Mixing??

[poppcorn3girlie]

Hey there,

I have 2 cats, brother and sister who are both about 15 years old. I used to feed them a high quality kibble, but when I started to learn more about raw, I wanted to switch them, gotta get as much kitty love as I can out of them! Anyways, I was reading up on switching older cats and how it can be a bit of a pain in the arse because cats can be quite particular about food and feeding regimes (mine definitely were) and I read to switch them to wet food first (which was easy because they LOVE wet food) and then gradually mix the wet food into some raw and just keep reducing the amout of canned wet and increasing the amount of fresh raw. I have done this and they have been switching over quite well considering how long they were on kibble for and how different raw can be, my only problem is that they won't eat AT ALL if there is none of the canned wet in it. I don't put very much, but they would rather not eat for a day than to eat raw without the mix. I have a dog and I switched him and I had heard a lot that for dogs, not to mix raw and cooked or raw and kibble because it's hard on thier GI tract and I was wondering if it is the same thing for cat?? They only need a teaspoon per meal (I think they just won't eat straight raw because it doesn't smell like anything where as wet food has a very powerful smell) but I don't want to be hurting my cats. I imagine making this transition after 15 years of only eatting kibble is hard enough... Any suggestionns that might make it easier, or is it okay to sort of mix a little in each time??

 

[ritz]

I'm pleased that you transitioned your older cats to raw food; it's never too late!  And I heart you about "gotta get as much kitty love" as possible.

It is fine to mix wet food with raw food for cats.  Course the less wet food the better, which is what your're doing.

For the wet food, try to get something that has limited ingredients and names a protein(s) as the first ingredient or two.  It is closer to raw than, for example, a wet food that has lots of grain.

You might experiment will smelly raw food, such as green tripe, and strong-flavored proteins, such as duck, venison and goat.  You could also try mixing in 1/4 to 1/2 a sardine in the food.

 

[lcat4]

My cats have been eating raw for 6 months.  Prior to that, 3 ate canned wet food only, 1 ate kibble only.  I often mix in a little canned with the raw.  Sometimes I add it to the meal at the start, 2 ounces of raw with 1/2 tsp wet canned; sometimes start with all raw, and if they walk away at the end with some raw still in the plate, I add a bit of canned to sop up the leftovers.  They always come back.  It seems to give them a little variety and keeps their interest.  I rotate three no/low carb wet foods. 

I wouldn't mix the raw with kibble - two very different speeds of digestion, besides kibble being dry with carbs.  I was thrilled when my kibble cat, who refused all canned food, dropped the kibble for the raw.  

 

[harleydiva]

You should be fine with the small amount of canned food with the raw.  The danger is mixing dry and raw because the dry takes so much longer to digest.  

 

[poppcorn3girlie]

Thanks Ritz,

I have seen a few of your posts on here and I can tell you're quite knowledgable about the topic. I have tried green tripe and things like that but they're not quite there yet. I buy premixed raw patties (no veg) and I mix in the canned wet. I know it's not ideal but I just recently started the switch and I'm already quite impressed with the results I have already seen! My male cat (Poppcorn) had a bit of a limp, he was overweight and I think he hurt his leg jumping up on something and it turned into a bit of a limp. He used to have dandruff pretty bad and drank a lot of water for a cat. My female (Girlie) always had hairballs and her teeth got so bad that she lost 2 teeth! Shortly after making the switch, they seem to have started reversed aging lol... They have both slimmed down, no hairballs, no dandruff, teeth are starting to look MUCH better (I have started to clean them fairly often as well to help) and Poppcorn's limp is practically nonexistant! I "got" these cats when I was a kid, I'm 22 now and I'm just starting to learn about all this good stuff, I only wish I knew sooner! I have a feeling that they aren't going to get much further than the premixed raw with the canned wet, at least not for a while.

 

[ritz]

Thanks for the compliments, but there are much more knowledgeable people on the site.

Have you read the resource threads for raw food; they are authored by people who *really* know what they're talking about.  And had cats who were difficult to transition, and both cat and human lived to tell the tale.

Premixed raw with canned wet is much better than kibble:  progress, not perfection.