Christie M wrote:
I would be interested in what you dan"]o for the cats. Mine are not very excited about switching. They will eat canned fine. And cooked chicken. But they haven't touched the raw chicken. Suggestions?? You can PM me if you think this is too off subject
My two cats are totally different, personality and temperament wise.
One is a little pig and will eat anything. He loves his raw food (hell, he eats squirrels and mice and bunnies and anything else he can catch, so no big surprise there). The other one is much more picky and was hard to switch to raw.
I started with canned food he likes. Then, I'd add a tiny bit of the raw (I feed them the prepared raw, so it's a mix of muscle meat, bone, organs and a very small amount of vegetables...I know cats are dedicated carnivores, but they thrive on this, so I'm not concerned). Then, over a long time, I'd just continue upping the percentage of raw to canned, until eventually, he was on 100% raw.
However, he still gets finicky,so with him, I'll add about a teaspoon (not measuring t, but table teaspoon) of canned to his raw. Salmon juice (if you drain the salmon from a can of it), is like kitty crack...so that's always a good thing to add, too, if you want to make them really want it.
I add some supplements...Salmon oil, Vit E (the Salmon oil depletes the Vit E in their bodies during the metabolic process, so add it back in), a little kelp, a little alfalfa, and a 1/2 t. of diatamaceous earth with each meal. The DE helps to keep them worm free.
As far as the taurine goes, I consulted a feline nutritionist, and the taurine is in the muscle meat.
I think that when you use kibble or mostly canned, the cooking process deletes a lot of the nutrition, just like with us, so they have to add the taurine back in. When feeding raw, not necessary.
Geyser is now eating a nice variety...lamb, beef, chicken and turkey. I'm sticking with chicken backs for RMBs until her adult teeth are all in, since the bone is very soft and easy to chew and digest. Then she'll get more variety there, too. She gets the RMBs several times a week, and the rest of the time, the ground stuff.
And Christie, I agree with you...it's balance over time, not necessarily with each and every meal.
Dogs have very good muscle condition, super white teeth with no plaque, thick coats with no skin problems. Yep, freezer space can be a problem but I usually buy a new used freezer each season and I am up to four now. I use plastic shopping bags, doubled, with one days' meal for 8-9 large dogs. Layer newspaper between the bags in the freezer. This works for me and I have been doing this for many years. Never fed raw chicken so cant tell you anything about that. 
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But isn't Taurine also needed in higher amounts for cats? Do you need to be more precise in what you feed, to insure the muscle meat/organs and RMB's contain enough? I know most raw feeders have a 'balance over time' meal plan, but how does this work with the kitty cats and the specific Taurine requirements? Is it found in adequate amounts in normal organs/meats?
I think this is most people's concerns. But honestly, how many humans are strictly precise in every bite of food they take? In fact, how many doctors would recommend that you went out and found a completely balanced, nutritionally enhanced, 100% processed food for yourself? Any nutritionist would tell you that whole foods are better than any processed.
(love that smilie)