We only feed our boys raw! There is a lovely pet food deli in Minneapolis that specializes in raw pet food, made of whole ground animals and supplements. Our boys love chicken, quail, turkey, and rabbit! (:
I buy a frozen box of 5 kg raw chicken fillets a month for my Bengal, the bones can be dangerous so I find fillets is the best way to go. My cat prefer to eat the chicken almost frozen so I take out a chicken from the freezer 5-10 min before and never had to worry about bacteria on the chicken.
I will have two bengal kitties in 5 weeks. So I was thinking to give them more raw food. I love how they will get into misschief. So I named them Bonnie and Clyde. Thank you for these great informitive videos
I’ve got a 10 week Bengal the breeders advised me NOT to feed her RAW as it changes their temperament. I feed her Royal Canine Kitten complete complimented with Whiskers kitten food and kitten milk. Have great fun once Bonnie and Clyde arrive, ps get plenty of toys you will need them as they will be SUPER active.....I’m exhausted haha xxx
@@Diana-yr8wp that sounds like a selfish reason to not give your animal the best possible diet. Their temperament will probably reflect who they really are without feeling groggy and run down from a man made diet…
you just bought them. There will always be vet bills and it's good to get blood work done. The only cat who never had vet bills are the ones with owners who don't do preventative health. Raw is natural i agree, but i studied butchery and it's quite incredible how fast bacteria grows, bacteria that wouldn't be there in the wild. I might try raw, but it's going to be a big step for me.
@@nicoled5160 nicole, we gifted all 17 Bengal's to our veterinarian and her hot little staff! They all got absolutely free, and beautiful Bengals! I just asked that they love them and care for them. Don't be sad Nikki, they are all so cute, the girls show me pictures and videos whenever I want...
Thanks for giving us this information! My fiance and I didn't find out our cat was a bengal until a couple months after adopting her. She's been on wet cat food since then but we could tell she didn't like it. We're switching her to a raw diet as of today (after seeing this video). Thank you again!
My Sweet Tabby/Bengal is Now 4 months old She's Gaing Weight at About 1 Pound Per Month. I Feed Her A Raw/Cooked Diet Beef Stew Meat is Frozen for 2 days then Refrigerator thawed then Cut into 1/2" to 3/4" Cubes. Boneless Chicken Breast is oven Baked. Deli Cooked Shrimp & Crab Meat for iodine. Sardines Packed in Water. Frozen fish oven baked Pollock, Sole, & Cod Too
I saved the plastic cups from store bought wet food, and measured out equal portions of ground meat in each one. Then I sealed them with a sticky plastic wrap and froze them. Each container had enough for 1 day, and I made enough for a month or 2 at a time. My adopted cat lost weight and soon had a glossy coat. (If your cat resists the raw food, add a little tuna. But don't do 100% tuna, because it's like feeding a kid pringles and mountain dew for breakfast.)
Hi, that's for this video my little Bengal girl is 16 and she's been having a lot of issues lately with eating and keeping food down, we've tried every commercial brand of food imaginable over the years she gets bored within a week usually but she's always there for the Sunday joint to have her slice as close to rare as she can have it. We where worried about switching her to a more fresh meat based diet due to her age but she's coping a lot better with it although she only likes red meat, she's never liked fish and will rarely eat chicken. She's gone from deaths door to jumping around and keeping everything down in a few days. Although I have been feeing her more cooked meat and gradually introducing raw as she's such an old girl and she's still getting used to it. Thanks for putting my mind at ease over trying this to try and perk her up.
My daughters bengal had a swollen intestines. The vet thought he had a rare cancer. He didn't. So now he is on a steroid. And a special diet and a vitamin B 12 shot a week. He wasn't keeping anything down. Now he is keeping food down and water too. He has put on one and a half pounds. He lost 3.
thanks for the video. we feed half Raw and half dry. for the meat, we actually just buy from the breeder who orders the food in from her butcher who does all the 'dirty' work. so that works out well, and we also give our Bengal a whole chicken wing/ chicken Neck once a week. his health is perfect and he is super happy.
Thank you so much! This answered all of my questions! My bengal has been on an all meat diet his whole life. He is new to me though! His owners before gave him chicken legs so we followed with that as he wouldn't touch anything else. I wasn't sure if it was the best choice for him, but now I'm sure he's doing well! He's does exactly what you said. Takes the leg runs away with it and eats the whole thing, sometimes bone included. He won't touch livers but likes eggs okay, so I'm going to try the blender way next :) thanks again!
When I adopted my cat from a rescue I was given cat food recommended by the vet. She had horrible farts and overly soft and incredibly stinky stools. I had considered giving her raw but after I saw how horribly sensitive her digestive system was I changed her to raw. The smells stopped entirely. Her cat box doesn’t reek like previous cats I grew up with who we fed dry to, though they were hunters and caught a lot of prey. One of our cats would refuse to eat kibble or canned and would only eat raw meat. So it wasn’t a new concept for me. But it amazed me how quickly she improved. She is so healthy and her fur gets softer every week. Her eye goop is clearing up and she has so much energy. It’s like I have a kitten in the house. I started by putting psyllium in her food. She has started chewing on the bones from the meat I bring home. She loves it. And she used to gulp her commercial cat food down too quickly so now she eats much more slowly. I have to close my bedroom door when I give her a bone cuz she will drag it off and most of my house is linoleum. I got to feed the tigers at the Monterey zoo and they fed them whole chicken soaked in supplements. My raw food is similar. You can buy the premix supplements without having to buy the individual supplements separately. That’s what I do right now. It’s not really that hard to feed raw. Thanks for posting.
My Bengal eats the meat of the bone that we've left he carries around a bone bigger than himself for a few days, he does eat cooked bones but it's normally dense bones not like tiny chicken bones.
If you feed raw, even commercial, please, please please make sure you add taurine drops to it. Unfortunately taurine does not remain stable in raw food. Unless your cats are killing their prey and eating it. If they are taurine deficient, it could lead to heart failure. Also realize everything natural isn't good. Ecoli is natural too!
