A Rant - Don't criticise me!! Pedigree cats, Raw Pet food and Catproofing

This week I have had to defend the choices I have made over certain things even when I have not requested the conversation.

Harvey BSH Cream Colourpoint

Reuben, BSH Lilacpoint

Monty, Selkirk Rex Curly Shorthair

Bertie, Selkirk Rex Curly Longhair

Luna, Selkirk Rex Variant

 Firstly, I find it interesting that if you have a hobby no one will criticise you if you spend a bit on equipment. No one will comment. If you choose to own horses or dogs no one will comment should you get a specific breed, if fact you would be deemed to be sensible. Yes indeed, if you are buying a horse for a child you want a breed of horse with a specific temperament and whose adult size you will be able to accommodate. Similarly if you wanted a dog to be family companion you would not choose a dog bred for guarding or with a suspect nervous temperament, you would choose a dog that would fit your house and your household. However even though I have done a similar thing and chosen 5 pedigree cats that are my own hobby and fit into my house I have been criticised for not having taken on rescues and insisting that I have added to the cats that have been abandoned in shelters. No mention that only 7 percent of all cats in the UK are pedigree hardly hitting the heady heights of pedigree dogs!! No mention that responsible breeders have invested so much time and cost into their cats i.e. paying for yearly tests for genetic and other diseases for each of their cats, investing in vaccinations, treatments and costs of feeding that they would do their best to ensure their cats would never find themselves in a shelter, in fact most have a clause in their contract stating that if the cat needs to be rehomed to tell the breeder first and they will take them back. I chose pedigree cats because I wanted to know their temperament, their health and their size. Nobody asked if I also supported/adopted a cat in Cat Protection!!! All I got was someone trying to demean me. Why? I never started the conversation and why do they not question pedigree dogs and specific breed ownership of horses.

Pheasant and Mallard  

Coarse mince 

Chicken hearts left whole

Separately grind chicken liver and kidney coarsely 

To the fine grind add eggs

Supplements, TC feline and Felini Complete

Add supplements

Mix together, supplement fine grind and offal

Add all the good chunked meat i.e. over shot breast

Mix together with lots of additional water

That was my first rant but  in the same week I have had to justify what I feed to the cats and explain the costs. I feel as though I am the odd one out. We are constantly informed that we are what we eat, Jamie Oliver has managed to get the dross of school meals sorted out however when I choose not to feed my cats artificially extruded carcass meat, boiled and dehydrated with sugars and carbohydrates added kibble I am the one who is criticised! Apart from the fact our original cat years ago died at the age of three due to a blocked urethra caused by stones created in urine which was so artificially concentrated due to the permanent dehydration he was in as he could not drink enough to hydrate his body from all the dry kibble!!!

Basics of feline nutrition    http://www.catinfo.org

The pet food manufacturers do not have to follow great standards, there is a base level which they pride themselves on exceeding sometimes. No long term studies. Now we have exploding rates of obesity, diabetes, cystitis and urethral blockage - now where have we seen exploding rates of obesity and diabetes in our society maybe those who have a poor diet. I am happy to feed them a healthy diet to ensure I don't see them in pain at the vets because of the convenience  of dry food. Also I would prefer to use human grade meat and prepare it in a pristine home environment not having to worry about the pet food recalls due to salmonella contamination plus other items such as plastic etc due to the meat having been bought through a Pet food meat broker.

Petfood brokers     http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/sellyourrottenspoiledwastefoodto-pet-food

Petfood recalls       http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/?s=recalls

I then had to argue the costs on top of the health benefit, why? Yes I can feed my cats cheaper than Sheba tins at £5.00kg although my general amount I work on is £5.50kg. I feed five DOCs or 5 mice daily( some will go uggh but that is what we can get closest to their natural diet), the DOCs are 6.5p each and the mice 22p each. Meat can be trimmings or cheap cuts i.e. lamb breast, beef skirt, over shot pheasant, in season game ( rabbit), or special offer super market meat ( Morrisons pork £3.59kg, Beef £5.59kg). All game is frozen for two to three weeks before feeding. The heart, kidney and liver is all offal and really cheap, heart making up around 20% of the meat , liver 5% and kidney another 5%. Cost on top of this are the supplements. So there is my justification, I'm not preaching I did not bring it up but these are my reasons.

An article on costs of kibble, tinned premium, commercial raw and homemade raw -

http://catcentric.org/nutrition-and-food/raw-feeding/how-much-does-it-cost-to-feed-my-cat-or-i-can-afford-to-feed-commercial-raw/

Catproofing

Secure side path

Last of all I even had to stand up for the reasons why I don't let my cats out to roam the streets and have a cat proof garden. Again someone bringing up the subject then almost mocking me as if I was weird. This is a very cultural thing, it seems to be the norm here to let cats roam but not elsewhere. There are many reasons why I don't want them out to roam, we had a cat called Louis who dragged himself back through the cat flap with his whole stomach having been slashed down. I don't want my cat to get involved in an accident with a car either for the injuries he will sustain nor the horror which an accident would cause the person who was involved in it. I do not wish to have to treat abbesses on my cats for when they have been involved in cat fights. Nor see them poisoned with sweet antifreeze that seems to entice them, I don't want hormonal matcho men try to torture my cats nor do I want my pretty cats being picked up and nicked. Also pedigree cats are not bred to have the best car awareness!! None of my cats know what it is to roam so they do not miss it. They have access to a reasonable sized garden which has a variety of plants, shelves and objects to keep them investigating, they have free access through a cat flap and the run of the whole house. They are not terrorised by cats as none have ever got in and none of ours have ever got out. As a result we have the most amazing relaxed cats around.

