Hi, I am transitioning my cats to raw (or at least attempting to). I'm following Dr Becker's recipes, using chicken meat from local, responsible free-range farmers. My girl is a fussy madam, so I'll be asking some questions on my transitioning methods in another post, but really, I need some advice on my little boy, who seems to vomit up his breakfast when consuming his raw meat + wet food breakfast. Anything more than 50 percent raw on his plate and there is a chance that he'll vomit up his breakfast.
I've been attempting to transition for a month now using the same batch of chicken that I prepared. He was doing very well, almost 90% raw (no vomiting), but then he had an episode when I tried to introduce free-range beef into his diet. Ate a few bites of breakfast - and then immediately projective vomited. Oh dear. Now refuses beef entirely.
He is a cat who would vomit his kibble up - not with frequency, but I would find a little surprise on the floor once or twice a week. The vet says this is a Burmese thing and I've read about it too.
For the past few days, he's been having problems with his 50% raw, 50% wet breakfast - vomiting it up shortly after eating it (say maybe 5 minutes after).
Now, I've read a few posts in the forum that suggest adding a pet digestive enzyme to the meal, or giving the cat a few treats before the meal to curb the acid in the stomach.
I went and bought some dried liver treats, and some digestive enzymes to see if it could help the situation. Unfortunately in South Africa, we cannot get the range of pet products that America and Europe possess - so I can't use the brands that everyone suggests in the raw forum. We ended up getting human grade supplements - I am using Solgar Digestive Enzymes (1/4 tablet per meal). I have run this by my holistic vet as well.
Over the course of a few days, I have tried the liver treats first. Then, I tried using the digestive enzymes without the liver treats. We're feeding about 50% raw, 50% wet mixed in his bowl and he is a very fast eater.
1) Liver treats (given about 30 mins before his breakfast)
So I'm a little frazzled right now. I don't want him to get a food aversion with this vomiting and I'm just looking for help / tips on things that have worked for you guys. I want his breakfast to be something that he looks forward to, not something that unnerves him because he doesn't know why his body is rebelling so.
My holistic vet knows that the little boy is having trouble with the breakfast and when I saw him (the vet) on Day 3, we were going to try the digestive enzymes - which then didn't seem to work that well. The little cat is full of energy, well-hydrated, so nothing else appears to be amiss (and he had his annual inspection with the holistic vet last week and everything was looking great health-wise).
Any tips up any sleeves? Any lessons from your own raw feeding experiences? Me and my little boy could really use the help!
Thanks, and please let me know if you need any more info.
I've been attempting to transition for a month now using the same batch of chicken that I prepared. He was doing very well, almost 90% raw (no vomiting), but then he had an episode when I tried to introduce free-range beef into his diet. Ate a few bites of breakfast - and then immediately projective vomited. Oh dear. Now refuses beef entirely.
He is a cat who would vomit his kibble up - not with frequency, but I would find a little surprise on the floor once or twice a week. The vet says this is a Burmese thing and I've read about it too.
For the past few days, he's been having problems with his 50% raw, 50% wet breakfast - vomiting it up shortly after eating it (say maybe 5 minutes after).
Now, I've read a few posts in the forum that suggest adding a pet digestive enzyme to the meal, or giving the cat a few treats before the meal to curb the acid in the stomach.
I went and bought some dried liver treats, and some digestive enzymes to see if it could help the situation. Unfortunately in South Africa, we cannot get the range of pet products that America and Europe possess - so I can't use the brands that everyone suggests in the raw forum. We ended up getting human grade supplements - I am using Solgar Digestive Enzymes (1/4 tablet per meal). I have run this by my holistic vet as well.
Over the course of a few days, I have tried the liver treats first. Then, I tried using the digestive enzymes without the liver treats. We're feeding about 50% raw, 50% wet mixed in his bowl and he is a very fast eater.
1) Liver treats (given about 30 mins before his breakfast)
- Day 1 - no vomiting breakfast
- Day 2 - vomited his breakfast
- Day 3 - gave him only wet food (no raw) - no vomiting
- Day 4 - added enzymes, no liver treat before breakfast given - no vomiting
- Day 4 - lunch (no enzymes added, no treat before) - vomited
- Day 4 - dinner (added digestive enzymes, no treat before) - vomited
So I'm a little frazzled right now. I don't want him to get a food aversion with this vomiting and I'm just looking for help / tips on things that have worked for you guys. I want his breakfast to be something that he looks forward to, not something that unnerves him because he doesn't know why his body is rebelling so.
My holistic vet knows that the little boy is having trouble with the breakfast and when I saw him (the vet) on Day 3, we were going to try the digestive enzymes - which then didn't seem to work that well. The little cat is full of energy, well-hydrated, so nothing else appears to be amiss (and he had his annual inspection with the holistic vet last week and everything was looking great health-wise).
Any tips up any sleeves? Any lessons from your own raw feeding experiences? Me and my little boy could really use the help!
Thanks, and please let me know if you need any more info.