Max ate his first raw Chicken Wing! ...

[oneandahalfcats]

This is a post of firsts. My first post in this forum, and Max's (official) first time eating a raw chicken wing. He has had a few (unofficial) experiences before but they were the result of stealing from the fridge.

max-5.jpg

• oneandahalfcats
• Aug 1, 2014

max-3.jpg

• oneandahalfcats
• Jul 31, 2014

max-4.jpg

• oneandahalfcats
• Jul 31, 2014

max-1.jpg

• oneandahalfcats
• Jul 31, 2014

max-2.jpg

• oneandahalfcats
• Jul 31, 2014

 

[jclark]

cats are cool...

 

[abbyntim]

Very exciting! Great photos!

 

[peaches08]

Great for Max!  And good that Thomas gave it a try! 

Alnutrin is a good thing to try with the rabbit, so long as the rabbit isn't enhanced or marinated.  You'd probably also be looking at getting a grinder then too.  Well, unless you want to debone it and add a calcium source.

TC Feline is Canadian in origin, and many cats love the taste.  I'm pretty sure you'd come out cheaper than commercial raw too.

 

[oneandahalfcats]

 
Very exciting! Great photos!

Thanks!

 
Great for Max!  And good that Thomas gave it a try! 

Alnutrin is a good thing to try with the rabbit, so long as the rabbit isn't enhanced or marinated.  You'd probably also be looking at getting a grinder then too.  Well, unless you want to debone it and add a calcium source.

TC Feline is Canadian in origin, and many cats love the taste.  I'm pretty sure you'd come out cheaper than commercial raw too.

Thanks for the suggestions on premixes! I had heard of both but didn't know the TC Feline was canadian - Will look into this one. Is the Alnutrin better with rabbit than the TC?

I think I would go the de-boned route if I get to that point and add egg shells or some calcium supplement in lieu of bones to avoid constipation in Max. For now I am going to continue doing a little experimenting, in giving them something different for a raw treat each week. Max had already been getting things like sardines, shrimp (his fave), boiled eggs, cooked chicken, pork, etc, so I know he will be a willing participant. I'd really like to get Maggie eating some, but am glad that she is liking the S&C which is a good first step.

 

[peaches08]

 
Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions on premixes! I had heard of both but didn't know the TC Feline was canadian - Will look into this one. Is the Alnutrin better with rabbit than the TC?

I think I would go the de-boned route if I get to that point and add egg shells or some calcium supplement in lieu of bones to avoid constipation in Max. For now I am going to continue doing a little experimenting, in giving them something different for a raw treat each week. Max had already been getting things like sardines, shrimp (his fave), boiled eggs, cooked chicken, pork, etc, so I know he will be a willing participant. I'd really like to get Maggie eating some, but am glad that she is liking the S&C which is a good first step.

Alnutrin is more concentrated and doesn't seem to have an enticing flavor, whereas TC Feline some cats go insane for.  Mason (my brown tabby that's into EVERYTHING) had it open and all over the kitchen in the time it took me to go to the bathroom, so I learned to keep it (or Better In The Raw) in the freezer.  The Alnutrin is certainly edible, I just mean there's something about TC Feline and Better In The Raw that makes some cats really go after the food.  Think animal digest without the animal digest I guess.  Those latter formulas can be more pricy than Alnutrin too, but it's still a great start.  If I was trying to entice a cat to eat deboned rabbit, I'd try the TC Feline plus (with liver).  One has chicken liver, one has beef.  It was those that Mason drug all over my kitchen, I think the beef one.  I think they're great for getting a cat to try raw, and it's really easy.  TC Feline Plus is meat/skin and water.  The regular TC Feline is meat/skin, liver, and water.

Alnutrin, in a nutshell, is more like the vitamin supplement I add to my mixes.  It's no frills, just a vitamin/mineral supplement to add to the mix.  I don't blame you for looking at eggshell instead of bone.  Bone is what fixed my 3's diarrhea.  In time, when you feel more comfortable making raw and want to consider using your own vitamin mix, eggshell is insanely easy to make and practically free.

