Starting Zero and the girls on RAW tonight

[dobby_the_elf]

So husband and I decided to switch to RAW, and found a RAW supplier locally and I just had a couple more questions about it. Previously we had just left kibble out for them to eat at their leisure, so there was no particular meal time for them. Do I just feed them once in the morning and once at night? Is that enough for them, or should we give them a meal in the afternoon as well? And how many hours apart should the feedings be? I would like to be on a somewhat structured meal schedule so they will get used to eating at a certain time. I'm probably just making this more stressful for myself than it needs to be, but I like to have all the answers and know what I'm doing before I start something (the poor lady at the pet store was so nice as I asked every question I could possibly think of before buying my food and leaving).

 

[susi794]

Play it by ear at first--for sure at least twice a day--but they might want more often--if so, feed less and more often. Unless they seem ravenously hungry---then feed what they want--offer food and pick up what they don't eat within fifteen minutes or so. I would feed at hours that coincide with what works the best for you. I feed mine after my shower in the morning before I go to work, and then when I get home around 50. Sometimes I feed again before bedtime. They usually let me know if they are hungry.
Good luck and keep us posted with your progress! Raw is wonderful!
Hugs,
Susi and the gang

 

[dobby_the_elf]

thanks so much! and the lady at the pet store said to mix it with wet food to "bring out the flavors so they'll eat it" can i eventually stop doing that so they're JUST eating the natural food?

 

[susi794]

I would try it alone first---to see if they will just eat it.

 

[dobby_the_elf]

ok, and i've read alot of conflicting things as far as having veggies in the raw. the recipe that they use has some veggies in it (i can't remember exactly but i can check when i get home). do you do veggies too or just meat?

 

[bean406]

YAY FOR RAW!!

What brand of raw are you trying? Usually the manufacturer's website will have information on approximately how many ounces to feed depending on how much they weigh. You can use it as a starting point though I feed about double (or some days triple) that amount depending on the day. I feed NV Raw and they do have like 5% fruits/veggies in the mix but overall that's a very small amount.

Good luck with the transition! ​

 

[susi794]

I buy ground whole animal---so if they have a small amound of vegetable matter in their gut, we get it...but I think for the most part, they are gutted. So I get bone, organ, and muscle meat. I don't add fruits or veggies.....they don't need it.

 

[dobby_the_elf]

YAY FOR RAW!!

What brand of raw are you trying? Usually the manufacturer's website will have information on approximately how many ounces to feed depending on how much they weigh. You can use it as a starting point though I feed about double (or some days triple) that amount depending on the day. I feed NV Raw and they do have like 5% fruits/veggies in the mix but overall that's a very small amount.

Good luck with the transition! ​

it's called Hunter's Essential Raw Diet, they make it locally and so i got it at a local pet store. it does list all the ingredients but i'm at work right now i'll have to look when i get home, but it doesn't give a percentage.

and thanks! hopefully they'll take to it right away

 

[dobby_the_elf]

UPDATE

So we tried the new food last night around 5:30, and just as I expected, Zero and Minerva loved it, and Goggles wanted nothing to do with it. We would offer it to her, and leave it for 15 minutes before taking it back to the fridge. We tried this every 45 minutes to an hour and even tried wiping some of it on her teeth thinking she would realize "oh that tastes good" and eat. Finally around 90 husband took her in the other room and gave her some kibble because she hadn't eaten anything in 13 hours.

Also, I was looking into the ingredients in the HERD and decided I don't want to use it. You can tell just from looking at it it's wayyyy more than 5% fruits and veggies (looks more like 40-50%) so we're going to try nature's variety. But until that's thawed (hopefully by tonight) I just gave them plain ground chicken (which, I know it's supposed to have bone in it but it's just for today so I thought it would be ok).

I tried feeding Aragog again around noon. Took her into the other room away from the other cats, and she still wasn't interested in the plain chicken. After much prompting she finally ate maybe one actual bite. We'll try it again tonight.

 

[Inflamed]

Keeping my fingers crossed you'll soon have three happy raw eaters!

