Help with transitioning a fish lover

[twylasage]

So, Day 12 of Eliza being completely on raw. There's been no bowels from hell or hair ball hurling. YAY!!

Day 12 of TimTim's transitioning. I'd cautiously say he's about 50% converted. Problem is I only make their food using chicken or turkey and he's never been the passionate poultry lover his sister is. Now, fish -- that's different. I've heard about adding tuna water but that it's a bit risky. Does anyone have any experience with converting a fish lover?

 

[ldg]

I'm sorry, I don't. You're making homemade, right? Ground - based on Dr. Pierson's recipe?

If he's a fish lover, maybe consider not adding the salmon oil to the batch, but adding it at the time of the meal? It would help it smell fishy, but it'd be a healthy fishy for him.

I feed homemade, but frankenprey. However, I (initially) based many of the supplements I use on her recipe - I just figured out how much her recommendation per batch worked out to on a per ounce basis, so I could supplement at the time of each meal. :nod: Her salmon oil recommendation basically works out to 104.2mg of salmon oil per ounce of food. I buy 1,000mg salmon oil capsules; the ones I buy have about 28 drops per capsule, so that's about 35.7mg of salmon oil per drop, which means that they need 3-4 drops per ounce of food. In the end, I decided I wanted them to have more than that, so I just split one capsule four ways at each meal (I feed 3 meals a day). But whatever amount you want to use, the idea is consider adding the salmon oil at the time of the meal instead of to the batch, that way the fishy smell may entice him. :dk:

 

[twylasage]

That's a good idea, one I'm definitely going to pursue. Though I use the fish, rather than salmon, oil. Timothy actually doesn't care for salmon (at least the commercial pet food kind). So there are no dangers in feeding him more of the fish oil than strictly called for in the recipe?

 

[ldg]

Well, if you look at the recommendations for using fish oil, salmon oil, etc., the recommendations by the manufacturers are usually 500mg for a 10-12 pound cat (or dog). Dr. Pierson's recipe calls for 5000mg of fish oil per 3 pounds of food.

3 pounds of food is 48 ounces. 5000mg of fish oil divided by 48 ounces of food is 104.2mg per ounce. I feed my cats ABOUT 4.5 ounces of food a day; that's 468.75mg of fish oil: so it works out to about the same anyway. I guess I was just using too little in my "per drop" conversion before. :lol3:

 

[twylasage]

Thanks for your input, Laurie. (*sigh*) I never suspected feeding my kittehs would be more technical than feeding my humans, LOL! Though I guess it only makes sense since they are a different species.

 

[ldg]

Well, I'm an analyst, so I have a tendency to "make" things get technical. :anon: Yeah, a lot of people consider me an anal-yst, in fact. :lol3:

 

[twylasage]

:lol3::lol3: But for a noble cause!

 

[ldg]

BTW, until you make the next batch, as I've seen recommendations for up to 1,000mg of fish oil a day - even thought that IS a bit excessive - I doubt it would hurt to try just a couple of drops on the food. Maybe that smell would be strong enough to get him going? :dk:

OH! :doh3: AND.... though hopefully you can reduce the amount it would take over time, you can also try freeze dried fish (or try different meat!) treats! When I was transitioning, the kitties often needed a "topper" to get them going. :nod: I still buy Whole Life chicken, but then I also used Whole Life turkey, and salmon. Your boy isn't a big chicken/turkey fan - but that salmon when broken and the two pieces rubbed together produces a LOVELY dusty powder over the top of the food.

Oh wait - you said he doesn't like salmon. OK - but I'm sure you can find freeze dried cod. :nod: OR - in the asian section of the supermarket, you should be able to find bonito flakes! You can crumble these on top of his food. (The treat called Kitty Kaviar IS bonito flakes!)

Other strong smelling treats to try that he may love? Freeze dried chicken liver. :nod: I buy Stewart's Pro-treat (Gimborn corp) on Amazon. They have beef and chicken. The beef is HARD - you have to rub two pieces together; it's not soft like the salmon. But the chicken liver crumbles into a fine powder quite easily. I know he loves fish... but I would consider trying the liver. They do sell a small size container. OR the Etta Says packages. They're softer. The only difference is the Stewart's Pro-Treat is raw freeze dried, and the Etta Says is cooked.