Switching to raw!

[Anbranin]

I have two babies, Kilo, the little girl, is not a picky eater. She will try anything you give her, and when I gave her small chunks of beef and goat she just chowed down until she couldn't eat any more and then went into a food coma. Still trying to figure out amounts to give them... I think a little less than that per feeding will be good! However, Sawyer, my boy, is very picky. I tried a bunch of things to get them to try it, eventually I just had to partially cook it, and then pick off tiny little pieces, and just put one in his mouth. THEN he learned that he liked it. However he's still wary of the raw stuff, I know it's less smelly than regular food so it might take a while. Anyone have stories of picky kitties that they had to switch over? They have been eating meow mix for the longest time. I know they don't like it--they just ate it because it was the only thing available. Looks like Sawyer is going to have to learn somehow, because his poops are really stinky, he farts a lot.. I know that the raw diet will probably help with that.

 

[susi794]

Are you giving them meat with bones in it? And organ meat also? Because they need those things in their diet. If you are feeding meat with ground bone in it, do NOT cook it. Even a little--heat makes the bones brittle which could kill your cat. There are a bunch of ways that you can try to entice your kitty to eat raw---you can try drizzling some tuna juice on it, or try sprinkling it with parmesan cheese or bonito flakes. You can try putting gravy on it, chicken broth, chicken or turkey baby food will sometimes entice them to eat also, but make sure you get the kind that is only meat if you choose to try the baby food. You can try mixing smaller amounts of the raw with their canned food and gradually increasing the raw while decreasing the canned.
Be careful that you don't decide that if he's hungry enough he will eat. That isn't true with cats and if the cat is overweight, it can go into lipidosis and cause liver damage or even death in 24 hours. Your cat MUST eat.
Also, you said you started with beef and goat. Many cats can't or won't tolerate beef in the beginning--so you might want to try chicken and you could start out heating it slightly if you make sure there is no bone in it....then slowly heat it less and less......until it's totally raw. But cats need organ meat and bone too, so if you do just ground meat, you need to add bone meal. Please make sure that you are feeding the correct ratio.
Good luck!

 

[Anbranin]

Oh! No worries, I know the dangers of cooking bones, and I'm not doing that. It was just cut up chunks of pure meat. I know the ratios, I did the research. I just started today so I haven't bought all I need yet, I just bought a couple slabs of meat so they could try it (tomorrow my christmas check gets cashed, so I can buy everything). I did not know about cats not liking beef at first! I will definitely get some chicken. I will also get broth to marinate it in--good idea. I did drizzle it with tuna water, but he just licked the tuna water off and left the meat.
This is just an introduction, I am still giving them kibble as well, because I know before I have all the meat, organs, and small bones they need (and they are eating them) I have to make sure they still have all the nutrition they require. So, even though I don't like meow mix, they still have it in their bowls, because it does include all the things required for life.
I plan on buying some good cat food as well because I may have to leave for a couple days for Christmas, and leaving out raw meat is not practical. So they will probably be getting a mix of kibble and meat for a bit. I'm having someone check on them at least once a day, but I feed them three times a day, so I think dry kibble left in their feeder will have to suffice. I just need a good one. I've heard Origen is pretty nice.
And don't worry--I will NEVER starve my cats so they eat what I want. When I was trying to get Sawyer to try meat he had his meow mix in his bowl the whole time if he wanted it. Until they are entirely used to the raw diet and we have everything worked out in terms of portions and nutrition, I will still keep kibble in their bowls (I think there's no danger of them getting overweight if I do this for a week or so). It's funny though, I can tell he doesn't like it. When the previous owner switched them to meow-mix because of financial issues, he refused to eat it at first, according to her. He still looks at it in a certain way--you know how you can tell what your kitty is thinking? I can tell he's thinking "ugh.. this stuff."