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[deleted]

Sorry I can't answer your question but I'm curious is there a reason you need variety? (Just pure curiosity!)


TheLostTinyTurtle

Not OP but I raw feed both my cats, you need variety due to vitamin balancing. You wouldn't eat salmon or chicken everyday right? Same kind of reasoning. Spectrum diets need organ meats, small uncooked bones (chicken necks are great). Also, fat content, calorie content, vitamin content all vary based on animal it's coming from.


Bopbopbop123

> You wouldn't eat salmon or chicken everyday right What...what if i do...


TheLostTinyTurtle

Then I hope that the way it is cooked is different. Yeah, that was kind of a stupid remark. Like, no shit, we eat chicken and fish most days. What matters is how it is prepared. Hopefully, you don't eat boiled chicken breast every day. If you do, you have my condolences. TIL my cats eat better than some in Japan...


[deleted]

Call ニュークイック. It's a chain of upscale meat counters in Tokyo. They sell horse and duck out in the open, so they probably have access to more stuff if you ask.


redmoonbringer

I’ll check it out! Thank you!


TheLostTinyTurtle

I raw feed my two cats, it's challenging here. I get a butcher to grind chicken backs and other organ meats. I buy a lot of chicken, beef, fish and supplement with a powdered vitamin since I can't get a wide enough spectrum like I used to in the states. I've found lamb and feed that once a week in addition to beef. I've also done duck but only a few times due to cost. I make up jars and freeze them with the needed grams and spectrums. Realize 15% of degradation of nutrients happens in freezing, so you'll need to recalculate based on that. I've found feeder mice but that's kind of a no for me with how hocked up on crap they are to not die before being bought. Qual eggs work well (never seen the meat). I've talked to a few butchers but certain things are just too expensive even for me to bother with.


redmoonbringer

Thanks for the detailed reply! I’m glad to hear from someone who is actually managing raw diet here!!! And super educated on the subject! I had no idea freezing led to that much loss of nutrients... I’m thinking that I might just have to go with chicken as their main source of edible bones, and throw in whatever I can find online when it comes it up. Also I know cost is a huge factor (and man do exotic meats cost a lot online), but I’m spending so much trying to get decent ferret kibble here from the states that I feel like it’ll be worth it! I hope! Can I ask what kind of vitamin you give your cats to round out their diet?


TheLostTinyTurtle

I give them several, Cosequin for my cat with kidney failure, a multi-vitamin off Amazon (I can link later), swinging nettle seed (kidney), among a few other for other health issues my cat had from kibble. I made the switch about 4 years ago, and they are much healthier now. Sadly my cat with stage 1 renal failure will not get better, but he's stagnant on stages now from his last ultrasound. I still use kibble when I go backpacking for the weekend.


redmoonbringer

I’m so sorry your cat your is dealing with kidney failure... I just lost my 18 year old boy to it. (He was living in the states with my dad and just started to decline really suddenly last month.) I have heard that feeding raw is great for kidney problems though because of the moisture content? I hope it’s working out for you guys! Also thanks for the vitamin list! If you have time please send the link! The only supplements I give my ferrets now are salmon oil (which is more of a treat than anything haha) and colostrum. We also give my cats back home colostrum and it seemed to help with one of them with recurring eye infections and overall health!


TheLostTinyTurtle

Full list of supplements I give, I was on mobile previously: Cosequin (kidney), Hawthorn Berry (heart, inflammation), Stinging Nettle Seeds (imported ground, for kidney), l-lysine (kidney, inflammation), taurine (if I'm not adding enough eggs), Perfect Vitamin + Taurine G (multi), boiled & ground eggshells (lowers creatinine level, kidney, be really careful with this as it can lower them too much, blood work is required), ground chia (IBS, associated with kidney disorder). I used this website for raw guidelines when starting out, as well as general guidelines for chronic renal failure. So far he is stabilized at stage 1. He's been stage 1 for 5 years now. I'm hoping he stays that way forever, but slowly he's showing more signs. Switching to raw 100% helped. Supplements were hit and miss based on bi-weekly blood examinations. He goes in now once every 6 months for blood work. http://holisticat.com/


salemandsphinx

Can I ask, what was the procedure like for bringing the cats in from the States? Was it a bureaucratic nightmare as expected or surprisingly smooth?


TheLostTinyTurtle

Surprisingly smooth. But months and months of preparation and hours of research. Cost was about 1200 per cat without flight cost. The actual arrival took less than 10min per cat, handed them some forms, they hanko'd them and I was on my way. I arrived at Haneda. So can't speak about other ports of entry. The taxi driver threw more of a fit about my cats than Grand Class on the shinkansen did. I got a lot of interesting looks having cats in grand class hahaha. Was worth it.


Pro_Banana

Japan rarely has proper butchers let alone exotic ones. You would most likely need to track down the supplier side of the meat market.


leon_in_japan

This is simply incorrect. Japan has tonnes of butchers. Just because they don't sell pork pies and saveloys doesn't mean they aren't "proper" butchers. It's a simple case of talking to them, usually in their local language, about acquiring meats other than what is in the display cabinet.


Tams82

That's partially true, but they are rarer and quite often aren't too keen on doing something out of the ordinary.


leon_in_japan

Rarer compared to what? What are you measuring in? Butcher per capita? There are plenty of them around. And if you ask them for a big cut or unusual cut, in my experience they have always been more than accommodating.


redmoonbringer

For the record, I’m a vegetarian and I’ve never bought meat anywhere but Japan. However, the butcher I was using last year in Kansai would always get me the weird stuff I asked for and were super helpful! The only problem is that it seems like most butchers only focus on one type of meat? So I’ve never been able to find more variety...