Excellent video, I have 2 Bengals and they are 14 years old. Each one had to go to a vet only once in their life and also the last blood analyzes are excellent. I started also with all the additional work you described, but simplified it with the years: for each cat 1 raw chicken leg in the morning and during the day they go back many time to eat something from the leg. At the end of the day there remains only 3-4 cm of the bone. The tooth of the cat are excellent!!! I do disagree only on one part of the video: the cats in the wild do eat vegetables but they eat it indirectly from the stomach of the mouses they caught. So I give the cats in the evening a small portion (40g) of quality cane food, which has a small portion of vegetal part.
What about feeding them frozen mice? You can buy packs of them at a lot of reptile stores. I would think it would also be a more natural diet since the majority of what cats catch in the wild would probably be small rodents, reptiles, or birds. They would also be getting the organs, bones, and meat with every meal so you don’t have to worry about proportions. Have you looked into this option? I would guess it’s probably more expensive to go this route though.
My kitty's vet insisted that we DON'T feed her wet food bc of a tooth problem that costed over $250 to have fixed. She ate mostly dry food her whole life and she was a happy kitty (on her own terms of course.) She WASN'T a Bengal though; she didn't have THAT much energy. My friend has a Bengal kitty and he acts like the Energizer kitty sometimes. It makes my friend laugh to see his kitty zooming up and down all over the place.
Thank you for sharing this video. My cat got a lump recently. I don't know if it's from the cat food I've been feeding him or the greenie cat treats. But I've decided to turn to the raw natural cat food diet. Why do you add so many things besides just the raw natural meat? If they just hunt back yard animals they eat the bird or lizard. We're not adding stuff.
Please oh please do not just feed the muscle meats. You are guaranteed vitamin and mineral deficiency if you do not include organ meats (and some ground raw bones) that contains vitamins and minerals. Lack of taurine guarantees heart problems. The vitamins via the links above in the show notes are the vitamins recommended by an actual veterinarian. Good luck!
I do what I can! Feeding raw isn't for everyone but I'm amazed at how easy it is, amazed at the benefits I've seen, and how easily it integrates with my lifestyle! Do you prepare ground cat food or do more of a prey model raw type diet?
I feed her RadCat but I have thought about making my own. I also want to give her bones her chew on but I am nervous about her choking. I am unsure of what type of bones to get...chicken wings or necks??? I saw a Cornish game hen at the store and I almost bought it for her!
legodivinity78 I had to do a quick search on RadCat... is that pretty expensive? When I looked at buying pre-made raw cat food, the cost seemed to add up quick, though that isn't a pain point for all people. It looks like both chicken wings and necks should be okay... this looks like some quality information on what types of bones cats can be fed: feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-raw-diets-and-cats-what-about-eating-bones I chop the meaty bones up into large bite-sized pieces for my cats and they seem to chew them up without a problem.
You are very well spoken. It would be cool to see more videos of your cats. It seems like you take good care of them. Im sure they do a lot of funny stuff.
All cats are different. Many cats will over eat if they have dry or canned food 24/7. She was giving a personal example as a guide, not as written rule.
I'm a guy who lives in Pennsylvania and I just got a Bengal kitty from a breeder and this video was very helpful.also,I would really love to totally keep this girl pregnant
This is true, she's preaching the truth. Although he's a tuxedo cat, I've been feeding my cat the raw meat diet all week and he's been a happier playful cat. He was a moody getting fat cat when I was feeding him garbage commercial food. I'm never feeding him commercial cat food ever again! If you care about your cats health, feed your cat the raw meat diet, it works and saves money.
my vet said not to do raw as my kitten was fighting infection for a while. my bengal however loves beets and cucumber. First cat ever to want this. He begs for pieces
Thanks for the vid me just picked up our Bengal yesterday and we will follow you advice completely . We have had many cats before and never liked commercial foods.
I know this diet wouldn't be strictly for Bengal cats, but I had considered going raw for my kitty, she's a rescue (which I highly encourage before going to a breeder). She's a Bombay which is a breed that is kinda known for being dense lol. Bombays are a small stocky breed that typically weigh more than they look. Shes pretty heavy and I've tried everything I could to get her to lose some weight because cats that are overweight can develop secondary problems such as arthritis- which she's exhibiting the early symptoms of and enlarging of the heart which she also has. I feed her what is recommended and got her tested for thyroid issues which she was apparently fine for. Right now I have her on a low preservative very expensive cat food high in protein and minerals for her bones. It's diet. She hasn't been on it long but I noticed she seems more hungry more often while on this diet. Everything you've mentioned benefit wise in this video seems like it'd help her a lot. Bombays tend to be more prone to getting build up on their teeth and gingivitis which is also something I can see shes getting. I guess what I wanted to ask if there is any downsides to this? I know it shouldn't matter but I've tried raw fish for her before and she didn't want it. I just figured shes so spoiled and domesticated that she won't eat the raw food. (last night she found a cricket and she just sat and meowed at it. It's like her kitty instincts to catch and eat or even play with it, were just not working. lol)
This was a great video! I am in the process of getting 2, and now you have given me cause to really think about what I feed them. I want them the healthiest possible. So, raw it is....!!!
REALLY LIKE your site,AND info.! I had my Bengal on RAW Rabbit,and chicken.He did VERY WELL...until he was almost 12,and we SADLY lost him to Heart Disease,AND CANCER!! The Vet seemed to think it was from OVER breeding!WHERE did you get YOUR BEAUTIFUL Bengals??THANKS,Gina
i have bengal cat and she’s not quiet healthy and i’m still taking care of her :( her story is very long my sister adopted her idk where she found it but she’s my cat now🥰💖💖
I think my bengal is broken …. He loves licking my ice water and prefers cold meat to mousy temps and he is alwayyyssss drinking water. He also loves to be held And proped up in the camera. I got him a year ago and he’s about 3 now. But he’s a healthy happy boy. Smartest cat I know
actually in the wild the cats would consume a small amount of plant matter that was in the stomach of their prey ... this is also stupenduously important for them. you have to supplement this in their raw diet.
No plant matter is important to a cat's diet. If they do accidentally ingest a tiny portion of stomach contents, it would go through mostly as fiber. Please research more. A good starting place is www.catinfo.org where you can get in depth information on cat's diets and well being from an actual Veterinarian. Good luck!
