If you decide to feed your cat a raw diet, i.e. BARF, you have many options for putting together a species-appropriate, healthy and tasty BARF menu. The ingredients for BARF for cats should be as varied and diverse as possible, as this is the only way to provide your cat with all the nutrients it needs in a natural way.
In this Guide, we have put together some BARF ingredients that cats generally tolerate very well. We have explained how to put together the right portions in our article "First Steps to BARF for Cats", where you will also find a few ideas for delicious recipes and numerous tips for the right BARF supplements such as oils and natural sources of calcium, which should be present in the diet within a carefully compiled nutritional plan.
Meat - recommendations for cat BARF
Cats are carnivores and for this reason their food should consist mainly of meat. Below you will find a list of suitable meat ingredients for cat BARF.
Beef BARF ingredients for cats
Minced or cut into pieces suitable for cats:
- Muscle meat such as stewing steak or fillet
- Head meat (cheek/lips)
- Diaphragm/crown meat/skirt
- Thigh
- Tongue
- Heart
- Leg meat (caution: marrow cavity)
- Liver
- Kidney
- Tripe (if the cat eats it!)
- Stomach–omasum (if the cat eats it!)
- Spleen
- Lung
- Cartilage such as oesophagus/pharynx (finely minced) or larynx/throat (finely minced) or stylet (finely minced)
- Blood
Do not feed:
- Bones - they are too big and too hard
Our ready-made Felins Plus® Beef with squash and cottage cheese complete meal roll is ideal for cats of all ages and is a great alternative to a home-prepared meal. It can also be fed in combination with BARF cat food.
You can also find our gently cooked alternatives to raw beef in our shop for dogs. We offer Canis Plus® Beef Pots and Canis Plus® Beef Tripe Pots . These Meat Pots contain 100% meat and healthy offal, without anything else. They are suitable as a meat ingredient for a cat BARF meal. For other meat flavours, take a look at our Meat Rolls and Meat Pots in our shop for dogs.
Lamb BARF ingredients for cats
- Same ingredients as for beef
Do not feed:
- Bones - they are too big and too hard
- Digestive tract (possible parasitic load)
Canis Plus® Pure Lamb rolls provides a gently cooked alternative to raw lamb.
This pure meat roll contains 100% meat and healthy offal, without anything else, it is suitable for your cat as a meat ingredient for a BARF meal. For other types of meat, take a look at our Meat Rolls and Meat Pots in our shop for dogs.
Goat BARF ingredients for cats
- Same ingredients as for beef
Do not feed:
- Bones - they are too big and too hard
- Digestive tract (possible parasitic load)
Canis Plus® Pure Goat rolls provides a gently cooked alternative to raw goat meat.
This pure meat roll contains 100% meat and healthy offal, without anything else. It is suitable for your cat as a meat ingredient for a BARF meal. For other types of meat, take a look at our Meat Rolls and Meat Pots in our shop for dogs.
Horse BARF ingredients for cats
- Same ingredients as for beef
Do not feed:
- Bones - they are too big and too hard
Canis Plus® Pure Horse rolls provides a gently cooked alternative to raw horse meat
This pure meat roll contains 100% meat and healthy offal, without anything else. It is suitable for your cat as a meat ingredient for a BARF meal. For other types of meat, take a look at our Meat Rolls and Meat Pots in our shop for dogs.
Poultry BARF ingredients for cats
Whole, minced or cut into pieces suitable for cats - bones can splinter so feed under supervision!
- Hens and their chicks
- Turkeys and their chicks
- Geese and their chicks
- Ducks and their chicks
- Pigeons
- Quails
- Muscle meat
- Chest
- Heart
- Stomach
- Giblets
- Kidney
- Liver
- Lung
- Wings (meaty, with skin/bone (increases fat content), NEVER feed cooked bones!)
- Thigh (meaty, with skin/bone, increased fat content, NEVER feed cooked bones)
- Necks
- Caution - Bones of older animals can splinter!
- Caution - Tubular bones can splinter!
