Cat Refuses To Eat Raw - Tips?

[hazzaram]

Hello,

I have two cats, Pippin and Ailee. I'm trying to transition them to raw and need a little advice.

They're currently on an all wet diet. I'm trying to transition them slowly by mixing the raw with their wet food. Currently they're getting 90% wet and 10% raw.

Pippin has no problem eating the mix but Ailee turns her nose up if there's the tiniest bit of raw meat in her food. She's so picky! I know she can't skip meals. I don't want to hurt them.

Should I just keep this up? I really want to transition them both to raw so I don't have to pay for both types of food. It's getting expensive

Any advice?

 

[dhammagirl]

Perhaps try a different raw meat.
I've got a picky kittygirl Chloe, who will snub her beloved canned food if I mix in even a tiny bit of raw turkey, but she's fine with it mixed with raw rabbit.

 

[Ardina]

Maybe instead of mixing it in, you could put a tiny dab of raw on the side of the dish. She'll probably ignore it for a while, but it'll build an association with it being food. And hopefully, at some point, she'll try a taste. Another thing you could try is put out some raw and top it with crushed treats or Fortiflora.

 

[hazzaram]

I just hate the thought of wasting food. It's not cheap and I don't have much money

But I'll try. Should I try putting it on the side first or keep trying to mix it?

I was going to pick up some different proteins today. I've heard good things about rabbit. Maybe I'll try turkey, too.

 

[Ardina]

Since Pippin is eating the mix, keep mixing the raw in and increasing the proportion. By the way, have you tried just giving him a dish of raw and see if he eats it? Maybe offer him the raw and if he doesn't go for it, then mix it in and continue with the original plan.

For Ailee (I love her name!), since she won't eat the mix at all, forcing you to toss the whole dish, try putting a tiny dab of raw the size of a pea at the edge of her dish. If she eats the regular canned food and ignores the raw, just keep doing that to build the association. If she refuses to eat the canned with the raw at the edge, you can just wipe off the dab and let her eat the canned and figure out a different strategy. At least this way you won't be tossing food.

Trying other proteins is a good idea too! Saipha refuses to eat beef, and Mishka only grudgingly eats rabbit. Both love chicken, turkey, duck, and cavies.

 

[hazzaram]

Yes, I did try giving Pippin just raw. He was very, very nervous and hesitant. He took a few bites, ran away, then came back and ate a few more but he didn't eat very much of it at all. He will lick it off my fingers so I've been giving him the meat out of the fridge as a treat, lol.

I'll try the side of the plate thing and see how she takes that, with a different protein. I've only tried chicken so far.

The thing is, Ailee doesn't even like cooked meat. Any of it. Chicken, turkey, ham, beef, pork... She is so picky!

I know I have to come to terms with the fact that only Pippin might eat raw. Ailee might never cave.

 

[hazzaram]

So I just went and gave Pippin a tablespoon of it to see how he'd take it and he gobbled it right up. He seems to be adjusting okay! There's hope with him.

 

[Ardina]

So I just went and gave Pippin a tablespoon of it to see how he'd take it and he gobbled it right up. He seems to be adjusting okay! There's hope with him.

That's great! At least one cat likes it! Wow, Ailee is certainly picky if she won't even eat plain cooked meat. Is there any treat that she can't resist?

 

[hazzaram]

Oh, treats she can't resist. Any treats. But I'm not sure if she'll fall for me putting it on top. I'll give that a try. Maybe crunch up some of those temptations. She loves those.

 

[LTS3]

Have you tried toppers? Some cats might eat raw if it's covered with a tasty toppers. Crushed up freeze dried meat treats and gravy / sauce from a can of cat food are popular.

 

[hazzaram]

I'm going to try toppers for sure. I'm sure there has to be something that will entice her.

 

[hazzaram]

Well, it's a no-go on putting the raw on the side of her plate. She sniffed it and turned her nose up. She just won't go anywhere near raw and it's super frustrating. It's also worrying me because she won't eat at all if raw has been anywhere near it, so she refused this whole meal.

I think I'm going to focus on Pippin for now. He ate his raw right up - but he avoided the herring oil like the plague. He won't eat anything fishy, so I need to find something else to give him to get omega 3s into him...

 

[orange&white]

I would try putting only raw down for the cats for 15-30 minutes and ignore any meowing that sounds like "Where's our food?" Canned food is very stinky (I'm sure you've noticed) and raw is very mild. That's why some cats take a while to recognize raw as actually being food. They're used to the smelly stuff. Putting both down at the same time may be overwhelming Ailee's sense of smell. If she hasn't eaten after the time limit, put the raw back in the fridge for next time and go ahead and feed her what she'll eat. Some day in the near future she may be hungry enough to try the raw, especially when she sees Pippin enjoying it. Also, if you're feeding 3 meals a day, you may cut back to 2 meals temporarily so she is hungrier.

Toppers do work for a lot of people....you just have to find the right one. Some people swear by a sprinkle of Fortiflora, not used as a probiotic as intended, but just like salt sprinkled over the food. A little envelope should go a long way (if it works).

 

[hazzaram]

I would try putting only raw down for the cats for 15-30 minutes and ignore any meowing that sounds like "Where's our food?" Canned food is very stinky (I'm sure you've noticed) and raw is very mild. That's why some cats take a while to recognize raw as actually being food. They're used to the smelly stuff. Putting both down at the same time may be overwhelming Ailee's sense of smell. If she hasn't eaten after the time limit, put the raw back in the fridge for next time and go ahead and feed her what she'll eat. Some day in the near future she may be hungry enough to try the raw, especially when she sees Pippin enjoying it. Also, if you're feeding 3 meals a day, you may cut back to 2 meals temporarily so she is hungrier.

Toppers do work for a lot of people....you just have to find the right one. Some people swear by a sprinkle of Fortiflora, not used as a probiotic as intended, but just like salt sprinkled over the food. A little envelope should go a long way (if it works).

Thanks, that's good advice. I'll definitely try that!

I'm going to look into Fortiflora now.

 

[LTS3]

I got my rescue cat to eat raw with toppers. I started by hiding small pieces of freeze dried raw in her canned food. Then when she started eating that with no problem, I gave her bigger pieces until she was eating a whole piece. Then I hid small pieces of NV raw into the canned food with a hefty dose of crushed up freeze dried raw. It was maybe a few days of that before she was eating only raw. I think having another cat gobble down raw food helped my rescue realize that raw is yummy for the tummy.

 

[himawari]

I agree with all of the suggestions previously mentioned. I would also suggest to put a small amount on your index finger and having her lick it off, not necessarily take a bite but just a few licks. My cat seemed to think it was safer to eat if I give it to him directly. And do it either an hour or so before or after feeding time. Freeze-dried chicken would be great as toppers.