An Experiment..

[tink80]

I'm in the process of switching all three of my fuzzies to wet food only (one is successfully switched off kibble, the other two are decreased). For some reason tonight, I thought I'd put out some raw ground turkey and see what they did with it. Two out of three kitties were into it, here's some evidence--
Hestia

Solomon

Kuan Yin just looked at me like I was crazy. I'd be happy just to have everyone off kibble (I have the interesting challenge of not being able to eliminate it from my household as the ferrets eat it and two of the cats know how to climb into their cage and get their kibble fix

) but I'm not opposed to raw options.
I don't really want to go gung ho or anything, haven't made up my mind..but these two licked their plate and asked for seconds. I'm really surprised. I'd like to take baby steps and see how much they let me get away with.
If anyone would have any ideas of how to maybe make some gradual progress in the raw department, I'm all ears

 

[sharky]

For most the dry to canned is how they went raw ....

 

[tink80]

oh, okay. but should i gradually add in some organ meats to make it more like a balanced meal? and is there a good way to do that? and was also wondering how to get them into chunks and bone and such. so far, i've just literally left it out ground so i'm not sure where i would go from here.

 

[sharky]

Back when I just did what Grannie did

... I just gave some raw organs.... you may want to try a pre made with the bone , meat and organs to see if they will eat it or throw down chicken necks( mine like thighs ... * disclaimer * First talk with your vet or a Actual companion animal nutritionist

 

[auntie crazy]

Here is a transition thread and an article you might find helpful (the article more so):

Taking the plunge into raw.

Tips for Transitioning.pdf

Until and unless the raw food equals half or more of your cats' diet, I'd feed organs and bones sparingly, if at all, and I wouldn't worry too much about trying to balance anything. Chicken necks are a frequent recommendation for first time bone-in meals, but my cats never took to 'em; chicken ribs and quail bones are softer and easier and might work if yours balk at necks, too.

Slow and easy is the best way to transition, and you can feed as much or as little raw as you are comfortable with - every bite is a good thing.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[tink80]

Okay, I think I understand better now. Since I'm already trying to get certain kitties to only eat wet canned as their primary food I'm not going to push it too much with the raw but I think I'll just experiement with treat size portions and see what they like and if they eat it up then that's great and if they don't like it, well they have their main food so not all is lost

I'm gonna think of this as the exposure phase and do some playing around with what peaks their interest. My boyfriend's dogs will happily eat any leftovers so I suppose there's nothing to lose

 

[auntie crazy]

Originally Posted by Tink80

Okay, I think I understand better now. Since I'm already trying to get certain kitties to only eat wet canned as their primary food I'm not going to push it too much with the raw but I think I'll just experiement with treat size portions and see what they like and if they eat it up then that's great and if they don't like it, well they have their main food so not all is lost

I'm gonna think of this as the exposure phase and do some playing around with what peaks their interest. My boyfriend's dogs will happily eat any leftovers so I suppose there's nothing to lose

Purrfect!