Raw food diet for cats?

[Tulips]

Does anyone here feed their cat/s a raw diet? I used to feed my dog a raw diet, pre-made and bought form a speciality store, but it seems as if pre-made raw catfood isn't as common here. All I can find is grocery store stuff with high sodium.

I'm finding it tricky to find recipes that I could handle making myself at home. It's particularly hard because a few websites have said not to grind the meat/bones, to feed chunks, but the only recipe I've found (copied onto several websites) uses a grinder or no bones at all (with calcium supplements).

The recipes provide pretty decent details about the supplements at least, but can anyone point me in the right direction of a good recipe or two? I've also read that you shouldn't feed exclusively chicken, mix it up a bit, but nobody shares any lamb/beef/etc recipes when they say this. Ugh!

My kittens (10 months old) don't have much interest in their premium dry food, and I figured they deserve to eat the best food I can provide. If I'm thinking of feeding wet food I may as well step it up and go raw, they love scraps of raw chicken so I think transitioning won't be hard.

Please help if you can!

(Also, if you're against raw diets please keep your opinion to yourself)

[Griffin]

Are you already familiar with this website? http://catinfo.org/making-cat-food/
The website, even this section which specifically addresses making the food, goes on and on about the benefits of the diet... but you'll eventually find the recipes, too.

To my knowledge you can feed raw chicken wings and necks whole / in chunks. Larger bones probably need to be ground along with the meat.

Here's one recipe I've found for beef, although it's cooked meat rather than raw. (Translated by me, please note that I haven't tried making this myself yet.)

5½ kg minced meat (beef, should have ca 10-12 % fat)
200-300 g minced liver (optional; for kittens, reduce the amount or leave out completely)
8 dl water
4 dl oatmeal
7-8 eggs
4 tbs bonemeal

Mix all the ingredients and shape about six loaves. Bake at 175 degrees (Celcius) for 50 min. Cool down quickly and freeze in meal-sized portions.
Source with pictures: http://www.ipsitilla.fi/Ruokinta/rafaelon%20kiusaus.html

I've been interested in feeding my cats a raw diet and have done quite a bit of reading on the subject, but I haven't had the courage to switch - like the catinfo.org site emphasizes, the diet should be balanced and the right amount of supplements is crucial. We don't currently have a freezer either, which would be a must for a BARF diet... Maybe some day. Our cats are on a mixed diet of mostly wet (canned/pouched) grain-free food, good quality dry food, and meat (mainly raw pork heart, occasionally something else, e.g. cooked fish). They both love raw meat, though - especially heart! Actually, making this post kind of inspired me to introduce some more raw meat into their diet.

[Faeriefalls]

Not many options for us either, so we use Black Hawk and a raw meat food called 'BARF' (stands for something like biologically appropriate raw food). I've been told so many times that Black Hawk is simply one of the best dry biscuits you can buy, and since we switched over my old boy has been shiny, active and hasnt had any allergy issues.

[glitterball]

I am no cat expert, but my Granny used to feed her cat chopped, raw pork kidney.
He absolutely loved it - almost in a catnip frenzy when she would prepare it - he was fit and healthy and lived to an old age.
I don't know if you need to be regular with worming the cats afterwards (raw pork risks etc) or if it is healthy, I just thought I'd mention it! 

My other Granny used to boil white fish for her *many* cats - she had a dedicated cat room at the back of her house with a little stove to cook for them - the fishy smell would otherwise permeate the house - ok, so not raw food, but plenty of protein for them and they seemed to love it too!

[Tulips]

Not many options for us either, so we use Black Hawk and a raw meat food called 'BARF' (stands for something like biologically appropriate raw food). I've been told so many times that Black Hawk is simply one of the best dry biscuits you can buy, and since we switched over my old boy has been shiny, active and hasnt had any allergy issues.

I used to feed my dog BlackHawk and BARF dog food. I've put the cats onto BlackHawk Dry catfood (with some occasional raw chicken), they love it! Thanks for the advice everyone, maybe some day I'll pursue a full raw diet but for now I trust BlackHawk.

PS. Sorry I hadn't been active on this threadthe cats and work have had me so busy lol

[Faeriefalls]

Good luck, Tulips! Black Hawk has been really good, and I have found with BARF, those smelly dog poos aren't so bad, and her general hygiene has improved. Our pup doesn't have nasty breath any more and I always found the more processed foods gave them terrible stomach aches, which were never good for us in cleanup. I hope you find a nice raw diet in the end! Maybe if you find a good one you can share, because I hate over processed dog food.