In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.anecdotes", "JoJo"
<stopspam@nospam.net> artfully composed this message within
<news:yvydneufKYO2In3dRVn-hA@comcast.com> on 28 Jun 2004:

I have read good things on the IBD yahoo group about a raw diet for
IBD kitties but I'm just too afraid to try it with Shadow since he
is also FeLV+ and I'm afraid of his ability to fight infection.  
But I do give Shamrock raw chicken liver 2 days per week (along
with his canned food diet) and he loves it. Eating it makes him
almost "primal".  

I occasionally feed my cats the gooky stuff from a chicken, like the
lungs, and sometimes little bits of beef trimmings with the fat cut
off. Amber is especially fond of a raw diet and will help himself; I
have to be watchful when preparing supper. Sheba, of course, will eat
anything she can beg or steal. Djoser prefers his Nutro Max. Robin
will eat anything that comes his way, even if it belongs to someone
else. But they all go bonkers over the best raw diet: fresh mouse!

--
CATherine

I haven't tried exactly that, but I do give my cats raw meats about every
second day. Every second day I give them canned food. All I can say is
Nikki's kidney, liver and blood sugar values were excellent the last time we
saw the vet. Vet said her (Nikki's, not the vet's) values were better than
many a younger cat's. Nikki is 15. Some years ago, I started feeding the
cats dry food instead of wet, and Nikki's kidneys were affected right away.
She also got fat on kibble. I switched back to this 'half-natural' diet, and
she is in great condition. Haven't had Frank tested lately, but I will when
I take him in for his autumn check-up.

So what I feed my cats is: every second day, canned food, usually Nutro or
some other high-quality wet food, but sometimes the cheaper kind. The thing
to look for is how much ash they contain (should be under 2%) and how much
grains or cereal (not among the top ingredients, preferable not any at all).

Every second day: Raw meat or herrings, or a package of frozen fish (seithe
or coalfish is really cheap over here) cooked a few minutes. The meat is
usually beef. They really like to dig into bigger chunks, and that's good
for their teeth, too. Of course, if you feed them only meat, you have to
supplement with some source of calcium. F&N get their medicines mixed in
sour cream, so that contains calcium. Unless the cats are errrm... very
fluffy, fat is quite good and necessary for them, so you don't have to look
for specifically lean meat, either.

Every evening: a small handful of kibble (dry food) as a treat, because
Nikki loooooves it, and it is how I get Frank off the bed so I can take off
the day cover. ;o)

YMMV

A friend of mine has always fed her cats a daily portion of raw liver,
along with their premium dry food.  (She also cooks cheap cuts of beef
for them, from time to time.)  But these are "extras", not the entire diet.

The cats certainly seem to appreciate it, and their coats seem to flourish.

I have fed my two a raw diet since they were kittens (3-months and 6-months
old).  They are now both 6 years old.  They are both quite healthy; their
coats are lustrous and soft; they are full of energy; they are the correct
weight for their size; and they have no problems with hairballs.

I have a page outlining my basic diet -
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/7378/diet.html

Dee

Everyone, thanks for your opinions.  I've started trying a few different
things today.  I took a raw egg and pulverized it (shell and all) and mixed
in w/their canned food.  Went over ok, didn't set the world on fire.  Got a
frozen chicken breast out of freezer this morning too (boneless/skinless as
it was supposed to be for me).  Got mixed results on that - some weren't
sure, some said no, some were so-so, some went nuts.

Salsa, the one of my little fosters went nuts for it.  I'm worried about my
little girl - she's losing weight instead of gaining, and doesn't have big
appetite.  She's lost three ounces in three weeks - she should have gained
that in one week.  And she's got runny butts, so I'm trying whatever I can
to get her interested in food.  She loved the chicken, I'm afraid of giving
her too much, don't know what it would do to her system w/current runny butt
syndrome.

So thank you all for input - I'm heading to store sometime for A) yogurt and
B) chicken livers/hearts/parts, maybe I can strike up a "relationship" with
a butcher at local store to save me the unwanted parts.

In the meantime, I'm asking for the power of the purr - little Salsa (and
Tortilla) need to get over runny butts and GAIN weight!  So plz send purrs
their way.  And if you haven't done so, you can see their pics on my
website.  I always enjoy visitors.  It's still in disarray, but then again
so am I! :)

Thanks as always!