I was doing my budget the other day and I need to lower my cat’s expenses. Just by a bit.
I really want to put the boys on a raw diet, but after reading up on it via catinfo.org I decided that I just do not have the room in my freezer and my budget to make it worth the while and do it properly.
BUT
What about feeding pinkies!!
Get them frozen, pop them in the freezer and every day toss the boys a couple of pinkies. They are the perfect little package!
What do you guys think?
I switched to homemade raw using the catinfo recipe as it was cheaper than Evo. DH and I make a batch every six weeks.
[QUOTE=MunchingonHay;7087662]
I was doing my budget the other day and I need to lower my cat’s expenses. Just by a bit.
I really want to put the boys on a raw diet, but after reading up on it via catinfo.org I decided that I just do not have the room in my freezer and my budget to make it worth the while and do it properly.
BUT
What about feeding pinkies!!
Get them frozen, pop them in the freezer and every day toss the boys a couple of pinkies. They are the perfect little package!
What do you guys think?[/QUOTE]
I do believe I read mice are perfectly balanced as cat food.
Not sure if pinkies qualify though…
Pinkies are baby mice.
Pet stores have them for snakes and stuff.
[QUOTE=Marshfield;7087805]
I switched to homemade raw using the catinfo recipe as it was cheaper than Evo. DH and I make a batch every six weeks.[/QUOTE]
which one are you using and what supplements are you putting in?
[QUOTE=MunchingonHay;7088046]
Pinkies are baby mice.
Pet stores have them for snakes and stuff.[/QUOTE]
yes, but they have not had the adult mouse diet yet. 
but I guess they could be analysed?
good point, perhaps slightly older pinkies?
all I can say is give it a try.
BUT
What about feeding pinkies!!
Don’t if you’re buying these from the pet trade, think mass produced (as cheaply as possible, en masse), fresh frozen, etc - these are not even suggested as a complete diet for captive snakes due to lack of quality nutrition.
Your cats would fare better if you trapped field mice & insects.
Of course, with either the pinkies or the mice “naturelle”, you will need to de-worm, de-flea on a regulated schedule, & provide supplements.
If you have the usual sort of raised on kibble cats, you may wish to try converting the cats to raw before investing much, eg, start them on all the trim from your raw meats, ask your local butcher for trim (you’ll need to sort out the fat), offer neck bones (from lamb, chicken, poultry), wing tips (poultry) … also consider where the messy little darlings will be eating (& playing with their food).
Our previous cats were crate trained, so they ate in their crate; current kitty has a meltdown if she even sees a crate, so she gets the little bathroom.
whole prey diets are perfect. It’s when you mess around with not-whole-prey that problems crop up. you might want to introduce some variety with the pinkies, though, offering some quail or rabbit occasionally just in case the pinkies don’t provide everything.
I had thought about them being mass produced. I was not aware they are not considered a complete diet for captive snakes.
[QUOTE=alto;7088860]
Don’t if you’re buying these from the pet trade, think mass produced (as cheaply as possible, en masse), fresh frozen, etc - these are not even suggested as a complete diet for captive snakes due to lack of quality nutrition.
Your cats would fare better if you trapped field mice & insects.
Of course, with either the pinkies or the mice “naturelle”, you will need to de-worm, de-flea on a regulated schedule, & provide supplements.
If you have the usual sort of raised on kibble cats, you may wish to try converting the cats to raw before investing much, eg, start them on all the trim from your raw meats, ask your local butcher for trim (you’ll need to sort out the fat), offer neck bones (from lamb, chicken, poultry), wing tips (poultry) … also consider where the messy little darlings will be eating (& playing with their food).
Our previous cats were crate trained, so they ate in their crate; current kitty has a meltdown if she even sees a crate, so she gets the little bathroom.[/QUOTE]
I get rabbit from a friend of mine that breeds rabbits and I make meatballs out of them for my side business, they get to chew on the left overs after I butcher the rabbit (but I only do it once a month).
[QUOTE=wendy;7089061]
whole prey diets are perfect. It’s when you mess around with not-whole-prey that problems crop up. you might want to introduce some variety with the pinkies, though, offering some quail or rabbit occasionally just in case the pinkies don’t provide everything.[/QUOTE]
I thought that pinkies would be considered whole prey diet. Which is why Alto’s comment about them not being complete for snakes has me guessing.
I use the chicken recipe and supplements as directed from iHerb. I usually add in chicken livers and sometimes gizzards to the recipe.
I get my raw from: http://www.hare-today.com/
I get the cat supplement and mix it in the raw food. She sells whole prey such as mice, rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens.
I don’t feed whole prey food, just ground.
I feed mine a mix of rabbit, duck, chicken and I mix in pork from time to time. The dehydrated rabbit feet are my cats favorite treat.
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