Is your cat on a carnivore diet?

[David_Stilley]

For those of you who haven’t read my accountability thread Full Metal Keto, I have been charming a wild ferel cat to become my pet. I think he’s kind of a scavenger eating whatever he can find. He’s quite healthy looking for a ferel cat. Nice fur, but a bit lean I think.

I used to leave dry kibble outside after my cat was kidnaped by a neighbor who didn’t know me while I was in Florida for two months over Christmas. I had left her before for the same amount of time without any problems. But last time a raccoon learned about the cat door, got in and ate all her food every time it was refilled and made a bit of a mess checking out my house and with his daily visits, and scared my timid cat into hanging around the house she was raised at where an old lady had died and new people lived there. They captured her and took her to the animal shelter and she got adopted a week before I figured out what happened. So I lost my patiently tamed ferel cat.

Enter Sylvester (the name I have settled on because of the cartoon and the species name, Felis silvestris catus). He’s been coming around off and on for over a year sometimes eating the kibble I had left outside. There are many ferel cats where I live, wooded areas near the railroad tracks that go behind my house sustain them for the most part. He would never let me near him until he showed up recently looking pretty thin. I am out of kibble and gave him canned tuna. He inhaled it. He’s gotten friendly with me and let’s me pet him and scratch his neck. This has been going on a couple of days so I want to adopt him, get him looked at by a vet and neutered.

I thought about my KETO eating and how cats are meant to be pure carnivores. I am going to do right by this fella, and read up this morning a bit on raw meat diets for cats. I think he’s accustomed to eating raw foods. Tuna and fish in general isn’t really good for cats, it wasn’t part of the savannah diet cats evolved with in Africa, the origin of house cats. So I am wondering if any of you are feeding your cat a raw carnivore diet? I have access to freshly killed gophers and wood rats and occasional voles. Also thinking chicken livers and necks. Cats apparently don’t need the fats as much as protein so leaner meats are recommended.

Thanks for reading and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[tdseest]

We feed our three feral cats because my wife frowns on me giving them real food:

Amazon.com : Taste of the Wild Grain Free High Protein Real Meat Recipe Rocky...

So, it’s a marital compromise that keeps me alive. On another note, none of our cats are fat like when we fed them the carb-laden food in years past.

[DiMo]

chicken livers and necks.

I might be concerned about all the bones in the necks, but I don’t know anything.

When I lived in Argentina, I knew a kid that fed his cat organ meats, which he shopped for daily. That was the healthiest, sleekest, shiniest black cat I’ve ever seen. I think he usually fed his cat beef liver and some hearts. They eat a lot of beef there.

[David_Stilley]

I read organ meats are good but shouldn’t make up the bulk of the diet. Chicken necks were recommended as raw food, the bones are soft and easily chewed by a cat. Uncooked soft bones are okay, cooked bones can splinter and cause problems. Also chicken necks can be run through a grinder bones included. But some cats won’t eat it especially if they are hooked on kibble (carb addictions!). This is supposed to be healthy and provide calcium. Heart meats are also recommended. The more a muscle works the higher the taurine content, essential for a cat’s health and heart function. Liver should be ground and mixed preferably with meat from the same animal for easier digestion. Beef liver with beef, etc. This is what I read this morning along with several articles discouraging raw food diets for pets.

Meat for Cats - an introduction

[DiMo]

Thanks for sharing such useful and interesting info. When my budget and health permit, I hope to have pets again.

[PaulL]

I might be concerned about all the bones in the necks, but I don’t know anything.

Cats don’t splinter the bones the way dogs do. And raw bones are still supposed to be safe, last I heard.

[Dread1840]

Still isn’t really ideal for a cat.

[tdseest]

I never claimed that it was…As I stated, it was a marital compromise.

[David_Stilley]

@tdseest Hey, I sympathize. If it was a choice between your wife and marital harmony over cat food ? No Brainer!.

[jefinner]

That’s interesting! My kitty will NOT eat raw meat. I have switched from regular canned food to canned tuna. It’s one of the few “human” foods she’ll eat (I still remember my mom reprimanding me for feeding our dog “people food” when I’d give him a piece of chicken. Even then, I knew that was an insane thought - cats and dogs are carnivores.)

It’s not the best ever, but she’s older (well 9.5), and set in her ways. And she has no health issues to speak of.

[MarkGossage]

I might be concerned about all the bones in the necks

You should watch our cat demolish a mouse carcass bones and all…just the guts left on the decking as a gift for us I guess…

[DiMo]

I don’t think my cats ever ate much, just left the dead and chewed on corpses of mice in conspicuous places as gifts of affection… apparently…

[David_Stilley]

@DiMo Because it’s easier to eat food from a bowl! But they still have the killer instinct.

[DiMo]

I’m okay with that. I’d rather not be competing with rodents about who gets to eat my almonds first!

[MooBoom]

Kudos to you @David_Stilley for taking care of the little one!

Solely raw feeding a cat or cats is a big commitment. Getting the nutrition right is something experts still disagree on (sounds familiar ) for example raw feeding fails to take into account that cats tend to eat the stomach contents of their prey (which is usually plant based- and hypothesised to comprise around 17% of a cats diet). There are those who say supplement, and others who will staunchly say it’s a waste of money. Etc etc etc.

I did exclusively feed my cats a raw diet, homemade and fastidiously calculated/prepared on my part for 18 months. Then one of my cats developed ideopathic hypokalemia and stomatitis- both of which were negatively associated with a raw fed diet.

So now we feed 50% balanced raw and 50% high quality commercial food (including dental biscuits) to achieve nutritional balance. Our problem now is…obesity

Anyway enough of my cautionary tale, here’s a resource to explore.

https://feline-nutrition.org/nutrition/the-benefits-of-a-raw-diet-for-your-cat

[David_Stilley]

I started wondering if I could sousvide the meat to pasteurize it without hard cooking, semi raw… Were you feeding them liver and organ meats too?

Thanks for the link Monique, I will check it out.

[Ruina]

I’ve been thinking about getting a cat and feeding it carnivore… but as Monique said, it is a big commitment. And what if I have to leave for a while? I can’t expect my friends to do all that work.

Right now I’m conflicted. Do I want a healthy enough cat feeding the best quality commercial food supplemented with raw meat? That might be a good compromise.

Still, feels weird feeding an animal food that is clearly absurd for that animal.

Complicated.

[David_Stilley]

@Ruina I just bought 14 chicken legs for like $4.25 and tomorrow I will see if he’ll eat one. I’m just going to cut some slits in the meat so he can dig right in. If he turns his nose up I can eat them! Or cook some for him, I know he’ll eat that. Hold the Cajun spices….

[Dread1840]

Meal prep, portions, labels. Do all the work for your friends so all they have to do is keep the bowl clean and dump the right container at the right time.

[David_Stilley]

He tried to eat it raw but stopped after a couple of bites so I cooked it a little and he was happy, I may need to introduce raw a bit at a time. He tried gnawing on the bone but gave up. I think he’s used to stealing other cat’s food!