Have given a natural diet to my animals for a very long time now -30yrs odd (tempus fugit
) For the cats, the cats 'taught' me. I was facinated in what they ate of their catches. Ghastly cat was the best ever teacher. she eviscerates beautifully - even for dogette and myself ('Our' food is beautifully presented...!) What I noticed was that apart from the heart, she did not take the organs. In my raw food shopping (she does prefer raw) any offal I bought was let to one side. Ah Ha! Check it out. Organs 'filter' toxins. OK. So, taking that on board, and with the exception of heart, I left out any organ meat. Very acceptable. Right, re-introduce organ meat. No. Not touched. So, cat knows best, give her what she likes and approves of.
Tried rabbit. No. she will catch em and in fact is a first food of choice, but only if caught and eviscerated by herself (ditto hare - tell ya, 'ghastly cat' is supreme hunter even at age 17yrs in Jan!) Same with dogette. She will eat the 'shop' rabbit, but NOT a first choice. Very interesting. (Dogette is also on a natural diet. First choice is chicken wings then turkey thighs then lamb shanks. Yes, *including ALL bone material. NEVER give cooked bone. Cooked bone splinters. Just don't go there. NO ground meat. She does not like it! Nor beef. Not keen on beef either. OK by me, beef is expensive!)
A medley of veggies: broccoli, very few peas - like mebbe 3/6 in a serving - spinach, cauliflower, morsel of potatoe but cooked potatoe, grated carrot - grate ALL veggies where poss. As mentioned already, the oily fish, lightly cooked, this to kill any 'nasties'. Yes, I add either raw or cooked veg to the fish. Not tomatoes - don't agree with em, neither cats nor dogs. By-the-bye, oily fish is good for dogs as well. Whilst talking of dogs, add a little cooked rice to their food - I mix with the veg and some home gravy - I use long grain Basmati. Some people also give pasta, mine throws it up... I also give full grain brown bread, toasted, just a slice for breakfast. Dogette is 10yrs old and can still do a 12 mile hike with no probs.
Used to take her out horse riding with me, now for the longer trecks it is me on the bicycle...(yea, I gotten lazy!)
If you notice, cats and dogs will eat grass. Choosing very carefully their morsels of delight. Always amuses me to watch. Ghastly cat comes for walks with us. Yeowzeling to be picked up and carried then put down to go off doing her thing...animals. Gotta laugh at em - and how they have us around their pinkie!! (We three have great walks.)
Finally. Both ghastly cat and dogette have bio yogurt. Plain yog - don't whatever you do *ever give that stuff with Aspartame, Nutrasweet or sweetener in it - bad for humans and disastrous for animals. Just plain yog. Excellent for the gut - especially if having gut or digestive problems.
Please note, this is from my OWN observations of MY animals and in no way is to over-ride your vet's recommendations in connection with your own animals - my own opinions based on my own observations and dealings with and on my own animals.
Apologies guys, way way O.T. - but animals are our companions bringing much comfort during bad times, so...
Weoooooozeeeellll.........
Molly
Keeping on Keeping on (naturally)
