How long to give food to see change?

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tyleete

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So he's eating it! And more of our too! It's pureed, but I don't care about the extra steps and mess. Just want him happy and healthy! I had 2 older cats for from kidney failure. One 17yr old gal who'd fought scl GI for 5.5yrs now, but then had kidney failure that took her from me in Dec. And another sweet 12-ish (they're all rescued of the streets of death row from shelter, so it's guess work) boy end of March. I'd like a little less suffering in my house if I can.
Read the (4pg shorter version) you showed. All stuff I'd read at this point. I so wish I'd known all this then. With my boy that recently passed, I felt so base not seeing the signs or not knowing better. But I've 10 more rescues (I QUIT after this, just finding homes for ones we come across now) and I said as long as I can learn from this, all is not lost. And I'm definitely learning. Now, how to get my other NINE on the raw.😄 I've got two that eat the cooked chicken as well as Midnight was. But so far the younger one turns his most up at it. I've still to read the tips and tricks pages. Not going to give up though! This is too important.
 

lisahe

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So he's eating it! And more of our too! It's pureed, but I don't care about the extra steps and mess. Just want him happy and healthy! I had 2 older cats for from kidney failure. One 17yr old gal who'd fought scl GI for 5.5yrs now, but then had kidney failure that took her from me in Dec. And another sweet 12-ish (they're all rescued of the streets of death row from shelter, so it's guess work) boy end of March. I'd like a little less suffering in my house if I can.
Read the (4pg shorter version) you showed. All stuff I'd read at this point. I so wish I'd known all this then. With my boy that recently passed, I felt so base not seeing the signs or not knowing better. But I've 10 more rescues (I QUIT after this, just finding homes for ones we come across now) and I said as long as I can learn from this, all is not lost. And I'm definitely learning. Now, how to get my other NINE on the raw.😄 I've got two that eat the cooked chicken as well as Midnight was. But so far the younger one turns his most up at it. I've still to read the tips and tricks pages. Not going to give up though! This is too important.
Yes, I felt terrible, too, when I realized we hadn't been feeding Brooksie proper food. She started eating raw food in her last few months and loved it: she was very sick, hardly ate anything, and the vet we had then told me not to feed her "any of that Rad Cat." (Rad Cat is no more; it was a lot like the expensive chicken medallions.) But Rad Cat was one of the only things she'd consistently eat. She loved it. And her symptoms even eased a little in those last months.

There is definitely always a lot to read about how to feed cats, particularly those with special medical needs. But I keep reading, too.

I hope your scratches heal quickly. I'd been noticing my scars just the other day. I don't want to jinx myself but we've found that (when worse comes to worse) getting the cats in the bathroom and then gently backing them into a corner with a carrier can work very nicely. They usually just hop right in.

Anyway, let us know how Midnight continues to do on the raw chicken food! I hope you're able to get the others going on it, too.
 
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tyleete

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So far only one cat will ear it. Midnight started refusing it after the first two days on & off again.:/ Oh well. I'll just have to hope the baked chicken in its own broth and EZC is good enough. And even that style I've only been able to get 3 to eat regularly. My cats are real weird. Changing to another food, they all instantly thought canned food was the greatest. All but one. Then they just up and decided... Oh hell no.
I don't want this crap anymore. When my diabetic originally lived FF classic pates. Now I'm lucky to get 1oz twice a day in her.😭 They're all complete brats! But at least I was able to change her over from Purina Pro DM to Young Again mature zero. Currently changed another far cat to that as well as another chubster I'm working on too for it. My 2 youngest I'm not giving up on. I hate FF, but it's one of the few foods the tiniest baby eats but she's been eating only half a can instead of a full twice a day suddenly. And the other baby used to love eating the baked chicken, but is giving me pushback lately too. He just wants dry and I will only give about 20 pieces each at night before I go to bed. They're really driving me nuts.
Now off to bake they another 5/6lbs for my jerks. Did that twice a week now.:(
 

lisahe

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I'm very sorry to hear you're having so much trouble getting your cats to eat consistently, tyleete tyleete ! We go through that regularly, too: they'll love something but then just stop eating it. Even if I haven't been trying to feed it to them regularly! That's the most irritating twist. Variety seems to be the key with our two -- I would never dare feed the same food twice in a day, something that's a bit of a trial because one cat needs to be fed lots of small meals a day.

Food made with baked chicken is also very good so if that's all Midnight will eat, so be it. Did we talk about pork before? Our cats tend to like/love pork, too, though of course last night's homemade pork didn't quite get finished. (They prefer pork tenderloin to pork chops, not that I've actually bought it for them in ages! 👑)
 
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tyleete

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I'm so frustrated in all truth. You know what type he likes best? Baked chicken that is HAND sliced into shreds. Half inch and thin. Processor either turns it to minced or chunks. I can't get it to simply shred. And to do it by hand, has left permanent calluses on my fingers.😭 I'm not willing to keep hurting myself for this stupid crap.😠
I don't know if it's because he has no fang teeth (they were all completely broken off when I met him & took him in) and can't really grab the minced food. But he's leaving a lot in the bowl, but still hungry. He also can't break apart the chunks because of the same reason.
And?? He's still got continuous diahrea.
I have tried omitting chicken, then moved onto the baked chicken. And at my wits' end. Now I'm about to give up on the stupid chicken. If I start with pork, won't I have to begin again in transitioning? Cause I hate to say it, but i honestly don't know if I have it in me to start over. I know it sounds awful, I'm sure. But I have 10 rescue cats. 6 of which are special needs ranging from cancer to diabetes to IBD, auto immune deficient, and hyperthyroidism. I've lost 2 from kidney failure from Dec to March. I'm constantly fighting caregiver fatigue.😔 6 cats are feed 4 times a day (4 just twice), 2 are feed about 7-8 times a day. I'm really so tired of all this. I can't get rid of them. I got stuck with these because no one wanted the semi- feral or sickly ones. Yeah. One's even a death row kitty I grabbed from the shelter. I'm just so tired :( And to boot, I help the local wildlife and still do rescue work on the side (only as we come across in-need) for cats & wildlife. I'm sorry for the ranting. Thank God I don't work, because I'd never be able to take care of them as they need.
This morning after he left half the food, I just gave him (Midnight) an ounce of the regular wet food. The chicken is such a bother to but, cut to cook (too thick), cook up, chop up. Then to measure it 6-8 times a day and put in the EZC. It's wearing on me for sure. I want to do what's best for him. But the chicken + EZC twice the price of wet food I buy others & seems to've made a bit of difference 😑
 

ladytimedramon

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Can you try something simple, like Koha Shredded Limited Ingredient? Their "shred" is really almost a soupy ground up that could be lapped up. With Fancy's tummy troubles those worked best to clear them up. But she was getting bored so, now that we're not having sewer gas smells, we've moved to Merrick Backcountry cuts. Koha also has a chicken "pure shreds" that is very soupy.

Pure Shreds Shredded Chicken Breast Entrée for Cats
Limited Ingredient Diet Shredded Chicken Entrée in Gravy for Cats

I've read a few people using the Pure Shreds for IBD, so maybe it'll work for you and save you stress?
 
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