Great Video! My two cents: Put water fountains everywhere. I have three, and my cats will drink way more water this way even on a raw or wet diet. Never had a problem with blockages, UTI's or poop problems. I do also feed a high quality wet food diet with only meat: one thing I'll point out though is small amounts of grains are OKAY as cats in the wild eat animals that have undigested grains in their stomachs and therefore can tolerate them in small amounts. Brown rice etc.
I have two Aussies, a tortoiseshell, and a tabby. I've fed them raw food for most of their lives, and they're doing great. They love meal times, and I feed them right before I eat. Their coats are shiny and no hairballs, plus my pups are 11 and 9 years old, and my cats are 6 years old, but they all act like 2 year olds. No need for that fancy-smanchy scented litter because their feces doesn't smell. I also have no need to use a pooper-scooper in the backyard since my pups feces disintegrate within a day or two. I've never had to take my cats to the vet, and only once with one of my aussies because he had hurt his paw. I don't usually grind up the food (primarily chicken, but sometimes salmon and cow), I cut it up into half-dollar size, calculating the amounts once a week and then cutting it up daily. It doesn't usually take too long. For supplements, it varies from time to time, usually including kefir or pumpkin and calcium supplement. Bottom line, raw-food diet is great, but you'll have to choose between ease and price. Pre-made rawfoods tend to get expensive, especially with larger animals.
Kaitlyn Marshall Whoops, I forgot to add a pretty important detail- my sister is a vet. I meant I've never had to take them to an actual veterinary clinic for health issues.. Sorry about the typing messup!
I am in a dither. I am giving a forever home to an Abyssinian/Bengal mix. Cadmium is 9 years old. She lived in CT for most of the time and is now in Louisville, KY. I need to know what to expect.
Prey Model for raw feeding is by DR TOM LONSDALE (80% raw meat + 10% organ meat + 10% raw bone). Cats can eat as high as 90% raw meat. B.A.R.F model for raw feeding is by DR IAN BILLINGHURST who uses supplements. If you feed raw using 'whole' foods...under the Prey Model...then you don't need the extra expensive supplements.
The teeth cleaning benefit is only for raw chunks and whole prey. Ground does not clean teeth anymore then pate food cleans teeth. Genetics also play a huge part of oral health. If you have a smash faced cat, their teeth are junk naturally, if you have a proper healthy muzzled cat, the teeth are much better off.
You are amazing, you know that? I will be adopting a handsome Snow Bengal in a couple of months and of course I want him healthy and spare him as many trips to the vet as possible. So this information is so very helpful! I'll definitely look into a raw diet because the hydration thing is a really good thing you to consider. I was wondering if you're familiar with BARF menu and if you would recommend it for a Bengal? Its basically all raw meat, organs and bones without any grains, rice and other unnecessary ingredients. It's also quite affordable and available in most pet stores.
oh god ive been feeding my son once a day i had no idea he needed food twice a day, hes a very rambunctious boy (i got him for free and didnt know he was a pure bred bengal til i had him for a week and found out this lady had two bengals she "accidentally" "forgot" to fix 4 litters later) also id like to feed him better, but he HATES wet food hes a very crunchies only boy, BUT sometimes i give him a little bit of plain roast beef so maybe he would be down for a raw diet
Is it a good idea to cook the raw food for the cat? I'm concerned about the parasites and bacteria. I know the commercial cat foods are not risk-free. Just thinking whether raw better or cooked raw better? Thanks in advance!!!
Definitely no cooking. Cooking denatures the meat and will kill the taurine which a cat desperately needs. You can bring some water to a boil and pour it over meat to kill any surface bacteria. You will need to feed organs and bone as well, not just muscle meat. A cat needs about 85% muscle meat, 5% bone, 5% liver and 5% other organs. Hearts are considered muscle meat, and are rich in taurine, darker meats also contain more taurine than light meats. It's best to feed the freshest meat possible, as taurine will die over a period of time. Cats will instinctively avoid spoiled meats. Store bought meats for humans are almost certain to be parasite free, but if your worried you can freeze it solid for 3 days and it will kill parasites.
Thank you for the video. I do not have a Bengal Cat but do have a Domestic Short Hair (Mut). But we love her. Is the raw meat only for Bengals or can I also start raw food for my cat? I am torn about getting a Bengal. I am not sure I have the time to keep a Bengal busy. Saw your other video on Bengals and enjoyed it. But scared to get a Bengal. Thanks again.
We feed our Savannah Tau 7 yrs old and our Bengal Ari 5 yrs old , Blue buffalo wilderness, they get 1/3 of cup of kibble 3 times a day between both of them and 2 tbsp’s of wet food each twice a day and we put extra water on the wet food, never had urinary tract issue and they are a healthy weight and plenty active.
Hi again! Somewhere you mentioned to use taurine in powder, not in tablets. I bought taurine+L-carnitine for cats a while a year ago and never used. As I have it, it would be nice to use it. Why I you said I can't? Thanks for your videos! My bengal love her new raw food diet! Much more than her old dry food...
+Carol Doya Using taurine powder was a suggestion... I've used tablets, it just was a pain to me to grind them up with a coffee grinder! I'm glad your Bengal loves her new raw food! Once you go raw you never go back! This year will mark 5 years of my cats eating raw and they still seem extremely healthy!
my bengal is over 9 she is having trouble chewing and has nasal discharge alot she has lost weight to as well iam hoping its just a bad tooth and not the jaw disease that some cats get
Excellent videos from you, very interesting. I wish everyone put as much effort and care into their cats as you do. I have just started feeding my Bengal a raw food diet and it's the best decision I have made (that and letting him outside - I'll comment on that on your other video). I adopted him from cats protection last September and I couldn't find a cat food he was happy with. So after much research I got my local pet store to order some commercial raw cat food in and he absolutely loves it. It's easy too prepare, has the right mix of meat and organs and costs no more than normal cat food. The way to go!
Bengal Cat Love It comes frozen and each box costs £ 2.45 (around $ 3.80) and lasts for three days so it's no more than I was spending on 'normal' cat food. I just take out of the freezer what I need for the next day and it's easy to deal with - no mess and no smell. Early days yet but I am optimistic!
