Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Cats & Kittens

1. 

   Well, Jasmine doesn't like the raw chicken with Feline Instincts supplement. Kensho loves it. I posted to the Raw Cat yahoo group and got back a critical comment about the product, i.e., it contains bone meal, kelp and psyllium husks. I'm not an expert in cat nutrition but I've just invested over $100 in this supplement and raw meat and I'm not going to just abandon it because one person on a raw food forum says there are problems with bone meal and the other stuff. There is no 100% PERFECT diet in existence, and the plain fact is, either I get them to eat this stuff or they're going back to Friskies canned and kibble.

   I guess for now all I can do is fry up some of it and feed Jasmine the stuff that is fried, and somehow keep the cats separated while they eat, because otherwise Kensho will eat up everything. I'm so discouraged about all this, I just feel like giving up.

   Mojo

   Posted 4 months ago by Mojo #

2. 

   Don't give up :)

   Cats can take a long time to figure out that raw is actually food. Clover took nearly 2 months before she figured that one out and when she decided it was food she complelty switched over that day.

   Cats are picky but I think all cats can be switched. Some like Marvin (new kitten) switch over within a minute no problem; he actually ate a 6 oz piece of chicken with ribs his first meal and was great with it. Clover took forever. Mikey is still working out the chewing aspect of eating raw. He hasn't had to use his jaw for his whole life and now has to work up the muscles to eat like he is made too.

   Just keep trying. Give it in differant ways: warm it up to mouse temp, give it right from the fridge, pour warm water (or blood from steak) over cold meat, pour that over warm meat. Put parmason on it, smear it with canned food, sprinkle kibble powder over it, put tuna juice on it,...etc.

   Some cats make the switch after they get a whole raw chicken liver (cats tend to love liver). Clover switched once I gave her lamb heart.

   Posted 4 months ago by furryfriends50 #

3. 

   Thanks FF. Well it didn't help that my first post to Raw Cat generated only a dogmatic, anti-Feline Instincts reply. Her problem with the bone meal is she said there's no way to know if there is the right amount in it. But I think the Feline Instincts people have probably figured that out, it doesn't strike me as all that impossible to do. And she had otehr problems with psyllium husks and kelp. Okay--fine, be dogmatic and perfectionistic. But there is no perfect diet. And it's this stuff or Friskies and kibbel. I have no doubt that this is healthier, even if I end up having to cook it fully.

   Anyway, I've got to take some trips soon and don't know that I can expect my cat sitter (whoever it will be) is going to be able to futz around with frying up the chicken in butter, cooling it down, sprinkling it with chicken liver powder, mixing it with Friskies, and all the other measures that may be required to get Jasmine to eat normally. I will probably just have to go back to kibbel and Friskies when I'm away.

   Posted 4 months ago by Mojo #

4. 

   I have to go back to "normal" cat food when I am gone but they still get all wet then. They hate it, I hate it, but it is more convienent for a person to feed them that way.

   There is a perfect food - whole prey. Balanced raw is probably next.

   Posted 4 months ago by furryfriends50 #

5. 

   Mine refused to eat it and I kept trying but you can't let them go hungry. Only the ferals liked it. My guess is they have to be young enough to accept the change.

   Posted 4 months ago by Sheba's Mom in Phx, AZ #

6. 

   I decided to give a variant of raw food to my two five-year-old spoiled rotten purrmonsters.

   Yesterday I bought a tin of sardines, packed in oil, smelling to high heaven.

   Chopped it up a bit, put it in the porcelain treat dishes, and backed away.

   The two brats advanced, sniffed, their noses went skyward at warp speed, and they stalked away.

   Muttering nasty things under their breath.

   This morning, I wrapped the untouched sardines in plastic wrap and put it in a zip lock bag.

   They beat me.

   Again.

   You cannot outstubborn a cat.

   Posted 4 months ago by Emma #

7. 

   Oh Emma... I have a can of sardines on the conter, just waiting for the same 'experiment'... Hmmmm I'll let you know if I have any better luck !

   Posted 4 months ago by 2 Popoki #

8. 

   A word of warning - the WORST diarrhea I have ever had to clean up came from feeding my cats sardines. I never knew fish could ferment and produce methane-like gassess. I kid you not, I needed a mask to clean out those litter boxes. I think the protein levels in it was too high for them (my babies were still kittens at the time). Imagine grey sludge, with a watery consistency, that smells a lot like something that died a few weeks ago . . .

   Posted 4 months ago by Skyron #

9. 

   I have avoided weighing in on the raw/natural catfood diets but I decided to bring up a point.

   People feeding raw are selecting from sources like tuna, sardines, beef, lamb/mutton, venison and others that would not ever be on the menu for a feral feline.... Imagine your 15 pound bruiser trying to bring down a steer or trying to land a yellow fin tuna....

   If you are going raw you have to stick to what they could catch themselves.

   Posted 4 months ago by ailuromaniac #

10. 

    Good point Ailuromaniac. I thought sardines would be a nice treat... they're small - so a cat could actually catch one. I think... lol At the rate I'm going mine will likely stay on Fancy Feast.

    Posted 4 months ago by 2 Popoki #

11. 

    Oh! Now Jasmine is hardly even eating her canned Friskies! All this dickering around with her diet has really disturbed her! I'm SO sick of this b.s.! I'm going to try a few last things, like stirring in spring water tuna juice with the raw food. Frying it in butter didn't help, even when I sprinkled parmesan on it. The woman over at Raw Cat said LOTS of cats just don't like these raw food supplements. I don't know if that's true, but if I'd known that, I sure wouldn't have spent $100 on the damn stuff.

    Posted 4 months ago by Mojo #

12. 

    One of the things that can influenence what a cat is willing and not weilling to eat is if they had gotten it when they were young. If they only got dry food from their mom (which IMO is a bad idea especially for a nursing cat) then they are going to only recognize dry food as food. They need to be introduced to things early in life. My barn cats lucked out on that one - they got dry, canned, and then their moms brought them mice, birds, and rats.

    So, if you have a kitten try give it as much differant types of food as possible...they grow up to eat lots of kinds of foods.

    Fish is unnatural for cats to eat b/c they wouldn't go fishing...at least most cats wouldn't. However the need too get at least salmon oil or sardines as part of what they eat when they are on raw because they can't get enough of the omega's from just meat/bones/organs. Some cats can't handle the larger types of animals but I still feed them because all mine can. The reason behind my feeding all the types of meat I can is that you need to get the best balance of vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional requirements. Cats wouldn't just eat mice in the wild, they'd also eat bird eggs, chicks, voles, rats, quail, rabbit, small chickens (which could be used as cornish game hens), and any catchable bird.

    @Mojo: have you ever tried anything without adding the powder?

    Posted 4 months ago by furryfriends50 #

13. 

    Yes, I tried chopped raw chicken a month or so ago, sprinkled with parmesan to help her eat it. She did eat more of that than she has of the ground chicken mixed with the supplement, with or without powdered chicken liver on top, and/or parmesan.

    Posted 4 months ago by Mojo #

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