Raw and Whole Prey Providers
See the Forum Discussions for more: Raw and Prey Providers
[Click on the green, underlined text and Brand Names for links]
A few notes on commercial raw:
– BALANCED Grinds/Minces are balanced with appropriate muscle, bone, heart, and organ content. WHOLE ANIMAL grinds are considered balanced.
– UNBALANCED Grinds/Minces are grinds that may have a varied mix of muscle, bones, heart, and organs but not in the precise proportions that ferrets need. Feeding these grinds requires very careful planning and calculations to achieve the appropriate ratios of: 10% organs (at least 1/2 liver), 10% heart, 10-15% bone, and 65-70% muscle.
– Frankenprey: These are your “grocery store” meats – muscles, bones, organs, and heart individually, and sometimes cleaned whole animals.
Other Meat Sources: Don’t forget to shop locally! Check out local butchers, whole-prey breeders (rodents, rabbits, quail, etc), AND local Raw Feeding Co-Ops!
US:
Balanced Grinds:
Rad Cat Raw Grinds: Rad Cat grinds are completely balanced grinds with sufficient taurine to meet your ferret’s needs and NO vegetable matter added. They are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased from multiple retailers and online stores. Rad Cat has been used for years by many of our forum members and admin and is a very reputable brand.
NOTE: It has come to our attention that Rad Cat only uses eggshell as a calcium source, rather than bonemeal. As such, it may be an inadequate source long-term of micro-nutrients and minerals found in bone. Rad Cat should be fed in conjunction with other bone-containing grinds, or supplemented with occasional bone-in meals.
Darwin’s Pets Natural Selection Raw Cat Food: Darwin’s grinds are completely balanced grinds with sufficient taurine to meet your ferret’s needs and NO vegetable matter added. They are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased from Darwin’s Website.
Nature’s Variety Instincts Raw for Cats: NV grinds are completely balanced grinds with sufficient taurine to meet your ferret’s needs, but do have 5% vegetable matter added. They are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased from multiple retailers and online stores. NV has been used for years by many of our forum members and is a reliable and reputable brand
– NV Instincts Raw Bites for Cats
– NV Instincts Raw Medallions for Cats
Raw Feeding Miami: Balanced Grinds and frankenprey
Other Grinds:
My Pet Carnivore: Sells grinds (whole animal, and non-balanced grinds) and Frankenprey. Great variety with reasonable prices. In addition to their online store, MPC has multi-state routes and if you are lucky enough to be near one of their stops, you can save significantly on shipping costs. MPC has been used for years by many of our forum members and admin and is a very reliable and reputable brand.
Hare Today: Sells grinds (whole animal, and non-balanced grinds), Frankenprey, and whole prey. Great variety with reasonable prices. HT has been used for years by many of our forum members and admin and is a very reliable and reputable brand.
Stella and Chewy’s FELINE Formulas: Balanced grinds and freeze dried raw. Note the Canine Formulas are NOT properly balanced for cats and ferrets as they lack sufficient taurine. There have been some recent formula changes.
Bravo Raw Cat Foods: Bravo sells boneless grinds, “basic grinds” (contain bones, heart, and organs but percentages not listed so do not assume they are properly balanced), and “frozen blends” which are unbalanced grinds containing vegetable matter (unknown percentage!).
Vital Essentials Raw Cat Foods (VitalCat): VE sells frozen raw grinds (patties and chubs) and freeze dried foods which they claim as “Complete and Balanced.” However, their frozen and freeze dried raw varieties both contain goat’s milk (see Why Ferrets Should Not Have Milk of Any Kind), and are NOT properly balanced. Their formulas (as reported by VE themselves via email correspondence with our admins) contain 45% muscle, 45% organ, and 10% bone – this is entirely too much organ for a ferret (and cat).
VE also sells Freeze Dried Cat Treats, which consist of entirely meat-based ingredients and would be appropriate for treats for cats or ferrets (but not as a primary diet source).
Whole Prey:
RodentPro: A very reputable company with a wide variety of whole prey options. Reasonable pricing per prey item, but you must order in bulk to make shipping worthwhile. They often have a booth at local Reptile Shows – a great way to save on shipping costs if you have a local Reptile Show. RodentPro has been used for years by many of our forum members and admin and is a very reliable and reputable brand.
American Rodent Supply: Flat rate shipping withing the contiguous US starting at $29.
Hare Today (see above)
Other Online RAW MEAT Providers:
Feed This: Balance UNCLEAR!
