Rotating Canned With Raw?

daftcat75

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Tiki Tuna w/ Pumpkin was keeping my Krista’s hairballs at bay. But she’s positively thriving on Rad Cat except for the weekly hairball. I’ve been trying to work the egg yolk angle for hairballs but so far unsuccessful. And she’s never been crazy about pumpkin on its own. Can I mix Tiki Tuna w/ Pumpkin back into rotation maybe between her Rad Cat dinners or is that too hard for her to switch between cooked and raw? She also has a history of IBD and pancreatitis so who knows if she’ll even be able to switch like that? Does anyone else rotate between cooked and raw?
 

Gizmobius

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Gizmo gets one meal of homemade raw a day while his other two meals are canned food. His lunch is actually raw/canned mixed together. He does great on it and I haven't noticed any issues, though he doesn't have hairballs or any digestive troubles like your kitty does. I'm sure it would still be fine though!
 

Tobermory

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I’ve done it, rotating raw with Rawz canned. The girls switched back and forth with no problems, even Iris who has a sensitive stomach. In fact, I’m currently rotating homemade rabbit and Rawz canned rabbit for Lily who’s on an elimination trial to test for food allergies.
 

MargoLane

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I do it all the time! Business Cat has been eating canned for the last two days because I have too much of the same meat in the freezer and she was getting bored.
 

RajaNMizu

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Raja frequently has canned in the morning and freeze dried raw in the evening. Not a single issue with it.
 

lisahe

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Our cats eat a combination of foods, too, and it works great for them. They get freeze-dried raw twice a day, homecooked food once a day, canned food once a day, and Rad Cat once a day. Of course the Rad Cat is getting phased out, so they'll be eating more freeze-dried raw and more homecooked.

Some cats have difficulty with menus like that but ours thrive on it, in part because they really want the variety. The things we need to avoid with them are large meals that make one cat scarf and barf, and carbs that seem to irritate their digestive systems.
 

EmersonandEvie

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Mine eat homemade raw in the morning, canned at night, and a small amount (like 1/8 tsp each) of dry as a midnight snack before the husband comes to bed. This system works well for us but then again mine have never had any substantial tummy issues.
 

1 bruce 1

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The transition for picky cats to raw usually involves a lot of mixing up canned and raw together.
Sometimes I accidentally leave my brain elsewhere and thaw about half of what we actually need to feed the critters, and the cats usually end up getting a 50/50 mix of canned and raw. They have no complaints. :thumbsup:
 

Cindus

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Mine eat a mix of raw and canned. I was originally only doing it for my picky eater, but life got busy and I couldn't babysit the bowls and started doing it for both. Of course, now neither of them will eat plain raw -- they turn their noses up at it if it doesn't have cheap canned food mixed in. :ohwell:
 

lisahe

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Mine eat a mix of raw and canned. I was originally only doing it for my picky eater, but life got busy and I couldn't babysit the bowls and started doing it for both. Of course, now neither of them will eat plain raw -- they turn their noses up at it if it doesn't have cheap canned food mixed in. :ohwell:
On the bright side, at least they're eating wet food! We sprinkle some freeze-dried raw food and/or Pure Bites on top of many meals -- that definitely keeps our picky eater going.
 

Pucks104

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As other have said cats can eat a variety of raw and canned foods without issues. Newman eats 3 meals per day - morning and evening are raw most of the time while lunch is mostly canned. Louie gets 2 meals per day morning and evening mostly raw with the occasional canned meal. So far this works well for them.
 

missmimz

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How was the IBD diagnosed? Was an ultrasound done recently?
 
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daftcat75

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How was the IBD diagnosed? Was an ultrasound done recently?
An ultrasound was done back in June I believe. It showed signs of inflammation consistent with IBD or small cell lymphoma. I did not proceed with the endo/biopsy. That it's been well managed with diet, and that she's been able to gain almost 2 lbs since her lowest tells me this is probably not small cell lymphoma.
 

aly822

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Can you give me an example of a good canned to mix with raw?
We are just starting with a 4month old kitten who was raised on raw. Came to my mom from the breeder 1 week ago.

We were given 1 pound of raw beef/chicken mix. She went off that in 2 days - wouldn't eat it. So I ran out to try prepared frozen raw (Small Batch Cat Chicken sliders or Stella & Chewy). Sometimes she'll eat the chicken sliders, sometimes not. She scratches at the floor and walks away.

So then I tried Tiki chicken & heart/gizzards and Tiki Chicken & Beef - and she ate that with gusto one day, but not the next.

Today I tried Stella & Chewy freeze-dried crumbled as a topper, which helped encourage her to eat today but it's a challenge.

I'm desperately trying to find solutions to keep this little girl eating. But I am not able to prepare raw diet, I just can't take that on :(
 
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daftcat75

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I'm not sure I'm much help in answering that question. My girl loves her raw. Rad Cat mostly. She's also tried Rawr, a local brand, and Stella and Chewy's. She likes them all. The only reason I want to feed her canned is that she didn't have hairball problems when she was eating the Tiki Tuna with Pumpkin on the regular. But she won't eat pumpkin any other way. So since egg yolk hasn't done it and hairball gel hasn't done it, why not give her a Tiki Tuna with Pumpkin snack now and again?

For those who responded, thanks! I gave her an ounce and she gobbled it up like it was her new favorite. I had to deal with her pushes and nuzzles while I froze the remainder into half ounce ice cubes for future pumpkin snacks. I'll add it to the mix of other hairball strategies and maybe we'll finally end this.
 

Tobermory

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Can you give me an example of a good canned to mix with raw?
We are just starting with a 4month old kitten who was raised on raw. Came to my mom from the breeder 1 week ago.
Any high protein, low carb canned with as few fillers as possible would be fine. And since she’s a growing girl, she’ll need all the food she’ll eat. Rawz is an excellent canned food plus it tends to have more fat which is a good thing for baby. Mine really like the chicken and turkey. Dave’s is a good brand. There are others.
 
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