10 %, of which half of the liver). If the food is well balanced, our veterinarian confirmed to us that you do not need to add food complements.

Claire prepares three bowls a day of about 100 grams for our first three meals. The food went out the day before the freezer to defrost in the refrigerator. She completes the quantity with high-quality commercial wet food for practical questions : it happens that we are not hungry for a meal because we hunted and ate a prey outside, most of the time at the end of spring, in summer, and at the beginning of autumn. The commercial wet food supports to be kept one day in the refrigerator, while Claire does not like letting wait raw food.

Frequency of the meals

We are fed four times a day : between 6 and 7 o’clock in the morning, between 11 am and noon, between 4 and 5 o’clock in the afternoon, and at about 10 pm in the evening. Claire leaves our bowls 20 minutes at our disposal, then puts them back to the refrigerator if we did not eat (but that never happens, ha ha !).

Benefits

• We are alert and healthy.
• Our hair is beautiful and brilliant.
• Our breath is pleasant.
• Our poop is small, firmer, and smells almost nothing.
• We vomit much less often.
• Our water intake is guaranteed.

Next Sunday, Claire has a whole training day on cat feeding : we are looking forward to compare our experience with the course content !

Do you see other benefits to raw feeding ?