Little update (and Going Raw with Rosie)

[lealea]

Hello to all you wonderful people on the Lair. I haven't had much time to post lately and have found myself behind on replying to the wonderful photos, stories and have in general, really missed being around.

I thought I would post a few pictures of my darling Pink Lady and ask a couple of questions at the same time.

Here's little Rosie, looking as cute and adorable as ever. They are mostly sleeping pictures, but I assure you, she does have plenty of energy and runs laps of the house on a regular basis. It's just so hard to keep your eyes open at the end of the day when you've spent the previous hour pretending to be a small pink horse!

Rare cuddles with Queen Cleopatra!

More sleeping shots.

Now, for my questions! I have always wanted to put Rosie on a raw meat diet, but didn't as I can not find the supplements here in Adelaide and was worried about not giving her a good balanced raw diet. However, after some sloppy poops and poor Rosie getting poop tail which really upset her, particularly the farty poops!
I gave her a mix of pumpkin and wet food for a couple of meals, then quickly transitioned her to a pre packed raw pet mince mix that I can get in my local supermarket. It's especially for cats, but doesn't list the ingredients, except that it's mostly kangaroo with added taurine and calcium. They don't have a website, so I can't look it up, which is frustrating and I can't find a suitable raw cat meat from any pet stores in our area, so don't have a lot of choice.

My questions are, firstly, is there anyone in SA or Australia that has found a raw meat prepackaged for cats and secondly, if not, do you think it's better to keep her on the raw meat, even though I don't have a full ingredient list, or should I go with tinned wet food so I know exactly what she's getting in each meal?
Also, at the moment, she gets biscuits for breakfast and raw food twice a day. Is it better to feed all raw, or keep the biscuits to balance?

The bonus for Rosie was taste, she loves it! After eyeing the raw meat with some suspicion the first feed, it was definitely a hit and now she almost shuns the biscuits , dancing around hoping I'll give her raw 3 times a day instead. Oh, and of course, no more wet farts and poop tail!

Lol, sorry, I've waffled on a bit when I'm sure I could have been more succinct! Thank you in advance for all your input.

Lea and Rosie xx

 

[admin]

View attachment 66829

Hello to all you wonderful people on the Lair. I haven't had much time to post lately and have found myself behind on replying to the wonderful photos, stories and have in general, really missed being around.

I thought I would post a few pictures of my darling Pink Lady and ask a couple of questions at the same time.

Here's little Rosie, looking as cute and adorable as ever. They are mostly sleeping pictures, but I assure you, she does have plenty of energy and runs laps of the house on a regular basis. It's just so hard to keep your eyes open at the end of the day when you've spent the previous hour pretending to be a small pink horse!

Rare cuddles with Queen Cleopatra!

View attachment 66827 View attachment 66828

More sleeping shots.

View attachment 66824 View attachment 66825 View attachment 66826


View attachment 66830

Now, for my questions! I have always wanted to put Rosie on a raw meat diet, but didn't as I can not find the supplements here in Adelaide and was worried about not giving her a good balanced raw diet. However, after some sloppy poops and poor Rosie getting poop tail which really upset her, particularly the farty poops!
I gave her a mix of pumpkin and wet food for a couple of meals, then quickly transitioned her to a pre packed raw pet mince mix that I can get in my local supermarket. It's especially for cats, but doesn't list the ingredients, except that it's mostly kangaroo with added taurine and calcium. They don't have a website, so I can't look it up, which is frustrating and I can't find a suitable raw cat meat from any pet stores in our area, so don't have a lot of choice.

My questions are, firstly, is there anyone in SA or Australia that has found a raw meat prepackaged for cats and secondly, if not, do you think it's better to keep her on the raw meat, even though I don't have a full ingredient list, or should I go with tinned wet food so I know exactly what she's getting in each meal?
Also, at the moment, she gets biscuits for breakfast and raw food twice a day. Is it better to feed all raw, or keep the biscuits to balance?

The bonus for Rosie was taste, she loves it! After eyeing the raw meat with some suspicion the first feed, it was definitely a hit and now she almost shuns the biscuits , dancing around hoping I'll give her raw 3 times a day instead. Oh, and of course, no more wet farts and poop tail!