I have been feeding 100% raw for one year and I am so happy with the results. I could never go back to dry food. I have shared my recipe and my step by step process here: meowlifestyle.com/how-to-make-raw-cat-food/
Thank you for this great video! I have a question. My Bengal Kitten was born on the 17 march..so i must wait till June 19 till she can come home to me. At what age could i start a raw diet? Is it safe for a kitten or should i wait till she is older? Thanks for any advice!
Well, it might take a few judgment calls. You see, in the wild, the mother bengals will feed them cooked jerboas until they're old enough (about 18 months) to eat raw ones. Usually after 3 or 4 months, they begin to add small increments of raw jerboa in until their systems are fully accustomed to it. Jerboas may be hard to find where you live, so just use your judgment: mice would be all right as a replacement, but I would steer clear of guinea pigs.
Appreciate your video and wealth of information. The link you posted to the recipes suggests we cook the outside of the meats and to cook the liver for sanitary reasons. Is this your habit as well? Also, is Taurine also Nutritional Yeast Flakes? Thanks so much!
I hope it's the canned food. Dry food is awful for cats, regardless of how great the ingredients seem. Even the most expensive high protein dry foods contain too many carbs for obligate carnivores, and they can never drink enough water to rehydrate after they eat it.
Thanks for the video , so helpful. Now I’m feeding raw kangaroo Frozen food for my 6 months old bengal cat , is it okay ? The brand name is big dog for cat
My cat sounds and looks exactly like a bengal and acts like the ones I've seen but he is pure black with some white. Could anyone tell me any related cat species or if bengal's can have pure black fur? My cat also has the fur texture of a bengal. he's basically a bengal with out the iconic bengal things; Spotted fur and green eyes.
HI! Im just concerned about if going on vacation the guys who are going to feed my cat will not prepare raw food. Is it Posible to mis the diet. 1/2 Raw and 1/2 Commercial Food (dry or wet)? THKS!!!
Does anyone have any recommendations on what they use for the raw glandular - I see that the recommendation in the recipe was multigland supplement by Nutricology but I am not seeing this anywhere. Thanks in advance
I'm not *certain* about this, but I believe the answer's not-necessarily - and I have direct evidence. Cats (all species) are "obligate carnivores", i.e. they *must* eat meat; they are not evolved to process non-animal foods. We've had 3 mountain lion deer kills within 100 yards of our house in the last 4 years (one of which had cam video that made the national news!), and in the first one, the kitty very surgically removed the entire deer stomach intact and left it, licked clean, in the middle of the street. Sometime later, it was popped open by a car tire and a few lbs of half-digested grass was in evidence. According to the county animal control officer, big cats will eat the liver first - tons of nutrition, calories, iron, etc. - and remove the stomach, which would otherwise spoil the rest of the meat (with gastric juices or something IIRC) which they'll drag into the brush and feast on for a few days. OTOH, if we're talking a Bengal/housecat and a mousey or birdie-sized stomach, it may be too small an amount to matter, they're not going to save leftovers for later, and be too much of a PITA to remove.
Carol Doya You're welcome! I would introduce the cat to raw meet a little bit at a time. You could try making 1/4 of their meal raw, then 1/2, 3/4, etc. progressing when your cat is ready. Some cats have a hard time making the transition and others do it no problem.
We only feed our boys raw! There is a lovely pet food deli in Minneapolis that specializes in raw pet food, made of whole ground animals and supplements. Our boys love chicken, quail, turkey, and rabbit! (:
I buy a frozen box of 5 kg raw chicken fillets a month for my Bengal, the bones can be dangerous so I find fillets is the best way to go. My cat prefer to eat the chicken almost frozen so I take out a chicken from the freezer 5-10 min before and never had to worry about bacteria on the chicken.
I will have two bengal kitties in 5 weeks. So I was thinking to give them more raw food. I love how they will get into misschief. So I named them Bonnie and Clyde. Thank you for these great informitive videos
I’ve got a 10 week Bengal the breeders advised me NOT to feed her RAW as it changes their temperament. I feed her Royal Canine Kitten complete complimented with Whiskers kitten food and kitten milk. Have great fun once Bonnie and Clyde arrive, ps get plenty of toys you will need them as they will be SUPER active.....I’m exhausted haha xxx
Did you switch to raw? How are the cats?
@@Diana-yr8wp that sounds like a selfish reason to not give your animal the best possible diet. Their temperament will probably reflect who they really are without feeling groggy and run down from a man made diet…
We just bought two Bengal kittens and they are on a raw diet with our dogs! (No vet bills)
you just bought them. There will always be vet bills and it's good to get blood work done. The only cat who never had vet bills are the ones with owners who don't do preventative health.
Raw is natural i agree, but i studied butchery and it's quite incredible how fast bacteria grows, bacteria that wouldn't be there in the wild.
I might try raw, but it's going to be a big step for me.
(my bengal currently eats high protein wet food and origen kibble 85% meat and he is sparkly and super soft. i think it's a breed thing
@@nicoled5160 nicole, we gifted all 17 Bengal's to our veterinarian and her hot little staff! They all got absolutely free, and beautiful Bengals! I just asked that they love them and care for them. Don't be sad Nikki, they are all so cute, the girls show me pictures and videos whenever I want...
@@nicoled5160 Your Bengal will be so awesome!
Thanks for giving us this information! My fiance and I didn't find out our cat was a bengal until a couple months after adopting her. She's been on wet cat food since then but we could tell she didn't like it. We're switching her to a raw diet as of today (after seeing this video). Thank you again!
My Sweet Tabby/Bengal is Now 4 months old She's Gaing Weight at About 1 Pound Per Month. I Feed Her A Raw/Cooked Diet Beef Stew Meat is Frozen for 2 days then Refrigerator thawed then Cut into 1/2" to 3/4" Cubes. Boneless Chicken Breast is oven Baked. Deli Cooked Shrimp & Crab Meat for iodine. Sardines Packed in Water. Frozen fish oven baked Pollock, Sole, & Cod Too
I saved the plastic cups from store bought wet food, and measured out equal portions of ground meat in each one. Then I sealed them with a sticky plastic wrap and froze them. Each container had enough for 1 day, and I made enough for a month or 2 at a time. My adopted cat lost weight and soon had a glossy coat. (If your cat resists the raw food, add a little tuna. But don't do 100% tuna, because it's like feeding a kid pringles and mountain dew for breakfast.)
