Cat Will Not Touch Raw

I bought a small container of Rad Cat last week and my cat wants absolutely nothing to do it. It's like he thinks I am trying to poison him. He currently eats canned food and his poop is so rank it could clear a room. I have heard canned food can make it stinky so in an attempt to feed my cat the best I thought raw might help. I first offered it to him alone and he barely even sniffed it. I have tried mixing a teeeeeny little bit in his favorite canned food. He refuses to touch anything in the dish. Then he'll walk around yowling because he is hungry! I am tired of wasting food. Anyone have any tips? He is quite picky in the first place so I am about to give up except I have all the little portions of it frozen and no cat who will eat it!
Here is the picky boy:

what a GORGEOUS MEEZER!!!
WOW

jade14 said:

I have all the little portions of it frozen and no cat who will eat it!

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I had that as well in this household. And you're on the right track, a lot of people report that their cat's breath smells better as does the poo.
What if you take a look at a couple of these articles maybe there's something that will help;
Raw Feeding Cats: Types Of Raw Diets & Feeding Options
Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food (canned, Raw, Or Homemade)
18 Awesome Cat Feeding Tips By Thecatsite Staff Members
Also, try toppers, there might be something that works.

• boiled unseasoned chicken or turkey,

• sardines,

• tuna,

• tuna juice from the tuna can,

• canned kitten food,

• kitten replacement milk powder or liquid as an add-in,

• bonito flakes,

• heating the wet food slightly,

• parmeson or shredded cheddar cheese,

• fortiflora

• mackerel

There are also commercial toppers,
Applaws is a brand that can work well as a topper,
you could crumble kibble or a favorite treat onto the wet food,
Tiki Cat has a mousse topper, etc

Good luck, let us know how things go!

Don't get discouraged! I tried many commercial brands of raw before I found a couple that my cat will eat. I really wanted Rad Cat to work, but she absolutely refused it......
She won't eat it if it is cold, so I just take the chill off her food in the microwave (10% power for 30 seconds) . And I agree with Furballsmom--toppers can help with the transition.
And yes, a very nice side-effect of the raw is nearly odor-free poop!

Your picky boy looks like my picky girl. She loves the smell of people food but spits it out if she tries to eat it. Furballsmom has great advice. I'll add though, that when I gave my former cat raw beef, it made her turbo kitty strong. ..was hardly able to hold her (compared to cuddly kitty on canned food). But after 2 weeks her eyes were extremely red/inflamed,
sniffling terribly and she was highly uncomfortable. It didn't matter if it was specifically for cats or for humans. Every time she would get the same symptoms and when I took her off it, the symptoms went away. Also, I tried cooking chicken breasts in microwave but left middle of it raw, and she almost died, i almost had to put her down it was so bad , so I wouldn't even recommend raw chicken because of salmonella. The difference with her was that she was 19 with failing kidneys (on sub q fluids), and all white (all white cats are prone to more allegies). Raw food can be good in certain circumstances, but be very careful and feed tiny amounts like you are so his system has a chance to adjust to bacteria overload and any allergens.

My cats won't eat Rad Cat either. I feed Nature's Variety Instinct frozen raw. Try other brands of commercial raw foods.

Try baby steps: start with offering some freeze dried raw or just freeze dried meat treats. Most cats will eat those right away. Then crush up the freeze dried raw / treat and sprinkle it over canned food. Then slowly add in teeny tiny amounts of frozen raw into the canned food with the crushed up freeze dried raw / treat. Add in other toppers if needed.

Thanks for the tips! I will try adding some toppings tonight. I got beef because he seems to love beef in canned food, not so much in raw though! Not that he would know since he won't even taste it... hopefully some toppings help!

If toppings don't work, reverse the tables and feed the usual "creates poop that can clear a room" food with rad cat as a topper, or at least mixed in really, really well, and then buy a clothespin for your nose until the switch is complete Sometimes cats get so addicted to a food or a food-type or texture (they're not stupid, this is survival stuff) that a switch can be a problem.
You have a gorgeous and regal-looking cat, btw. Stunning!

My locally owned pet store had a sample pack of several flavors of frozen Primal that was free in exchange for sharing my email (with Primal). They promised it would never be used and, in fact, I’ve never received any contact from Primal. It was a great way to provide my kitties a sample of Primal flavors without having to buy a bag and have the them look at me and say, “No, I don’t want that,” and walk away. Maybe the place you bought the Rad Cat might have the same thing.

I also use toppers to get my picky one to eat stuff she isn’t crazy about. I rotate among Pure Bites freeze dried chicken treats, Northwest Naturals freeze dried liver treats (they crumble really well), and bonito flakes. Northwest Naturals also has frozen raw that two of my three like.

Hey, I just went through this same thing! My cat was absolutely repulsed by raw food and toppers don't work with her. I mixed a pea-sized amount in her canned food and super slowly added more and more raw. It was a fight to get her to eat a 50/50 mix. She wouldn't eat plain raw until I just left it until the next meal instead of tossing it after 30 minutes. Putting FortiFlora on top helped a tiny bit. She caught on pretty quick and will eat it with minimal fuss, although she doesn't love it.

Thank you all for your suggestions! I found a new store that sells raw the other day while I was looking for somewhere that carries my dog's food. They have good prices and do sell Primal so I will go there and look a bit closer and maybe they have samples! I have some fortiflora so will try that as well. He also has zero interest in freeze dried treats..of course!

It's a battle worth fighting. It's a bit like trying to get a child to eat a healthy meal with fresh vegetables when they've previously been eating McDonald's every day.

You might try offering small amounts of the food made without the supplements (which are important but reduce paletability), be sure to limit that to like 10% of your cat's food, but it might work ( especially with toppers) to make the new texture and flavor seem better.

And as others have said, you have a fine looking cat.

Maybe try some freeze dried raw. My cat switched effortlessly from wet food to freeze dried - Primal and Stella and Chewy's. I think it's because they "stink" when you open the bag in a similar way that canned food does. Plus, you can make it into a similar texture; I crush up the freeze dried and add enough water to make it pate style with a little "gravy". I've just bought a bag of frozen to try, so I'm going to see how interested she is.