All about Raw

by Rebekah Lewis

Before commercial diets were available to our feline companions, they were catching their own dinner on the run. Natural prey of mice, birds and small game are fully consumed, including the bone. The chewing & tearing of flesh and crushing of bone act as one of nature‘s best dental assistive devices. This act strengthens the jaw muscles, releases enzymes that cleanse the teeth. Additionally the flesh and tendons rubbing against the gums and teeth simulate brushing the teeth.

Since the invention of commercial diets, our household pets have had an increase in veterinary visits and diseases such as diabetes, skin disorders, joint problems, obesity, and even dental problems. If you eat a bowl full of sugar and starches every day I am pretty sure that all of these problems will come back to haunt you before too long as well. Most commercial diets consist of 30-50% of grain (carbohydrate), products that are converted into glucose (sugar) and that then in turn can lead to diabetes and obesity if our pets. Heck, it sure has a lot to do with my Sphynx-like figure! For example - Potato chips, you can‘t eat just one! Commercially prepared diets of kibble use lower quality meat and meat by-products that are pressure cooked. This cooking process causes most nutrients to be lost and to replenish all these lost nutrients chemical additives are reinserted!

When cats catch their prey they devour the meat, bones and organs as well as the smaller amounts of vegetation that the herbivores/omnivores (their prey) have been consuming. A cat needs less than 2% vegetation in their diet. However, the feline is still receiving all 4 food groups from a good raw diet:

 Fresh, raw meat
 Some uncooked bone
 Some raw organ meats
 Some green vegetation

The people at Bravo! Raw Diet (www.bravorawdiet.com) remind us, ―Also, carnivores have a very high level of acidity in their digestive systems. This high acidity allows them to process raw meats and bones and is also hostile to bacteria. We‘ve all seen dogs eat true garbage (rotten foods, decaying squirrel carcasses, etc.) without any ill effects. Carnivores did not evolve in nature to eat a diet that would kill them. And remember, we aren‘t suggesting you feed spoiled, contaminated foods. A raw food diet consists of good quality; USDA inspected and approved meats and bones.

Finding the proper resources for starting a raw diet would be the first step towards starting your Sphynx on the healthy paw for a long life. Resources and considerations are as follows

 Finding Grinding/Preparation Equipment
 Premade Diets and Recipes
 Sanitation and Safety
 Finding Proteins and Ingredients
 Serving Sizes and Frequency
 Storage and Containment
 Reading and References

Myths About Raw Feeding website states,
―So how does one feed a cat a raw diet? Cats can eat the same raw foods a dog can eat, just in smaller portions and always fresh. They can eat game hens, chicken, quail, lamb, beef, pork, turkey, duck, fish, goat, venison, rabbit, mice, rats, eggs, and various organ meats. As with feeding dogs, you should try and recreate the whole prey your cat would be eating in the wild. If your cat is an avid hunter, then you may only just be supplementing with raw food occasionally. Some cats do not eat meat from animals that typically are not their prey, which may rule out beef, lamb, venison, and the like. However, this does not mean these meats should not be tried. On the contrary—some cats 'change their minds' about certain meats once they start eating fresh raw food.

Finding your Grinder for preparation can be a time-consuming process, and depending on the amount of food you make and the number of cats you have can determine what you really need. I consider having a grinder an essential item. If you are unable to purchase a grinder, start searching for local sources for your proteins that will also have your meat ground or chunked at your request.
The best electric grinder is one with a minimum of 1000 watts and nothing less. For the more adventurous and physically fit, a manual grinder (countertop mounted) usually start in the $65-$150 range and require some sweat and toil. The end results will be healthy and happy Sphynx.
Note: A food processor (can) should ONLY be used for boneless meats and the use of calcium powders for supplementation is sug-gested. Babies weaning off of mom will lick the wet mix and slowly get their teeth and work into chewing larger pieces of meat which I offer every day.

A good starter grinder is the Tasin TS-108. This nice little machine takes chicken down steadily and doesn‘t heat up. It isn‘t able to handle bones harder than a chicken or rabbit but is very dependable. The price is very affordable at only $185.00 and includes shipping. Northern Tool offers several good grinders in the price ranges of $99 upwards of $600.00. Cabella‘s also offers many grinders starting at $99 and upwards of $1000. For those that wish to remain green‘ a crank-style hand grinder is definitely the way to go, there‘s a lot of satisfaction to be had working through selections of meat and no worries about a motor going kaput! Ebay and Craigslist are wonderful places to search for used and/or refurbished electric grinders instead of buying brand new but beware, these do not always come with the warranty and customer service necessary on an item that will suffer great abuse. Yard sales as well as auctions also will surprise with items of great use. Another good resource is the Cat Nutrition website

Preparation Equipment

You will need a boning knife, cleaver, plastic food grade cutting boards and kitchen shears. Some raw feeding homes prefer storage in glass jars, some in plastic containers but I prefer using a vacuum sealing machine that makes packing everything for deep-freeze storage a breeze. Premade Diets Yes indeed, if you are just not ready to step into this great big scary adventure but still want to feed raw; there are numerous com-panies available that wish to feed your feline correctly. These more often than not have some additives that your cat might not want to taste but eventually they grow accustomed to the flavor. The alternative is to continue on commercial kibble (yuck!)

