Happy Easter!!!!

 

 

Caturday ~ Feline Nutrition Q & A 3

 

What is the first step I can take to introduce raw food into my cats diet?

The first step of feeding raw is educating yourself about what cats need in their diet. A great place to start is www.catinfo.org and www.catnutrition.org.

 

The next step is “accidentally” dropping a bite of raw chicken onto the floor to see if your cat will eat it. That is my favorite trick and works quite well in getting cats to try raw. (Don’t freak out… you can wipe the spot right after!)

 

Let your cat get a feel for the meat. The larger pieces the better. Just offer it up and see how they take to it and then go from there.

 

Remember that your cat may not, or more likely won’t, understand that meat is food because they have been fed “cat food” all their lives.

 

As a hunting wild feline, their mother cat would have taught them what was and was not safe food. So it’s logical that your cat may not appreciate that raw meat is a good food.

 

Some cats take to raw meat right away and will no longer eat manufactured cat foods at all… while others may need time, patience and bribery.

 

A great source of info from a vet on how to switch your cat to a raw meat diet can be found here:

 

http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_

 

 

Here’s Smokey eating straight from the grinder on cat food day. Noms!

 

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When should I start Raw Feeding?

The best time to start is as soon as a kitten is ready for it’s first taste of “real” food, just like when it’s mother would bring it it’s first mouse in the wild. Between 4 to 6 weeks. Never feed a cat anything other than what nature intended if you are lucky enough to be given that opportunity.

 

I have not been that lucky yet. I started raw feeding a year after we adopted the 6 torties. I wish I had been a raw feeder before so that they never would have eaten manufactured foods. I look forward to the day we get to raw feed a cat it’s whole life.

 

Kittens get their teeth in very early and are ready to start chewing meat as soon as those first teeth come in. If you have even had your finger bit playfully by a kitten you know that they have super sharp teeth and it is very painful for them to gnaw on you. That’s because those teeth were engineered by nature to shred that finger of yours if they wanted to. So as soon as they get those teeth… it’s time to start feeding them raw meat. Don’t wait… you will be wasting valuable impressionable time that you can never get back.

 

Kittens learn what is and is not safe to eat from their mothers. However, when we take them away from their mothers it becomes our job to teach them what they should be eating. You don’t want to steer your cat wrong here. If you offer them only watered down kitten kibble, as so many so wrongly recommend, they will think that is the only safe thing. If you offer them only canned food, they will think that is the only safe food. So use this early time wisely. Offer a variety of meats and small crushed bones to your kitten.

 

Another important aspect that I have learned myself is that if you don’t have kitten hood to help your cat build up their jaw muscles you will run into issues trying later to get them to eat whole pieces of meat. It is such a priceless period of time during which a kitten learns to rip, shred and crunch up whole animal parts when they are growing and learning how to do these things also helps them have healthy teeth and gums throughout their lives. If a kitten is denied this precious window of learning, YOU are going to have to work 10 times as harder to teach your cat about what foods are safe and how to eat them as an adult. And we all know how hard it is to break adult habits, don’t we?

 

By feeding raw from birth you are building a priceless foundation of health for your cat. If you use kitten hood wisely, you are offering your kitty the best possible foundation for wellness there is. You wouldn’t feed a human child chips and hotdogs for the first 4 years of their life and then expect them to grow into healthy adults would you? Of course not. And you can make the same choice not to do that to your cat.

 

Any age cat can be transitioned onto raw, I have worked with 5 month old kittens all the way up to a 15 year old cat, but the earlier in life you start them the better and the sooner you start them the easier it is on both you and your cat.

Thanks for stopping in this Caturday! I hope you have gained some valuable knowledge for your feline companions today!

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Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

~ Thrifty Thursday ~

Hi Friends,

Happy Thrifty Thursday to you!

Picked up this little Green cubby at Goodwill a while back for $2.99.

Decided to remove something from the bedroom and put this in place instead.

 

And if you have been following for a while you will remember this sign from a Thrifty Thursday a while back.

And here is the whole wall in the bedroom. That quilt was also from the gw. A steal at $7.99. They now mark ALL quilts, handmade, machine stitched or FAKE “printed” $19.99 from the get go. bummer. Never find quilt deals anymore.

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Lilies and Cats a NO NO!

 

Hi Friends,

With Easter just a week away I thought it wise to send this reminder out there.

Lilies kill cats!

This is not to be taken lightly!

Don’t chance it!

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Caturday ~ Feline Nutrition Q&A 2

Hi Friends,

Welcome back to another Caturday with the Primcats!

