All of the cats and kittens at Wildgold Bengals are raised on a species appropriate diet of raw foods and some canned foods. These kittens have never eaten dry food. We have found that the vet bills are much lower and your kitten will lead a much healthier life.

What do we mean by a species appropriate diet? Cats are obligate carnivores. This means that they need animal protein. They don't need carbohydrates at all. Carbohydrates cause obesity, gum disease and diabetes. All dry foods are required to be made with carbohydrates. Dry food, while being very convenient, is a slow killer for cats. Please refer to this article, by Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM and nutritional specialist for a full explanation on cats and diet: Feline Diabetes and Obesity: The Preventable Epidemics

They also need more than just animal protein, they need bones to maintain a healthy skeletal structure. An appropriate diet consists or animal protein (muscle and organ meats), bone, vitamins and taurine. (Calcium powder may be substituted for bone - see below for a good source) - if you want to but meat or meat with bone, you need an additive for proper nutrition - some options are: Alnutrin: https://www.knowwhatyoufeed.com/alnutrin_supplements.html or Feline Instincts: https://felineinstincts.com/ - or Food Fur Life: https://www.foodfurlife.com

Kittens needs to eat more often than adults. Initially, they need to eat 3 or 4 times a day, eventually, as adults, they will need to eat twice a day. Once in the morning, and once in the evening. An adult cat will eat approximately 2-3 ounces per meal, or 5-6 ounces a day. You will find that there is very little cost difference between a proper raw diet and a canned food diet and the raw diet is better nutritionally. Kittens will probably eat 8-9 oz a day as they are growing.

Primarily we feed Whole Ground Rabbit. We also feed chicken, venison, ostrich, beef or turkey hearts as a treat. Buffalo heart is also a favorite and great for Taurine. Our sources for the meats are:

Rabbit: Rabbit4U: https://www.rabbits4u.com - They also have some chicken hearts and meat.

Halshan: see: http://www.halshan.com/ - this source has just created a new food - they call it Special diet #3 for cats. It's rabbit, chicken necks and hearts and egg all pre-mixed. They like it and I'd recommend it. They also have a Whole ground chicken with Bone that is a complete diet. Call and ask them who sells their product. They are very friendly and easy to work with as well as the food is high quality.

Oma's Pride: see: www.omaspride.com - click on their Retailers button. There is one retailer in Northern California, The K9's Choice who ships. (Update: This source is now very expensive - look to other sources)

Bravo: see: www.bravorawdiet.com

Creston Valley Meats: https://crestonvalleymeats.com/ is another option for a good raw diet. They make deliveries in California at pre-selected sites every 2 weeks.

For West Coast, another source of good rabbit is Wholefoods 4 Pets: wholefoods4pets.com. They ship and are priced well.

Other options are to find some local butchers - for the Los Angeles area, there's Harmony Farms meats - a good source for all sorts of good meats. They are located at: 2824 Foothill Blvd. La Crescenta, CA 91214. PH# 818 248-3069.

I get raw beef heart from the local grocery store. The butcher orders it. I chop this up into small cubes and add it to their dinner.

You also need Vitamins and Taurine. It has been found that the Asian leopard Cat, from which bengals all descend, have a higher Taurine requirement than other cats. Taurine can be sprinkled onto the top of the food. an excellent source for Taurine powder is at Revival Animal Supply. www.revivalanimal.com They are also an excellent source for vitamins we like to give the cats: Felovite II w/Taurine.. If you do make your own raw food, you might consider a little powdered kelp from Revival as well. I use about a tablespoon in 6 pounds of food.

Another vitamin we sprinkle on their food is Platinum Performance. It can also be ordered online at: platinumperformance.com/

A great calcium source is Kirkman Labs. The have Taurine in capsules as well as Calcium with Vitamin D Powder - Unflavored - Hypoallergenic. These items can be ordered online at: http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/ - we also order other vitamins and supplements from them.

Teeth

You also want to occasionally give them some cubes or strips of beef, or something like raw chicken wings, whole chicken hearts. This gives their teeth exercise and you won't have problems with gingivitis or tooth decay. This should be done a couple times a week. You can separate the pieces of chicken wing, then chop them in half - this keeps the cat from dragging it around off the plate while gnawing.

Canned Food

We also feed canned foods. Some of the kittens will eat canned foods. We recommend Fancy Feast and other foods that do not have carbohydrate fillers in them. Read the labels. Stay away from corn flour, rice flour, soy and other fillers. You also want to check for Fish - fish causes urinary tract problems and possibly thyroid issues so only once every 10 days or so. Make sure to read the ingredients. Fancy Feast Chicken, chunky chicken and tender beef all have fish and I recommend only serving it occasionally.

The only downside to feeding this diet is it may prove to be inconvenient. Yo u will need a pet sitter to feed your cats if you want to take a vacation. The payoff though, are beautiful healthy felines.