Raw Feeding Cheat Sheet
For Adult Cats And Kittens
This quick resource covers the exact nutrients your kitten needs, 73 ingredients you can use safely, and how to calculate your kitten’s calories with one simple formula.
Raw Feeding Cheat Sheet
For Adult Cats And Kittens
This quick resource covers the exact nutrients your kitten needs, 73 ingredients you can use safely, and how to calculate your cat’s calories with one simple formula.
Raw Food Recipe For Kittens
If you’re looking for a nutritious, beginner-friendly raw food recipe for your kitten, then this recipe is perfect for you.
This DIY recipe is nutritionally complete so you can be confident your kitten will get all the nutrients it needs to thrive. Includes easy-to-find ingredients you can get almost anywhere.
Enter your kitten’s weight and activity level and this recipe will automatically adjust!
Enter your kitten's information
Why ground beef?
In raw feeding, something like ground beef is deemed a “muscle meat.” Muscle meats are cuts of skeletal muscle that serve as the main source of protein in raw diets. Muscle meat also takes up the majority of a prey animal’s body. Generally, muscle meat should take up 55-65% of the entire diet.
What makes it important?
- Builds strong muscles
- Provides all essential amino acids (protein)
- Provides fatty acids like EPA, DHA, and AA (fat)
- Provides minerals like zinc and iron
- Provides all B vitamins
Where to find it:
- Chain grocery store
- Local small grocery store
- Butcher shops
- Bulk stores
- Asian markets
- Farmers
- Online retailers
How much to feed:
Amount: 0.7 oz (20 g)
Percentage of Meal: 56%
Why beef heart?
Hearts are an important part of a raw diet and are known as a “muscular organ.” Muscular organs are things like heart, lungs, green tripe, and gizzards, and they should take up 15-25% of the entire diet.
What makes them important?
- More nutrient-dense than regular muscle meat
- Supports organ function
- Provides minerals like zinc, iron, copper, selenium, and manganese
- Provides all B vitamins
Where to find them:
- Some chain grocery stores
- Some local grocery stores
- Butcher shops
- Asian markets
- Farmers
- Online retailers
How much to feed:
Amount: 1 oz (28 g)
Percentage of Meal: 23%
Why quail?
Raw bone is the natural, edible bone found in prey animals and is a key source of calcium for cats. Quail bones are great meaty bones for kittens due to their small size. Raw bone should make up 8-10% of the diet.
What makes them important?
- Keeps your kitten’s bones and teeth strong
- Provides collagen which aids in joint health
- Promotes mental stimulation and enrichment
- Acts as a natural toothbrush
- Keeps the stool firm
- Provides minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sodium
Important Note:
When feeding raw meaty bones, the muscle meat attached to the bone plays an important role:
• The meat surrunding the bone makes it easier to chew
• It provides natural padding to help protect your kitten’s teeth from fractures
However, that meat should be counted as part of the muscle meat portion, not the bone portion of the recipe.
This article will help you figure that out for your own meals—but for now, just follow the quantities in this recipe!
Where to find them:
- Chain grocery stores
- Local grocery stores
- Butcher shops
- Asian markets
- Bulk stores
- Farmers
- Online retailers
How much to feed:
Amount: 2.2 oz (62 g)
Percentage of Meal: 9.5%
Why liver?
Liver is animal liver like beef, chicken, or duck liver, and is a vital part of a raw diet because it’s an amazing source of vitamin A – which our kittens can’t live without. Liver should take up 2-4% of the entire diet.
Try to feed ruminant animal liver often — it's much higher in copper than poultry and rabbit liver. These come from animals like beef, bison, lamb, goat, and deer.
Copper is met in this particular recipe, so chicken liver is used becuase it's high in folate (B9) which kittens have a high requirement for.
What makes it important?
- Keeps your kitten’s vision sharp
- Supports your kitten’s liver
- Provides minerals like copper, iron, and selenium
- Provides vitamins like vitamin A, D, and B vitamins
Where to find it:
- Some chain grocery stores
- Some local grocery stores
- Butcher shops
- Asian markets
- Farmers
- Online retailers
How much to feed:
Amount: 0.2 oz (6 g)
Percentage of Meal: 4.5%
Why kidney?
Kidney is deemed a “secreting organ.” These are organs like kidney, spleen, brain, pancreas, thymus, testicles, and ovaries, and should take up 5-8% of the entire diet. Kidney, in particular, is easy to find and highly nutritious.
What makes it important?
- Secreting organs are nature’s multivitamin
- Loaded with minerals like copper, iron, selenium, and iodine
- Provides all B vitamins
Where to find it:
- Some chain grocery stores
- Some local grocery stores
- Butcher shops
- Asian markets
- Farmers
- Online retailers
How much to feed:
Amount: 0.3 oz (8.5 g)
Percentage of Meal: 7%
The Final Ingredients
Ok, we’ve created the main base of this recipe! This is a great start, but there are a few nutrients that are still a bit low:
- Iodine
- Manganese
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin D
- Omega-3s
But don’t worry, we can add a few other foods to boost them!