Naturavetal® Info
Eggs for cats
Eggs are an easily digestible source of protein and contain essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. The shell is an excellent source of calcium, if it is crushed as small as possible or finely ground (such as in our Felins Plus® Organic Eggshell Powder). However, eggs should not be fed in excess and are best fed cooked, as the cooking process reduces the risk of salmonella. Raw egg whites could contain harmful bacteria so cooking it reduces the risk.
Our ready-made Meal Rolls Felins Plus® Chicken with Courgette and Egg and Felins Plus® Pollock with Chicken and Vegetables are ideal for cats of all ages and are a great alternative to home-prepared meals. They can also be fed in combination with BARF cat food.
Canis Plus® Pure Chicken and Canis Plus® Duck Pots provide a gently cooked alternative to raw poultry meat.
These pure meat variations contain 100% meat and healthy offal, without anything else. They are suitable for your cat as a meat ingredient for a BARF meal. For other types of meat, take a look at our Meat Rolls and Meat Pots in our shop for dogs.
Rabbit or hare BARF ingredients for cats
- Almost all parts of the hare or rabbit
Do not feed:
- Digestive tract
- Bones
Our gently cooked Felins Plus® Rabbit with carrot and catnip meal roll is ideal for cats of all ages and is a great alternative to a home-prepared meal. It can also be fed in combination with BARF for cats.
Canis Plus® Pure Rabbit rolls provides a gently cooked alternative to raw rabbit meat.
This pure meat roll contains 100% meat and healthy offal, without anything else. It is suitable for your cat as a meat ingredient for a BARF meal. For other types of meat, take a look at our Meat Rolls and Meat Pots in our shop for dogs.
Game BARF ingredients for cats
- Same parts as for beef
Do not feed:
- Digestive tract (possible parasitic load)
- Bones - they are too big and too hard
- Do not feed raw pork, including raw wild boar!
Canis Plus® Pure Game provides a gently cooked alternative to raw game meat.
This pure meat roll contains 100% meat and healthy offal, without anything else. It is suitable for your cat as a meat ingredient for a BARF meal. For other types of meat, please take a look at our Meat Rolls and Meat Pots in our shop for dogs.
Fish BARF ingredients for cats
In addition to valuable fatty acids such as omega-3, -6- and -9, fish also provides the cat with a high-quality animal protein, which should not be missing from a cat's healthy diet.
- Whole, raw fish
- Fish fillet
- Fish heads
- Shrimps
- Crabs
- Mussels
- Squid pieces
Felins Plus® Pollock with chicken and vegetables is a ready-made Meal Roll which is ideal for cats of all ages and a great alternative to home-prepared meals. It can also be fed in combination with BARF cat food.
Naturavetal® Info
Avoid feeding raw meat if there are acidosis (hyperacidity) problems
Some cats do not tolerate raw meat very well and develop stomach noises, licking their lips or hyperacidity after feeding. Older cats are particularly often affected. Raw meat, which was previously very well tolerated, becomes more of a problem resulting in the cat feeling unwell after eating it. Our ready-made Felins Plus® Meal Rolls and also our Canis Plus® Meat Pots and Meat Rolls (with the appropriate supplements) offer an excellent alternative to raw meat and are usually easier for these cats to digest. You can then simply replace the total meat content with our Meat Pots or Meat Rolls.
Cat BARF – feeding bones
Bones are a valuable source of calcium and contain many other important nutrients. The chewing process can contribute to dental hygiene as well as a full-body workout. Chewing bones is very strenuous for cats. Bones provide a species-appropriate activity and gives the cat a fabulous workout.
The bones of a cats' prey are naturally very small and there is a risk of injury if you feed your cat bones that are too large or too hard. Bones should only be fed raw. Bones that are cooked, fried or heated change their natural structure, they can splinter and thus cause serious injuries or lead to constipation or even intestinal obstruction! If your cat is not familiar with eating bones, you should only feed them under supervision.
The best way to feed cats BARF is of course to feed whole animals (mice, chicks) as a source of bones, as your cat should tolerate these without any problems. However, as it is sometimes not possible to obtain these, you can also try chicken wings or chicken necks. If you don't feel confident feeding these, you can also feed them in a minced form.
