Raw Pet Food

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Raw Pet Food

A forum for raw-feeding families to chat, discuss, and learn!


5 posters

    New to Whole Prey But Not Raw

    Lindsey
    Lindsey


    Posts : 7
    Join date : 2009-08-06

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    Post  Lindsey Fri Aug 07, 2009 8:34 pm

    Hello! I'm new here and I didn't see a spot to specifically introduce yourself that wasn't separated by either dog and cat (and I just couldn't make that decision) so I figured I would jump right in and ask my question.

    I wanted to know if anyone on here feeds a whole prey diet to their cat(s).

    I just, less than a week ago adopted a little male kitten. He's a DLH and around 9-10 weeks old we think and weighs 2.4 pounds.

    I plan on having him on a full whole prey diet if everything works out well. He;s taken to raw meat right off the bat. I gave him some Nature's Variety raw lamb and he about killed himself to get to the bowl while I was getting it ready. Later tonight I'm giving him a given wing and letting him have at.

    Now, I know that feeding a diet that largely consists of immature prey is...well not a good idea. But how immature is too immature and how much is immature is too much immature.

    Is it better to feed a diet of all ages (almost equal parts) or a diet of the majority of adult prey?

    Also, what insects would be best to feed? How often should they be fed?

    Also, what are good prices for varying sizes/ages of whole prey? I'm going to get a list of the whole prey I will be needing and go to a local reptile show and go to all the different frozen feeder stands and ask how cheap can they get me these and what deals can they give me. I just wanted to know what a good price range I should be looking for.

    And last but not least, any tips and experiences anyone can give would be much appreciated. I've never fed whole prey but I have researched it for ferrets over the past few years.

    And last but not least here's a picture of the little guy and his huge eyes which was the fist thing I fell in love with.

    New to Whole Prey But Not Raw IMG_1985-1
    Heather
    Heather


    Posts : 237
    Join date : 2009-02-17
    Age : 37
    Location : O'Fallon, MO

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    Post  Heather Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:12 pm

    I have several pics of Waverli eating whole prey in the photo section. For her I feed XL mice, L rats, L GPs, 3 week quail and any size of rabbit. I cut up whole rabbits for her if they cannot be eaten in one sitting and if they are pinkies she just eats them whole right then and there. You might want to start feeding pinkies or fuzzy rodents and one day old quail if you want to go that route and work up in size. Sometimes when you add in fur, organs and different taste it's too much. I like to start with pinkies because they are small and introduce the taste and organs little bit at a time. And there's no fur. On fuzzies there's some peach fuzz, and weanlings alittle more and then adults if the full effect. You also work up to the strong organ and rodent taste as you increase in size. However some cats do perfectly fine tackling adult rodents first try. I took alittle extra time with Wav to make sure she would accept whole prey.
    Siam
    Siam


    Posts : 99
    Join date : 2009-02-15
    Age : 32
    Location : Massachusetts

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    Post  Siam Sat Aug 08, 2009 6:15 pm

    Hey Lindsey, welcome to the forum!! I don't feed whole prey but might be able to help a little. Variety is very important, I don't think I can say how much immature animal is too much or how much of the diet should be full grown animals but I would try to feed at least some of both every week( I know one whole prey feeder and he feeds adults(mice, rats, guinea pigs) all but one day a week when he feeds a chick or other immature animal) and vary up how much of each every week. I've personally never heard about too much immature animal being bad for a cat and that's why I can't be more specific, I can't actually find the info anywhere. Just be sure to switch it up frequently and I'd say you have nothing to worry about. You could probably feed pinkies often since they would not be a whole meal, you could feed a pinky along with an adult animal. If I had to guess I'd say go with primarily adult prey with immature once or twice a week, but it's just a guess.

    I know a lot of people feed crickets to their cats, they let them loose in the bathtub for the cats to "hunt" and eat. I know many people have cats who eat roaches they find, I bet you could buy them and feed them too. In fact I'd say you could feed almost any bug sold as a feeder, I even know people who feed meal worms to their cats. Insects can probably be fed as much as you want, it's obviously not going to make a meal but it'd be a nice warm up before one, they can hunt their crickets and then eat their meal, seems natural.

    I have no idea about price, sorry.

    Good luck with feeding whole prey, I hope the kitten takes to it well, he's a beautiful guy!! I love the giant eyebrow whiskers.
    Auntie Crazy
    Auntie Crazy


    Posts : 90
    Join date : 2009-02-15

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    Post  Auntie Crazy Sat Aug 08, 2009 7:37 pm

    I feed frankenprey with only a mouse or cricket here and there, so I can't speak to your diet questions (and I've never heard there was any difference in baby prey and adult prey; I learned something new every day!). But I did want to welcome you to the forum, wish you the very best of luck with your new family member and tell you - WOW, that little kitten is STUNNINGLY adorable. I LOVE his little face!! Very Happy
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    vigilantelove


    Posts : 2
    Join date : 2009-09-23

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    Post  vigilantelove Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:48 pm

    Hi there, I'm new to this forum but some people may know me from rawcat or rawchat.

    Crookshanks has been steadily eating only whole prey for quite some time now, so some of our experiences with her may help you.

    We usually get a big order of weaned rats, xl adult mice, small guinea pig and small rabbit and 2 week quail. We'll also get a bag of day old chicks and day old quails for those nights when she feels like having a bit more after normal meals. Adult mice and 2week quail are her favorite.

    I don't think it's imperative to worry so much about the ages in the short term. See if you can find a local snake feed provider to buy some feeder animals of different ages/types and try them out on the kitty. We tried Crookshanks on fuzzies, pinkies and adult mice and rats, and she wouldn't touch them at first. So, we re-froze them and tried them again a month later. Bingo! this time she loved them. What Heather said is helpful too. If the new kitty refuses rodents or other feeder animals, it can be helpful to start smaller, with the more immature rodents, and work your way up. You may also try snipping open the belly of the feeder animal with kitchen shears, or poking a hole in the skull... either will let out some of it's smell to entice kitty. Bribe foods smeared on them can work as well, or putting on a pair of kitchen gloves and making mealtime a game of toss the rodent until kitty is at the peak of excitement, then snip open the belly to let them at the insides. This last trick is what did it for our kitties.

    Another tip is to make sure frozen feeders are -fully- defrosted. Chilly mice can turn off some cats. Crookshanks still resolutely refuses to eat anything that is not at least room temperature.

    Once the kitten accepts whole prey, then you can worry about the sizes/ages of prey animals. I try to get a few different kinds of feeders at a couple of different ages. Mature animals are good, but immature animals are fatty and good as well. So, a good mixture of size/age should be sufficient.

    Hope this helps!
    -Adrianna

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