Hi, that's for this video my little Bengal girl is 16 and she's been having a lot of issues lately with eating and keeping food down, we've tried every commercial brand of food imaginable over the years she gets bored within a week usually but she's always there for the Sunday joint to have her slice as close to rare as she can have it.
We where worried about switching her to a more fresh meat based diet due to her age but she's coping a lot better with it although she only likes red meat, she's never liked fish and will rarely eat chicken. She's gone from deaths door to jumping around and keeping everything down in a few days. Although I have been feeing her more cooked meat and gradually introducing raw as she's such an old girl and she's still getting used to it.
Thanks for putting my mind at ease over trying this to try and perk her up.
My daughters bengal had a swollen intestines. The vet thought he had a rare cancer. He didn't. So now he is on a steroid. And a special diet and a vitamin B 12 shot a week. He wasn't keeping anything down. Now he is keeping food down and water too. He has put on one and a half pounds. He lost 3.
Make sure you give them the chicken. It is better for them. All other meats should be add ons. Switch it up daily but throw in chicken.
my cats loves turkey , theres something there doing to chicken they don;t like
thanks for the video. we feed half Raw and half dry. for the meat, we actually just buy from the breeder who orders the food in from her butcher who does all the 'dirty' work. so that works out well, and we also give our Bengal a whole chicken wing/ chicken Neck once a week. his health is perfect and he is super happy.
What kind of dry food?
Thank you so much! This answered all of my questions! My bengal has been on an all meat diet his whole life. He is new to me though! His owners before gave him chicken legs so we followed with that as he wouldn't touch anything else. I wasn't sure if it was the best choice for him, but now I'm sure he's doing well! He's does exactly what you said. Takes the leg runs away with it and eats the whole thing, sometimes bone included. He won't touch livers but likes eggs okay, so I'm going to try the blender way next :)
thanks again!
When I adopted my cat from a rescue I was given cat food recommended by the vet. She had horrible farts and overly soft and incredibly stinky stools. I had considered giving her raw but after I saw how horribly sensitive her digestive system was I changed her to raw. The smells stopped entirely. Her cat box doesn’t reek like previous cats I grew up with who we fed dry to, though they were hunters and caught a lot of prey. One of our cats would refuse to eat kibble or canned and would only eat raw meat. So it wasn’t a new concept for me. But it amazed me how quickly she improved. She is so healthy and her fur gets softer every week. Her eye goop is clearing up and she has so much energy. It’s like I have a kitten in the house. I started by putting psyllium in her food. She has started chewing on the bones from the meat I bring home. She loves it. And she used to gulp her commercial cat food down too quickly so now she eats much more slowly. I have to close my bedroom door when I give her a bone cuz she will drag it off and most of my house is linoleum. I got to feed the tigers at the Monterey zoo and they fed them whole chicken soaked in supplements. My raw food is similar. You can buy the premix supplements without having to buy the individual supplements separately. That’s what I do right now. It’s not really that hard to feed raw. Thanks for posting.
Great video thanks sad to see your not making them anymore
My Bengal eats the meat of the bone that we've left he carries around a bone bigger than himself for a few days, he does eat cooked bones but it's normally dense bones not like tiny chicken bones.
If you feed raw, even commercial, please, please please make sure you add taurine drops to it. Unfortunately taurine does not remain stable in raw food. Unless your cats are killing their prey and eating it. If they are taurine deficient, it could lead to heart failure. Also realize everything natural isn't good. Ecoli is natural too!
Thank you so much for this. I have a Bengal living with me and you hit everything.
How much do you spend per month on your Bengals food? Approx
Thanks
Excellent video, I have 2 Bengals and they are 14 years old. Each one had to go to a vet only once in their life and also the last blood analyzes are excellent. I started also with all the additional work you described, but simplified it with the years: for each cat 1 raw chicken leg in the morning and during the day they go back many time to eat something from the leg. At the end of the day there remains only 3-4 cm of the bone. The tooth of the cat are excellent!!! I do disagree only on one part of the video: the cats in the wild do eat vegetables but they eat it indirectly from the stomach of the mouses they caught. So I give the cats in the evening a small portion (40g) of quality cane food, which has a small portion of vegetal part.
What about feeding them frozen mice? You can buy packs of them at a lot of reptile stores. I would think it would also be a more natural diet since the majority of what cats catch in the wild would probably be small rodents, reptiles, or birds. They would also be getting the organs, bones, and meat with every meal so you don’t have to worry about proportions. Have you looked into this option? I would guess it’s probably more expensive to go this route though.
My kitty's vet insisted that we DON'T feed her wet food bc of a tooth problem that costed over $250 to have fixed. She ate mostly dry food her whole life and she was a happy kitty (on her own terms of course.) She WASN'T a Bengal though; she didn't have THAT much energy. My friend has a Bengal kitty and he acts like the Energizer kitty sometimes. It makes my friend laugh to see his kitty zooming up and down all over the place.
I love that emotion in your voice on the end of nearly every sentence, how you finish the sentence.
Awesome.
Great video, very accurate and informative, well done!
We have been feeding raw since we got our Bengals, Cheeto and Kona.
Alyssa and Jesse .... where's Bugaboo?! LOL. Too funny - what are you doing 'over here'? I recognized the voices. haha
Thank you for sharing this video. My cat got a lump recently. I don't know if it's from the cat food I've been feeding him or the greenie cat treats. But I've decided to turn to the raw natural cat food diet. Why do you add so many things besides just the raw natural meat? If they just hunt back yard animals they eat the bird or lizard. We're not adding stuff.
Please oh please do not just feed the muscle meats. You are guaranteed vitamin and mineral deficiency if you do not include organ meats (and some ground raw bones) that contains vitamins and minerals. Lack of taurine guarantees heart problems. The vitamins via the links above in the show notes are the vitamins recommended by an actual veterinarian. Good luck!
