4 month old kitten and new raw diet

[faecat13]

It wasnt until I joined this site and looked at the nutrition forum that I looked at my cats cat food. I just thought expensive is better. Its always a bad sign if you cannot pronouce some words....

So I am slowly transitioning her into a raw diet. She is still getting hard food for when I am not home. And when I get home I cut up some pieces of chicken gizards and hearts for her. She is weiry about it so the smaller pieces she will eat. Then I lather a little of her canned cat food on it so she will eat it. When I first put the hearts down, she just looked at me as if to say "Mom... what in the **** is this?" And she seems so happy after she eats this mix. I would like to have her on a all raw diet some day. AND I was so amazed at how cheap chicken gizards and hearts are!  Im adjusting her to this slowly as to not upset her little tummy. And so my question is, am I doing this right? And what else could I be doing?

 

[Willowy]

Gizzards are very chewy and good for teeth, and hearts are high in taurine and very nutritious, but of course more variety is needed than just those 2 parts, if you want to provide a balanced diet .

The usual prey model raw ratios are 80% meat (heart counts as meat), 5% liver, 5% other organ (like kidney or sweetbreads), and 10% bone (but cats usually do best with a bit less, maybe 7%-8% or so). Small bones only, like rabbit or chicken ribs or the small bones in chicken wings. There are other ways to provide a balanced diet, too, with supplements or with grinding. The more variety the better---5-7 different meat sources would be ideal. Check out the raw forum for more great info!

 

[faecat13]

Its just day two of her transition into her new diet and I am noticing a little change... She doesnt want my food anymore! I use to have to fend her off when I was eatting. Today she just sat near me and was in her own little happy world. I think I like this new diet. 

 

[ldg]

:lol3: And you'll keep finding things to like. Our kitties first full day of 100% raw and no one woke me up the next morning to ask for breakfast! The food is SO much more satisfying for them. :nod: In fact - that results in the next benefit. Lots more pee and less poop! So you know they're getting plenty of moisture... and almost ALL of the food is bioavailable to them, so there's hardly any waste. And what waste there is, doesn't have any smell. :lol3:

I don't know how many of the other threads and things you've read, but a couple of things you might want to add right away. A kitten dose of probiotics. :nod: Most of us use a human acidophilus + bifidus supplement (discussed just now, in this post: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/254571/soft-stinky-poo-on-raw-diet#post_3309582). Because I have adult cats, I use the double-strength version of the Natural Factors supplement. But with a kitten, you'd rather use 5 billion CFU, which is this one:
Another component of any diet, actually, that I recommend at this point is a salmon or krill oil supplement. For our adult cats, I use 500mg daily, so for a kitten, I'd use half that. I don't think they make capsules in 250mg amounts, so you can puncture it, put half on her food, and take the other half. :lol3: But the diets we feed them - whether raw or canned - are very high in omega 6s, with very little omega 3s. So they need the omega 3s to balance the omega 6s. It's additionally important in a raw diet, because of the vitamin D. There's very little vitamin D in the diet otherwise, and cats don't synthesize it from sunlight in their skin the way people do. You can also offer her some canned sardine (packed in water with no salt) once or twice a week. Just one sardine from the tin - you can freeze the rest in individual plastic baggies, and just take them out to dethaw as needed!

Egg yolks are also really nutritious, and packed with choline - they also have some omega 3s and vitamin D. They make great treats a couple of times a week! My cats will only eat 1/2 a yolk at a time, but who knows, she's just a growing kitten, and may love them.

We have a raw resources thread full of links I'm sure you'll find helpful! http://www.thecatsite.com/t/240809/raw-feeding-resource-thread

And, of course, we're here for any questions.

 

[faecat13]

My kitten just loves her raw diet. Now she wont eat the chicken gizards and hearts by themselves so ive been mixing them with either a little bit of canned wet food or half of a chopped sardine and it is no salt with water. I took the baggie of her food out from the fridge and she tried to climb my jeans! And I have noticed that there was a little bit of poopie in her box and alot of pee this morning. So Im glad that is normal, I was almost worried because of the lack of poopie. 

Now I took her to the vet this week for her rabies shot (she is 4 months and had to be done). The vet did not believe that she was 4 months until she looked at her teeth. She said Sage is big for her age and could be a big cat or just had one heck of a growth spirt. Honestly I hope she is a big cat, I LOVE BIG CATS. Not fat, just the size of dogs. She is a woping 7 pounds! Because she is still a kitten I do have her still on her kitten chow but she gets less of it now. And its her midnight snack as well. 

All and all, she is very happy with her new diet. I can tell she likes the chewyness of the chicken gizards. Though it has taken me a few tries to get her kitten portion right. I think for now a little a couple times a day works best for her. And Ive also noticed that since Ive changed her diet that Ive had to refill her water bowl less often. She is happy so the raw diet will continue slowly. 

 

[ldg]

I still put water out for the cats, and I see one or two of them drinking every once in a while - and I mean a couple times a week, not even every day. Despite that, their volume of pee went up when they switched to raw, and before they were eating only canned food AND drinking water - and I mixed water into their canned food. :lol3: Cats bodies like raw food.

Do you plan on just supplementing her canned food with some raw here and there? Or are you thinking of completely transitioning to raw only over time? Either way, it's a good idea to transition out those kibbles, whether the replacement is canned food or raw. :nod: Some people like to feed a mix of raw and canned, just because they want their kitties to be easy to care for by someone else if they go on vacation or something. Others are completely raw, and they just show their pet sitters how to feed it....

 

[faecat13]

I really havent thought about what I want to do. I honestly got bored, read the label on her food and freaked out! Im the sort of person who cooks my own food from scratch and when I saw words I couldnt read, I knew I had to do something about it. 

I just want her to be healthy and happy and I dont think  highly processed food will make her happy. My dad's cat King George goes out every day to kill and only eats at the house if it is raining. The neighbors love him because no one has a mole problem anymore. He is fit and healthy. His natural instints tell him to kill small critters. So why  not feed that to my own kitty? I feel a whole lot better knowing exactly what is in her dish than guessing. But honestly, I think I will keep mixing in the wet food with the raw meat. if there was ever a problem and we had to Kenel her at the vets, I dont think they would want to cut up her dinner for her.