The Rise of Manufactured Pet Food
Commercial pet food has only been around for the last century and really didn't take off until the 1960's. Originally kibble was invented to be a convenience product. However, it didn't take long before the product became popularized, as it was realized that pet food manufacturing was indeed a very viable market. By utilizing grains, meat byproducts, and meat items not fit for human consumption, manufacturers could produce a product with very little overhead. Please visit this website for further details of what is commonly used in the making of pet food. It will shock and disturb you.
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&more=1
Biologically Appropriate Feeding for Carnivores
It is a biological fact that cats are obligate carnivores. If we look up this term in Wikipedia Online, we will find the following entry:
"Obligate carnivores
An obligate or true carnivore is an animal that subsists on a diet consisting only of meat."
What significance does this hold for domestic felines? Everything! They have evolved to eat a diet that is prey based. This means that millions and millions of years cannot and will not be undone simply because Hills and Purina say so. Cats survive on mediocre diets, but this by no means indicates that it is OK to feed them in this manner, nor that they are necessarily thriving. While people are generally led to believe that feeding "premium" grade manufactured food means they are giving their cats the best available diet, this is a fallacious assertion. No matter what is to be found in a bag or a can, there are three basic underlying facts about them all: they are all processed, they are all cooked, and they are all species inappropriate. Some varieties have more or less of certain ingredients (grains, preservatives, "meats"), but NOTHING, absolutely no food found in a bag or can is fit for any cat. There is truly a difference between surviving and thriving. We have all seen some cat at some point in time who lived to be 20 eating Alley Cat brand cat food and stealing scraps out of the garbage. We've also observed people live to be well over 100 while smoking cigarettes every day of their lives since childhood. Take that same cat and feed him an appropriate and healthy diet, and I would be willing to bet that he would have lived to be a lot older, and more healthfully for that matter.
So, what is a prey based diet supposed to consist of? Whole raw prey! Ideally we would all be feeding our cats rodents, rabbits, birds, insects and other small, whole animals. Many cat owners really are not aware of all the available resources to obtain such foods. If you don't live on a farm, raising your own chickens, rabbits and other small animals is probably out of the question. There are, however, many valuable resources for suburban folks who opt to feed their felines a species appropriate diet, but don't have the ability to raise their own food.
Sources of Whole Prey Foods:
Mike Dupoy Hawk Food
Mice, rats, chicks, quail- free ground delivery with some orders
http://www.mikedupuyhawkfood.com/mdhf_price_aug06.pdf
Pet Icebox
Mice and rats, no minimum order and flat rate shipping of $28.
http://www.peticebox.com/
Screaming Pinky
Pinky mice and pinky rats
http://www.screamingpinky.com/
Hare Today
Chicken(whole chicks and adults, whole pieces, organs, feet, ground,eggs), duck(ground), goat(bones, organs, ground), beef(bones, ground, organs,tripe, gullet), mutton (ground, organs, bones), pork(bones, organs, feet),rabbit(whole rabbits of assorted sizes, ground), turkey (ground), pheasant(ground), salmon (ground), various dehydrated meats
http://www.hare-today.com/
Big Apple Herpetological
Mice, rats, chicks, quail, rabbits- frozen and live
http://www.bigappleherp.com/
Lazy S Rodents
Mice, rats, gerbils, african soft furred rats- NO SHIPPING- located in FL
http://www.lazysrodents.com/
Rodent Pro
Mice, rats, guinae pigs, chicks, quail, rabbits- *HOT DEALS*
http://www.rodentpro.com/index.asp
Mice on Ice
Mice and rats
http://www.miceonice.com/
Kingsnake.com Feeder Classifieds
Mice, rats, pigs, guinea pigs, chicks, quail, rabbits, insects (crickets, roaches, worms, etc, etc)
http://market.kingsnake.com/index.php?cat=28
VenomousReptiles.org Feeder Classifieds
Mice, rats, pigs, guinae pigs, chicks, quail, rabbits, insects, etc
http://www.venomousreptiles.org/classifieds/results/7
Apex Rodents
Mice and rats
http://www.ApexRodents.com/
Frozen feeder pigs not much bigger than colossal rats. Add more weight to your snakes
cheaper. More of the pig is used for nutrients than rabbits or even
rats. Pigs ranging from 2-6 lbs. VERY LARGE reliable source. Currently
about 3500-4000 lbs available.
Minimum order of 50 lbs.
