Welcome to Sphynxlair! Connect with Sphynx owners & enthusiasts around the world!

How do I get him to eat this??

lemmysmommy

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
838
Points
123
So, I want to start switching Lemmy to raw. I went to the store tonight and they had chicken gizzards and hearts on sale, so I bought some along with split chicken breasts. I tried to give him a couple of the gizzards and he would not even look at it twice. He will sniff them, but does not act like he wants to eat them. He does get free fed the dry food, so I took it away for awhile to see if he would get hungry. I will try again in a little while, but is there anything else I can do? I don't want to go hog wild with the raw until I know he will eat it. I know that a few of you feed raw all the time. What is the trick to it? Should I try something different?
 

heather

V.I.P Lairian
V.I.P Lairian
Joined
Jul 25, 2009
Messages
1,242
Points
158
Brooke provided this site: http://rawfedcats.org/practicalguide.htm

Scroll down to "Disguising Raw Food – aka the "Bribe""

That has some good tips.

Good luck! Keep it up though- I hear it takes patience. I have Sophie on the raw premade nuggets and haven't tried any raw non-ground meat yet so not sure how she will react either.
 

Brooke

Banned
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
1,767
Points
0
So, I want to start switching Lemmy to raw. I went to the store tonight and they had chicken gizzards and hearts on sale, so I bought some along with split chicken breasts. I tried to give him a couple of the gizzards and he would not even look at it twice. He will sniff them, but does not act like he wants to eat them. He does get free fed the dry food, so I took it away for awhile to see if he would get hungry. I will try again in a little while, but is there anything else I can do? I don't want to go hog wild with the raw until I know he will eat it. I know that a few of you feed raw all the time. What is the trick to it? Should I try something different?

I've never given my cats gizzards, so I don't know if they are a favorite...but I know they don't like hearts as much as they like actual muscle meat. I'd try offering the chicken breast first. Once you get Lemmy eating raw, he'll be more likely to try eating the other stuff.

There are many "tricks" to get them to try it for the first time. Does Lemmy eat any canned wet food? If not, it'll be easier to transition him to raw if you get him eating canned food first. The texture is closer so that'll make it much easier for you. One thing you can do is mix some bits of the raw meat into his canned food. Then slowly reduce the amount of canned food and increase the amount of raw food until he's getting all raw. I used to buy the canned food that had shredded chicken in gravy, and just poured a bit of the gravy on top of the raw meat (didn't use any of the shredded chicken), and that was enough to get the cats to eat the raw. A little bit of the juice from a can of tuna (in spring water, not oil) might also work. The idea is to get him to eat it. Once Lemmy realizes this is food, he'll probably like it and be willing to eat it again!

Another trick is to sprinkle some liver powder, crushed up kibble or a small amount of parmesan cheese on top of the raw meat. (I've had very good luck with liver powder!)

You can try just lightly searing the outside of the chicken. Don't cook it all the way, and definitely don't cook the bones if it has bones in it, but just slightly cook the outside to bring out the flavor and warm it up. You should only have to do this a couple of times for him to realize it's tasty and he'll be begging for it straight out of the fridge soon enough. I used to warm my cats raw food up by putting it in a baggie and soaking the baggie in hot water for 30 seconds before serving it. Now they're standing on the counter screaming at me as I'm scooping the food out of their container straight from the refrigerator. They've even eaten it half frozen before...they don't care anymore! But some cats won't eat it if it's cold.

If you don't have luck with the chicken, experiment with some other proteins. I've heard many people who tried and tried for months and couldn't get their cats to eat raw until they found that magical meat that their cat loved. All of a sudden they would eat anything! It was just a matter of finding something they were willing to try. Mandy was my pickiest eater, and she was a big fan of turkey from the start. Helen always loved beef, and of course rabbit is a huge hit. Be warned, though, rabbit is expensive and a lot of cats will eat rabbit and then refuse to eat anything else. That happened to me!

It's going to help tremendously if you can get him on a 2 or 3 time a day feeding schedule instead of free feeding. If you plan to switch to raw, you won't be free feeding, so now would be a good time to start the switch to a schedule, even if you aren't ready to go all raw yet.

Here's a good link with some info and tips for transitioning to raw: http://www.rawfedcats.org/practicalguide.htm

Good luck, and keep us posted!
 

PitRottMommy

Banned
Joined
May 28, 2009
Messages
860
Points
0
I agree with Brooke. Pets are more likely to take muscle meat the first time around. Organ meat is often an acquired taste. Try breasts first, warm them slightly if he won't take them alone.

Also, remember Taurine! As Brooke mentioned the liver powder, you can also used a crushed tablet (PetAg taurine tabs work great) on top of the food.
 

lemmysmommy

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
838
Points
123
I warmed the gizzards up slightly and put some canned food on top and he ate a few bites!! I am going to try the breasts tomorrow. Should I put his food out for overnight? I want to ease into this for his sake....I don't want him to revolt!! LOL!!
 