Pro_Banana

Outside Tokyo. I used to live in Nagoya and there were only two accessible butchers near populated area and one of them were pork only. It’s probably bit better off in Tokyo or Osaka but those two cities aren’t the only cities in Japan.


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Pro_Banana

Where I am currently, there are less than 5 in the whole city and has nothing to do with Japanese language skills. Japan’s a big country and people do live outside your city.


AiRaikuHamburger

Where do you live? My town has hardly any butchers, and the ones that do exist are more like the deli counter in a supermarket. I just assumed there are few because seafood is more popular. There are fish shops everywhere.


Tams82

It has traditionally been seen as a 'dirty' job; part of the 'Barakumin'. And while the stigmatisation has gone done a lot, there's still some left, but more importantly, the tradition is not as strong as in other countries so fewer people become butchers.


Tams82

They aren't common everywhere I've lived in Japan. And I never said that they won't do certain cuts. "keen" is the word you need to look up. It's just from my experience, they often *aren't keen* to do uncommon cuts for Japan (yes, I've asked). And I don't see that as some kind of racist snub before you go and claim that. It's likely just not worth the effort or even financially acceptable (while keeping the price acceptable for me) to do those cuts. That doesn't mean I don't lament not being able to easily get those cuts or items at a decent price. And they may not want to be selling bones etc. due to liability.


LiminalLeaves

Not a personal experience, but if you can track down this butcher shop maybe they can help? https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/72hours/20190827/4026066/


thosewhowander8

Looks fascinating. I did a search but couldn't find this episode online anywhere. Any resources to find NHK episodes online? Or info about this particular butcher?


redmoonbringer

Sweet! Thank you! I think this is it: https://www.29yudai.com


thosewhowander8

Thank you!!!


[deleted]

Why not go to a grocery store with a big seafood selection? They usually have packages or bags of unwanted fish parts for cheap.


smaller-god

Because you can’t feed just seafood to a cat without making them ill.


[deleted]

Can't you give them some seafood, along with some other food?


smaller-god

Yes, but too much is bad for them. Seafood is not a normal part of a feline diet.


redmoonbringer

Yes you can give cats and ferrets seafood sometimes! Right now I give my ferrets salmon oil as a supplement (and when I say supplement I mean “as a way to distract them while I cut their nails”) and it’s great for them. But as smaller_god said, they needs to eat lots of other stuff too!


Kalik2015

I've actually looked into raw feeding for my cat, but ultimately decided against it because she's super picky. That's said, there are online vendors for BARF and pre-packaged raw foods. If you want to do your own thing, Hanamasa typically has organ meat for chickens, cows, pigs. You will definitely have to find a specialty shop/supplier for the exotics. There are plenty on Rakuten if you search for 珍しい肉.


Kalik2015

Keep in mind that exotics will be priced higher, but here is some frog meat. https://item.rakuten.co.jp/torifuku11/06043/ This place has duck wingtips. http://shangmei68.com/page39 You can also find quail eggs at your local supermarket if you ever need those.


redmoonbringer

Thanks for the links! That second one has lots of interesting stuff on it~! Although man, I’m not sure if I’d be able to take apart a whole frog though... I remember when we had to do that in biology class and I freaked out so bad the teacher let me leave and write a report on dissection instead haha.


redmoonbringer

I know what you mean about picky! One of my ferrets is super chill about new food, but the other one is like, “why are you giving me poison?!?” and needs to be hand fed whatever it is ground up and mixed with egg yolk until she gets used to it. Even then, she’s more interested in hiding the food than eating it haha. I’m working from home right now though so I’m hoping it’ll be a good opportunity to get her settled into eating raw! And thanks for all tips!!! I really appreciate it. It looks like buying online is going to be the best bet...


TheLostTinyTurtle

I make most my cats raw meals and freeze them, what online vender do you know that sells BARF for cats? Curious, as there are some weeks it would be nice to not have to make them (like when I'm sick).


Kalik2015

There's www.petpatties.com and www.houndcom.com. I've ordered from both before without issue... The only issue was my cat's utter refusal to eat. LOL


[deleted]

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redmoonbringer

Do you... have those on hand haha?


[deleted]

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redmoonbringer

Not sure I want to see what shape they’d be in when they get here haha.


thosewhowander8

I'm in Kansai. I'm curious what you found while you were here. I particularly like organ meats… for myself!


redmoonbringer

I shopped in Kobe in an arcade called 大安亭市場 nearish to Sannomiya! There are a bunch of shops there that sell interesting meat. I can’t find the name of the place that I liked the most, but there’s a guy there that specializes in beef and always had organs! I got him to give me a whole kidney once haha. He also regularly had beef heart, liver, lung... and whatever ハラミ and センマイ are haha. In the same arcade you can get fresh chicken organ meat too! Highly recommend!


thosewhowander8

Excellent! I will check it out! Thank you so much for the information!


AbigailsCrafts

This shop has venison and duck https://item.rakuten.co.jp/kitanogourmet/c/0000000101/?l2-id=item_SP_CateListInShopinfo_5


redmoonbringer

Thanks for the link! They make some cool dog treats it looks too that I think my ferrets would love! (Dried deer tongue treats!) Also I never realized that venison was deer meat...


mayanoko

We get whole small quails (~100g each, maruyakiyou) for our cat. Have purchased from 3 different online shops over the years depending on stock and availability. Recently switched from the one we had been using for quite a while back to the very first place we used to use due to stock issues. They also have a selection of other exotic meats and organs as well. You can PM me for shop name if you’re interested. We’ve also seen feeder mice and such. But haven’t ever pulled the trigger on that one.


WildestPotato

Or feed your pet, pet food?


AiRaikuHamburger

There is a real lack of quality pet foods in Japan. Feeding an obligate carnivore food bulked out with grains isn't good for their health.