$1.50 per pound 50-150 lbs
$1.25 per pound for 150-300 lbs
$1.00 per pound for above 300 lbs Shipping is not included in the
price. Shipping is pretty reasonable either via 2 day or Airlines.
Thanks Matthew www.monster-cages.com
rats and mice for sale from pinkies to jumbo live or frozen pickup or delivery 434-996-6067
Sources of Raw Diets:
http://www.wildlifepetfoods.com/index.asp
Feeding a Diet of Grocery Store Meats:
Looking at nature, you can get a general idea of how to formulate a diet based on things available at your local supermarket. These ratios are not set in stone, and do not match the benefits of feeding whole prey, but as part of a varied diet, are much more beneficial than ANY processed pet food.
75% meat (including muscle, fat, tendons, skin, veins/ arteries, etc)
15% edible bone
10% organs (half of that being liver)
Examples:
*game hen chunks with a bit of organ meats on the side
*chicken necks w/some dark poultry meat on the side and a bit of organ meat
*cut up whole chicken, serving the dark meat portions such as the legs, bones intact with a bit of organ meat
*whole small fishes or large chunks-salmon and sardine are the best options and avoid feeding more then once a week or so. Fish are not a natural meal item for Felis catus a.k.a. the domestic cat. Salmon and sardine have the lowest mercury contamination levels. Tuna is to be avoided.
*occasionally feeding boneless meat is OK, but do avoid doing so on a regular basis- heart and dark poultry meats are good options as they are loaded with taurine
It's always advisable to feed organic, free range meats. Farmed animals are definitely a sub-par food source, so if you can find a local butcher or co-op from which you can acquire naturally raised meat, it's well worth the extra effort.
For a healthy cat, the only supplementing which is commonly used for this natural diet is fish body oil (and vitamin e), which is an excellent source of pure omega 3's. (1000mg of highly concentrate fish oil and 100IU of vitamin E for each adult cat daily) For our multi-cat household such as ours, I would add 500mg of l-lysine to the daily rations as an extra immune booster.
The advantages of feeding a natural diet can be seen very quickly. Immediately your cat's stool becomes smaller and virtually odor free. His breath becomes fresh as his teeth become clean from crunching up bones. His fur becomes soft and silky and any dandruff/ dry/ itchy skin issues soon clear up. Ultimately, the only ones who do not benefit by feeding a natural diet are your veterinarian (due to the lack of visits needed for a healthy cat) and the pet food manufacturers.
Always be mindful of your cats need to consume whole, raw, meaty bones in order to maintain good oral health!!! Avoid feeding ground foods.
So, what do I feed my cats??
The bulk of our cats diets consist of small prey animals. People sometimes confuse cats need for roughage (fur, feathers, scales, ect) to be a need for plant fiber. Like previously mentioned, cats naturally eat a negligible amount of plant matter. To say that they have an actually dietary requirement for plant fiber is extremely erronous. We supplement our diet with grocery store items such as game hens, chickens, and a bit of chunked meat. Young kittens and growing cats MUST get a porportionate amount of calcium in their diet or they will suffer from rickets (weak bones) and over all poor development. If boneless meats are given often, then calcium supplementation is a necessity. I avoid this hassel by simply feeding whole prey every single day to our kittens and young cats.
I generally feed adults only 2x's per day, although a more natural feeding schedule would be more along the lines of 3-4 feedings per day. Fully weaned kittens can be fed at the same frequency. Appetites are stongest at dawn and dusk, but mid-day and late night snacks are very appreciated. Over all, its the same amount of food, just broken up into more servings.
More Information About Natural Feeding:
http://www.rawfedcats.org
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/
http://www.rawmeatybones.com/
http://www.rawlearning.com
http://www.rawfed.com
Support Groups for Practical Advice From Other Raw Feeders
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawcat/
Common Health Problems Associated With Kibble Feeding
http://www.catinfo.org/index.htm
***There are many sites out there promoting various feline recipes. If they are suggesting that you cook the food, add pureed veggies and fruits, grains, vitamin supplements, grind the bones, or feed fish as a regular dietary component, RUN the other way and dont look back. These are cats were feeding folks, not little humans. Cats THRIVED for 40,000,000 years on whole prey. Nature knows best. The closer you can come to natures recipe, the better.
There are many "raw proponents" who have learned that they can capitalize on pet owners fears of processed pet food, and are marketing their own lines of junk, raw products. Be wary, be wise. Keep in the back of your mind the basic, universal, and fundamental truths of feline nutrition.