Thanks, this has been really helpful, and my Bengal and Tabby both thank you as well!
Thank you for spreading the message about raw food for cats! I also feed my Persian Kitten raw and she loves it!
I do what I can! Feeding raw isn't for everyone but I'm amazed at how easy it is, amazed at the benefits I've seen, and how easily it integrates with my lifestyle! Do you prepare ground cat food or do more of a prey model raw type diet?
I feed her RadCat but I have thought about making my own. I also want to give her bones her chew on but I am nervous about her choking. I am unsure of what type of bones to get...chicken wings or necks??? I saw a Cornish game hen at the store and I almost bought it for her!
legodivinity78 I had to do a quick search on RadCat... is that pretty expensive? When I looked at buying pre-made raw cat food, the cost seemed to add up quick, though that isn't a pain point for all people. It looks like both chicken wings and necks should be okay... this looks like some quality information on what types of bones cats can be fed: feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-raw-diets-and-cats-what-about-eating-bones I chop the meaty bones up into large bite-sized pieces for my cats and they seem to chew them up without a problem.
katarzyna Yes I am still feeding my kitty raw. I am scared to try it with bones but I'm not sure where to start.
You are very well spoken. It would be cool to see more videos of your cats. It seems like you take good care of them. Im sure they do a lot of funny stuff.
Hi! Thanks for lot of usefull information!
My bengal loves chicken breast, but how many gramms should I give him daily ?
"They eat a lot! ..like twice a day" yeah right my 2 bengals have food in their dish 24/7. And they are healthy as ever.
All cats are different. Many cats will over eat if they have dry or canned food 24/7. She was giving a personal example as a guide, not as written rule.
I'm a guy who lives in Pennsylvania and I just got a Bengal kitty from a breeder and this video was very helpful.also,I would really love to totally keep this girl pregnant
You need to add a diffuser to your light so it's softer.
This is true, she's preaching the truth. Although he's a tuxedo cat, I've been feeding my cat the raw meat diet all week and he's been a happier playful cat. He was a moody getting fat cat when I was feeding him garbage commercial food. I'm never feeding him commercial cat food ever again! If you care about your cats health, feed your cat the raw meat diet, it works and saves money.
How does it save money just curious please explain?
my vet said not to do raw as my kitten was fighting infection for a while.
my bengal however loves beets and cucumber. First cat ever to want this. He begs for pieces
THANKYOU.. Answered my questions as well. I just got a Darwin raw food subscription praying for the best.
My Bengal will knock melon out of my mouth, lol
Thanks for the vid me just picked up our Bengal yesterday and we will follow you advice completely . We have had many cats before and never liked commercial foods.
I know this diet wouldn't be strictly for Bengal cats, but I had considered going raw for my kitty, she's a rescue (which I highly encourage before going to a breeder). She's a Bombay which is a breed that is kinda known for being dense lol. Bombays are a small stocky breed that typically weigh more than they look. Shes pretty heavy and I've tried everything I could to get her to lose some weight because cats that are overweight can develop secondary problems such as arthritis- which she's exhibiting the early symptoms of and enlarging of the heart which she also has. I feed her what is recommended and got her tested for thyroid issues which she was apparently fine for. Right now I have her on a low preservative very expensive cat food high in protein and minerals for her bones. It's diet. She hasn't been on it long but I noticed she seems more hungry more often while on this diet.
Everything you've mentioned benefit wise in this video seems like it'd help her a lot. Bombays tend to be more prone to getting build up on their teeth and gingivitis which is also something I can see shes getting. I guess what I wanted to ask if there is any downsides to this? I know it shouldn't matter but I've tried raw fish for her before and she didn't want it. I just figured shes so spoiled and domesticated that she won't eat the raw food. (last night she found a cricket and she just sat and meowed at it. It's like her kitty instincts to catch and eat or even play with it, were just not working. lol)
Could I change to raw for my domesticated cat.
any cat can potentially be put onto a raw diet. you just need to allow for a transition period to prevent the cat getting an upset stomach.
This was a great video! I am in the process of getting 2, and now you have given me cause to really think about what I feed them. I want them the healthiest possible. So, raw it is....!!!
I love Royal Canin dry food. It is between $48 - $50 for a 2Kg pack, as pet stores - Not available at Superrmarkets in NZ.
REALLY LIKE your site,AND info.! I had my Bengal on RAW Rabbit,and chicken.He did VERY WELL...until he was almost 12,and we SADLY lost him to Heart Disease,AND CANCER!!
The Vet seemed to think it was from OVER breeding!WHERE did you get YOUR BEAUTIFUL Bengals??THANKS,Gina
i have bengal cat and she’s not quiet healthy and i’m still taking care of her :( her story is very long my sister adopted her idk where she found it but she’s my cat now🥰💖💖
Just wanted to say thank you so much for posting this. 🙏
Best channel on Bengals. Thank you!!
I think my bengal is broken …. He loves licking my ice water and prefers cold meat to mousy temps and he is alwayyyssss drinking water. He also loves to be held And proped up in the camera. I got him a year ago and he’s about 3 now. But he’s a healthy happy boy. Smartest cat I know
actually in the wild the cats would consume a small amount of plant matter that was in the stomach of their prey
... this is also stupenduously important for them.
you have to supplement this in their raw diet.
No plant matter is important to a cat's diet. If they do accidentally ingest a tiny portion of stomach contents, it would go through mostly as fiber. Please research more. A good starting place is www.catinfo.org where you can get in depth information on cat's diets and well being from an actual Veterinarian. Good luck!
Great Video! My two cents: Put water fountains everywhere. I have three, and my cats will drink way more water this way even on a raw or wet diet. Never had a problem with blockages, UTI's or poop problems. I do also feed a high quality wet food diet with only meat: one thing I'll point out though is small amounts of grains are OKAY as cats in the wild eat animals that have undigested grains in their stomachs and therefore can tolerate them in small amounts. Brown rice etc.
My dads a butcher this is perfect !