Comparing indoor and outdoor issues -

http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/adoption-pet-care/caring-for-your-pet/indoor-cats-vs-outdoor-cats.html

Cat proofing hardly obvious in the background

So this is my rant for now, I don't mention or force my opinions on anyone, what I do is research and do what I feel is best for my circumstances if you disagree keep it to yourself.

RAW or BARF feeding of cats

Mincer, containers , mince, Fortan Fortain, Fellini complete,  meats

Well I am going to put my cards on the table and say I totally believe in feeding RAW food to my cats.

Our last cat Louis unfortunately died at the young age of three from  a Urethral Obstruction. At the time we were told strongly that the best diet for him was dry cat food. He had the kibble sold at the vets and felt we were doing the best for him. On reflection I truly feel his diet and his behaviour combined to cause his illness. At no point did he have an over riding thirst drive and this combined with the feeding solely of dry food I feel combined to cause a constant level of dehydration and concentrated his urea to create uroliths causing the total blockage. It has been thought that early neutering could also cause a narrowing of the urethra however this in general has been disproved.

On getting our new male cats I looked into the causes of the disease and found that a RAW diet was recommended by individuals as a much healthier method of feeding resulting in better coat quality, better health, less obesity, fewer dental issues and no dehydrating effects of dry.

I had a EUREKA moment..... Cats are OBLIGATE CARNIVORES, they ONLY eat MEAT. They have a reduced thirst drive as they get all their hydration through feeding on raw meat, not cooked meat - raw meat. The more I read the more obvious it became that the continued benefits for health and overall cost made RAW an essential method of feeding.

For- 

Body condition - cat self regulate their diet better, less podgy cats. 

Coat - Shining good condition coat. Less dander for allergy sufferers.

Teeth - Bones and strips of meat help to clean the teeth and maintain healthy gums.

Health - No permanent semi state of dehydration and the stress that puts on the organs. Ease of digestion. Less urinary infections such as cystitis etc.

Cost - Home made is cheaper than tinned food but not as cheap as kibble however there could be a greater number of visits to the vets and those costs mount up.

Against- 

Convenience - Open a tin, always on hand. Kibble will last for ages.

Cost - Kibble is cheap.

Need to add more fluid to this mince

I started feeding our clowder of cats RAW in October using the company Natural Instinct ( human grade meat) Raw cat food, the food comes packed in 500g containers and the variety of frozen supplemented food varies according to the time of year. They have the basic chicken and beef/ chicken and lamb at all times but the Vension, Wild Bird Game and Rabbit is seasonal. The good thing about this company is that the food has all the additional health supplements you would want and the delivery minimum is only 5Kg. However quality can vary, the venison can be very dry as can be the Wild bird although these are their favourites. Good rich tastes. I have tried Honeys twice. Nutriment is a new company with the right ethos, which if their range expands I would hope to try with a sample box.
When supply became difficult recently I decided that I had to make my own. So this is when I officially became a mad cat lady to my friends.
I have tried mentioning the fact that it is what cats are supposed to eat, Obligate carnivores. That it doesn't have all the cereal fillers ( why does a cat need cereals?) that processed cat foods include. Nor the sugars which have may have raised the number of cats being seen for dental decay to epidemic proportions ( used for dramatic emphasis, maybe). That obesity is seen far less in RAW fed cats that  naturally self regulate. There maybe a high correlation in those cats with Renal issues such as Urethral blockage or cystitis being fed dry kibble alone as cats have no natural thirst drive naturally getting most of their hydration through the killed food they eat. AND that it is generally cheaper than tinned food but not dry. BUT who wants to feed food that has been hosed off carcasses and pasted up then dried out into a kibble. A well known general brand of wet  tinned food is 51p per 100g, therefore if I ensure I can buy my meat at £5.10 per KG or less then it is cheaper. For my bone content of 10% I can get Chicken wings for £1.50 and that is just the start, I have found sources at different butchers for kidneys, liver, heart, cheap meats ie Lamb breast/ Shin of beef/ seasonal game. I think all this human grade quality of meat is somewhat better than found in tins.

