What about cats?

Laura Kennedy of Hometown owns two Bengal cats, and she feeds them raw meat."Many people think it's fascinating and, or strange when they learn that I feed my cats raw meat. I think many correlate it with the fact that I have exotic cats, but that is not the case at all," Kennedy said.Cats are obligatory carnivores, so they can eat some vegetables but they must have protein to survive, Kennedy said. Grain doesn't add much to their diet, so she doesn't give her cats any.What she does give them is ground chicken and beef she purchases from Hare Today Gone Tomorrow in Springfield, a farm that prepares ground meat specifically for pet food.She mixes about 40 percent of the whole ground chicken, which includes the bone and organs, with 60 percent boneless ground beef.Then she sprinkles in a vitamin supplement called Platinum Performance Feline Wellness Formula.The main purpose of the supplement is Omega 3's and amino acids, plus some calcium for joint and heart health, she said.About 18 pounds of ground meat is delivered to her house every two months at a cost of $75 to $95, depending on the amount and shipping cost. A half-pound of supplement powder costs about $15 and lasts six months, she said. In all, it calculates out to about $50 per month to feed her two cats.To prepare the food, Kennedy mixes together one pound each of the chicken and beef. It lasts about a week."If you look on the website, there are all kinds of 'recipes' for raw food, but what I've discovered through my research and from talking to my breeder, and more recently my vet, is that going through all of that is unnecessary," she said.Kennedy said her cats have never had canned cat food, but she does give them a dry cat food called Nulo Medal Series Turkey and Chicken.She said her female Bengal, Miki, likes it. Her male Bengal, Neko, prefers the raw meat. One small bag of the dry food lasts months.Her cats are now 7 years old and have not had any health problems."I honestly wish more people could get on board for all pet cats and dogs," she said."I have read some fascinating stories of how feeding raw has taken beloved pets from nearly terminally ill to the picture of health."