our raw food venture
The basics of raw food for cats
After a good deal of research and reading, I’ve decided to follow the basic raw diet that Anne lays out on her website, catnutrition.org. A slightly modified version of the recipe can be found at catinfo.org, a knowledgeable site that is run by Dr. Lisa Pierson, a veterinarian.
The only problem with it, is that I don’t own a meat grinder. The foundation of raw feeding is ground meat with bones, or else the cats will be missing out on calcium and other essential minerals and nutrients. To purchase a meat grinder that could also handle bones would be a significant investment, something that is definitely out of my league at the moment.
I was, however, able to find an excellent source of whole ground chicken! Yes, I just purchased 10 pounds of ground chicken plus 2 pounds of chicken hearts (contains taurine, a critical component of cat diets) from Hare Today, and I am quite excited about it.
Hare Today is a small family run farm. We strive for a healthy environment for all our animals without the use of hormones or antibiotics. I believe that a healthy animal raised with plenty of pasture space (rotational grazing) as well as good management techniques does not require all the “preventative measures” found in most feed lot practices. Fresh air, plenty of sunshine and room to roam is by far the best way to raise livestock. The chicken, turkey, pheasant, duck, salmon are USDA inspected ALL NATURAL.
I know it’s been more than month, but i’ll post this anyway. Flea markets often have antique hand-cranked meat grinders. These are common enough to usually be pretty inexpensive. Of course it would require a significant investment of elbow grease to grind those bones…