Home made mince, Chunked cut Quail, cut pancreas 

So I bought my mincer which is an Andrew James Electric mincer 1800 W. This beast is cheapish but can gnaw up bones needed in the food. In RAW food the suggested ratios of ingredients  are 80% Muscle meat, 10% Bone, 5% liver and 5 % excreting organ such as kidney plus supplements at the moment I am too lazy to buy individual ones so I get Fellini Complete or TC Feline Raw Basic.
So I start with my chicken wings and throw them in the mincer, followed by the kidneys and muscle meat, the wings I try to have at room temperature as it makes it easier for the mincer. The liver I tend to have just defrosting from the freezer so it has integrity for the mincer to mince. I make up the supplement and mix the whole lot in together. All this time I try to work rapidly to keep the whole are as chilled as possible. I add water to make the mix the consistency I  want. With my grind I keep it fairly coarse as they don't like paste, terrine style food. I then label a variety of containers from Lakeland and label, putting into each enough for one days diet for 4 cats. This then is frozen until needed. The night before feeding I remove from the freezer and defrost, you can put the container in just warm water. When giving I just give enough to be eaten over an hour but then regularly put new bowls of food down as the eldest cat is still only one and a half years old and a BSH, a breed which grows until 3years old. I add vitamin flakes sometimes, a Haem supplement sometimes and a Probiotic sometimes, not often though. It depends on the season and weather etc.

Love this mincer, just Olive oil the grinding discs to keep it A1

They also have in addition to the made mince on rotation each day and in another bowl, heart strips (lamb,pig, Ox), kidney chunk cut (pig, lamb, Ox), Chicken wings chunk cut, and wholesale cost Quail ( this is their absolute favourite including the new kitten of one week!! who will eat this first). 

So that is my story of Raw up to the present moment, with four very healthy, glossy coated, dentally fine, and superb body conditioned cats.

Two weeks to go - Visit to see our new kitten

At 10 weeks

We have a collection date to bring our new kitten home, a fortnight today..... Hooray.

Bertie is a Blue Tabby Longhaired Curly Selkirk Rex. What a handsome boy! I can't wait to get him and have a really quiet week with him. Lots of cuddles.

I've been trying to work out their sleeping arrangements. Before this summer the cats had no access to the outside garden unless we supervised it however with the new kitten he will have access to the cat flap and a cat proofed garden. My worry is that as a kitten he should be supervised for a while and so we need to find at place at night to keep him secure, not that easy! I don't want to shut the other boys out of their favourite places, however nor do I wish to buy a large cage. I think maybe the Office would be a good spot at night, ohhhh I don't know....I would prefer to have him in the bedroom at night.

Breeders photo at 3 weeks

At 5 weeks

Hopefully he will take to RAW food pretty quickly, with Monty I had bought a range of kitten food none of which he touched as he saw the others boys food and started on it straight away!!!

At 8 weeks, breeders photo

 At 8 weeks











I hope the introductions go well, we have two Feliways running and one Petremedy diffuser. I will also spray the travel box with the Feliway. With all the boys we have carefully allowed scent swapping, then visual introductions with treats, going onto supervised greetings with more treats and a quiet atmosphere. He seems a relaxed Selkirk. We shall see.

Raw Cat Food

I've always try to make sure I read around subjects I am interested in, even when I buy something new I have to research that I have the best against my values.

When we got our first cat I made sure we gave him the best food possible, at the time I assumed from advertising and promotions at the vets that this would be dried cat food. 

Researching it became obvious that a cat without a natural thirst drive would find dried food an issue. Cats,especially male cats had a greater chance, when fed dry food, with blockages, crystals and cystitis. Obviously wet food was preferable.

Wet pouches and tins come from so many manufacturers however supermarkets seem to focus on a few. Again looking into these the methods of collecting the meat derivatives, the fillers and cereals made me question their quality. Why would an obligate carnivore require cereals? Food intolerance, allergies and obese cats are on the rise. Why would they need sugars? Mice aren't sweet! : ) Some tins of famous brands had as little as 4% meat! 

Trekking down brands of good wet cat food showed me they are available but with difficulty! Germany seems to be where thought about  ethics and quality transferred into a fair abundance of producers. Organic cat food, fair trade, sustainability had all been considered. 

You could find different protein sources- beef,lamb,chicken, ostrich, kangaroo, reindeer, sea bream, tuna etcetera. Meat quantities in the high eighties. 

I had delivered quality cat food from a site called "fuettern-mitt-spass-de", delivery very, very quick. Two days! From Germany! And delivery the same as Britain! Also I was able to get many tins from "Zooplus."

In researching these I came across more and more information about RAW/BARF food. Why was it not obvious to me that, yes, a cats natural food is meat, not cooked, all raw, and with all the extra bits!!

There are suppliers of frozen RAW cat food available, we have tried Natural Instinct ( NI ), Honeys, and Nurture through nature. They love NI, especially the Wild game, Rabbit and Venison flavours and all human grade meat etc. Honeys, they adored some flavours and not others. I will try soon www.nutriment.co. A company just starting out but with the best ethics from the sound of it.

My cats have never been healthier, coat and health shining through. Vets mentioning perfect weight and glistening teeth.

NOW I have started to make my own.

Minced Rabbit with bone in, plus heart, kidney, and liver and  supplements. Next is a bowl of cut up wing tips, and at the end some spare kidney.

Below is my first bowl of RAW I made working on the 80:10:5:5 ratio and supplements.

I'll write more about RAW when I have a bit more time!!!!