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TL;dr version: Max is doing great but having to be creative with getting him back on raw. What follows will hopefully help others trying out the raw diet.
My little naked Lord has certainly kept me on my toes with respect to his dietary situation. But since that seems to be "the worst" thing about Max, I consider myself lucky. He did freak me out with his sneezy sniffles, but in retrospect that was nothing compared to the full blown URIs I keep hearing about.
I digress.
Max came to me when he was 3 months old, eating a diet of Go! cat food (wet and kibble). I knew that I wanted to switch him to raw ASAP and did so 2 weeks after he moved in. I decided on using Better in the Raw.
I stupidly introduced him to a different protein every day, and while he took to eating the raw without any needed transition, he had horrible poops from my playing protein ping pong. So I decided to stick with chicken for a while and then introduce a new protein every now and again.
THEN, a month after doing great on the raw, he decided to start getting sick. After some experimentation, I could only conclude that the calcium ratio in the BitR was too much for his little system to handle. He was, after all, eating about a full pound (16 oz) of chicken + BitR every day.
That was when I decided to make his own raw from scratch so that I could completely control the ingredients. I ordered a grinder, supplements, and meats. I made a test batch of raw and... drumroll... he didn't want to eat it.
*facepalm*
By this time he'd been back on Go! for over a week, complete with stinky poos (and so much poo... OMG the poo!!!) and stinky food. LOL.
Moreover, I learned that the BitR mixture provided an odorous, and likely appealing, meal. When making real raw, there is no discernible scent.
I took the dish of raw and added Forti-Flora. This adds a stinkiness to it. He wouldn't eat that either.
I added a bit of pumpkin. He didn't bite.
I added a few drops of salmon oil on top. Still not interested.
I mixed in some Go! wet and finally... he ate that. Once he tucked into his bowl he cleaned it up nicely.
THEN came the next meal. I went straight to adding Go! and he didn't eat that. I was almost in tears. I crumbled some Stella and Chewy's on top. Again, he tucked in happily.
AND THE NEXT meal came... I added just some Go! and he ate that.
I know it can take a while to get them used to raw, but I was utterly spoiled when he took to raw initially, without once pulling a face or walking away. I will be persistent and I know eventually he'll eat just the raw without fuss.
And the best thing? He's not sick from eating any more. I have the bone content at 8% (instead of 10%).
For Those Trying to Switch to Raw:
Don't give up. Try sprinkling or adding whatever is needed to make the raw appealing. Slowly reduce what you're adding.
I was surprised that neither Forti-Flora nor salmon oil was enticing, but that's the way with cats. We need to find what works. And when we do... hope they don't change their mind.
My little naked Lord has certainly kept me on my toes with respect to his dietary situation. But since that seems to be "the worst" thing about Max, I consider myself lucky. He did freak me out with his sneezy sniffles, but in retrospect that was nothing compared to the full blown URIs I keep hearing about.
I digress.
Max came to me when he was 3 months old, eating a diet of Go! cat food (wet and kibble). I knew that I wanted to switch him to raw ASAP and did so 2 weeks after he moved in. I decided on using Better in the Raw.
I stupidly introduced him to a different protein every day, and while he took to eating the raw without any needed transition, he had horrible poops from my playing protein ping pong. So I decided to stick with chicken for a while and then introduce a new protein every now and again.
THEN, a month after doing great on the raw, he decided to start getting sick. After some experimentation, I could only conclude that the calcium ratio in the BitR was too much for his little system to handle. He was, after all, eating about a full pound (16 oz) of chicken + BitR every day.
That was when I decided to make his own raw from scratch so that I could completely control the ingredients. I ordered a grinder, supplements, and meats. I made a test batch of raw and... drumroll... he didn't want to eat it.
*facepalm*
By this time he'd been back on Go! for over a week, complete with stinky poos (and so much poo... OMG the poo!!!) and stinky food. LOL.
Moreover, I learned that the BitR mixture provided an odorous, and likely appealing, meal. When making real raw, there is no discernible scent.
I took the dish of raw and added Forti-Flora. This adds a stinkiness to it. He wouldn't eat that either.
I added a bit of pumpkin. He didn't bite.
I added a few drops of salmon oil on top. Still not interested.
I mixed in some Go! wet and finally... he ate that. Once he tucked into his bowl he cleaned it up nicely.
THEN came the next meal. I went straight to adding Go! and he didn't eat that. I was almost in tears. I crumbled some Stella and Chewy's on top. Again, he tucked in happily.
AND THE NEXT meal came... I added just some Go! and he ate that.
I know it can take a while to get them used to raw, but I was utterly spoiled when he took to raw initially, without once pulling a face or walking away. I will be persistent and I know eventually he'll eat just the raw without fuss.
And the best thing? He's not sick from eating any more. I have the bone content at 8% (instead of 10%).
For Those Trying to Switch to Raw:
Don't give up. Try sprinkling or adding whatever is needed to make the raw appealing. Slowly reduce what you're adding.
I was surprised that neither Forti-Flora nor salmon oil was enticing, but that's the way with cats. We need to find what works. And when we do... hope they don't change their mind.
