New cat arrived.. need more advice..

[sphynx]

Hi all.. I posted a little while ago about transitioning my Caluga to raw as I was adopting an adult, raw fed cat. Well.. she arrived 2 nights ago and on a side note she is a little beauty. I had left the transitioning with Caluga until Soso's (new cat) arrival and I have been mixing in one teaspoon at a time into his wet food, which he is eating. Unfortunately here in South Africa we have very little in the way of choice and the only decent wet food I can find is made by Castor and Pollux and is called Organix.. is that alright to use for Caluga? Here is the problem..... Soso totally demolishes her raw meal.. she loves it.. but her previous owner told me that while she had 2 raw meals per day she was also free fed on kibble. What is the thinking on this?? I am SO confused and don't quite know which way to go. Would it be OK for my kitties to have their raw meals in the morning and in the evening as well as kibble at lunch time? If not, what on earth could they snack on during the day? Soso would eat anything I think, but Caluga is not the kind of cat to eat yoghurt, egg or anything remotely like that. I do have access to the Organix cat treats.. any thoughts on that? Would it ultimately be better to have them on homecooked rather than raw, as perhaps the mix of kibble and homecooked is healthier? The kibble that I have for them at the moment is Acana Wild Prairie. So sorry for so many questions but I am feeling very confused!! P.S. They are Sphynx cats so they have hearty appetites and need extra calories!! Thanks in advance..

 

[Willowy]

I think that most people who have their cats on all canned or all raw feed 3-4 meals a day. That's enough for most cats, no need for snacking during the day. Or you can give some kibble or some treats or some canned. Up to you.

Organix is a pretty good brand.

 

[klag]

I am not against a high quality, grain free kibble as long as it's a very small portion of the diet and the cats are well hydrated through multiple wet meals and drinking (fountains, multiple drinking stations, etc.).

I am currently feeding my cats 3 times per day - a wet meal late in the morning, another wet meal early evening, and their final meal is high quality grain free kibble left out over the late hours of the night (1am-6m) for free feeding.

I do this because I have a young kitten (I like kittens to be free fed) and a CRF kitty who I need to eat whenever he is hungry.  When the CRF kitty is no longer with us, and the kitten grows up I will replace this over night kibble with a 3rd wet meal.

So I think 3 meals per day is just fine.  A few treats in between if you want, but I don't think that's necessary.

*Note that by wet meal, I mean a rotation of raw (combo of true raw, and freeze dried that I rehydrate) and grain free, high quality canned (rotation of 4-5 different brands).

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Remember, though, these cats are a different breed...Sphynx.  They are hairless and DO need extra calories to stay warm, for one thing.  I don't profess to know much about them, but recall reading a little here and there on the Health Forum.  I wonder if this might actually be a question for a Vet?  This may be the reason Soso was free fed dry along with the raw feedings

 

[feralvr]

Remember, though, these cats are a different breed...Sphynx.  They are hairless and DO need extra calories to stay warm, for one thing.  I don't profess to know much about them, but recall reading a little here and there on the Health Forum.  I wonder if this might actually be a question for a Vet?  This may be the reason Soso was free fed dry along with the raw feedings :dk:

I also had heard about or read about the Sphynx in Cat Fancy at one time. Remembering that they mentioned this particular breed does need more calories :dk:. I think if you leave out a extremely high quality grain free diet like Epigen 90 or EVO in between meals that would be the way to go. I offer my cats the Epigen for the bedtime meal. They all line up for it - they love those pellets It even smells like meat :nod:

 

[sphynx]

Thanks for all the help

 - this is such a helpful place. You are completely right about the Sphynx in that they need more calories and it can be difficult to keep the weight on them. I am unable to free feed as my resident cat Caluga will literally gobble the kibble and then not even a minute later will bring it up again. What I think I am going to do is to give them 2 large raw meals in the morning and evening, then give them kibble at lunch time and perhaps some kibble at bed time, around ten-ish. We don't have the variety of kibble here in South Africa.. this is what I have managed to source... Acana Wild Praire, Orijen - and Castor and Pollux Organix is also very recently available over here. Which of these would you recommend? Soso will eat anything literally so I might well give her snacks like egg, yoghurt, sardines. On a side note.. this has taken almost half an hour to type.. Soso has ripped the space bar off the computer keyboard and I have to press the little button each time to make a space

 .. she is a real character

 

[ldg]

Acana and Orijen are manufactured by the same company (Champion Petfoods).

Here is Acana Wild Prairie: http://www.championpetfoods.com/acana/show-product.php?formulation=pffc The ingredients and analysis say it is maximum 25% carbohydrates - that's pretty high.

Here is the Orijen: http://orijen.ca/products/cat_kitten/analysis It doesn't list carbs, but using the guaranteed analysis and a Dry Matter Basis calculator, it has about 21% carbohydrates, so better.

The Organix Ultramix is not grain free, and it's about 36% carbs on a dry matter basis.

I'd go with the Orijen, if you're going to feed kibble. It does have a lot of fish in it, but so does the Acana.

 

[feralvr]

Soso sounds like quite a character. Would love to see some pictures of them both ix: The fact that Soso eats raw so well makes serving and preparation such a joy!!! I love it when they love it. I have two like that. The other four - on and off. :lol3: I agree with Laurie - I would go with the Orijen.

 

[sphynx]

Thanks LDG

. Orijen it is.. I WISH we had the selection that is available to the kitty folks in USA

 but I suppose I should be grateful for the little we have as it has only been a few months that we have had the Acana and Orijen in the country. Before that it was the Hills/RC type food that we considered premium

.

 

[sphynx]

Thanks so much Feralvr

. You are SO right.. I never knew I could get such a thrill watching a cat devour her raw meals

. I have never seen anything like it - she literally knocks me over while I am preparing her food. Yesterday I had left some frozen gizzards out for my dog and I had forgotten all about them.. next thing I looked and she had devoured them

. I was busy in the kitchen later on and had just taken out a frozen chicken thigh for my dog and she tried to grab it to run off with it.. I think she would have eaten it frozen as it was

. Such a joy to see.. Oh boy.. character is the word - wagonload of monkeys more like it

. I will definitely post some pics once I have taken some of them together...