I hope you have been enjoying learning about feline nutrition. I am really enjoying all the interest and questions I have been getting. Keep them coming!

Lets talk about food safety this week.

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Is Raw meat safe for my cat to eat?

Absolutely! If it weren't the entire feline species would be extinct.

Think of a lion, a tiger, a panther, a bobcat… would you feed them anything other than the animals they spend their lives hunting. Domestic housecats are just mini big cats. Everything from their pointy carnivorous teeth to their digestive tract is designed the same a their larger counterparts. Cats, both big and small, were designed by nature to derive their nutrition from only animal based protein.

Of course you need to follow safe meat handling procedures, just as you would with preparing your own meat dinners, but raw meat is what nature intended cats to eat and they are designed to digest it raw with little to no danger.

I have been feeding raw for years and never had a cat suffer any negative side effects from it. I have never had a cat get worms or parasites from meat, and I have never had a cat suffer from salmonella either. Furthermore, in all my sharing with hundreds of other raw feeders I have never once heard of another raw feeder having to deal with any of those issues. In speaking with my vet he has not been able to personally confirm any cases of either worms or salmonella from raw meat fed to a cat.

 

In fact I have only seen improvements in all aspects of their lives. Every cat I have ever transitioned to raw has had their over all health improve, from curing something as life threatening as IBD, and urinary tract problems to something as simple as creating the most beautiful coat you have ever laid eyes.

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Should I be worried about Salmonella or E-Coli?

Salmonella? Ecoli? I won’t tell you that it could never happen, but I don’t know a single raw feeder that has ever had it happen or had it happen to anyone they know. I also don’t know any vets that have ever seen it or had it happen. Of course you need to follow safe meat handling procedures, just as you would with preparing your own meat dinners, but raw meat is what nature intended cats to eat and they are designed to digest it raw with no danger. Even their digestive tracts were designed shorter than other animals so that food borne illnesses do not have time to take effect in them.

 

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Nutrition is the key to good health… no matter what living being you are. So feeding your cat what nature intended it to eat is the first step in giving your cat the best chance you can at a long healthy life. Now… if only I could learn to follow this advice for myself and eat as healthy as my cats do!

Until nest time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Thrifty Thursday!

Hi Friends…

Wow… it’s been a while since we have had one of these huh? Sorry… I haven’t been shopping much lately. Honestly…

I HAVE TO MUCH STUFF! LOL!

The more selective I have become in the certain pieces I am looking for the less I buy at the Goodwill. I really need to have a blog sale and clean out the ol’ prim room so I can buy more stuff!

Maybe I will put that on my Spring cleaning list:

Clean Prim Room - Have Blog sale!!!!

So here is nice goodwill treasure I found back in January.

A pretty loveseat.

The kitties have inspected and decided $49.99 was a steal!

I placed it in the living room and of course covered it with a quilt. However, it is in great condition and it added an extra seat to the living room. Perfect find!

That’s all for now!

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Welcome Spring!

 

Hi Friends,

How is everyone doing? Great I hope!

At least the first day of Spring is finally here!

Not that it feels like it in my parts but hopefully soon!

Lets see, what’s been going on…

Last weekend I had a fun shopping trip with my bloggy friends Earlene, from Primitive Passion Decorating and Cindy, from Cynthia Lee Designs.

We went down and shopped at the Heart of Ohio Antique Mall. It’s HUGE. We spent the whole day there and we were all ready to be done when we made it through to the end. We all found some great treasures. I love spending time with these ladies. Can’t wait for our next trip!

I got two small quart reproduction Dazey butter churns and 2 large wooden butter molds. I forgot to take a picture. I will try to remember tonight.

I am trying to get motivated to decorate for Spring but I can not lie. I am not in the mood. I have 3 totes of Spring and Easter décor that have been sitting in my living room for a month and I am just not in the mood yet. It’s still just so cold out!!!

So this pic is my inspiration for now… I love it… now I just have to get it out.

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Adorable baby goat video.

Hi Friends,

I came across this adorable video yesterday on Facebook and thought it was just the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Enjoy!

 

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats

Happy March!

Hi Friends,

Just popping in to wish you a happy March! I hope everyone is well and gearing up for spring.

I must admit I was a terrible blogger in February. Honestly it was just a bad month for me. Lots of really crappy things happened, nothing THAT terrible but still life changing things that upset me. And the weather in February really brings me down. No doubt I have SAD.

So I am very happy that today is March 1st and I am hoping soon the weather will take a turn for the better and the grey skies will turn to blue and the dead grass and trees will come alive with green. Bring it!

Happy March to you all!

Until next time…

Carmen and the Primcats