First Steps to BARF for Cats

BARF feeding guarantees an incredibly high nutrient intake and is certainly one of the best ways to feed your cat a healthy diet. Whether they are house cats or adventurous free-roamers, these little hunters need a large amount of meat to fulfil their biological needs through a species-appropriate diet. Their diet in nature consists of mice, birds, fish and insects, so it is our responsibility to get as close to this composition of proteins, fats, carbohydrates and fibre as naturally as possible. The right high-quality complementary foods for cats make it easy to put together a species-appropriate diet to supplement the raw meat. In this way, you can ensure that the little tigers do not suffer any nutritional deficiencies in the long term. At the same time, you protect their entire organism by avoiding synthetic additives.

The right amount of food to feed for Cat BARF

Depending on their level of activity, cats need approx. 25-30g of meat per kg body weight (BW)/day. 95% meat, including fat and bones, makes up the main part of the meal, as cats are pure carnivores.

With meat, a cat should get between 8-15% fat, or you can add it via lard or salmon oil, which contains valuable omega-3 fatty acids and arachidonic acid, which is essential for cats.

The required proportion of meat may include offal such as liver (3-5%); kidney (5-10%); lung (5-10%); rumen/poultry stomachs (5-10%). The larger proportion is therefore muscle meat (head meat, neck meat, tenderloin, hearts, breast meat).

In addition, 1/3 of the meat content should be meaty bones in the form of wings, necks (whole or minced) or other minced bones. If the animal cannot digest this amount, natural calcium supplements in powder form, such as Eggshell Powder or Calcified Seaweed, can be used in the specified dosage.

As a general guide: 
Calcium: 80mg/kg BW/day 
Phosphorus: 70mg/kg BW/day

Add 5% fibre such as raw, pureed vegetables and fruit. Vegetables such as parsnip, carrot, courgette, cucumber etc. are beneficial providing necessary variety. Please avoid nightshade plants such as tomatoes, aubergines or potatoes. You can simply grate the vegetables over the meat and stir them in - in most cases, fussy cats will eat them too. In the case of mice and day-old chicks, the fur or feathers naturally make up the fibre content.

Taurine sources for Cat BARF

A healthy cat's taurine requirements can be met from various natural sources, for example from prey it has killed itself, as fresh blood is one of the best sources of taurine. Hearts are also rich in taurine, preferably from chickens, fed raw several times a week.

Foods rich in taurine include:

• Mussels
• Tuna
• Oysters
• Lamb
• Beef
• Chicken
• Cod

Green-lipped Mussel Powder offers a healthy alternative, as it contains natural taurine. Give your cat a pinch of the powder every day, in addition to its food, to ensure that it optimises its daily taurine intake with this additional natural source.

In the wild, cats catch 6-12 mice per day, which have an average taurine content of 70mg, which illustrates relatively well that an oversupply of taurine does not occur as quickly as a deficiency. A deficiency and the associated deficiency symptoms must be taken very seriously. If you are unsure whether your cat is getting enough taurine, green-lipped mussel powder is the ideal supplement to the daily BARF diet.

The moisture content of raw cat food

80% moisture is recommended in cat food, which is certainly given with a pure wet food/BARF diet. Dried vegetable/herb flakes such as Canis Extra Top-Fit-Mix Flakes should be sufficiently soaked with water. Or, if the cat refuses to eat during the changeover, you can prepare the flakes using goat's milk from our Felins Plus® Full-cream Goat's Milk Powder.

Individual nutrients can and must sometimes be added, e.g. in the form of herbs, algae (Spirulina or Chlorella) or Brewer's Yeast.

It should be kept in mind that an outdoor cat will catch some of its own meals and these should be deducted from the main food, as cats can also develop obesity.

Ultimately, the only thing that helps is to watch the cat's weight and adjust accordingly. It would be ideal if you spread the amount of food over 3-4 feedings a day, but 2 meals would also be sufficient. However, the food should not be left out for long, as it will then become unappetising for the cat as, unlike dogs, it is not a scavenger.

Calculation example for Cat BARF

This is an example of how to calculate the required quantities of ingredients for the cat per day:

BARF for cats - recipe ideas

Our recipe suggestions can give you a few ideas for your first steps towards Cat BARF. To make it easier to follow, the grams given in the following recipes are rounded.

Pure BARF recipe ideas for cats

In all recipes, you can stir ½ teaspoon of dry goat's milk powder or goat's milk powder mixed with lukewarm water into the meal. This has proven to be a good support for a few days in preparation for breeding, convalescing after illness and also after operations such as castrations.

As a snack between meals, you can offer our Felins Plus® Poultry & Fish cold-pressed dry food, many cats simply enjoy the variety and like to nibble on the healthy pieces. All Felins Plus® foods can be easily combined with BARF or with the Complete Meals, but we recommend always keeping the amount of dry food below 20%.