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Bubby will only eat one thing

SaraWilly

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Hi all!

My name is Sara, I'm new to the sphynx lair and a new sphynx mummy!
My bubby's name is Francis and he's a little 4 month old boy weighing roughly 1.5-2kg.
I've read a previous thread to see if I am feeding him too much but as said, he's still a baby so let him eat as much as he likes!
I'm posting today because I'm curious on how to mix up his diet, at the moment, he has unlimited access to Royal Canin Kitten (which he doesn't eat much of) and he eats roughly 250-375g of kangaroo meat a day and once a week I will substitute a 125g bag of kangaroo for a small tin of fancy feast.
But he will only eat Kangaroo and nothing else. When I first got my bubby 6 weeks ago he would eat turkey, veal, steak etc. but over the last 3ish weeks now he won't. If he is hungry he'll eat a couple pieces but then cry because he's still hungry but doesn't want to eat the other stuff and with the tinned food, he'll lick all the juices but not touch the meat in it.
Is it normal for the babies to only eat one sort of meat?
The breeder I purchased him from recommended a varied diet with a little bit of everything but mostly raw.
I'm a little stuck on how to mix it up so he'll eat it.
Any suggestions are all welcome and much appreciated!
Thank you!
 

Hairless Blessing

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Welcome to sphynxlair, good to have you.
If he will only eat Kangaroo meat.
Then, just give him that. Fancy Feast isn't a good food.
When, you say he has unlimited access to Royal Canin.
Are you talking about dry food?
Because, you can't feed dry and raw at the same time.
Because of digestion rates. But, if it's a wet food, that, your
talking about, like canned Kangaroo, that's fine.
Feed him Kangaroo 3-4 Times a day all he will eat
Until, he's full.
The raw diet, @Xandria is great with that.
She can help you.
 

Xandria

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Hi there! Oh boy is your story a little familiar.

I have two Sphynx -- Max (a boy) and Min (a girl, still a kitten). Max is a fussy thing and Min will eat anything and everything. They've been on raw since 3 months of age each, 3-4 meals a day with some raw treats in between.

I used to let them eat until "they (thought they) were full". The little piggies would eat about 150 - 200 g of raw PER meal EACH, translating to 450 - 600 g a day -- excess food would go back in the fridge and served up for next meal. The raw diet consisted of the following proteins: camel, venison, and kangaroo. Max has a chicken allergy and Min a duck allergy so I stay away from poultry.

One day Max decided he didn't want kangaroo any more. I was crestfallen. As an Aussie, you know how good and lean kangaroo is! Max started snubbing the camel round about the time I was tired of his "barfy time" incidents (once a week or so he'd throw up). I had him tested, and subsequently Min, and learned that they were getting too much protein.

I also read that most of the time when cats are pining for food and treats, they really aren't in dire NEED of food. Sure, with specific feeding times they will get a little active just before, but if they pine for food or treats between meals -- it's unlikely their body's really seriously need it.

Any way (sorry for the long story, but I hope this helps). My vet suggested I add between 5 and 10% vegetable matter (peas, broccoli -- I can give you a good veggie list if you'd like, but these are my two go to veggies) to 90 - 110 g of protein per meal (I give a little more right now as they're super active in our current Canadian Summer heat). That's still a good amount of protein.

Bottom line for YOU is: A diet of 100% kangaroo is better than adding RC Kitten or Fancy Feast. Control the portions a bit more and give a finite amount (say 90 - 110 g of kangaroo). After a while of a finite amount, I wager you can start adding other proteins. And you can always add some vegetables for filler too.

I'm also happy to report that Max is back to eating kangaroo again now that they get a specific amount of food and not permitted to stuff themselves stupid.

Let me know how it goes!

PS: My freezer full of raw food (protein + Better in the Raw mix in)
raw13768230_1647365605591731_1502340270_n.jpg


And my supervisor:
raw13736920_1055485037865465_703842897_n.jpg
 

admin

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Also, I have heard sometime tuna juice will entice them to eat a particular food. :)
 

Xandria

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Right! Enticement. In addition to tuna juice, if you can get FortiFlora -- it's like kitty crack. Sprinkle a bit of that on top of the food and they almost always yum it up.
 

Toa and Ross

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@SaraWilly welcome to sphynxlair for you and Francis!
I feed my boys raw food and kibbles. I only give them kibbles 2-3 after they ate their raw food to make sure they doesn't get tummy problems.

My boys only eat rabbit from the raw food. They don't like the other flavours and refuse to eat them just like your Francis. The vet told me this is no problem cause they also eat kibbles which contains all they need.
 

SaraWilly

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That's awesome advice!
Thank you all very much, @Hairless Blessing I did not know that you can't mix raw with dry food. When I say Royal Canin Kitten it is the dry kibble and fresh kangaroo meat. The breeder I brought him off said she does a variety of everything and suggested I give him the kibble as well but he doesn't seem to have any problems, his poo's are solid (not constipated solid) and he hasn't vomited. He does eat very little kibble though. Would you recommend taking him off the dry food?
And @Xandria thank you for that! That's all super helpful! Il most certainly be giving the FortiFlora a go and seeing how he likes it! :)
 

Xandria

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Honestly, they don't need the dry kibble unless you won't be around for a good chunk of the day due to work, as happens with @Toa and Ross most days. She spreads the kibble out so it doesn't cause tummy issues.

Max and Min are quite healthy on a raw food only diet -- the only issues I've had was too much protein leading to a slight kidney issue which was completely rectifiable with a controlled amount (instead of letting them pig out so much LOL).
 

Toa and Ross

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@SaraWilly as @Xandria mentioned it's indeed not necessary to feed kibbles when your feeding raw food. It's actually better not to feed them kibbles next to raw food. I only feed them kibbles on workdays when I go to the office because I'm away from home 12 hours on these days. Can't put so much raw food in their bowls and 12 hours without food is to long. So that's why I feed them kibbles next to raw food. But if you're at home during the day or if you're able to feed them more times during the day then only raw food is perfect.

And I like the raw food. But kibbles and wet food are also good foods!
 

Silke

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Mine looks at me as if I'm trying to poison her if I offer raw. :)
She'd rather starve.
So it goes both ways lol
 
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