K9 Naturals’ Feline Naturals: This company refused to divulge the ratios of heart, organ, muscle, and bone in their foods when contacted. As such we know nothing of the balance of their products and do NOT recommend this company or their products. Without knowing the ratios in these products, a properly balanced diet cannot be provided which is dangerous to the health of your raw fed pets.
CAN:
Balanced Grinds:
Red Dog Blue Kat Cat Meals: Red Dog Blue Kat grinds are completely balanced grinds with sufficient taurine to meet your ferret’s needs, but do have 2% vegetable matter added. They are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased from multiple retailers and online stores. Red Dog Blue Kat has been used by several of our forum members and some admin and is a reliable and reputable brand.
Carnivora: Ground whole animal carcass (balanced grinds)
Whole Prey:
Recorp Inc: “Insects, rats, mice, quail. Ontario based, but say they will ship anywhere.”
JandM Rabbit Farm: “Jim and Margaret Oosterhof have been in business for a number of years, producing rabbits for the human and pet food market. They sell live and frozen, and newborn to adult sizes (the 1-2 week old are perfect for whole-prey feeding to ferrets). Located in Lethbridge, AB, but they make regular trips to Calgary. I also highly recommend their ‘Bunny Gold’ rabbit manure for your garden.”
Big Cheese Rodents: US based but does International Shipping “The Big Cheese Rodent Factory has customers all over the world. We are able to ship to most countries via air freight. To inquire about your international order please call our sales office at 800-887-0921”
Other Online RAW MEAT Providers:
Mountain Dog: Frankenprey meats and grinds – grinds NOT all properly balanced for ferrets
Vancouver Island Raw Feeding Co-Op
Highland Country Markets: Located in Stoney Creek (just east of Hamilton). NOT an online provider. See Forum Discussion
Totally Raw Natural DOG Food: Sells frankenprey and grinds made for dogs (Note: NOT properly balanced for ferrets, insufficient taurine content)
Casey’s Hidden Pantry (US) – Sells grinds and freeze dried items
Heronview Raw and Natural: Sells Frankenprey and grinds (unbalanced)
Delivery Info: “Delivery to Toronto and Yorkdale , Scarborough , Ajax Saturday October 1 , 15and 29th Markham , Beaches Scarborough, Ajax Sunday September 25th October 9th and 23rd . I need the orders by Thursday 10 am . Please email your order to info.heronviewraw@bell.net include your phone number and address with your order. please call the store if you have any questions If you would like to be on our delivery mailing list please go to the delivery update page
AUS:
Whole Prey:
BioSupplies: “I recently bought from BioSupplies so I will write a short review. Bio Supplies seemed to be the cheapest whole prey provider I could find online in australia. They have a base shipping price of $25, however It could vary depending on how much you buy. …. I really liked the overall ordering experience. I would recommend them for sure and will be buying more from them in the future.” See Forum Review
Other Online RAW MEAT Providers:
“Examples of what they have: Poussin (aka Spatchcock), Quail + Quail Eggs, Duck + Duck fat, Crocodile, Wild Rabbit, Turkey, Kangaroo, Chicken etc”
Something Wild: Minces (unbalanced) and Frankenprey items.
“Examples of what they have: Wild Boar, Goat, Rabbits, Crocodile, wild and farmed Venison, Buffalo, Kangaroo, Wallaby, Emu, Duck, Alpaca, Camel,Poussin, Pigeon, Quail, Hare, Etc.”
Instincto: See the Forum Review for more helpful info
EU:
Kiezebrink: Whole prey, minces (balanced and non-balanced). Shipping to UK, and some of the rest of Europe.
HoneyBrook Farm: Whole Prey
UK:
Whole Prey:
Kiezebrink: Whole prey, minces (balanced and non-balanced). Shipping to UK, and some of the rest of Europe.
Big Cheese Rodents: US based but does International Shipping “The Big Cheese Rodent Factory has customers all over the world. We are able to ship to most countries via air freight. To inquire about your international order please call our sales office at 800-887-0921”
Other Online RAW MEAT Providers:
Natural Instinct: Raw grinds, NOT optimally balanced
Manifold Valley Meats: Minces (not balanced) and Frankenprey – great variety and reasonable prices.
Kiezebrink: Whole prey, minces (balanced and non-balanced). Shipping to UK, and some of the rest of Europe.
They Love It: minces (non-balanced) and Frankenprey. See Forum Review for more info.