Pbinky

Banned
Joined
Jun 13, 2009
Messages
273
Points
0
Pbinky continues to be impossible. I've tried disguising the meat in the wet food. i've tried warming it, steaming it....sprinkling dried fish, i've tried almost everything. He won't budge. BUT, i'm still serving it to him. He's so stubborn.
 

ckutkuhn7

Banned
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Messages
5,191
Points
0
There is a key to every kitty. Just gotta find it. Keep trying, I'm sure he will come around. Hopefully soon, I can only imagine how heart wrenching it is so see him turn it down.
 

susi794

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 23, 2009
Messages
13,556
Points
673
Mine wouldn't eat straight raw in the beginning, so I ordered the supplement at feline instincts--they gobbled that right up! Now, I use that sometimes, but have started just giving the meat and bones--mine now love the muscle meat but will pick it off the bones. I just fed some beef tonight with the supplement, and I just heard Dulcinea vomiting it all back up--didn't sit right with her, but that isn't uncommon from what I've read that beef upsets some cats' stomachs. I also buy the liver powder to use. You can also try pouring some warm chicken broth in it--put it in the food processor with some broth and grind it closer to the consistancy of wet food. Some cats just freak about the chunks. Mine wouldn't eat anything chunky in the beginning, but now will happily eat it. Keep plugging away at it.
I ordered some goat, some green tripe, some whole ground rabbit, whole ground mouse , whole ground mutton, and some chicken necks last night--can't wait to see if my cats like it. I'm trying to go to just the meat and adding the taurine rather than buying the supplement too. We'll see how it goes. I want to offer enough variety in their protein offerings, so I'm excited to see how this works. Will keep everyone posted. Am still looking for a cheap meat supplier--anyone know of anyone that ships? I tried that list, Brooke, but I don't see anything that I understand how it works--the one in SE Michigan you said to look at was pretty pricey and I had to go get it. So, I will keep looking. Thinking about contacting some of the farmers around here--but no one really does much but beef and pork around here.
 

Brooke

Banned
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
1,767
Points
0
Mine wouldn't eat straight raw in the beginning, so I ordered the supplement at feline instincts--they gobbled that right up! Now, I use that sometimes, but have started just giving the meat and bones--mine now love the muscle meat but will pick it off the bones. I just fed some beef tonight with the supplement, and I just heard Dulcinea vomiting it all back up--didn't sit right with her, but that isn't uncommon from what I've read that beef upsets some cats' stomachs. I also buy the liver powder to use. You can also try pouring some warm chicken broth in it--put it in the food processor with some broth and grind it closer to the consistancy of wet food. Some cats just freak about the chunks. Mine wouldn't eat anything chunky in the beginning, but now will happily eat it. Keep plugging away at it.
I ordered some goat, some green tripe, some whole ground rabbit, whole ground mouse , whole ground mutton, and some chicken necks last night--can't wait to see if my cats like it. I'm trying to go to just the meat and adding the taurine rather than buying the supplement too. We'll see how it goes. I want to offer enough variety in their protein offerings, so I'm excited to see how this works. Will keep everyone posted. Am still looking for a cheap meat supplier--anyone know of anyone that ships? I tried that list, Brooke, but I don't see anything that I understand how it works--the one in SE Michigan you said to look at was pretty pricey and I had to go get it. So, I will keep looking. Thinking about contacting some of the farmers around here--but no one really does much but beef and pork around here.

You're right, the beef intolerance is pretty common in cats. Mandy had the same problem at first but after about six months of eating raw, now she can eat beef and keep it down!! I'm still looking for more sources, too. I'll keep you posted as soon as I hear back from the one I was telling you about...
 

susi794

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 23, 2009
Messages
13,556
Points
673
Will be glad to report how they do with it! I just can't bring myself to offer the whole frozen feeders--but they tout the mouse as being the perfect food. We'll see.
 

lemmysmommy

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
838
Points
123
Ok, so I have been cutting down his dry food to only like 3 small meals and have been giving him the raw meat. He seems to like the chicken breast....he really only plays with the gizzards. He now has diarrhea. I was reading on the net that they sometimes get this in the transitional period. I am hoping that it will stop soon. Also, he keeps crying for food.....do I just give him extra raw since he is used to free feeding, or do I just keep it down to two or three meals a day?? I just don't want him to be starving!! I feel like a bad mommy.....but I want to make his dietary choices better for him. All those who feed raw....I need help!! LOL
 

Brooke

Banned
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
1,767
Points
0
Ok, so I have been cutting down his dry food to only like 3 small meals and have been giving him the raw meat. He seems to like the chicken breast....he really only plays with the gizzards. He now has diarrhea. I was reading on the net that they sometimes get this in the transitional period. I am hoping that it will stop soon. Also, he keeps crying for food.....do I just give him extra raw since he is used to free feeding, or do I just keep it down to two or three meals a day?? I just don't want him to be starving!! I feel like a bad mommy.....but I want to make his dietary choices better for him. All those who feed raw....I need help!! LOL

Out of my 4, Walter got diarrhea when I switched to raw. It lasted 3 days. You can try giving him some canned pure pumpkin, which will help firm up his poop and also help with him feeling hungry. He's not starving! But, it will take him some time to get used to his new feeding schedule. A lot of cats have a hard time going from free feeding to a feeding schedule, regardless of what is being fed (kibble, canned, raw...)

Just to be sure, how much of the dry food are you giving him? If you're just supplementing with some raw chicken right now, make sure you're still feeding Lemmy a good amount of his kibble so that he's getting all the nutrients he needs.
 

lemmysmommy

Senior Lairian
Senior Lairian
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
838
Points
123
He is getting just raw 2 times a day....usually 6 or 7 good sized chunks of various meats. I have also been giving him about a 1/4 cup of dry 2 times a day just to keep up the nutrition until I can get the supplements. I give him the food at different times so that he does not get sick. He also does not usually eat all the dry. I hope I am doing this right.
 
Back
Top