How to switch to bones...

[poppcorn3girlie]

Hi all,

I have recently switched my cats to raw and I also recently posted about mixing canned wet and raw when starting the transition as I was unsure about the effects of the different digestion rates of the two foods in cats. I am pleased to announce that my cats have completely embraced raw and are off the canned wet! I am currently feeding the premade Meat, Bone, Organ patties and I really want to switch to raw meaty bones. Because my cats are 15 and ate kibble for 14.5 years, they are picky and have bad teeth. That being said, is my cat going to be able to break through bones such as chicken wings?? They tend to spit out the larger "chunks" of bones that are in the premixed patties so I can't see them really wanting to chew on a whole wing... Any suggestions from other raw feeders who switch older cats???

 

[vball91]

That is great you have transitioned both older cats to full raw! My middle-aged one is still resisting. As for bones, I think it depends on what you mean by bad teeth. Are they missing teeth? Do they need a dental cleaning?

By switching to raw meaty bones, are you talking prey model raw, aka frankenprey? If so, there are ways to do it boneless (just feed meat and organs in proper proportion with a calcium supplement). You could use a hammer and crush chicken wings (or even softer bones like quail ribs) before serving. I guess the question is what benefit are you looking to get by switching to RMB?

 

[poppcorn3girlie]

I want their teeth to be cleaner, I have gotten their teeth much better by persistent brushing, but I know how good RMB's can be for keeping teeth clean. They have jumped on board fairly quickly with everything and I just want to try and get it as close to a prey model/frankenprey diet as I can. I'm mainly concerned about how to try and get my cats to "learn" how to chew bones...

 

[vball91]

Well, if they already have some plaque build-up, nothing but a dental cleaning will remove it. RMBs can help with keeping teeth clean, but not as well as regular tooth brushing.

Bones are a small component of the frankenprey diet (less than 10%). Since they're on patties now, I would see if they'll eat chunks/slices of meat. If they're good with that, graduate them to bone-in meals. However crushing the bones first with a mallet seems to help most cats tackle their first bone-in meals.

 

[ritz]

If the patties have bone in them, be careful about feeding them too much bone--can cause constipation.

Ritz never liked chicken bones/wing.  She loves quail bone and rabbit bone, both are small and soft--and, naturally, more expensive than chicken wings.  For the chicken wings, choose the smallest, thinest part of the wing.