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First post and question: Approximately how much??

This is a dedicated place for all of your questions and answers about Raw Diets. There are also some really cool groups like "Raw Fed" on the topic you can join. This forum is for people who already know they like the raw diet or sincerely want to learn more. Please remember that you are receiving advice from peers and not professionals. If you have specific health-related questions about your cat's diet, please contact your vet!

  
I call them- Zila and Zul

1176419		 
 
Purred: Sun Feb 6, '11 6:48pm PST 
Hi everyone, I'm happy I found a forum that I can post to about raw food for cats!!! Just recently switched my cats to raw. We're doing the Raw Meaty Bones thing. ::Yay!!::

I'm wondering though, about how much do *you* give your cat(s) per day??

Measurements like "a fist-sized amount" or "2 drumsticks" would be greatly appreciated. Or pictures if you have them! Thank you, thank you!


I've been reading on a bunch of sites about how much to give a day... X% of body weight at this age, X% at this age.... or X grams/kilos/etc... but I don't have a kitchen scale and am kind of confused.

Thanks soooo much for any help!! And sorry if this has already been talked about in a previous post. =)



A little more background:
I have two cats, Zila (4 mo. old) and Zul (~7 yrs) and have switched them over to raw cold turkey (or cold chicken, haha) 3 days ago. They LOOOVE it! They've eaten chicken necks, chicken heads, heart, some other organs, breast and almost all the attached bones I've given them. Probably about a good two handfuls a day, split into two meals for the older cat, and 4 little meals for the younger one. They aren't having any problems with digestion that I can tell. They are both indoor/outdoor cats and catch mice, etc., outside already anyway so maybe they are already used to raw.I will definitely give them more than just chicken as I find good sources of meat. Really looking forward to all the health benefits they will get from this diet!!
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SnowFlake

The Evil One		 
 
Purred: Mon Feb 7, '11 5:39am PST 
Its 2-3% of their body weight. Snowflake weighs 8 pounds and I feed her 2 oz a day. Dont forget to 80% meat 10% bone 5% liver and 5% other organs.

Edited by author Mon Feb 7, '11 5:39am PST

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BK

Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.		 
 
Purred: Mon Feb 7, '11 9:17am PST 
BK is pretty active and I let him eat as much as he wants really. He self regulates very well. He averages about 3.5 oz per meal. Without a scale I'd say it's a big handful. The good news is that it's harder for them to get fat on a raw diet because there aren't any carbs. I do recommend getting a scale however, just to be sure of your percentages. You can get a cheap one for under $10. It doesn't have to be perfect, but you need to be sure you're in the ballpark for your bone, liver and organ percentages unless you do whole prey.
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Shade

My name is not- Kittyfloss!
 
 
Purred: Mon Feb 7, '11 10:39am PST 
At 4 months of age, Zila should be eating as much as she wants to fuel her growth and her kitten devlishness! big grin

I agree with BK that you should probably try to get a cheap kitchen scale as it takes some of the guesswork out, but that being said, I don't really weigh my cats food very often. I feed 1/4 to 1/6th of a game hen for an in bone meal, depending on which cat, 17lb Smudge or 10.5lb Chaucer. Other meals could be a medium sized chicken neck with 2-3 gizzards and maybe a quarter sized piece of chicken liver. Or 7 pieces of beef or lamb, about 3/4" to 1" cubes. Just take into account that I feed 3 meals a day.

You can keep an eye on your cats to make sure they aren't getting too thin or fat and adjust up or down as necessary. Also, I see that when you mentioned heart you also referred to "other organs", just remember that in raw feeding a heart is considered muscle meat and not an organ.

Purrs,

Shade
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I call them- Zila and Zul

1176419		 
 
Purred: Tue Feb 8, '11 8:06pm PST 
Thanks for all your suggestions and help! I think I've been giving too much bone, so I'll try make sure it stays at around %10.
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BK

Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.		 
 
Purred: Wed Feb 9, '11 4:00pm PST 
The best way to tell if you have your bone percentage correct is by watching the poop! I find bone almost impossible to measure - after all, it has meat on it. How can you accurately tell? Plus every cat is slightly different. Either I can't measure correctly or BK needs a little more bone than other cats. When I have it right his poop is perfect. Not enough and his stool is soft, too much and it's hard and white - too white. So although you should always aim for 10% just keep a close eye on the litter box.
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