If anyone is interested, here are two of my permanent foster cats raw transition stories (with before and after pictures). I have switched three other cats to raw as well since the last time I was active on here: TyTy (blind siamese), Rodent (4 weeks old stray kitten when I first found him), and then Little Ohso who had severe asthma. However, Hortense and Wilda's stories were the only ones I really wrote down, so here they are:
November 14, 2011:
Wilda & Hortense have been my two foster cats since October 30. They are both in very rough shape health wise, from both a 100% dry food diet for their whole lives (8.5 years) and overcrowding at the shelter.
Hortense - it is mainly her fur that is the issue. You can *very* lightly grab some of it and it just pulls out. It is the same with all of her fur. If you comb it, her fur becomes very covered with dandruff. She has been eating all canned since the day she came back with me, and is in the transition to raw. She is getting the maximum dose of fish oil allowed (300 mg omega-3 per day) to try help with her coat.
Wilda - she has not had a firm stool for several years, and had explosive diarrhea for the past several months. The shelter dosed her heavily with antibiotics and worm medicine for the past several months. Her real issue was her diet, she couldn't handle the plant heavy, carb heavy, low moisture dry food. She is a true kibble addict though, and I am slowly getting her to eat all canned, she also is willing to eat some raw now. Right now she is getting 3/4 grain free canned and 1/4 tuna (I know tuna is BAD, but it is that or feed her dry food). She is getting less and less tuna in her canned. Her coat is also in poor condition, and her breath could kill a tree. Another cat victim of diet gone bad - she is rediscovering her inner carnivore now, but is still addicted to carbohydrates.
January 7, 2012:
If they ended up back at the shelter, they'd be put back on dry food, which caused this whole issue in the first place. I will not let them go back to eating kibble. Wilda can't even eat canned food, she has to have raw, or she ends up with diarrhea. So either they are adopted to someone who will continue feeding them raw, or well I guess I'll be their foster mom forever. I really don't have much of a choice.
Wilda is eating all raw now, cut into tiny pieces. I'm slowly working them up to something bigger, but she is missing teeth (as is Hortense) so it is going to be slow. She is starting to look better but by far the biggest improvement I have noticed is that her stools are solid. So far I have found that she doesn't like beef heart, which is something the rest of the cats get once a week, so those days she has chicken hearts instead.
Hortense, poor girl, looks like someone shaved her. Her fur is still close to normal length for a short haired cat, but it looks like all new fur, that isn't quite long enough yet. She has shed out most of her old fur thus that problem. She happily eats her raw food and has actually begun meowing to me when I am getting it ready for her. She gets ~2 ounce chunks of food which she handles like a pro, despite missing a top canine tooth (I think that is what that tooth is called?), and who knows what other teeth.
January 8, 2012:
Wilda (November 2011)
Wilda (January 2012) eating a meal of raw chicken hearts.
Hortense (November 2011)
Hortense (January 2012) - she still has a few clumps of old fur on her as you can tell in the picture, but she has come a long way! She however wanted nothing to do with me tonight, much less me taking a picture of her.
January 27, 2012:
I decided Wilda and I are good enough friends now that she would allow me to look in her mouth and see what she has for teeth, without her fighting me to much. She has way fewer teeth than I thought she would have - makes me wonder how much Hortense has left.
I outlined what teeth she has, there aren't many! I'm very surprised she does as well as she is with eating chunks of raw meat! Now I also know why she has to have her bone-in stuff smashed before she can eat it.
Febraury 7, 2012:
Hortense is eating large chunks of meat now, the same size as the other cats. Soon I'll move her into the strawmow so she can be out with the others. Most of the other old chunks of fur have now fallen out.
Wilda still needs her food cut into small pieces, but I am not surprised, considering her teeth situation. She continues to have nice, firm stools and is getting along very well with the other cats.
November 14, 2011:
Wilda & Hortense have been my two foster cats since October 30. They are both in very rough shape health wise, from both a 100% dry food diet for their whole lives (8.5 years) and overcrowding at the shelter.
Hortense - it is mainly her fur that is the issue. You can *very* lightly grab some of it and it just pulls out. It is the same with all of her fur. If you comb it, her fur becomes very covered with dandruff. She has been eating all canned since the day she came back with me, and is in the transition to raw. She is getting the maximum dose of fish oil allowed (300 mg omega-3 per day) to try help with her coat.
Wilda - she has not had a firm stool for several years, and had explosive diarrhea for the past several months. The shelter dosed her heavily with antibiotics and worm medicine for the past several months. Her real issue was her diet, she couldn't handle the plant heavy, carb heavy, low moisture dry food. She is a true kibble addict though, and I am slowly getting her to eat all canned, she also is willing to eat some raw now. Right now she is getting 3/4 grain free canned and 1/4 tuna (I know tuna is BAD, but it is that or feed her dry food). She is getting less and less tuna in her canned. Her coat is also in poor condition, and her breath could kill a tree. Another cat victim of diet gone bad - she is rediscovering her inner carnivore now, but is still addicted to carbohydrates.
January 7, 2012:
If they ended up back at the shelter, they'd be put back on dry food, which caused this whole issue in the first place. I will not let them go back to eating kibble. Wilda can't even eat canned food, she has to have raw, or she ends up with diarrhea. So either they are adopted to someone who will continue feeding them raw, or well I guess I'll be their foster mom forever. I really don't have much of a choice.
Wilda is eating all raw now, cut into tiny pieces. I'm slowly working them up to something bigger, but she is missing teeth (as is Hortense) so it is going to be slow. She is starting to look better but by far the biggest improvement I have noticed is that her stools are solid. So far I have found that she doesn't like beef heart, which is something the rest of the cats get once a week, so those days she has chicken hearts instead.
Hortense, poor girl, looks like someone shaved her. Her fur is still close to normal length for a short haired cat, but it looks like all new fur, that isn't quite long enough yet. She has shed out most of her old fur thus that problem. She happily eats her raw food and has actually begun meowing to me when I am getting it ready for her. She gets ~2 ounce chunks of food which she handles like a pro, despite missing a top canine tooth (I think that is what that tooth is called?), and who knows what other teeth.
January 8, 2012:
Wilda (November 2011)
Wilda (January 2012) eating a meal of raw chicken hearts.
Hortense (November 2011)
Hortense (January 2012) - she still has a few clumps of old fur on her as you can tell in the picture, but she has come a long way! She however wanted nothing to do with me tonight, much less me taking a picture of her.
January 27, 2012:
I decided Wilda and I are good enough friends now that she would allow me to look in her mouth and see what she has for teeth, without her fighting me to much. She has way fewer teeth than I thought she would have - makes me wonder how much Hortense has left.
I outlined what teeth she has, there aren't many! I'm very surprised she does as well as she is with eating chunks of raw meat! Now I also know why she has to have her bone-in stuff smashed before she can eat it.
Febraury 7, 2012:
Hortense is eating large chunks of meat now, the same size as the other cats. Soon I'll move her into the strawmow so she can be out with the others. Most of the other old chunks of fur have now fallen out.
Wilda still needs her food cut into small pieces, but I am not surprised, considering her teeth situation. She continues to have nice, firm stools and is getting along very well with the other cats.
