Need Some Ideas On What To Feed

[jasesun23]

I take care of my sisters 2 Siberian cats once in awhile. Cool guys but annoyingly picky eaters in my mind. I've read articles and forums and am pretty versed on the "best" way to feed cats.
So the breeder fed them raw for the first 5 months. Then my sister fed them Rad until it went out of business. Now she feeds them Fegnion raw. The problem I see with the raw is they don't seem to really like it. They never eat it right away, even if they are hungry and haven't eaten in 12 hours. They walk over to it, take a lick, walk away. My sister has to leave it out for long periods and eventually it is eaten. Before half of the replies state how you can't leave raw food out past 15 mins, I have read so many peoples "opinions" on this and don't really need to hear that point of view again.
So I've also tried many cans of food. And similarly, even when hungry they walk over take a couple licks and leave it. Then over the course of a couple hours most of it will be eaten. However there are times they just leave the canned food. Its always a better brand of canned food like Weruva Lux or Koha.

But then there is just plain boiled / grilled chicken. No salt, no seasoning, no processing. They will run over and eat that till they probably pass out. You would think its Heroin. Same with steak or chop meat. No salt, no seasoning, no pumpking, no fish oil, no nothing. Why can't I find a complete food that they want as badly as just plain chicken. I've bought Food Fur Life but that changes the smell and taste completely. The cats want boring plain bland chicken, they love it.

The cats are not going to let themselves starve. They will eventually eat whatever is put down, I just wish we could find something they like. That they want to eat, like homemade, chicken, steak, hamburger, etc.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Have you tried Tiny Tiger, or Applaws Complete?

 

[jasesun23]

I have not, and I'm happy to try anything. Will look I to those.

 

[Furballsmom]

let us know how things go

 

[Totsy]

People with far more experience than I have will have better questions and advice for you, but here goes.

Have you put a topper on it, such as finely crumbled freeze-dried chicken or even some salmon oil or a sprinkle of FortiFlora? Warming it slightly above room temperature?

My cats strongly prefer homemade raw, whether it's chicken, rabbit, pork or turkey. They just don't love any of the premixes and won't eat any of the commercially prepared brands any more either. They have to be starving and even then they eat only reluctantly. It's kind of a pain, but they're thriving and happy so I keep making it.

Maybe try making them some?

 

[1 bruce 1]

I wonder if the texture isn't what they dislike. Never heard of Fegnion but I looked it up and it looks like a very smooth pate-style grind (but a very quality product based on ingredients), I'm not sure what rad cats texture was like or what the breeder fed (grinds, commercial, home made, whole parts) but if they go to plain chicken (which I assume is chunked), have you tried chopping something simple, like raw (not cooked) chicken breast, and offering that?
One of our girls and three of our boys will eat ground raw but not with the same enthusiasm as they do with chunky stuff. On the flip, two girls and one male will sometimes flat out refuse chunky stuff and go for the grinds.

 

[maggie101]

I take care of my sisters 2 Siberian cats once in awhile. Cool guys but annoyingly picky eaters in my mind. I've read articles and forums and am pretty versed on the "best" way to feed cats.
So the breeder fed them raw for the first 5 months. Then my sister fed them Rad until it went out of business. Now she feeds them Fegnion raw. The problem I see with the raw is they don't seem to really like it. They never eat it right away, even if they are hungry and haven't eaten in 12 hours. They walk over to it, take a lick, walk away. My sister has to leave it out for long periods and eventually it is eaten. Before half of the replies state how you can't leave raw food out past 15 mins, I have read so many peoples "opinions" on this and don't really need to hear that point of view again.
So I've also tried many cans of food. And similarly, even when hungry they walk over take a couple licks and leave it. Then over the course of a couple hours most of it will be eaten. However there are times they just leave the canned food. Its always a better brand of canned food like Weruva Lux or Koha.