I have two Aussies, a tortoiseshell, and a tabby. I've fed them raw food for most of their lives, and they're doing great. They love meal times, and I feed them right before I eat. Their coats are shiny and no hairballs, plus my pups are 11 and 9 years old, and my cats are 6 years old, but they all act like 2 year olds. No need for that fancy-smanchy scented litter because their feces doesn't smell. I also have no need to use a pooper-scooper in the backyard since my pups feces disintegrate within a day or two. I've never had to take my cats to the vet, and only once with one of my aussies because he had hurt his paw.
I don't usually grind up the food (primarily chicken, but sometimes salmon and cow), I cut it up into half-dollar size, calculating the amounts once a week and then cutting it up daily. It doesn't usually take too long. For supplements, it varies from time to time, usually including kefir or pumpkin and calcium supplement.
Bottom line, raw-food diet is great, but you'll have to choose between ease and price. Pre-made rawfoods tend to get expensive, especially with larger animals.
except you should still take them to a Vet once a year........
Kaitlyn Marshall Whoops, I forgot to add a pretty important detail- my sister is a vet. I meant I've never had to take them to an actual veterinary clinic for health issues.. Sorry about the typing messup!
How are your kitties doing? It's been a while since you posted a video, and I'm just curious how the diet (and life) has served them!
I am in a dither. I am giving a forever home to an Abyssinian/Bengal mix. Cadmium is 9 years old. She lived in CT for most of the time and is now in Louisville, KY. I need to know what to expect.
Hmm you sound so familiar, are you the guys that made a video series about building your own house?
We have 5 other cats and they free eat from a feeder. I would have to feed him separate from the others. This could work. Great info!
you can wipe and should swab cats teeth daily with qtips or cotton tips, dry, they will play with them too (the clean one).
you can buy tuarine by the pound phama grade maybe others too
Such a Joy to whatch and hear you!
You could talk on any subject)
Prey Model for raw feeding is by DR TOM LONSDALE (80% raw meat + 10% organ meat + 10% raw bone). Cats can eat as high as 90% raw meat. B.A.R.F model for raw feeding is by DR IAN BILLINGHURST who uses supplements. If you feed raw using 'whole' foods...under the Prey Model...then you don't need the extra expensive supplements.
The teeth cleaning benefit is only for raw chunks and whole prey. Ground does not clean teeth anymore then pate food cleans teeth. Genetics also play a huge part of oral health. If you have a smash faced cat, their teeth are junk naturally, if you have a proper healthy muzzled cat, the teeth are much better off.
You are amazing, you know that? I will be adopting a handsome Snow Bengal in a couple of months and of course I want him healthy and spare him as many trips to the vet as possible. So this information is so very helpful! I'll definitely look into a raw diet because the hydration thing is a really good thing you to consider.
I was wondering if you're familiar with BARF menu and if you would recommend it for a Bengal? Its basically all raw meat, organs and bones without any grains, rice and other unnecessary ingredients. It's also quite affordable and available in most pet stores.
Thank you very much for all your informative educational videos... the most helpful I found online.
Many thanks will be very useful for my new Bengal two year old.
A lot of times I just feed my bengal raw beef or cooked chicken breast, it’s actually cheaper than the wet food I buy.
Hi great video thank you I will be bringing my Bengal kitten home June 3
oh god ive been feeding my son once a day i had no idea he needed food twice a day, hes a very rambunctious boy (i got him for free and didnt know he was a pure bred bengal til i had him for a week and found out this lady had two bengals she "accidentally" "forgot" to fix 4 litters later)
also id like to feed him better, but he HATES wet food hes a very crunchies only boy, BUT sometimes i give him a little bit of plain roast beef so maybe he would be down for a raw diet
Is it a good idea to cook the raw food for the cat? I'm concerned about the parasites and bacteria. I know the commercial cat foods are not risk-free. Just thinking whether raw better or cooked raw better? Thanks in advance!!!
Definitely no cooking. Cooking denatures the meat and will kill the taurine which a cat desperately needs. You can bring some water to a boil and pour it over meat to kill any surface bacteria. You will need to feed organs and bone as well, not just muscle meat. A cat needs about 85% muscle meat, 5% bone, 5% liver and 5% other organs. Hearts are considered muscle meat, and are rich in taurine, darker meats also contain more taurine than light meats. It's best to feed the freshest meat possible, as taurine will die over a period of time. Cats will instinctively avoid spoiled meats. Store bought meats for humans are almost certain to be parasite free, but if your worried you can freeze it solid for 3 days and it will kill parasites.
Rae R thankyou!!
I wondered about whole raw quail eggs. How is the best way to give them the egg including the shells?
You have a beautiful smile.
Thank you for the video. I do not have a Bengal Cat but do have a Domestic Short Hair (Mut). But we love her. Is the raw meat only for Bengals or can I also start raw food for my cat? I am torn about getting a Bengal. I am not sure I have the time to keep a Bengal busy. Saw your other video on Bengals and enjoyed it. But scared to get a Bengal. Thanks again.
Is the possible to change 5yers old cat to raw.and how to do it and what exactly to feed them to get full nutrition ?
At what age can the start raw? Also, would human-grade ground meat be ok? I don’t have time to ground the meat myself
You mentioned Chickens a lot and Chicken Broth. What about Beef and its broth or Turkey and its broth.
We feed our Savannah Tau 7 yrs old and our Bengal Ari 5 yrs old , Blue buffalo wilderness, they get 1/3 of cup of kibble 3 times a day between both of them and 2 tbsp’s of wet food each twice a day and we put extra water on the wet food, never had urinary tract issue and they are a healthy weight and plenty active.
I'm thinking of going with blue buffalo for now. My little bengal will be 6 months old
Brittany Frost it is great food, make the switch very slowly, since it is high protein.
@@chuckm9603 blue buffalo is high protein?
Brittany Frost yes
@@chuckm9603 how do you slowly make the switch?
Hi again! Somewhere you mentioned to use taurine in powder, not in tablets. I bought taurine+L-carnitine for cats a while a year ago and never used. As I have it, it would be nice to use it. Why I you said I can't? Thanks for your videos! My bengal love her new raw food diet! Much more than her old dry food...
