Tried to Start Today, Need Some Help

[Flowergirl]

Hi All,

This evening I tried to feed James some raw food, because he has had terrible terrible diarrhea for the past week, all over the house.

He was very excited as I was opening the package, a little suspicious for a while around the plate, and then tried a piece.

And promptly vomited it right back up, and continued to dry heave for five minutes.

Now the rest of it is just sitting there.

I'm so sad y'all.
And James is so hungry.

For your info, I fed him Magerfleisch v. Rind, purchased from Katzemaxx.
Google translate of the package, plus what the cashier told me, is that it is ground beef product.

I really need something to work to get rid of his diarrhea. I was so so so hoping this was my holy grail!

What do I do?

 

[angela1974]

I would go to the store and buy Science Diet for good digestion (its special for sensitive stomachs) dry food and stick to that for right now. Bella was very sensitive to foods and Dry is the way to go. Simple!!!

 

[Flowergirl]

He was on the Prescription Science diet for gastrointestinal worries (low residue) for a long time, and then I switched vets who actually recommended the weight loss formula to firm up the poops.

He was right, and the w/d did cause an improvement, but still not great. He was on the w/d for a couple years and it never improved better than say a candy bar left in a hot car. Firm pudding. Maybe, on a really really good day, it might look like you tried to form turds out of mud.
Afterward, there was butt leakage. And god forbid he accidentally step in it.

So, while going back to that would be a vast vast improvement from what's happening right now, it's still not great.

Why can't he just have a normal poop?

 

[Inflamed]

When you start off with raw food it's possible that it makes them vomit. The staff at the store should have consulted you (but with the language barrier that's hard) that you need to start with a protein he can process more easily like chicken. Beef is very rich and is for more advanced raw eaters.
Also, did you make sure it was room temperature? If it's still cold it can upset their tummies too. Furthermore, because of the different digestion rate of raw vs kibble, you need to make sure to put at least like 6 to 8 hours between the two. This isn't going to help you right now, but it's just a few pointers for feeding raw.
I'm sorry it didn't work out straight away but I would try again. Good luck

 

[Flowergirl]

Thank you for the advice Inflamed.

I did ask the sales girl which one was the best to start with, and I bought the one she recommended.
They had others there with vegetables, and I was sure not to buy one of those.
I'm fairly sure that all of the packages they had were beef products, none looked like chicken.

Should I just go out and buy some raw chicken?

I did make sure that I fed him the raw at the same time he would usually get his evening kibbles, 8 hours after the last time. I made sure it was room temperature too.

 

[angela1974]

I'm so sad for you!!! What brought you to Germany? Maybe he is really freaked out about the move? I wish I had answers for you! For now, maybe just go and buy some dry food for him.

 

[Flowergirl]

My husband's work assignment brought us here. We have been here for about 6 weeks. He has travelled a lot with us, and never really freaks out. He's experienced at that sort of thing. He has his favorite toys, his heated bed, his water fountain water dish, his same sweaters, everything I could do to make him feel at home.

But then all the food I brought ran out and I've been trying what's locally available and it has been getting progressively worse.

It's past midnight here right now, with a plate full of raw food left mostly untouched. Nothing I can do about it right now.

I guess we will try again in the morning.

 

[angela1974]

Go to bed and tomorrow is a new day like you said.

 

[MollysMom]

Have you tried mixing something with it, or sprinkling something on top?

Try maybe putting a bit of tuna juice on it or a few flakes mixed in? Or even a bit of wet food?

Don't give up! It is definitely worth it when they get going on raw. Another option that you can do is order a pre-mix (there are a couple available from Canada, I use one of them) and mix that with whatever type of muscle meat that you like at home. Good luck!!!

 

[kristininn]

Just to add my 2 cents:
My boy had terrible IBS that didn't even respond to meds. He's now doing great eating raw, but he cannot tolerate beef at all. Throws it up every time. If you can find a premade raw with chicken, go for it. Winston's has a small amount of veg (I think 5%) and he does great on it. Turkey works too, but don't go for duck either - too rich for beginners.

I hope you can find something that works!

 

[assibassi]

i am German, if you need any translation help .. ask me .

Huehnchen - chicken
Huhn - chicken
Truhthahn - turkey
Rind - beef
Hackfleisch - ground meat

I was told to use ground chicken or ground turkey before in raw .. there is a mixture you can buy to add to the raw , i havent bought it yet myself though. But thats what i was going to try , chicken and turkey ground with that mixture.

 

[Zaki`s mom]

Like some other people said, beef is not a good protein to start on, cats aren't even supposed to eat beef.. they wouldn't go hunt a big cow in the wild . I will be starting raw soon and will not give my cats beef. Try to get chicken and if he isn't interested then try to mix it with something he really likes...

 

[Flowergirl]

So I just tried again. Haven't been out of the house yet so I chopped up the beef part extra fine, warmed them up in hot water, and mixed them up with egg yolk which I know he likes.

This has warranted a few extra sniffs and a little licking of the egg yolk but that's about it.

So I'm going to get on the bus to go buy some raw chicken I guess!
I suppose just the cheapest kind will be best?

The funny thing is, I know he likes ground lamb because while I was making dinner the other night he went crazy for it and actually ate what I gave him. Maybe I'll buy some of that too.

Silly little boy is the pickiest damn eater.
Only known likes:
kibbles
commercial cat treats
small amounts of tuna juice- won't eat the tuna or even all of the juice
small amounts of egg yolk
small amounts of turkey sandwich meat
small amounts of cheddar cheese

He turns up his nose at everything else so far, and will only take a few bites of the things he does like!