 

[Cathie]

try tuna or tuna juice for the one that does not want it. When I was in Fla. I had Piglet and 2 furry cats. One of the furry one never would eat the raw, unless it was chicken livers, she liked them. so I kept dry out too. never had a problem with it. My hubby is not into the raw diets, so now my household only gets raw for treats. Normally its either chicken livers or drummettes/wings. All 6 of mine love it.

 

[Boonecat]

Good luck. Hope your 1 kitty decides to like it very soon!

 

[dobby_the_elf]

we tried mixing a little milk in with her food this morning, and i know milk isn't good for kitties but she has stolen a sip from our glasses many a time, and she ate a couple bites of it today. still not much, but it's progress!

and they have all been way more cuddly and playful in the last day or so, not just with us but with each other too. they've never ALL been playing at once before, but now all three run from one end of the house to the other in a herd.

 

[susi794]

You can try tuna juice, chicken broth, baby food, mixing it with canned food and gradually decreasing the canned. You can mix it with gravy, try warming it up slightly--but do not cook or heat the bone--put some in a baggy then submerse in warm water until it heats up a little. I had to open Candy Cane's mouth and put some in like I was giving her a pill--she swallowed it then started eating from the plate. I had to do it the first bite several times, but now she just eats it. Try anything---liver powder, bonito flakes, parmesan cheese....anything that might work. You might try giving her some boiled chicken for a bit then go half cooked/half raw, until you can do the whole raw. Hang in there, it is so worth it!

 

[dobby_the_elf]

You can try tuna juice, chicken broth, baby food, mixing it with canned food and gradually decreasing the canned. You can mix it with gravy, try warming it up slightly--but do not cook or heat the bone--put some in a baggy then submerse in warm water until it heats up a little. I had to open Candy Cane's mouth and put some in like I was giving her a pill--she swallowed it then started eating from the plate. I had to do it the first bite several times, but now she just eats it. Try anything---liver powder, bonito flakes, parmesan cheese....anything that might work. You might try giving her some boiled chicken for a bit then go half cooked/half raw, until you can do the whole raw. Hang in there, it is so worth it!

i did try mixing with canned food, warming it, and putting some in her mouth with my fingers, and she still didn't want it. she did finally take a couple bites this morning when i mixed it with a little milk, and i gave the same thing to her again just now and she did eat a teaspoonful of it. i think we're gonna try to feed her in the other room because she doesn't eat when the other cats are there, even if they are busy eating. she just sniffs them and their food and then starts bathing them haha. so she is slowly eating more and more. i'll try tuna juice or parmesean if she doesn't eat more this evening.

thanks everyone for the suggestions!

 

[tiliquajeff]

I am watching this thread closely to see how it goes. I am hoping to go to raw in the near future too for my little guy. Do you mind if I ask where you are getting your raw locally? I have been told that Bark Ave. on McKellips is the place to get raw around here, but I would love to hear about any other sources too.

 

[fpsparta3]

Figs was a little hesitant when I first tried raw. I got 1 chicken thigh and cut it up in small chunks and she just sniffed it and looked at me. So I put about a teaspoon of her wet canned food on the chunks and kinda spread it around the top .. she literally dove in! I think that once she realized that it was food, she had no problem with the raw. Now she gets 2 meals (morning and after I'm home from work), plus a snack before bed.

Hopefully Goggles will come to love the raw as much as the other cats - just keep trying!

 

[dobby_the_elf]

I am watching this thread closely to see how it goes. I am hoping to go to raw in the near future too for my little guy. Do you mind if I ask where you are getting your raw locally? I have been told that Bark Ave. on McKellips is the place to get raw around here, but I would love to hear about any other sources too.

Jeff, We live in Prescott so I'm not really sure where in Phoenix to get it. I got the Nature's Variety at Olsen's Grain (I'm not sure if you have those in Phoenix, I think it's pretty much just in this area). But I just went to NV's website and searched for where to get it in my area

Find A Store | Nature's Variety