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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 5:03:28 GMT -5
so our one year old always gets some bits of the ferret food when im cutting everything up and she goes nuts for it. last night hubby suggested we try going full raw with her. mind you this is the man who 5 years ago when we met thought that raw would make animals mean, now he is suggesting it for our youngest cat  i think it helps that we have been doing raw for the ferrets and he works with someone who does raw for their cat, and i work at a vet clinic with a few people who do raw so anyways, our other 2 cats will stay on kibble for now. they show no interest in meat. i may end up switching them down the line to make things easier on myself, they cant be any harder to change over than the ferrets were. my boy's teeth are horrible after 12 years of eating kibble so i would not mind getting him to chrunch up some necks as for gale. she had her first full meal of raw last night and tried bones for the first time and loved them. they were chopped up chicken necks in ferret sized pieces but stiff, big step. this morning i tried giving her kibble because im half asleep and she wouldnt even sniff it so, any differences between cat and ferret raw diets? anything i need to watch for? |
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Post by racheld on Dec 17, 2014 5:13:21 GMT -5
Cats and ferrets are pretty close, diet wise. Cats might need a little less bone--my cat gets about 5% bone.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 5:57:49 GMT -5
Cats and ferrets are pretty close, diet wise. Cats might need a little less bone--my cat gets about 5% bone. ok, so i want to do less fat? with the ferrets i give them lots of chicken skin because it comes on the thighs, do i still want to do that or should i go skinless? also is there any reason for me to do white meat or is all dark ok? and i just gave her a whole neck and now i cant find it. i have no idea if she ate it or stashed it somewhere lol |
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Post by racheld on Dec 17, 2014 6:11:54 GMT -5
Maybe a little less fat.
Dark meat is better for cats because it's higher in taurine. Naima mostly only gets white meat for edible bone.
Cats don't seem to stash food the way ferrets do but they may move it from their bowl to a 'safe' spot--Naima liked to eat on her scratch lounge lol.
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Post by racheld on Dec 17, 2014 6:15:42 GMT -5
Here's what Naima's menu looks like, and her percentages of bone, muscle, heart, etc.  |
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Post by racheld on Dec 17, 2014 6:16:40 GMT -5
You don't have to do organ and heart daily, I just prefer doing it that way. You can do pretty much any configuration of bone/muscle/heart/organ you want as long as it balances weekly. When I wasn't balancing daily I did try to make sure she got bone in and organ on the same day to prevent constipation (from bone)/diarrhea (from organ).
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 6:24:08 GMT -5
You don't have to do organ and heart daily, I just prefer doing it that way. You can do pretty much any configuration of bone/muscle/heart/organ you want as long as it balances weekly. When I wasn't balancing daily I did try to make sure she got bone in and organ on the same day to prevent constipation (from bone)/diarrhea (from organ). thank you so much, thats very helpful. she does stash things though, i blame the ferrets who she spent a lot of time with when we were fostering her at under 2 months. she even sleeps in their cage sometimes. she thinks she is a weasel and is just as bad as they are |
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Post by racheld on Dec 17, 2014 6:29:19 GMT -5
Naima climbs into Remus' cage too! Haha.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2014 7:53:21 GMT -5
Naima climbs into Remus' cage too! Haha. lol must be all the comfy fleece ferrets get doing eggs for everyone this morning. even gave a tiny bit of watered down egg to my 2 kibble cats and put a little kibble in there to soften up. they seemed curious about the eggs but so far arent huge fans lol gale is adoring it also any idea how much i should feed a 1 year old thats 8lbs? she is a little chunky around the neck thanks to me kitten growing stopping and me still feeding her the same amount, but she is very active even on her anxiety meds |
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Post by racheld on Dec 18, 2014 9:49:25 GMT -5
Most people seem to advise 2-4% of their ideal adult body weight. I think Naima gets 4%, which comes out to 5oz/day. But I need to scale her back a little bit because she's gaining weight, lol.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2014 6:06:08 GMT -5
Most people seem to advise 2-4% of their ideal adult body weight. I think Naima gets 4%, which comes out to 5oz/day. But I need to scale her back a little bit because she's gaining weight, lol. lol oh great now i get to do math |
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Post by racheld on Dec 19, 2014 9:19:54 GMT -5
Just convert their ideal weight to ounces, then multiply by .03. You can adjust the amount as you go.  I wish all animals were as good at self regulating as ferrets! |
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