What raw meat foods are suitable for cats to eat?

Apr 11,2024
8Min

Although cats can eat different types of meat, rabbits, chicken, and other small poultry, such as quail, are cats' favorites because they are very close to the prey that cats can hunt in the wild.

Animals like cows are impossible for cats to hunt in the wild, and this type of meat may cause allergic reactions in cats.

Similarly, mutton and pork are not suitable for cats.

In addition, fish is not suitable for cats and can only be eaten occasionally. The main problems with fish are:

1. Fish are generally predators, and it is difficult to avoid heavy metal pollution and pesticide enrichment. Especially fish at the top of the food chain, such as tuna, which is often the main raw material for various canned cat snacks, especially canned cats produced in Japan and Thailand. Just to give you an example, it's almost always tuna.

2. Fish lack vitamin E.

3. The most important thing is that cats especially like the strong fishy smell, which is very addictive and will make them picky eaters.

4. The viscera of shellfish and freshwater fish contain a large amount of enzymes that decompose vitamin B1, which can cause malnutrition

5. There are a lot of vitamins A and D in fish offal. Eating too much will cause poisoning.

Six commonly used recipes for reasonable raw meat and bones

1. Meat

In addition to chickens and rabbits, ducks, quails, pigeons, and mice are also suitable for cats, as well as ostrich meat and venison.

Although cats do not hunt deer, studies have found that venison is nutritionally very close to cats’ natural prey.

In short, the principle is to approach animals that cats can capture in the wild.

2. Bones

Raw bones are actually easy for cats to chew, swallow, and digest. There is no need to worry about getting stuck in the throat. Cats eat whole small animals in the wild and can adapt to this problem.

Cooked bones are dangerous. When cooked, the minerals will be fixed on the bones, making them unable to be absorbed and utilized.

At the same time, this also causes the bones to break easily, making the bones sharp and brittle, scratching the digestive tract, and making it almost impossible to digest.

Small pieces of bone-in meat, such as chopped chicken wings, can be eaten by cats.

Cracking bones is also good for your cat’s teeth and jaw development. Cats fed raw meat and bones from childhood have more developed jaw muscles and a flatter mouth, making them appear cuter.

Biting bones can also clean teeth and reduce oral diseases. Refer to my article "What should I do if my cat has dental calculus?"

In addition to providing calcium, raw bones can also increase other minerals and be beneficial to the body.of enzymes.

Raw bone marrow is also rich in nutrients.

Finally, compared with artificially added calcium, raw bones have a more reasonable phosphorus-to-calcium ratio.

Not only rickets, the lack of phosphorus-calcium ratio in adult cats may also cause osteoporosis, leading to the possibility of fractures.

3. Internal organs

It is best to get a comprehensive range of internal organs, but if not, you can specifically refer to the heart, liver and kidneys. These three types are relatively easy to buy.

Offal contains vitamin B, vitamin A, and fatty acids that are lacking in meat.

The heart is rich in taurine, which is very important to cats. Taurine is also intentionally added to commercial cat food during processing.

It should be noted that in many raw bone and meat recipes, the heart is usually included in the weight of the meat, rather than the offal.

4. Egg yolk

Raw egg yolks are rich in protein, folic acid, vitamin B12, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

It is also rich in antioxidants - lutein, as well as some vitamin A, taurine, and arginine.

Egg whites are also a good source of phosphorus-free protein for cats who require a low-phosphorus diet.

However, egg whites should be cooked before feeding them to cats, because raw egg whites will inhibit the absorption of vitamin H.

In the previous tutorial on making raw meat and bone recipe, there were only raw egg yolks and no egg whites. This is the reason.

5. Water

Cats originated in the desert. There were cat mummies in ancient Egypt, so cats evolved to be suitable for dry climates. Only the moisture in the prey’s body is enough. Generally speaking, the water content in natural animals is as high as 70%. -80%, so when making raw meat, only a small amount of water is enough.

Precisely because cats are natural desert animals and mainly use natural animals as water sources, their thirsty desire is not strong. This will still be the case after they start eating dry cat food, which can easily lead to insufficient water intake, which in turn leads to urination. If the concentration of the fluid is too high, crystals will form and block the urinary tract.

If your cat only eats dry cat food, it is necessary to force the cat to drink more water. The method is very simple. You usually need to blanch the meat before frying it. Do not throw away the bloody water. Cats like it very much. .

6. Nutritional additives

This is just to make up for not eating the whole animal, and cutting, grinding, and freezing will also cause some nutritional losses.

Nutritional additives are mainly taurine, vitamin B, vitaminVitamin E and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (sea fish oil).

These nutrients are often concentrated in the heads of animals, especially the brain and eyes. Therefore, if the head is not included in the raw meat and bones, it is necessary to add these nutritional additives.

In fact, after catching a mouse, a cat usually eats the mouse's head first.

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