Lol, sorry, I've waffled on a bit when I'm sure I could have been more succinct! Thank you in advance for all your input.

Lea and Rosie xx

Here is a supplier in Australia I had found for another member BARF Australia - Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, check into it first. We don't feed raw, Perhaps other raw feeders will chime in on your other questions. Love the pics - thanks for sharing!

 

[lealea]

Here is a supplier in Australia I had found for another member BARF Australia - Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, check into it first. We don't feed raw, Perhaps other raw feeders will chime in on your other questions. Love the pics - thanks for sharing!

Thank you very much. Unfortunately, they don't supply BARF Cat food in SA, which is so frustrating.

 

[lealea]

Oh, and thanks for putting my post in the best place @admin

 

[Kate]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing!

I currently feed mine a raw diet and I do notice the benefit for sure. I think if you can keep searching and find a food that you can know the ingredients, that would be best. But most importantly is how your kitty actually does while eating the food. If you're going to feed raw, it's best to stick to all raw and not use kibble. However, as I have discovered recently, there are a few brands of raw kibble that might be a good mix if you want to keep using kibble. I am using Better in the Raw mix for the wet food, and I am using RAWZ freeze dried raw kibble for one meal. Cats are doing well on it so far. Another brand I am going to look into is call Ziwi Peak (Welcome to ZiwiPeak - Home of healthy, 100% natural dog and cat food.). They are from New Zealand, so maybe you might have luck finding their product where you are?

Good luck. I hope you find the right balance for your baby.

 

[Toa and Ross]

Rosie is such an adorable and beautiful girl. Happy to see photos of her again.

Ab

 

[Nicolemorgan]

Such an adorable baby!! Love all the photos.
I don't have much input for raw and what is available in your area. That must be tough!
Would a company like Better in the Raw ship to you? That is currently the product we use. And it is easy because you just buy your own raw meat and then add the Better in the Raw.
Good luck in your search!

 

[Hairless Blessing]

Such pretty pics. Especially the one on the cat tree, cute.
Hope you can find what you need to feed the raw.

 

[NinaGato]

Good to hear you both are doing well.
I am no help with raw diet because we don't do it here.

 

[lealea]

Such an adorable baby!! Love all the photos.
I don't have much input for raw and what is available in your area. That must be tough!
Would a company like Better in the Raw ship to you? That is currently the product we use. And it is easy because you just buy your own raw meat and then add the Better in the Raw.
Good luck in your search!

Thank you @Nicolemorgan i checked out their website and they do ship internationally, But unfortunate;y, not to Australia or New Zealand.

 

[Nicolemorgan]

Thank you @Nicolemorgan i checked out their website and they do ship internationally, But unfortunate;y, not to Australia or New Zealand.

Oh that's too bad @lealea! Thought that might of been a good option. I wonder why they don't ship to Australia?

 

[GoldHazel]

@lealea, the pics were adorable and made me smile. I'm glad Rosie (and I LOVE her name by the way) is doing well on her new diet stomach issue wise.

I personally don't like the idea of feeding unknown to my babies. May I suggest that you go to your supermarket where you buy the food for her and ask for contact information for this seller. If not, then they can provide you with the distributor I'm sure. Go from there and search down someone that can give you answers as to what is in this product exactly.

Also, @Kate gave you a link to a raw pet food made in New Zealand. That might be most beneficial to you.

Good luck with your searches.

 

[lealea]

Oh that's too bad @lealea! Thought that might of been a good option. I wonder why they don't ship to Australia?

Apparently it's because of strict quarantine laws in Australia that prevent it being imported. Can't see what the problem is really, it's not like it's covered in fur or really at risk of carrying parasites or disease given its a dry mix. I love that they have these rules to protect Australia from foreign diseases, but gee, they go a bit far sometimes!

 

[lealea]

@GoldHazel thank you. I'm looking into another brand called Fussy Cat, which has a selection of raw meat products designed for cats, I just need to find a stockist in SA somewhere, as the company itself won't ship raw meat products to a private address. Fingers and paws crossed!