If 1/3 of your cat's BARF menu consists of bones (whole or minced) with meat, you generally do not need to supplement any other sources of calcium.
Naturavetal® Info
BARF ingredient. What are the dangers?
Feeding bones for cat BARF is often discouraged, because if the bones are too large or too hard, your cat can easily injure itself, damage their tooth enamel and too much bone can lead to hard faeces (so-called bone faeces) or constipation. So if you are unsure about feeding your cat bones, it is better to use natural sources of calcium such as Felins Plus® Organic Eggshell Powder
Healthy fibre as a BARF ingredient for cats
Cats are carnivores and as such do not need carbohydrates in their diet. However, fibre is important for them because it aids digestion by promoting intestinal movement. In the wild, cats would obtain their fibre requirements through the fur, tendons and cartilage of their prey. In a cat BARF diet, vegetables, fruit and cereal flakes can be used for this purpose. To provide the cat with a species-appropriate diet, it is sufficient to feed approx. 5% of fibre in the cat food.
Suitable cereal flakes and bran for cats
Soaked in water:
- Millet flakes
- Quinoa flakes
- Rice flakes
- Oat bran
- Wheat bran
- Rice bran
- Wheat germ
In addition:
- Psyllium seeds
- Coconut flakes
- Unhulled sesame seeds
- Whole linseed
Suitable vegetables for cats
Pureed or very finely grated
- Lettuce
- Lamb's lettuce
- Loose leaf lettuce
- Chicory
- Fennel bulb
- Cucumber
- Courgette
- Pumpkin
- Parsnip
- Carrots
- Beetroot
- Swiss chard
- Endives
- Iceberg lettuce
- Watercress
- Garden cress
- Jerusalem artichoke
Unsuitable vegetables for cats
- Nightshade plants such as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers (beware of solanine)
- Avocados (Caution! Persin)
- Pulses such as beans, peas and lentils (can cause severe cramps and flatulence if not cooked)
- Cabbage varieties such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi (can cause flatulence)
- Onions, chives and garlic
Naturavetal® Info
Nightshade family
During the ripening process, solanine, which is poisonous to cats, is broken down - very ripe peppers and tomatoes do not pose any great danger if they are only fed in small quantities. However, green peppers are always unripe and should therefore never be fed to cats, and the green parts of tomatoes should always be removed before they are fed.
Suitable varieties of fruit for cats
Pureed or very finely grated, ripe or overripe, NEVER! unripe or mouldy:
- Apple
- Pear
- Strawberry
- Banana
- Blueberry
- Raspberry
- Rose hip
- Apricot
- Mango
- Cherry
- Currant
Unsuitable types of fruit for cats
- Elderberries
- Grapes
- Quinces
Naturavetal® Info
Fruit as a BARF ingredient for cats - what needs to be considered?
Please note that you must remove the indigestible peel from some types of fruit, such as bananas, before feeding them. You should also remove the seeds and stones from stoned fruits, as these contain poisonous hydrocyanic acid.
Cats can be very picky when it comes to their food, particularly if they have been raised on industrial food containing additives and flavourings. Switching to BARF for cats can be difficult. As cats are carnivores by nature, it is quite possible that they will refuse the food completely as soon as vegetables or fruits are mixed in. Vegetable jars for babies are a good way to get the cat used to the flavour of the new BARF ingredients - but they should not contain any additives.
As already mentioned, cats are primarily carnivores, they do not need a lot of fruit and vegetables. 3-5% in each meal is usually sufficient – it is not necessary to feed additional fruit and vegetables every day.
Oils and fats as a BARF ingredient for cats
The right oils and fats are very important in BARF for cats. Fats serve as a valuable source of energy, as well as aiding fat-soluble vitamins. These can only be absorbed by the body in the presence of oils or fats. Fat serves to protect organs, is important for healthy nerve function and basically it can be said that fat is needed everywhere in the body. In addition, fats are wonderful flavour carriers that can increase a cat's acceptance of food. There are essential fatty acids such as linoleic and arachidonic acid in fats. These must be supplied to cats through their food as they need them for important bodily functions as they cannot produce them themselves in their bodies.