 

[oneandahalfcats]

 
Alnutrin is more concentrated and doesn't seem to have an enticing flavor, whereas TC Feline some cats go insane for.  Mason (my brown tabby that's into EVERYTHING) had it open and all over the kitchen in the time it took me to go to the bathroom, so I learned to keep it (or Better In The Raw) in the freezer.  The Alnutrin is certainly edible, I just mean there's something about TC Feline and Better In The Raw that makes some cats really go after the food.  Think animal digest without the animal digest I guess.  Those latter formulas can be more pricy than Alnutrin too, but it's still a great start.  If I was trying to entice a cat to eat deboned rabbit, I'd try the TC Feline plus (with liver).  One has chicken liver, one has beef.  It was those that Mason drug all over my kitchen, I think the beef one.  I think they're great for getting a cat to try raw, and it's really easy.  TC Feline Plus is meat/skin and water.  The regular TC Feline is meat/skin, liver, and water.

Alnutrin, in a nutshell, is more like the vitamin supplement I add to my mixes.  It's no frills, just a vitamin/mineral supplement to add to the mix.  I don't blame you for looking at eggshell instead of bone.  Bone is what fixed my 3's diarrhea.  In time, when you feel more comfortable making raw and want to consider using your own vitamin mix, eggshell is insanely easy to make and practically free.

Thanks! Sounds like the TCFeline would definitely be the one to go with then. I like the idea of eggshells over bone. Easier to add and control the amount needed to cover the calcium requirement. I used to collect eggshells for the hostas in the garden but now use DE as it is more effective for more things. Eggshells go in the compost these days, but would be great to use them for this purpose.

 

[peaches08]

I just checked the TC Feline Canada site, they use freeze dried bone. Alnutrin makes a supplement with eggshell calcium.

You could try Dr. P's recipe and add eggshell powder.

 

[oneandahalfcats]

Yes, I see that .. I wonder if being freeze-dried would make a difference versus ground bone? Something to investigate and experiment with, if and when the time comes.

 

[peaches08]

I truly don't know.  I don't see how it could, but then again are you sure that bone would constipate him to begin with?  I say that because IBD/IBS throws curve balls that make no sense sometimes.  If a chicken wing didn't constipate him, and that's a lot of bone to meat, then I'd give TC Feline a try. 

Mine have diarrhea on canned as a result of IBS, but when I first started raw they got a little constipated.  They were also eating bone on top of bone-in ground.  A little Miralax helped transition them through, as well as no more bone on the side of bone-in ground food. I was giving them bones to get them off my back when making food. 

 

[oneandahalfcats]

Bone, in addition to bone-in .. That does sound like a lot of bone! ...

The ground commercial raw that I had been feeding contained a bit of turkey bone but it wasn't clear how much. Max wasn't having any problem with constipation, but then wasn't getting the commercial raw exclusively. I think its still very early days to know for sure how much bone would impact on him in the long run. Given his history, I do need to be mindful of bone content with him but I am still going to proceed and experiment. He may end up having zero problems? In introducing different things slowly, I can see what works, and what may be a problem. I may invest in some TC Feline at some point to give it a try, as I prefer the contents.

 

[peaches08]

TC Feline is a great product, I would give it a try even if you only used it for part of his rotation.  I can certainly appreciate needing to be mindful of constipation too.

Yeah, the bone on top of bone-in was a lot of bone, but I had cats trying to get in the grinder, in the mixing bowl, swinging from back pockets...and they were fighting diarrhea due to something about canned food.  So "here's a bone and leave me alone" was how I had to roll at that time.  They constipation they got was mild, Miralax worked literally hours later to help them out.

 

[BonitaBaby]

This was the thread that made me want to try to feed my kitty raw chicken wings. I ran out immediately to buy a package of chicken wings and cut one up and gave a piece to my cat. She looked at me as if to check if it was okay and then licked it a couple times before just walking away. I was disappointed and then forgot to freeze the rest of the package later on.

I realized later on that one of the teeth that was extracted from my baby when she was saved by the rescue shelter is one of her important front two canines so she only has one and has difficulty sometimes with large kibble and large treats. I have to research if ground chicken is okay or does anyone know? If that works, I can give her ground chicken, pork or turkey sometimes as a treat, but too bad the chicken wings didn't work for her.