New Raw Proteins For Cats

[Veraxes]

This is my first post on here, so I will introduce myself a bit. I’m the momma to two beautiful little girls, Arya and Sansa. Arya is a 2 year old little princess and Sansa is a 1 year old much less graceful kitty. Recently Arya was diagnosed with distemper (my fault for not getting her shots) she’s about halfway through recovery right now and I’ve finally gotten her to eat again. Both my girls were devouring the ground rabbit meat/bones/and organs from HT but since Arya has just recently started eating again she refuses to eat the bunny. On with my question. What other proteins have you had success with? I read duck is good but fatty so I’ll probably try that next. But what are your thoughts? I’m going to begin the retransition to raw tonight for Arya and pray she’ll nibble on bunny. Thanks a lot everyone! Ps. That’s my girls waiting for dinner before Arya (left) got sick.

 

[1 bruce 1]

This is my first post on here, so I will introduce myself a bit. I’m the momma to two beautiful little girls, Arya and Sansa. Arya is a 2 year old little princess and Sansa is a 1 year old much less graceful kitty. Recently Arya was diagnosed with distemper (my fault for not getting her shots) she’s about halfway through recovery right now and I’ve finally gotten her to eat again. Both my girls were devouring the ground rabbit meat/bones/and organs from HT but since Arya has just recently started eating again she refuses to eat the bunny. On with my question. What other proteins have you had success with? I read duck is good but fatty so I’ll probably try that next. But what are your thoughts? I’m going to begin the retransition to raw tonight for Arya and pray she’ll nibble on bunny. Thanks a lot everyone! Ps. That’s my girls waiting for dinner before Arya (left) got sick.

I'm glad she's on her way to a full recovery!!
I don't know much about distemper, so I apologize. =( Does it hurt their immune system?
Does she like poultry in general?
A few of my cats go crazy for elk, but if she doesn't like beef she might not like this. Lots of them like chicken and turkey so we feed the cats a lot of this. They get rabbit, and occasionally duck and that occasional elk or bison is well received.
Some of my cats will go CRAZY for tripe, others see it as un-feline and won't touch it.
Does she like eggs, raw or cooked?
Would cooking boneless meals be an option until she gets well? Or offering onion free broths, etc., as a temptation?
My guys like duck. Higher in fat than some but we've fed duck, especially hearts, a lot.
I've heard the owners of HT are very helpful, it might be worth emailing them and asking if they have any suggestions.

 

[Veraxes]

Distemper does hurt the immune system, lowers the WBC count drastically. She was on deaths door on Friday and has come a long way since then. Both girls love chicken, I haven’t given them turkey yet cause I worry about that chemical that makes us sleepy and how it will affect them. But couple weeks ago I’d just toss a few chicken thighs or wings on the ground and they’d go after it like a pack of piranhas! Right now she’s been on fancy feast only because she refuses everything else. But she did go over to her sisters bowl of raw to check it out. She’s lost a little weight this past week so I figured a slightly higher fat would be good to get her back on track. I’ve only ever given her a bit of scrambled egg once yesterday morning to get something in her. She kinda looked at me like I was an idiot. So her sister got to scarf it down. Beef neither of them are too fond of, but it could be because it’s tougher than just chunks of chicken. I’m not sure tripe would be well received by her but her sister is a cat garbage disposal! If she doesn’t go for bunny I have chicken I can cook up and shred for her and some bone broth in the freezer I made for soups (just boiled bones, no seasoning).

 

[Saf]

Venison

 

[1 bruce 1]

Distemper does hurt the immune system, lowers the WBC count drastically. She was on deaths door on Friday and has come a long way since then. Both girls love chicken, I haven’t given them turkey yet cause I worry about that chemical that makes us sleepy and how it will affect them. But couple weeks ago I’d just toss a few chicken thighs or wings on the ground and they’d go after it like a pack of piranhas! Right now she’s been on fancy feast only because she refuses everything else. But she did go over to her sisters bowl of raw to check it out. She’s lost a little weight this past week so I figured a slightly higher fat would be good to get her back on track. I’ve only ever given her a bit of scrambled egg once yesterday morning to get something in her. She kinda looked at me like I was an idiot. So her sister got to scarf it down. Beef neither of them are too fond of, but it could be because it’s tougher than just chunks of chicken. I’m not sure tripe would be well received by her but her sister is a cat garbage disposal! If she doesn’t go for bunny I have chicken I can cook up and shred for her and some bone broth in the freezer I made for soups (just boiled bones, no seasoning).

Hahaha!! The "Garbage disposal" thing makes me laugh, I think one of my boys would eat dryer lint if I made a big fuss!
If she isn't a fan of beef elk probably wouldn't work. There's always a chance, but I really doubt it. Ground might be OK but it all depends.
Our pets have never been bothered by tryptophan in turkey, assuming that's the "Sleepy Hormone" you're talking about =)
Fancy Feast is good for a lot of cats off food, it's palatable. If her immune system isn't up to par, she might be wanting "comfort foods" (hence the canned food vs. raw). I know when I'm down with the flu, I want soups, stews, comfort foods, slow cooked stuff and not my usual raw veggies and fruits.
There's a saying that raw food cleanses, cooked foods nourish and I do believe that. When one is down for the count, sometimes cooked food stuffs are warranted.
When transition time comes, I'd start just by adding a little bit of raw at a time with her usual FF and kind of wing it...she'll figure it out but it might take longer than we humans wish it did! =(

I'm glad she's made such a fine recovery from where she was mere days ago.

 

[LTS3]

One of my cats eats pretty much anything: goat, elk, venison, duck, quail, etc.

 

[Tobermory]

I feed the ground rabbit from HT, too, and one of my three isn't thrilled with it. I rotate toppers on it, and generally, once she starts, she'll eat about half. Then I pop it into the refrigerator for about 20-minutes, warm it to room temp again with warm water, and add more toppers. She usually finish it then. I rotate among Purebites freeze dried chicken, bonito flakes, and Northwest Naturals freeze dried liver treats. Might be worth trying!

 

[Veraxes]

Thank you all for being so awesome! Tried some chicken while I was making a snack for Sansa and a bit fell on the ground and she started chowing down. Now Sansa is eating FF and Arya is eating the chicken. I give up on understanding cat logic. Still not a whole lot of food is being consumed but we’re miles away from our breakdown a couple days ago when Arya gave up. (Kinda yelled at her a bit cause she’s not allowed to die on me). Guess it helped a bit though, still wouldn’t recommend it. Tears were shed and it was a bad point.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Thank you all for being so awesome! Tried some chicken while I was making a snack for Sansa and a bit fell on the ground and she started chowing down. Now Sansa is eating FF and Arya is eating the chicken. I give up on understanding cat logic. Still not a whole lot of food is being consumed but we’re miles away from our breakdown a couple days ago when Arya gave up. (Kinda yelled at her a bit cause she’s not allowed to die on me). Guess it helped a bit though, still wouldn’t recommend it. Tears were shed and it was a bad point.