But then there is just plain boiled / grilled chicken. No salt, no seasoning, no processing. They will run over and eat that till they probably pass out. You would think its Heroin. Same with steak or chop meat. No salt, no seasoning, no pumpking, no fish oil, no nothing. Why can't I find a complete food that they want as badly as just plain chicken. I've bought Food Fur Life but that changes the smell and taste completely. The cats want boring plain bland chicken, they love it.

The cats are not going to let themselves starve. They will eventually eat whatever is put down, I just wish we could find something they like. That they want to eat, like homemade, chicken, steak, hamburger, etc.

I take care of my sisters 2 Siberian cats once in awhile. Cool guys but annoyingly picky eaters in my mind. I've read articles and forums and am pretty versed on the "best" way to feed cats.
So the breeder fed them raw for the first 5 months. Then my sister fed them Rad until it went out of business. Now she feeds them Fegnion raw. The problem I see with the raw is they don't seem to really like it. They never eat it right away, even if they are hungry and haven't eaten in 12 hours. They walk over to it, take a lick, walk away. My sister has to leave it out for long periods and eventually it is eaten. Before half of the replies state how you can't leave raw food out past 15 mins, I have read so many peoples "opinions" on this and don't really need to hear that point of view again.
So I've also tried many cans of food. And similarly, even when hungry they walk over take a couple licks and leave it. Then over the course of a couple hours most of it will be eaten. However there are times they just leave the canned food. Its always a better brand of canned food like Weruva Lux or Koha.

But then there is just plain boiled / grilled chicken. No salt, no seasoning, no processing. They will run over and eat that till they probably pass out. You would think its Heroin. Same with steak or chop meat. No salt, no seasoning, no pumpking, no fish oil, no nothing. Why can't I find a complete food that they want as badly as just plain chicken. I've bought Food Fur Life but that changes the smell and taste completely. The cats want boring plain bland chicken, they love it.

The cats are not going to let themselves starve. They will eventually eat whatever is put down, I just wish we could find something they like. That they want to eat, like homemade, chicken, steak, hamburger, etc.

Many of the canned foods have fish even though the can says chicken. Check out CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat . Tiny Tiger and Weruva are just 2 examples. They might like Tiki After Dark though its pricey. Its shredded meat. I use Miko as a topper If I'm giving them pate like Wellness core chicken. It's mostly shredded chicken and broth. My cats come running when they smell chicken!
I bought Evangers beef tips in gravey for them to try tonight. Nutro Perfect Portion and Canada chaparral canyon duck chicken have pieces of meat

 

[maggie101]

Though, I stopped buying Tiki because it is very low in fat

 

[jasesun23]

People with far more experience than I have will have better questions and advice for you, but here goes.

Have you put a topper on it, such as finely crumbled freeze-dried chicken or even some salmon oil or a sprinkle of FortiFlora? Warming it slightly above room temperature?

My cats strongly prefer homemade raw, whether it's chicken, rabbit, pork or turkey. They just don't love any of the premixes and won't eat any of the commercially prepared brands any more either. They have to be starving and even then they eat only reluctantly. It's kind of a pain, but they're thriving and happy so I keep making it.

Maybe try making them some?

Totsy all good info. I have tried toppers. They just eat the toppers and walk away. If I put boiled chicken and mix it in with some raw they will literally pick the cooked chicken out, leave the raw, then go back in an hour and eat the raw. Eating it reluctantly is a perfect description of how they eat most of the food. I have never owned cats but i have friends with cats. And from my experience when they open a can of food the cats go running like its Christmas dinner. Also I have microwaved it. They do not like very cold left over canned food, but when I warm it up or if left out for awhile they will eventually eat it.

 

[jasesun23]

I wonder if the texture isn't what they dislike. Never heard of Fegnion but I looked it up and it looks like a very smooth pate-style grind (but a very quality product based on ingredients), I'm not sure what rad cats texture was like or what the breeder fed (grinds, commercial, home made, whole parts) but if they go to plain chicken (which I assume is chunked), have you tried chopping something simple, like raw (not cooked) chicken breast, and offering that?
One of our girls and three of our boys will eat ground raw but not with the same enthusiasm as they do with chunky stuff. On the flip, two girls and one male will sometimes flat out refuse chunky stuff and go for the grinds.

