Quote:
Originally Posted by SnowAngel01
So there are no people here feeding their CFR cats raw? I saw one member who said that they were.
|
As Love4himies said, growler's CRF cat is doing great on a raw diet, but it's a premade commercial (frozen) product. I'm not sure what would be available to you in Alaska, and if you could get the nutritional profile of those foods (which is important because they can vary quite a bit). They also tend to be on the expensive side.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnowAngel01
Is the only way to get a diet for him to pay a high consult fee? Seems a bit ridiculous to me.
|
No, the consult fee is just a shortcut to getting the info you need without all the research. But if you have more time than money, you could certainly do the research yourself.
It sounds like your cat's blood phosphorus levels must be high enough to warrant the addition of a phosphorus binder to her food, so phosphorus levels of the diet you make are going to be important. What's tricky is that phosphorus is an essential nutrient and cats, even ones with CRF, still need to get
some. Just not too much. And that still has to be balanced in the proper ratio with calcium (around 1.2 to 1.4 x as much calcium as phosphorus).
What you can do is peruse some nutrient databases for the calcium/phosphorus levels of the meat you choose and go from there. Some meats (like venison) are naturally lower in phosphorus than others (like rabbit). Omitting the bone can also reduce phosphorus dramatically, but it also reduces calcium, which means you'll have to add the calcium back in (using ground eggshells or one of the various calcium salts). And when you add the calcium, you have to calculate the amount you need from the
elemental amount of calcium, which varies with each source. Some info on that here:
http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Ca-De/Calcium.html
Some nutrient databases:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_ma...de=12-35-45-00
http://www.answers.com/topic/phosphorus-and-calcium
http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/nutrient-search
Other supplements that may be required are taurine, omega3 fatty acids, vitamin B.
Still think $125 is too much?