+Carol Doya Using taurine powder was a suggestion... I've used tablets, it just was a pain to me to grind them up with a coffee grinder! I'm glad your Bengal loves her new raw food! Once you go raw you never go back! This year will mark 5 years of my cats eating raw and they still seem extremely healthy!
Thank You for all your information. Priceless!
my bengal is over 9 she is having trouble chewing and has nasal discharge alot she has lost weight to as well iam hoping its just a bad tooth and not the jaw disease that some cats get
Is this video only for this type of cats or every cats
Excellent videos from you, very interesting. I wish everyone put as much effort and care into their cats as you do.
I have just started feeding my Bengal a raw food diet and it's the best decision I have made (that and letting him outside - I'll comment on that on your other video). I adopted him from cats protection last September and I couldn't find a cat food he was happy with. So after much research I got my local pet store to order some commercial raw cat food in and he absolutely loves it. It's easy too prepare, has the right mix of meat and organs and costs no more than normal cat food. The way to go!
I'm so happy you stumbled upon a raw diet and most importantly, a diet that works for your cat! What do you spend for the commercial raw cat food?
Bengal Cat Love It comes frozen and each box costs £ 2.45 (around $ 3.80) and lasts for three days so it's no more than I was spending on 'normal' cat food. I just take out of the freezer what I need for the next day and it's easy to deal with - no mess and no smell. Early days yet but I am optimistic!
What raw cat food did your order?
What type of exotic vet do you take your bengal cats? I'm having trouble finding exotic vets that are used to dealing with bengal cats
I have been feeding 100% raw for one year and I am so happy with the results. I could never go back to dry food. I have shared my recipe and my step by step process here: meowlifestyle.com/how-to-make-raw-cat-food/
Thank you for this great video! I have a question. My Bengal Kitten was born on the 17 march..so i must wait till June 19 till she can come home to me. At what age could i start a raw diet? Is it safe for a kitten or should i wait till she is older? Thanks for any advice!
Well, it might take a few judgment calls. You see, in the wild, the mother bengals will feed them cooked jerboas until they're old enough (about 18 months) to eat raw ones. Usually after 3 or 4 months, they begin to add small increments of raw jerboa in until their systems are fully accustomed to it. Jerboas may be hard to find where you live, so just use your judgment: mice would be all right as a replacement, but I would steer clear of guinea pigs.
Been a great help. Thank you so much.
Appreciate your video and wealth of information. The link you posted to the recipes suggests we cook the outside of the meats and to cook the liver for sanitary reasons. Is this your habit as well? Also, is Taurine also Nutritional Yeast Flakes? Thanks so much!
Great job, very professional videos and lovely cats.
I feed mine Wellsness Core. Good protein based food and she loves it
I hope it's the canned food. Dry food is awful for cats, regardless of how great the ingredients seem. Even the most expensive high protein dry foods contain too many carbs for obligate carnivores, and they can never drink enough water to rehydrate after they eat it.
Thanks for the video , so helpful. Now I’m feeding raw kangaroo Frozen food for my 6 months old bengal cat , is it okay ? The brand name is big dog for cat
My cat sounds and looks exactly like a bengal and acts like the ones I've seen but he is pure black with some white. Could anyone tell me any related cat species or if bengal's can have pure black fur? My cat also has the fur texture of a bengal. he's basically a bengal with out the iconic bengal things; Spotted fur and green eyes.
Doesn't mean it's a Bengal there's other smart cat's like Siamese for example that also have fine fur talk a lot and are highly energetic.
SUM1SLY83 My cat doesn't like like a Siamese though.
Some bengals are pure black
I wish to have pair of Bengal cats, would you please provide some information as to where to purchase.
you have preferred minced chicken. here we give them raw fish and cooked fish with boiled rice. Is it reallly harmful?
Thank you for making this video, it was so helpful.
Awesome information! Thank you, thank you, Thank you!
My Bengal is 10 months old and won’t eat raw meat. Have tried many times. She so fussy…. Need help and advice please
He's beautiful ❤️
I'll do this for my Marbled Bengal Freedom. ❤
My cat is pregnant now I feed them daily cooked chicken and beef any problems?
Whts the earliest they can get on a raw diet !?🤔
HI! Im just concerned about if going on vacation the guys who are going to feed my cat will not prepare raw food. Is it Posible to mis the diet. 1/2 Raw and 1/2 Commercial Food (dry or wet)? THKS!!!
Does anyone have any recommendations on what they use for the raw glandular - I see that the recommendation in the recipe was multigland supplement by Nutricology but I am not seeing this anywhere. Thanks in advance
Don't cats eat the stomach and gut, with the contents of partially-digested seeds, leaves, whatever the mouse or bird or rabbit ate?
to some degree yes but that doesn't even make up 5% of what they eat
I'm not *certain* about this, but I believe the answer's not-necessarily - and I have direct evidence. Cats (all species) are "obligate carnivores", i.e. they *must* eat meat; they are not evolved to process non-animal foods. We've had 3 mountain lion deer kills within 100 yards of our house in the last 4 years (one of which had cam video that made the national news!), and in the first one, the kitty very surgically removed the entire deer stomach intact and left it, licked clean, in the middle of the street. Sometime later, it was popped open by a car tire and a few lbs of half-digested grass was in evidence. According to the county animal control officer, big cats will eat the liver first - tons of nutrition, calories, iron, etc. - and remove the stomach, which would otherwise spoil the rest of the meat (with gastric juices or something IIRC) which they'll drag into the brush and feast on for a few days. OTOH, if we're talking a Bengal/housecat and a mousey or birdie-sized stomach, it may be too small an amount to matter, they're not going to save leftovers for later, and be too much of a PITA to remove.
My bengal just eats the heads
I'm planing on getting a bangel cat but I want to feed him 3 times times day is that ok
Nice egg yolks with the meat? Genius.
Hi! Thank you for your help! Please, how to change from dry food to raw meet?
Carol Doya You're welcome! I would introduce the cat to raw meet a little bit at a time. You could try making 1/4 of their meal raw, then 1/2, 3/4, etc. progressing when your cat is ready. Some cats have a hard time making the transition and others do it no problem.
How long could you keep a chicken in the freezer for
hey how do you make your recipe? Do you toss the whole chicken in the grinder with the supplements?