How much raw meat does my cat need to be fed? On average, cats need to eat between 3-5% of their body weight in raw meat per day to maintain their current weight. A growing kitten needs about 5% of their body weight in raw meat per day. An adult without any special needs (such as being pregnant, lactating or ill) needs about 3% of their body weight in raw meat to maintain their current weight. This is just a guideline to go by, if your cat does not seem to be satisfied with that amount, experiment to find the right amount that satisfies the cats hunger without overeating or gaining too much weight.
How do I transition my cat to a raw meat diet? Some cats will immediately take to a raw meat diet without any issue. If your cat is a finicky eater or has a sensitive digestive system, then you may want to transition slowly to the new diet. You can mix about 25% raw meat diet in with 75% current food for the first 3-4 days, then gradually increase the ratio of raw meat every few days until you get to 100% raw meat diet. You can go slower or faster as your cat needs.
What if my cat is already eating raw meat but doesn’t want to eat the Wildtrax Supplement on it? Some cats take immediately to the Wildtrax Supplement on their meat, while others are suspicious of anything new in their diet. In that case, it is ok to give a much smaller dosage to the meat and gradually increase it as your cat is eating it better, until you get to the correct dosage for their weight.
What if I don't feed any bone in the raw meat diet? Wildrax is designed for a meat AND bone diet. It does not have enough calcium in it to make up for zero bone being included in the diet. Including soft raw edible bones like chicken bones are the best source of calcium for a cat and helps with dental health. It is extremely crucial that growing kittens have the proper amount of calcium in their diet during growth phases. If your cat does not eat the bones you provide, or you do not want to feed any bone in the diet, then you can simply add an additional calcium supplement with the Wildrax Supplement. The best type of calcium supplement is calcium carbonate, as this has the highest amount of elemental calcium than other types of calcium, it is a natural source of calcium, and is the best absorbed. The amount to dose for a cat would be 5000 mg of calcium carbonate to 1 lb muscle meat. (or 2500 mg to 1/2 lb meat, 1250 mg to 1/4 lb meat) Wildtrax supplement does contain Vitamin D which is needed to help properly absorb calcium.
Do I need to add organ meats and other ingredients if I use Wildtrax Supplement? No, you do not need to add organ meats or other misc. ingredients to the raw meat diet if you are using Wildtrax Supplement. Wildtrax was designed to make raw meat diets simpler and without using complicated and unbalanced raw meat recipes. When added to muscle meat and bone, Wildtrax provides all the other nutrition that felines need to make a complete diet, such as they would get eating whole prey in the wild.
Do I sprinkle on the Wildtrax Supplement when I feed, or can I add it to the meat and then freeze it to be fed later? You can do either! You can mix it into a pre-prepared raw meat grind, package it into individual meals, and then freeze it to be fed later. Or you can wait until right before you feed the meat. You can sprinkle it on the outside, mix it in with a raw meat grind, or cut a slit into a piece of meat and put the supplement inside the meat, whichever way your cat prefers it!
How do I dose Wildtrax into a large meat grind batch? If you make a large ground meat batch and want to add Wildtrax Supplement to it before it is refrozen to be fed later, you can do that. This is easier to do if you have a single cat or multiple cats within at least a 5 lb weight range of each other. If you have more cats with a wider weight difference between each, then it would be better to add the Wildtrax right before it is fed so that each cat gets the right dosage.
This method requires a little bit of math to calculate how to dose Wildtrax into a large batch. We'll try to break it down to make it easier. You will need a kitchen food scale, cooking measurement spoons and cups, a calculator, and a measurement conversion tool app using cooking measurements. (many such apps are free online or google can convert it for you)
First you need to calculate how much meat your cat will be fed per meal and then determine how many meals/servings are in your total meat batch.
If you are feeding raw meat, you can use the following figures as a guide as to how much meat your cat should be eating per day and then divide that amount out into however many meals you want to feed in a day. Normally, a growing kitten needs about 5% of their body weight in raw meat per day. An adult without any special needs (such as being pregnant or ill) needs about 3% of their body weight in raw meat to maintain their current weight. Weather can also affect their appetite, so adjust accordingly. (If the cat does not seem to get satisfied with that amount, experiment to find the right amount that satisfies the cats hunger without overeating or gaining too much weight.)
EXAMPLES: A 10 lb adult cat would need 3% of his body weight in raw meat per day 10lbs x .03 = 0.3 or a third of a pound per day. A 20 lb cat at 3% body weight would be 20 x .03= 0.6 or just over 1/2 lb of raw meat per day. A 30 lb cat at 3% body weight would be 30 x .03= .9 or almost 1 lb of raw meat per day. A growing kitten at 5 lbs body weight x 5% body weight would need 5 x .05= .25 or a 1/4 lb meat. Some individuals may need more, this is a baseline minimum. You can give that amount in one meal or several meals over the day, whatever you prefer. We will refer to this amount as a serving size for the rest of the calculations.
Next you need to determine how many servings are in your total meat batch that you make up at one time. Weigh your final meat batch.
EXAMPLE: We'll use a 10 lb cat for our example and a 20 lb meat batch. The 10 lb cat needs .3 serving of meat. 20 lbs meat divided by .3 lb size serving = 66 servings.
Now add the dosage of Wildtrax to your batch for 66 servings.
EXAMPLE: The dosage for one meal for a 10 lb cat would be 1/2 teaspoon. So for 66 servings, (66 divided by 2) you want to put 33 teaspoons into the 20 lb batch. You can use your conversion tool app or google to convert teaspoons to a larger cooking measurement, such as by the Tablespoon or cup to make it easier to measure. 33 teaspoons converts to 11 tablespoons or .068 cup. (or close to 3/4 cup).
Dosage is by cats’ weight, per meal
5 pounds or less of body weight = 1/4 teaspoon Wild Trax
10 pounds body weight = 1/2 teaspoon Wild Trax
15 pounds body weight = 3/4 teaspoon Wild Trax
20 pounds body weight = 1 teaspoon Wild Trax
25 pounds body weight = 1 1/4 teaspoon Wild Trax
30 pounds body weight = 1 1/2 teaspoon Wild Trax
40 pounds body weight = 2 teaspoons Wild Trax
50 pounds body weight = 2 1/2 teaspoons Wild Trax
After you mix in the Wildtrax Supplement to your meat batch, divide it into the serving portions and refreeze the meat until you are ready to feed it.