 

[Nicolemorgan]

Good luck @lealea! Let us know how it goes with that company!!

 

[Xandria]

Rosie is so precious! What a girl! And what a mom for helping with her diet. It's strange that an ingredient list is not published. Definitely best to go with something where you know the specifics.

This google search seemed to turn up quite a bit so hopefully it's not all bunkum.

raw food cat diet south australia - Google Search

If you can feed raw for every meal, that's definitely best, especially since Rosie already seems to love it.

Let us know what you find! Hugs.

 

[lealea]

@Xandria thank you! Amazingly, the words you used to search came up with completely different results, so I've managed to locate a Pet Food Cafe about a half hour away from me. I'm hoping I'll get up there next week, once I've spoken to them on the phone to see what choices they have. Thank you so much. Must be just wording it differently to how I did lol.

 

[Xandria]

@Xandria thank you! Amazingly, the words you used to search came up with completely different results, so I've managed to locate a Pet Food Cafe about a half hour away from me. I'm hoping I'll get up there next week, once I've spoken to them on the phone to see what choices they have. Thank you so much. Must be just wording it differently to how I did lol.

Google searches are curious things. I do search engine optimization on my company's Web site plus perform lots of research. Even then I still get stumped and need to call on my bestie who is a Google search whisperer. I swear she can find anything. So glad to help. Let us know how it goes. Hugs

 

[Nicolemorgan]

@Xandria thank you! Amazingly, the words you used to search came up with completely different results, so I've managed to locate a Pet Food Cafe about a half hour away from me. I'm hoping I'll get up there next week, once I've spoken to them on the phone to see what choices they have. Thank you so much. Must be just wording it differently to how I did lol.

So glad to hear that you found somewhere! Let us know how it goes!

 

[lealea]

Another little update! Rosie is doing well on raw. We found a good brand packaged in our local supermarket, which she loves and literally begs for! She only gets biscuits now if I've forgotten to defrost, but that's not very often thankfully, as you can see the disappointment in her face when she doesn't have her raw food in the bowl! Her appetite has doubled and she gets so excited at meal times now, it's so lovely!

Another bonus! I'm moving to a new house in a couple of weeks and found a little privately owned pet food store about a 10 minute walk from my new house! I rang them and they supply kangaroo, rabbit, chicken and a few other raw meats for cats and said they can give me samples to take home for Rosie to try. They use offal and bones in all their mixes, except the kangaroo one, so tell me I don't need to add taurine or calcium. It's next to impossible to buy supplements here, unless I buy human grade and dose accordingly. Do you think that with the offal and bones mixed in I would still need to add anything else in?

Thanks again for all your help, it's much appreciated by me and Rosie is literally jumping for joy at meal times now, so I'm sure she'd send big thank yous, too!

 

[lealea]

 

[Xandria]

That's fabulous. Yes, these guys can be quite the little carnivores. I have no idea where mine put it all.

 

[lealea]

I went to the shop today, since I'd run out of the packaged raw from the supermarket and oh my, they are fabulous! They gave me a generous portion of the minced chicken/bones/carcass mix to try and I bought some turkey and a rabbit mince. She loves the chicken, it was gone in seconds and I still have a couple of portions left in the fridge, as they gave such a generous amount for free.

Here's their pet food menu! More substantial than some restaurants!

 

[tara44]

I wish I lived in Adelaide to buy from that place!! Looks so good and very thorough. I tried Tiny on the fussy cat portioned mince from the supermarket and it gave her the worst explosive runny poos. Poor baby. I would like to try raw but honestly haven't researched enough on where to get it. I'm sure in Sydney I will be able to find it somewhere. Anything to calm the smell of her farts and poos down! Before you found this store, what was the supermarket stuff that Rosie was loving?

 

[lealea]

@tara44 I think it was called Protapet. We tried her with fussy cats, but it was really fatty meat, so didn't get it again, I had visions of clogging up her arteries! She's loving the new meats now and you can see it's good quality. We picked some up yesterday and you know it's fresh when you have to wait for them to finish grinding it out the back! 1kg of the chicken only cost me $2.50, so can't beat the price either.