Never tried raw chicken, but I've thought about it. Not sure why I never tried. I once tried partially cooked, maybe to 120 degrees. Then put the Food Fur Life on it. They were not big fans of the powder. I love the idea, take a good cooked meat like beef and chicken and just add powder to make it complete. Problem is the powder is so strong so either a cat is going to love it or hate it.

I put out a 50/50 mix of homemade grilled chicken mixed with a can of Koha shredded chicken. They ate a little when I put it out 3 hours ago. And one just walked over and ate a decent amount that was remaining. I even do this with raw. I don't love leaving raw out but they just don't eat it right away, even when I warm it up.

 

[jasesun23]

Many of the canned foods have fish even though the can says chicken. Check out CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat . Tiny Tiger and Weruva are just 2 examples. They might like Tiki After Dark though its pricey. Its shredded meat. I use Miko as a topper If I'm giving them pate like Wellness core chicken. It's mostly shredded chicken and broth. My cats come running when they smell chicken!
I bought Evangers beef tips in gravey for them to try tonight. Nutro Perfect Portion and Canada chaparral canyon duck chicken have pieces of meat

I'll try some Tiki, see what happens. I'd love to see them come running for some food and then just scarf it down.

 

[jasesun23]

I know this is ridiculous but I ate some of the canned Koha chicken to see what it tasted like. It smelled like canned chicken and tasted pretty bad. No wonder they like bake/grilled/boiled chicken better.

Making homemade raw is just too much work and kudos to anyone who does that. I would like to find a homemade cooked recipe that has all the nutrition they need. Unfortunately Food fur life didn't work, but maybe I'll try it again. Start in smaller doses of powder. But homecooked meat has got to by 1000 times better than any meat that ends up in a can in my mind.

 

[maggie101]

When preparing their meal put the topper(shredded chicken) in the bowl first, cut it in tinier pieces, then mix in the pate. Otherwise, she will just eat the topper

 

[maggie101]

My cats loved the Evangers beef tips in gravey. I had to use a spoon to scoop it out

 

[maggie101]

My cats loved the Evangers beef tips in gravey. I had to use a spoon to scoop it out

Only thing I don't like about it is that you cannot separate in portions. With pate I use a fork and cut it in quarters. Can't with this

 

[CHIKITTIES]

I know this is ridiculous but I ate some of the canned Koha chicken to see what it tasted like. It smelled like canned chicken and tasted pretty bad. No wonder they like bake/grilled/boiled chicken better.

Making homemade raw is just too much work and kudos to anyone who does that. I would like to find a homemade cooked recipe that has all the nutrition they need. Unfortunately Food fur life didn't work, but maybe I'll try it again. Start in smaller doses of powder. But homecooked meat has got to by 1000 times better than any meat that ends up in a can in my mind.

How about these? I agree, Food Fur Life has very strong distinct smell. Recipes in thread below I made few times does not smell much, just smells like chicken.

TCS home-cooked recipes & discussion:

Cooked Recipes Thread
My first cooked chicken cat food!

 

[Totsy]

I know this is ridiculous but I ate some of the canned Koha chicken to see what it tasted like. It smelled like canned chicken and tasted pretty bad. No wonder they like bake/grilled/boiled chicken better.

Making homemade raw is just too much work and kudos to anyone who does that. I would like to find a homemade cooked recipe that has all the nutrition they need. Unfortunately Food fur life didn't work, but maybe I'll try it again. Start in smaller doses of powder. But homecooked meat has got to by 1000 times better than any meat that ends up in a can in my mind.

Dr. Pierson cooks her homemade "raw" recipe.

Recipes

I love how much you want to do the best for the kitty. You'll find the right answer, I know it.