Getting Cats to Eat Raw Diet - Having Difficulty

[chris87]

I am wondering if anyone can help.  I recently transitioned my three cats to Tiki canned food.  I previously fed them dry kibble, as I was unaware of the health ramifications.  I thought that I would try introducing raw food, but they strongly dislike it.  I bought Stella & Chewy's frozen Chicken variety.  I tried mashing it and adding ground treats as a topping.  They still won't touch it.  I don't know what to do.  I am not sure if I should purchase a different brand, buy a different flavor, or try one of the freeze-dried varieties.  What is the most logical next step?  I wish that they sold small sample packets.

I appreciate any suggestions!

 

[lisamarie12]

Chris,

Congratulations for transitioning your cats from kibble to a high quality canned food, that alone deserves high praise.

There are some cats, who, when introduced to a frozen, thawed raw diet, don't take to it immediately. It may not necessarily mean that they don't like the food, they may not recognize it as food. I have read that cats learn "what works" as far as food, at a very young age. Raw meat typically doesn't have as strong of an odor to cats as kibble or canned. It can take months to transition a cat onto a raw diet. And cats being such dedicated creatures of habit, stubborn little stinkers, , your situation isn't unique.

You have several options: you can continue with Tiki Cat and each day, place a little of the S&C's alongside that food. You can try hiding the SC's underneath the TC.

Another option would be to purchase a freeze dried raw and reconstitute, as many others have mentioned, there are cats who won't eat frozen thawed raw, but love the FD. (This has been the case with one of my own cats, however, I still have not given up trying to feed her thawed raw!)

Another possibility would be to try one of LID meat treats on top of the raw, Orijen makes a freeze dried raw treat, Pure Bites, rabbit jerky treats from Hare of the Cat, these treats are meat only and strong in flavor.

Finally, you may want to visit catinfo.org, Dr. Pierson has a section on how to get "difficult" cats to eat a new food, one tip is to add tuna water on top, or, as a last resort, use Forti Flora.

The most significant thing to remember is not to give up quickly, some cats take to raw immediately, while others can take months or longer.

Keep us posted and good luck

Edit: S&C's does sell small packets of their FD raw, if you have an indy retailer, you may want to inquire. Primal will send you a sample of their FD raw if you contact them.

 

[nansiludie]

You've done a good thing transferring them over from dry to wet food. I have several cats, especially my oldest male, who will not eat raw meat only canned food or cooked. It probably just depends on the cat if they'll ever take to raw meat. Could you try partially cooking a few pieces of de-boned chicken? Maybe you could gradually cook it less? Please keep us posted on how they do.

 

[LTS3]

 
I am wondering if anyone can help.  I recently transitioned my three cats to Tiki canned food.  I previously fed them dry kibble, as I was unaware of the health ramifications.  I thought that I would try introducing raw food, but they strongly dislike it.  I bought Stella & Chewy's frozen Chicken variety.  I tried mashing it and adding ground treats as a topping.  They still won't touch it.  I don't know what to do.  I am not sure if I should purchase a different brand, buy a different flavor, or try one of the freeze-dried varieties.  What is the most logical next step?  I wish that they sold small sample packets.

I appreciate any suggestions!

Try freeze dried raw food. Many cats will eat that and then you can use it as a topper on top of frozen raw food.

 Stella and Chewy's has 3 oz packets of the freeze dried raw. I'm not sure if Stella and Chewy's is still having issues with getting their products into stores. Ask at you local independent pet store if they have the 3 oz packets or if they can order them for you. Sometimes the independent pet store will have samples of freeze dried raw food, usually for dogs but you can feed to a cat as a treat.

 

[cicoccabim]

You can dry liver, chicken hearts, minced meat...... in the oven (as low temperature as possible, keep the oven slightly open, appr 12 hours), until it is dry. And feed as snack, or sprinkle over the food. I keep it in the freezer, to make sure that it does not get bad, and keep a small amount in room temperature.

Most cats love heart, try chicken hearts? 

Roll the tiny meat cubes  in crushed treats? And increase the size of the cubes as you go along.....

Be sure to serve the food "mouse warm"- slightly warmer than room temperature, that will increase the smell of the food.

Let the cat "steal" some meaty snacks from the edge of the table- stolen food is always better than given food! (I´ve heard of cats that eat the food when in the trash, but not in the foodbowl.......

 

[lisahe]

As both @LisaMarie12 @LTS3 mentioned, some cats have a preference for freeze-dried raw food over frozen: our cats, for example, love Primal and Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried but will barely touch the equivalent Primal and will barely finish a dish of the equivalent Stella & Chewy's. (Both companies sell certain formulas in both frozen and freeze-dried versions.)

I have a few suggestions:

-Try Rad Cat if it's readily available. Many cats love Rad Cat on the first go. (Our cats did; their predecessor did, too.) Rad Cat's more expensive and less convenient than some other foods but it's very good and it seems to have broad appeal.

-Try crumbling some freeze-dried Stella & Chewy's on a dish of canned food or, as LisaMarie12 suggested, hiding it under their canned food. (A worker at a local pet food store told me he gets his cats to eat Stella & Chewy's by sticking it in the bottom of a dish, where it soaks up other juices and flavors.)

-If you can get your cats to eat the freeze-dried food but would prefer them to eat frozen, try blending the two formats. We used to feed a blend to our cats but then they decided they much preferred freeze-dried.

I think texture is the big benefit of freeze-dried for our pickier cat: she likes to grab a small piece of food set it down, then eat it. The Stella & Chewy's frozen food is a little mushy for that, even if you don't add extra water. With Primal's freeze-dried nuggets (they're like little loaves), we can break the food into larger pieces that stay firmer, even when they're fully hydrated. Our other cat doesn't like to play with her food that way!

I agree with the others about switching your cats from dry food to Tiki and now wanting to get them eating raw. Good for you! And good luck!

 

[missmimz]

It's all trial and error. One of my cats wont eat ANY wet food except one flavor of Tiki cat. One of my other cat refused all wet food until recently she started eating fancy feast classic chicken (which i feed my strays). I actually transitioned two of my cats from kibble to raw directly and it worked pretty well. They are mostly 'meh' about all wet food, and they also hated the freeze dried raw.. I started with Rad Cat and then moved to making some of my own raw with ground boneless from HT and alnutrin.