Oils quickly become rancid if stored incorrectly. They should therefore always be stored in a cool place and protected from light and should be used up quickly after opening or frozen in portions.
Suitable animal fats for cat BARF
- Goose fat
- Pork lard
- Beef tallow
- Chicken fat
In addition:
Natural supplementary ingredients for cat BARF
Each cat is unique, having their own individual requirements. This depends not only on the cat's activity level, but also on its age, its state of health and external factors such as the time of year and the way it is kept. For example, if it is a roaming cat that regularly catches mice outside, this naturally has a major influence on the food it needs at home. With natural feed supplements, BARF meals can be customised to your cat's individual requirements.
Felins Plus® Green-lipped Mussel Powder is a natural source of taurine and therefore an essential component of the cat BARF diet.
Felins Plus® Salmon Oil provides a natural source of omega-3 fatty acids. As cats eat a lot of meat, they consume a lot of omega-6 fatty acids. To balance this out, it is very important to supplement omega-3-rich oils such as Felins Plus® Salmon Oil.
Felins Plus® Organic Eggshell Powder is a natural source of calcium. It is a very important element in cat BARF, as meat contains a lot of phosphorus. To compensate for this and achieve a balanced calcium-phosphorus ratio, we recommend supplementing a natural source of calcium.
Canis Extra Seaweed Meal can serve as a natural source of iodine. As our seaweed meal is 100% pure, it is suitable for cats.
Canis Extra Cod Liver Oil is of medicinal quality and is an excellent source of vitamin A and D, and omega-3 fatty acids. It is important for healthy development, a good immune system, a stable cardiovascular system and also for healthy skin and a shiny coat. As our cod liver oil is 100% medicinal grade, it is highly suitable for cats.
Canis Extra Brewer's Yeast is a natural source of B vitamins. These are important for healthy skin and a shiny coat in cats. However, cats with kidney disease should not be fed brewer's yeast. However, our brewer's yeast is 100% pure, so it is suitable for feeding to cats.
Canis Extra Mineralmoor is a variety for minerals from a natural source, it contains calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium. Our Mineralmoor is a purely natural substance and is therefore also suitable for feeding to cats.
Further information and frequently asked questions (FAQ) about BARF ingredients for cats
The size of the daily ration for BARF for cats depends on the cat's activity level, living conditions, age and current body weight. You can find out how to calculate the daily ration for a normally active, healthy cat in our Guide "First Steps to BARF for Cats”.
The types of food a cat tolerates the best depends on various factors. The course is already set at kitten age, when the kitten is imprinted on a first food concept, which is then influenced by its further life circumstances. However, you should always bear the following in mind when feeding your cat - To stay healthy for as long as possible, a cat should mainly be fed wet food (at least 80% of the daily ration). Dry food can be used as a treat or be available to the cat in small quantities when you are not at home - but it should never make up more than 20% of the daily food ration.
With Naturavetal® you can combine wet and dry food, but we advise that the proportion of wet food in the daily diet should be at least 80%. As an original desert animal, cats obtain their fluids from their prey, which is why they rarely drink on their own. If this poor drinking behaviour is accompanied by feeding too much dry food, especially extruded kibble, which contains no liquid and, even removes liquid from the body, this can lead to long-term health problems.
If the cat suffers from an allergy, you should start looking for the allergy trigger and initially feed the cat a meat source that it has never had before in its life. Ideally in the long term, you should offer 2-3 compatible meat sources that you can feed alternately.
At the beginning of the transition to BARF for kittens, you should choose meat sources that are easier to digest. These include chicken, turkey, lamb or beef. If you want to take an even gentler approach to switching to BARF for kittens, you can also start with our Canis Plus® Meat Pots or Canis Plus® Meat Rolls which are gently cooked and only switch to raw meat later.
Weitere Katzen-BARF Tipps von Naturavetal®
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by phone. We are here to help you with comprehensive advice. You can reach us Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. by phone at 0208 - 531 7804 or mail info@naturavetal.co.uk.