Raw Feeding Cheat Sheet
For Adult Cats And Kittens
Discover exactly what nutrients your kitten needs (and which raw foods provide them), so you can be confident your kitten will never deal with a nutrient deficiency.
Why sardines?
Sardines are a low-mercury fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which support skin, coat, brain, and joint health. They’re also a natural source of vitamin D, selenium, and iodine.
If you're feeding canned sardines be sure they're canned in water, and the sodium doesn't exceed 25mg per 1 oz.
What makes it important?
- Packed with omega-3 fatty acids (like EPA and DHA), which is especially important for kittens as it support brain function.
- Easy to find and can be fed raw or canned
- Low in mercury due to being lower on the food chain
Where to find it:
- Chain grocery store
- Local small grocery store
- Seafood markets
- Bulk stores
- Asian markets
- Online retailers
How much to feed:
Amount: 0.3 oz (8.5 g)
Frequency: Daily
Why blue mussels?
Mussels are a rich natural source of manganese, which supports wound healing, joint health, and bone development. They’re also relatively high in iron and iodine.
Mussels should always be fed cooked or steamed to reduce the risk of Toxoplasma gondii - a parasite that can be present in raw shellfish.
What makes it important?
- An amazing source of manganese, which isn’t high in many other meats
- Naturally high in iron, which kittens require a lot of
- Supports joint health
Where to find it:
- Some chain grocery stores
- Some bulk stores
- Seafood markets
- Asian markets
How much to feed:
Amount: 0.3 oz (8.5 g)
Frequency: Daily
Why dulse?
Dulse is a red seaweed that’s naturally high in iodine.
What makes it important?
- Naturally high in iodine, but not too high (seaweed like kelp can sometimes be too high)
- Often harvested from cleaner, colder waters (less heavy metal contamination)
- Can help the body naturally remove heavy metals by binding to them during digestion
- Provides additional iron to the diet
Where to find it:
I really like and trust the brand Maine Coast Sea Vegetables (not sponsored). Their dulse is wild-harvested from the clean, cold waters of the North Atlantic, and they’re super transparent about where it comes from and how it’s processed. They even do 3rd party testing for things like heavy metals and radiation and share those results publicly, which I really appreciate.
- Their website
- Amazon
- iHerb
- Whole Foods
- Walmart
- Local health food stores
- Local fish markets
How much to feed:
Amount: 1/8 tsp
Frequency: Daily
Why vitamin E oil?
Vitamin E is an essential nutrient to cats, and it’s easiest to provide it through naturally derived vitamin E oil.
What makes it important?
- Provides much more vitamin E than a whole food like sunflower seeds can
- Doesn’t add unnecessary calories to the diet
- This vitamin E oil is naturally derived, not synthetic
- Is a “full-spectrum” vitamin E, which delivers the complete range of natural vitamin E found in foods
Where to find it:
I trust and recommend Kala Health Vitamin E T8 softgels (not sponsored). Their vitamin E is naturally derived through sunflower oil and contains all 4 tocopherols and all 4 tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta). Each tocopherol and tocotrienol has unique antioxidant properties, and they work together to protect the body.
If you can’t use Kala Health, I also recommend the brands NOW and Solgar.
- Their website
- Amazon
- Walmart
- Local health food stores
How much to feed:
Amount: 1 softgel
Frequency: Every 7 days
- 90/10 Ground Beef – 0.7 oz (20 g)
- Beef Heart – 1 oz (28 g)
- Quail Meaty Bones – 2.2 oz (62 g)
- Chicken Liver – 0.2 oz (6 g)
- Beef Kidney – 0.3 oz (8.5 g)
- Sardine – 0.3 oz (8.5 g)
- Blue Mussel – 0.3 oz (8.5 g)
- Dulse – 1/8 tsp
- Vitamin E – 1 softgel (every 7 days)
This recipe can be split into however many meals you fed your kitten daily.
Mariah
Mariah is the founder of Paws of Prey. She’s been passionate about animals since childhood, with a special interest in wildlife, exotic pets, and species appropriate nutrition. Her mission is to help pet owners provide the best life for their animals through proper nutrition.
Mariah
Mariah is the founder of Paws of Prey. She’s been passionate about animals since childhood, with a special interest in wildlife, exotic pets, and species appropriate nutrition. Her mission is to help pet owners provide the best life for their animals through proper nutrition.
Next Step:
Ready to Make the Switch?
Learn how to start making nutritious, homemade raw meals—broken down step by step!
Read the article →Raw Feeding Cheat Sheet
For Adult Cats And Kittens
- 73 Raw food ingredients categorized into muscle meats, bones, organs, and more so you know exactly how to build a raw diet safely.
- Discover exactly what nutrients your kitten needs (and which raw foods provide them), so you can be confident your cat will never deal with nutrient deficiency.
- Avoid digestive issues with size-appropriate bones — plus, get bone percentages for 25+ bones to prevent overfeeding or underfeeding.
- How to calculate your kitten's daily calories with one simple formula (so you can customize your cat's meals to their individual biology and activity level)
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