- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #41
Right now I am offering wet foods to figure out what she likes and hates. It does no good to buy a piece of chicken she won't eat.
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Commercial raw vs. frankenprey
- Thread starter emilymaywilcha
- Start Date
You don't eat chicken? You don't have to buy her her own. :lol3:
BTW - I've found no relationship between the proteins they like cooked vs the proteins they like raw.
BTW - I've found no relationship between the proteins they like cooked vs the proteins they like raw.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #43
I was just using chicken as an example. Of course I eat it - mixed in with some other stuff!
Wby don't they like the same proteins both ways?
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Well, before the chicken is mixed with other stuff, when it first comes out of the fridge, try having your mom slice off a little slice, and see if Patricia even knows it's food. If offered to her like a treat, just see what happens. 
Why don't they like the same proteins cooked vs raw? No clue. They haven't told me why. :lol3:
Why don't they like the same proteins cooked vs raw? No clue. They haven't told me why. :lol3:
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #45
Actually, my strategy is canned > commercial raw > homemade ground. I am not comfortable doing all the work without knowing all about raw diet methods.
I know. You've made that quite clear.
You feed your cat treats. I'm merely suggesting that instead of offering her a Pounce treat, you snip off a small piece of raw meat from something in the fridge and offer that to her as you would a Pounce treat. Make it the same size. See what happens.
It's actually safe to feed up to 15% of your cat's diet unbalanced.
Small piece of meat. An experiment. No muss, no fuss, no big deal. :dk:
You feed your cat treats. I'm merely suggesting that instead of offering her a Pounce treat, you snip off a small piece of raw meat from something in the fridge and offer that to her as you would a Pounce treat. Make it the same size. See what happens.
It's actually safe to feed up to 15% of your cat's diet unbalanced.
Small piece of meat. An experiment. No muss, no fuss, no big deal. :dk:
Besides, In my experience...... there is no such a thing as knowing "everything" :dk: - you learn new things everyday.... My cats went a good while without Omega-3.... Just recently I was able to find something and transition the 3 of them into it :nod: No ill effects, no harm in not having it..... It was not the first attempt - it was the third.None of my cats eat organs - fresh organs at least..... I tried liver, Hope
, Lucky hates, and if she eats a minuscule amount, she too..... I tried kidney and pancreas..... My solution? Hope gets Call of the Wild, and Bugsy and Lucky get Freeze-dry liver. They do not get the other organs..... Turns out, not all raw feeders feed the other organs.
Lucky only eats 3 proteins - turkey, chicken and pork. No matter what I do, she
at anything else I try.....RARE, very RARE, but she can't digest bones either, not even MCH, so bye bye ground, and the only calcium she can eat is eggshells.....
So..... we adapt with them.... we learn as we go...... They are all doing great though, including Lucky!
In the end Emily, you can read all the books, all the papers, everything under the sun.... your kitties will still dictate the path you will take. There are the basics, the essentials... Calcium, taurine and the liver are things I will not skip. Now the O-3.... I try my best to feed a variety..... Aside from that, they tell me, and I follow.
It is a long road.... you have to start slowly..... I started with a tea spoon - not with 100% raw. From there I built up to 100%.....
Keep that in mind..... It is far less overwhelming, IMHO.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #48
Wow Carolina, I bet most people would give up on raw after all of the vomiting you had to look at.
Now I have another idea: Start with Nature's Variety Prairie, then switch to Instinct, to make the transition easier. Do you think that would work?
Now I have another idea: Start with Nature's Variety Prairie, then switch to Instinct, to make the transition easier. Do you think that would work?
Oh Emily, you are too funny :lol3:
Nah, you just learn how to adjust, and look for something else that works...... and keep going.....
I will not lie - transitioning my kids was not easy - especially Lucky, who was my kibble addict. But I wanted to give them the benefit of having a healthier future, so I just kept going.
Honestly, the very first thing you want to do, if you want to switch to raw, is to put your kitties on a schedule feeding - that will be the very first step. If you will feed kibbles close to the raw meal, I would suggest you transitioning them to a good grain free low carbs kibble.
I transitioned Lucky straight from kibble to raw - she didn't go the regular kibbles > wet > raw.
I did feed kibbles and raw together for a very long time, which is not advisable, but at the time she ate very little raw, and the kibble had very little carbs (EVO, with only 7% carbs).
If your plan is to transition to wet first, then to raw, I would not bother changing her kibbles.... IMHO that will be pointless.....
But you have to feed on a schedule, IMHO that's the only way you will get to 100% wet again.
Emily, don't be afraid, you will be fine...... We have done the work already....... now you ask we answer...... and you go along......
Just start slowly....... and you will get there - but you have to start to get anywhere, right?
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- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #50
I am feeding Blue Buffalo, which is a good dry food for the price. I will put her on a schedule when I run out of that (got a full bag in the pantry) but for now I just want to see how much wet food she eats and do a taste test. When I get another cat, I will immediately start that kitty on a wet food schedule. It is hard to get into the mindset of scheduled feeding and taste testing at the same time.
no..... You can put her on a schedule with dry food already. That will help her eat more wet. As I said, schedule is the first thing you do, imho. It doesn't matter if you are feeding dry.....
Exactly. Feed measured amounts, and give her a fixed amount of time to eat. She doesn't have to finish it. She'll figure out grazing doesn't happen any longer.- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #53
Wouldn't that be the recipe for weight loss after 16 years of being free fed? She only weighs nine pounds and change, which is normal for her size.
Probably not. Anyone switching from free feeding to timed meals faces the same problem. My cats wouldn't eat enough at each meal, so I offered them a number of small meals, and slowly worked our way to three meals a day. They complain a lot and bother you for food those first few days/week or so until they figure it out. For me, the switch to timed meals was the hardest part. That made the switch from kibble to canned or canned to raw a snap. :lol3:
Bottom line? As Gary always says, there are a million reasons you can't do something: you just need one why you can.
:dk:
What's the worst? You put her back on free feeding?
I'm under the impression you're not working, so feeding her a number of small meals shouldn't be a problem. Just gradually increase the amount of food offered and reduce the number of meals.
Bottom line? As Gary always says, there are a million reasons you can't do something: you just need one why you can.
:dk:
What's the worst? You put her back on free feeding?
I'm under the impression you're not working, so feeding her a number of small meals shouldn't be a problem. Just gradually increase the amount of food offered and reduce the number of meals.
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What we did with the puppy was we home ground her meat. But we grind our own meat for consumption too. I'd rather do that than buy any commercially ground product. I tried one once for the cats. Luckily mine have no qualms eating chunks. But if I had to I'd home grind for them instead.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #56
Why does it make a difference who grinds the meat?
Oh, I can think of a few reasons:
1.) They might add something (pink slime?). And a lot of grocery-store ground meats are gassed to make them look nicer.
2.) Once meat is ground, more surface area is exposed and it starts oxidizing. Bacterial growth and nutrient loss become more likely the longer it sits, if not frozen (or fed) promptly.
3.) Ground meats sold for human consumption don't have bones and organs included.
And I'm sure I'll think of more reasons later. But those are the ones that came to mind immediately.
