Adult Diet

Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 11:07:26 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Diet

In my past year of lurking, I've noticed no one feeds their cats pork. Can someone please tell me why?

Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 12:24:52 -0400 (EDT)

I can't speak for anyone else but I don't feed my cats pork for the following reasons:

*high fat content makes it harder to digest. Fat also can coat the intestines if feed a large enough quanity this interferes with absorbtion of nutrients.

*parasites such as trichinosis, etc.

Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 17:48:54 +5 Subject: FEL-L: Meat Diet

Here is a generally accepted meat diet for wild felines like Leo which you can use when all the ZuPreem is gone. The amounts listed can to scaled up or down to provide the amount you want to make at one time.

2kg meat (Example: horse, turkey, beef, chicken, etc.)
1 crushed Centrum tablet (A human vitamin supplement)
15 gr. steamed bone meal

If you can't find Centrum tables use some other high quality human vitamin supplement.

If you can't find steamed bone meal you can substitute 5 gr. calcium carbonate plus 10 gr. dicalcium phosphate. Cordially, George

Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 23:08:25 -0800 Subject: FEL-L: Diet

>If anyone would like to share what their diets include, how

Grin... if you want to see all ears, just look at a Serval !!

See previous message for disclaimers... to which I add "This is the diet of one very spoiled Serval"

Morning
I stumble out of bed and head to the kitchen, with usually at least 2 of the 3 domestics playing "let's trip Dad" on the way to the 'fridge (I have never figured out just WHY a cat walks around/between your feet, but I have learned to take gliding steps until I get to the light switch) where I pull out the 2 cans of food... a variety of brands/flavors for the domestics (they also have dry food available) and ZuPreem for E'Leisha

Daytime
Sometimes, but not every day, E'Leisha stands by the food bowl and announces she needs more fuel... at which time any human in earshot snaps to attention and operates the 'fridge door (I work an 8-to-5 job, Terrie runs a home business, so she is the designated ServalSlave during daylight hours)

Evening
I stagger in after work, and go through the same routine as in the morning... with the only difference being that I don't trip as much since I can see the cats before they hit my feet

E'Leisha pretty much determines her feeding level... she will consume an entire 16 ounce can on days when she is more than usually active, or feels a "growth spurt" coming on... but on other times it takes her as long as 2 days for the 16oz can

Snacks
In an earlier post I mentioned that E'Leisha has decided that since she is tall enough, she just HAS to come to the table to see what it is we are "hiding" from her... being as we are good ServalSlaves, she has learned the taste of a few human foods (she is partial to steak and prime rib... just my luck to have a cat with expensive tastes) but turned down my offer of pickled peppers, so I won't have to share THOSE with her!

Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 18:45:45 +0000 Subject: Re: FEL-L: Proper Diets

>Would you care to share the recipe for your special diet so I can have

Here is the formulation of the feed I have mixed for me:
120 # whole ground turkey
100 # whole ground chicken
100 # fortified commercial mink cereal
60 # beef liver
30 # cheese
15 # powdered egg
1 1/2 cup biotin (to neutralize the effects of the aviden present it the eggs)
1 cup phosphoric acid (to retain freshness and retard bacterial growth)
water added to desired consistancy

This diet works out to about 40% protein and 20% fat. Fat levels may be increased in winter for extra energy. I feed my lions, which are very large framed, 12# to males and 9# to females, medium sized cats get about 3 pounds, and small cats 3/4 pound.

I know many of you are going to hate this, but the best place to find this is from a local fur farmer that feeds "wet feed". The farmer I buy from charges me 25 cents a pound after packaging it in 6 pound tubes and freezing it for me. My USDA inspector is also a nutritionalist. After we were done tweeking the formulation, he commented that my cats never looked better. I agee totally and I also know that I am meeting their full nutritional needs.

Despite the opinion of many, the fur farmers know the importance of a proper diet and know where to obtain the low cost, nutritious feedstuffs. They buy these from feed supply companies who deal in "pet grade" feedstuffs. This is the same material used by commercial manufacturers of dog and cat feed. Most of you will not be able to deal with these wholesalers, because they deal in semi loads, 20 ton, at a time. You also may not be as fortunate to have a fur farmer willing to package the feed for you. You may have to figure out how to package it yourself. Perhaps you can get your friends to go in with you to get the quantity up.

One note on switching a cat from carcass meat to a ground diet. It takes time. Most will turn their nose up at any ground feed to start with. simply place you regular meat on top of the mix and gradually smear the mix over the meat until you are eventually burying it completly in the mix. By then they should be eating the mix as well and you can omit the carcass meat. This can take from 4 days to three weeks. I have never yet had a cat that didn't switch over and relish the mix as much as it did the carcass meat. Patience is the most important factor.

You will have to come up with separate feeding recepticals for each cat. They cannot carry it over to a corner to eat it by themself, so it is up to you to give each cat its eating place to avoid fights and/or gluttony.

Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 17:04:37 EST Subject: Re: FEL-L: Proper Diets

Our cat's diets consist of a mixture of mazuri feline diet (those that will eat it) and ground beef with bone meal/marrow (cost .10/lb) and guinea pigs (gassed and frozen, cost: free). They fast once a week (Tues.) They also get big bones to gnaw on.

No one is fat and USDA has approved the diet. Simple. Cheaper to feed than our primates! Cindy Austin Zoo

Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:31:46 -0800 Subject: Re: FEL-L: serval

i feed raw meat---mostly chicken necks, legs, ground beef, gizzards, hearts, fish deer meat --they will eat just about anything. take the skin off the chicken. in the beginning, you might have to grind or pound the chicken [depending on the age]. i have tried zupreem on my babies ,but ,they won't start good on it so, i go to ground turkey and of course a good vitamin supplement--oasis. let me know if you have any problems.

Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 08:41:46 EST Subject: Re: FEL-L: serval

HI Kathy My serval likes his zupreem mixed with ground turkey and Mazuri dry ...

I have always had a problem with him -- he will not eat chicken parts of any kind no matter how I tried to get him to .... He really likes the Mazuri dry food. A kitten I raised last year on zupreem and ground turkey (with vitamins and Ca too - of course) now eats only Mazuri dry -- he is about a year old now and very healthy ... Many servals seem to love Mazuri ...

If you want information about their Feline Diet -- give them a call at 1-800-227-8941 -- they will send you the information and a list of places where you can order the stuff. This "small" pellet - product # 5M54 – comes in 25 lb bags ... Good luck .. Nan

Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 18:47:52 +5 Subject: FEL-L: Nebraska Guaranteed Analysis

A while back a few people were wondering what the difference is between Nebraska Feline ans Canine diets. Here are the numbers provied to me by Animal Spectrum Inc.

Feline Canine

Crude Protine (Min.) 18.0% 19.0%
Crude Fat (Min.) 12.0% 7.0%
Crude Fiber (Max.) 1.5% 1.5%
Ash (Max.) 4.5% 2.5%
Calcium (Min.) 0.60% 0.90%
Phosphorus (Min.) 0.50% 0.50%
Moisture (Max.) 62% 69%
Vitamine A (Min.) 7,500 IU/lb. 4,200 IU/lb.
Vitamine D3 (Min.) 850 IU/lb. 420 IU/lb.
Calories/lb. 1260 870