Another fantastic resource for proteins is hare-today.com where rabbit, duck, pheasant, mutton, mice and organ meats are available and many more. These are available in whole prey, chunked and ground all one has to do is add vitamins, eggs and water! A FEW wonderful alternatives in a kibble form are:

Nature‘s Variety
Evo Pet
Wellness CORE
Taste of the Wild
Solid Gold Health

Recipes

I use the recipe from Cat Nutrition.org that I personally have followed for the last 8 years, but have found ways to use proteins other than chicken while still finding organs that are associated with that particular type of prey. If that particular organ is not available we do use chicken or beef as the replacement. Alternative recipe can be found at felineinstincts.com

Additives

Feline Instincts
Platinum Performance
NuVet

Sanitation and Safety

Handling any meat, especially poultry - is one of those touchy subjects. So we must remember to wash every surface and use proper disposal methods. Do not use wooden cutting boards or wooden handled knives and spoons. Food grade plastic cutting boards and cutting sheets are the most sanitary equipment to use when handling meat.
Meat should never be left out for more than 30 minutes after it has been down to be fed. Only place the amount of food your pet is going to consume onto plates. Additionally, defrosting/thawing the meals should be done by placing the food in warm/room tempera-ture water while still in a separate container where it can thaw slowly. Applying heat will destroy nutrients. The use of microwaves will make bones brittle and can cause splintering.

Proteins and Ingredients

A good start for a protein is chicken, as it is easily accessible and the bones are soft enough to grind. If you don‘t have a grinder, they are still soft enough to chop with a cleaver and go through with kitchen shears into small enough pieces for the average cat to chew. Most cats prefer dark meat and the nutrients found in the dark are higher.
Beef is not a natural diet for our cats. We must consider that in the wild, cats do not attempt to kill a cow nor do they even near the carcass of a deceased cow. Smaller prey and creatures of flight or vermin are closest to their natural diet. These also tend to have higher amounts of taurine found in them. However, as a treat – why not!

Searching for healthy proteins start with naturally raised proteins. Organic markets and farmers markets are my first choice when shopping for my companions as well as local cooperatives. Join raw-feeding yahoo groups. There are tons of files, information and resources available to learn from. Not only this, but contacts with local farmers and market places to purchase items at better prices than directly from the supermarket! Supporting local farmers supports local economy which strengthens the dollar without taxation!
These options open up new flavors and variety for your pet and also open up the door for organ meats that are not otherwise readily available in the supermarket. At the basic supermarket , your only options are chicken, beef, turkey, fish and pork . (Never feed pork!) Out of these items, rarely do we have a choice of obtaining heart and liver.
The reason we do not feed pork is your cat can contract trichinosis from raw pork. This is a parasite found in undercooked or raw pork that can cause ―nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue, fever, and abdominal discomfort are the first symptoms of trichinellosis. Headaches, fevers, chills, cough, eye swelling, aching joints and muscle pains, itchy skin, diarrhea, or constipation follow the first symptoms. If the infection is severe, patients may experience difficulty coordinating movements, and have heart and breathing problems. In severe cases, death can occur. (2008, CDC Parasite Fact Sheet)

Serving Sizes and Frequency

It is suggested that feeding should be 3-4x a day at 2-4% of the body weight of the cat. Since we are dealing with Sphynx I actually work upwards of 3-6% of body weight as we all know that the Sphynx actually eats almost double that of the average cat due to the higher metabolism. These are working cats‘ and have more energy to burn. They have bursts of energy and like to run around and clown around and let us know how gorgeous and silly they really are.

Storage and Containment

This is the easiest section, but say goodbye to the space in your freezer for your family‘s ice cream and frozen vegetables. Purchase of a vacuum sealing machine is probably the best investment possible next to your grinder but if this is not possible, using freezer style zip-style lunch bags is more than adequate. Tupperware is also a wonderful option if you have a small fraction of friends in your home and are making ground foods. Making large portions of ground on one afternoon and sharing the job with another family member will cut down the effort. Typically 40-50#s of chicken being ground and mixed with supplements and then bagged takes approximately 3-3.5 hours.
Freshly ground/chunked meats will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator and any amount of time after this is time for disposal.

I hope this article has provided more options for your raw diet needs. Look for Prey Model diet information! in upcoming issues of SBEN.

Rebekah Lewis is a breeder who lives in Texas, USA.

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