Convincing Parents To Let Me Feed Raw

[tylerwaugh]

Idk why she dosnt think raw is better whenever I ask she says I'm resurching it, and I need new things to tell her why its better i already know less poo and less smell, healthier cat, glossy coat, healthy teeth etc, and she even thinks dry food isn't bad for cats or just leaving a bowl of food out 24/7 idk why she thinks all these things but I guess in the past raw wasn't as mainstream and it was all dry food and water.

 

[ritz]

Thank you for wanting the best food for your cats.

Free feed and dry food are increasingly "old school" when it comes to feeding our felines.

Would giving your parents papers written by a vet convince them?  If they are computer literate, you could give them some web sites including this one! and this one, which is a bit less technical.

Good luck!

 

[maewkaew]

 & in addition to those links,     here are some things from another vet  

article on homemade diets  http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...reasons-to-feed-your-pet-a-homemade-diet.aspx

 video about raw feeding   http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/videos.aspx

& yet another vet  http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/easy-homemade-diets-for-cats-and-dogs/

 

[peaches08]

Do you know what her concerns are? Is it money, time, bacteria, or something else?

 

[ravencorbie]

Oh, man. That must be much more frustrating than my situation, since I'm no longer living at home. As soon as I started researching raw, I came into a lot of arguments from my mom. She is convinced that dry food is best because we had a cat that lived a long time on it and never had any problems, AND because she believes the myth about dental care. At the time, I was thinking about investing in a grinder, but had also mentioned getting some pinky mice or chicken wings. She was constantly coming up with reasons why I shouldn't do that, and why even having NO dry food was a problem (what if I was late coming home, what if something happened, etc.).

The first thing that happened is that we both stopped talking about it for awhile. Then, my mom started feeding small amounts (i.e. treats) of wet food. She doesn't want to transition because she doesn't want to lose the convenience of free feeding -- but at least she's acknowledging that it's a convenience issue.

I finally got up the courage to tell her I AM feeding raw, and I guess enough time had passed that she was okay with it, but still thought it was "gross."

So, my biggest recommendations are:

1. Take it slow. If your cats aren't already on mostly wet food, then get them there first. Since you're living with your parents (otherwise, you wouldn't need them to "let" you), be extremely diligent both about providing the food and doing other less appealing chores (cat box, cleaning up vomit if it happens, etc.), so that it's clear you are the one taking full -- or as much as possible -- responsibility for the cat. Once you have shown that you are truly committed to this, they might give you more respect and trust in your decisions regarding the food. They may be worried that you're going to get the cat addicted to raw and then stop caring for the cat -- and that then THEY will be the ones having to deal with raw food, which they may not be comfortable with.

2. Try to avoid heated arguments. At this point, they already know you've been researching. Continue to research, and maybe leave information lying around, and if they ask, then start talking about it again.

3. I think the information others have provided in the thread could be useful, but be wary: one of the issues my mom and I ran into is that she thought I was telling her she was stupid and that she didn't care about her cats. If you end up putting them on the defensive, even accidentally, that will be a huge setback. My mom is about as sensitive as I was when I was a teenager, so I have to constantly walk on eggshells around her, and I forgot that when discussing cat food. Parents, I've found, in general, have a hard time accepting when their children are starting to actually know more than them about things, and this is LIKELY because frequently, those children are wrong. Just look around at media: constant portrayals of new adults saying things like "Wow, my parents got smarter as I got older!" I don't know how old you are, but this might be a factor.

Overall, I think if you can approach it calmly and patiently, you will have more success than if you try to throw it all at your parents at once: the latter can appear more like a fad than a serious decision.

 

[tylerwaugh]

Some other things about the cats, they are 7 weeks today I've had them since they are 8 days they are eating a mix of evo chicken and turkey wet food and Eukenuba salmon and Eukenuba chicken and then a tiny bit of dry evo turkey and chicken, whiskas dry kitten, and evo herring all mixed together I add it to the wet food crushed up and I'd think they eat like 95-98% wet food the rest dry because I don't want them eating dry ( I know whiskas isn't good but my mom bought it and I don't want to waste it but I think its okay since we mixed evo in ) and I do everything with the cats feed them, scoop litter daily, my mom helps but I do most I just think its because she had cats that all ate dry food and she dosnt think there is anything wrong with it and I've told her ill prepare the meals and freeze it she just needs to purchase like a months worth or something and then ill separate the food into containers, and thanks for all those links ill check them out now.