The benefits of whole prey for cats are unbeatable.

Whole prey provides higher nutrition, mental stimulation, and it’s easy to serve!

I’ve been feeding Jericho raw since 2018.

We’ve gone through premade raw, homemade raw with a premix, and homemade raw meaty bones.

But whole prey is my favorite diet for cats!

Whole prey benefits:

  • Natural prey provides excellent nutrition.
  • Organs are high in taurine – essential for health.
  • Higher minerals support muscles and bone growth.
  • Chewing provides mental stimulation.
  • Quick meal prep – easy to portion and serve.

Whole prey nutrition benefits

Cambridge University Press found that the cat’s natural diet is very high in moisture, protein, fat, and minerals.

For example, feral cat diets have three times as much iron compared to the NRC recommended allowance for commercial cat foods.

There’s also the added benefit of consuming all organs in the body. Organs are rich sources of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. All are important for overall health.

BARF diets are great, and homemade raw meaty bone diets are even better.

But there is much more in whole prey that we cannot provide in a raw diet.

cat eating day old chick whole prey feeding jess caticles

Chewing whole prey benefits

Cats get a lot of mental stimulation, face muscle work, and teeth cleaning benefits from chewing.

Cats can get these benefits from feeding appropriate raw meaty bones.

Jericho ate chicken wings and necks for over a year.

But I prefer feeding whole prey for these benefits.

Whole prey is a much more appropriate size for cats. Plus there’s much more variety that we can feed.

whole prey feeding for cats rat mouse day old chick jess caticles

Whole prey is easy to portion and serve

My favorite whole prey benefit (more so for me) is easy meal prep!

Meal prepping homemade raw meaty bones became easy because I had a good routine going. I took notes each time and adjusted as necessary.

But meal prepping whole prey is so much easier!

I serve most prey like mice, day old chicks, and hamsters whole. The only prey I cut up is rats because they are larger.

So I’m spending much less time cutting up ingredients. And prey don’t take as long to thaw!

cat eating day old chick whole prey jess caticles

How you can feed whole prey

Want to feed whole prey too? First step is to switch from dry/wet processed food to a premade raw diet.

Yes, whole prey is natural. But your cat probably won’t recognize it as food if he has no fresh food in his diet.

Going from dry to whole prey is like going from addicting chips and candy to fresh filet mignon.

Switching to a premade raw diet first will help your cat get used to eating fresher ingredients. Check out my Switch to Raw Blueprint to get started!

switch to raw blueprint video course

Ready to switch your cat to a premade raw diet? Get my proven plan that has helped 200+ picky cats thrive on raw!