He's like a spoiled little American boy, the commercially processed kibbles and treats are like McDonalds and Burger King, and he does it all to frustrate his crunchy wholesome organic mama.

LOL

 

[Olive60386]

Well I have had some issues with Olive with diarrhea and I fed her yogurt with live cultures.......which cleared it right up. I fed her Activa but any yogurt with the same cultures would work. I fed her yogurt on a daily basis until it cleared up and a little while after it cleared just to be sure her belly straightened out. I know it sounds weird but it really worked. Plus she loved the yogurt. I gave her about half of the container daily although she would eat the entire cup in one sitting.....but I wasn't sure I should give her a whole little container. Possibly worth a try?

 

[andreanar]

I feed raw. I dont use any mixes in it. i just cut up the meat and give it. Try some raw chicken thigh meat, cut into strips about the length and width of your pinky finger. You can try to smear some canned cat food on it if he wont eat it. My kittens will not eat raw meat if its ground, they must not like the texture. Try this and good luck! It makes such a difference in their digestive system that its worth it to keep trying.

 

[Flowergirl]

Olive, unfortunately, he won't eat yogurt. I've tried about a dozen times to no success.

Oddly, he's not really into canned food either. He will only try about 30% of the ones I have bought in the past, and of those it's rare he would eat a whole serving.
So I'm not sure if that would help or hurt.

Arrrrggg I feel like I've tried everything!

I really want this raw food to work. If I could see a turd I would be so happy.

If this doesn't work I don't know what to do. The best result I've ever had with dry food is NOT what you would call solid stool, so I don't want to go back to that.

 

[MollysMom]

Olive, unfortunately, he won't eat yogurt. I've tried about a dozen times to no success.

Oddly, he's not really into canned food either. He will only try about 30% of the ones I have bought in the past, and of those it's rare he would eat a whole serving.
So I'm not sure if that would help or hurt.

Arrrrggg I feel like I've tried everything!

I really want this raw food to work. If I could see a turd I would be so happy.

If this doesn't work I don't know what to do. The best result I've ever had with dry food is NOT what you would call solid stool, so I don't want to go back to that.

Something that may be worth trying -

I saw on a website that one way to ease into raw transition is to take their dry kibble, and then grind it to a powder in a coffee grinder. Then you can mix in water to make a "wet food" consistency. The idea is that you can use this to help transition into eating raw. The only thing that you need to be mindful of is the different digestive rates of raw and kibble.

 

[Flowergirl]

That's a great idea Mollysmom!

So, an update. I went to the grocery (the closest one I can get to by bus without having to walk too far- a Middle Eastern market) and got some ground lamb (which he had eaten a little bit of before happily) and a couple of raw chicken backs (possibly- that's what they look like. I don't speak german)

I put down a little bit of the lamb while I cut up the chicken, and he began eating it, tentatively. Yayyyy!
And then he barfed it up. Boooo.

So I took the rest of it up. For the larger portion that I bought, I'm going to make lamb meatballs.

After much chopping and a whir in a food processor, I put down the dark chicken meat. It's at about beef tartare consistency. I sat over there with him for a while, and he would lick it off my fingers well enough and take a few tentative licks of it on the plate, but as soon as I get up he follows.

So now it's just sitting there :/

It's been 24 hours since he last had kibble, I know he's hungry enough to try it.
In 24 hours he's eaten a few pieces of ground beef (threw it up), half an egg yolk, a few pieces of ground beef mixed with egg yolk (kept down, but only ate a couple bites), an ounce of ground lamb (threw it up) and a couple bites of raw chicken.

How long is it safe to keep the raw chicken down there on the floor to see if he will eat it?

I guess next I'll try kibble paste.

 

[Inflamed]

I wouldn't leave it out for more than half an hour. You said he likes tuna juice (a bit) and cheddar cheese. If you have any of those in the house, I would stir a little of that in or cover it in that and see if he'll eat it.

 

[SphynxKid]

I would not go much longer without letting James eat anything. As you were saying, it might be worth cooking the food for him. He might eat that and be able to tolerate that better, it's better than nothing. Cats will easily go inter liver failure without eating. For a few days, you may have to use cooked lamb and chicken. Eventually you will have to start adding cat specific vitamins to his food but for a week or so that should be sufficient. I would get in contact with either a vet or oder the specific vitamins online, and see if he tolerates the cooked food. It might help his stool too in addition to the vomiting.

Jen

 

[Flowergirl]

He ate it! Hallelujah, he ate it!

He ate every speck of chicken on that plate. It was a small portion, just to test, but he ate it! And so far no barf!

I am so excited right now.

Fingers and toes crossed for the impending poop.

God help me if it comes out as a real live turd I'm going to take a picture.

 

[angela1974]

Okay so the hard part is over......The stool might be soft still. You need to give it a couple of days to firm up.....Don't be sad if it's still soft. Give it some time!!! I AM SO GLAD TO HEAR HE ATE!!! I think we are as excited as you are! :Laugh:

 

[MollysMom]

He ate it! Hallelujah, he ate it!

He ate every speck of chicken on that plate. It was a small portion, just to test, but he ate it! And so far no barf!

I am so excited right now.

Fingers and toes crossed for the impending poop.

God help me if it comes out as a real live turd I'm going to take a picture.

LOL no joke, I sent my hubby a pic of the litterbox on bbm when she had her first solid raw poop. There are not many people who you can properly celebrate that with!

 

[Flowergirl]

Update: so far he's eaten two more portions of chicken, every speck!

He takes a while to eat it, about an hour, but he was like that with his kibble too so I'm not surprised.

His breakfast is still sitting down there, half eaten.

But!

No barfs!

No poops yet either, but so far so good!

 

[Inflamed]

Looking good!