Officially Started Them on Raw!

[vball91]

Darko looks so sleek and shiny, not fat at all.

Also, I just read this entire thread. Gives me hope for my Aria who is a lot like Callie in her eating habits. Thanks! Love all these transition threads.

 

[minka]

Yea, if that's fat, I don't want to know what that makes Grim!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well, as I said, he still has a layer of fat on him that I can feel, and when he's sitting, as in this picture, you can actually see little rolls of fat (or at least I think I can see them

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• mrsgreenjeens
• Feb 17, 2013

 

[vball91]

LOL. Nice trick. I don't see these rolls of fat, but he looks super soft and cuddly!

 

[ldg]

Well, as I said, he still has a layer of fat on him that I can feel, and when he's sitting, as in this picture, you can actually see little rolls of fat (or at least I think I can see them ),   But he's my cute little butterball.   Oh should I say "littler"  butter ball  .  Want to guess what has him so  mesmerized?    I set his placemat down...he was waiting for his food dish full of food to miraculously materialize, but instead I grabbed the camera to get a picture of his fat rolls :lol3: .  I'm such a bad, bad, momma.  My poor baby is starving, and I'm taking pictures ix: :boohoo:

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• mrsgreenjeens
• Feb 17, 2013

MEAN MOMMA!

I see what you mean - he is a little chunky. I don't see rolls of fat - but he's like Billy! He really wears it well!!!!

 

[feralvr]

Well, as I said, he still has a layer of fat on him that I can feel, and when he's sitting, as in this picture, you can actually see little rolls of fat (or at least I think I can see them ),   But he's my cute little butterball.   Oh should I say "littler"  butter ball  .  Want to guess what has him so  mesmerized?    I set his placemat down...he was waiting for his food dish full of food to miraculously materialize, but instead I grabbed the camera to get a picture of his fat rolls :lol3: .  I'm such a bad, bad, momma.  My poor baby is starving, and I'm taking pictures ix: :boohoo:

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• mrsgreenjeens
• Feb 17, 2013

adding in my MEAN MOMMA TOO Taking pictures when you should be feeding. OH SALLY. What a GORGEOUS coat. When my cats are all sitting, they are sitting on their pouch and it almost covers their back feet completely. VERY HANDOME MAN you have there. :love:

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Got another update.  Don't know if you all remember when I said Darko hated duck hearts so much that if I didn't rinse the spoon between dishing those up and dishing HIS food up, he wouldn't eat his food? 9 he would actually run away "screaming"

)   Even though he's my "piggy", he's rather a finicky eater.  He never cared for Radcat at all, really mainly wanted his Primal Beef/Salmon.

Well, guess what he had for lunch yesterday.  1/3 duck hearts, 1/3 HT ground turkey mix with added ground turkey organs, and 1/3 Radcat lamb

.  I added turkey organs to the ground turkey mix because Tracy said the bone content in their turkey and chicken mix is between 18and 20%, which is way to high for my comfort.  Anyway, I've been diligently trying to add more proteins into everyone's meals, and get them off Primal, and for Darko, at least, it's working.

Just thought I would share.  It was very exciting!  Kind of jaw dropping, actually

 

[ldg]

Sally, that's AWESOME! Wow - really branching out!!!!!

 

[feralvr]

Go Darko!! Making momma so proud that she dropped her jaw!! Gosh, Sally, I wish I could get my Pip to even look at a duck heart. :rofl: And believe me, I know all about having to rinse off spoons or forks before I dish up the next meal to one of my pickies. Especially Perla. OH man, she will run off if there is even the slightest hint of a smell of something that is forbidden. Tell Darko, he just gave me some hope!!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well, time for another update. 

Darko is on boneless Frankenprey!!!!!!!!

He really, really, really likes HT turkey thighs, chicken hearts and breasts, and is so- so on both beef liver and chicken liver, but he'll eat them if I sprinkle a topper on it to get him started.  However, today he did throw up a couple of hours after eating a full meal of just chicken livers

.  So, I will do what some of you other folks do and feed 1/2 livers and 1/2 other protein together for a meal.  My little carnivore.  He's getting his little meat strips sprinkled with Alnutrin w/egg shell powder for the calcium, egg yolk lecithin, and krill oil.  Once in awhile I put a little ground something to the side of the bowl with his probiotic and digestive enzymes in it.  He really doesn't like the powder on his food, so I kind of have to add a little water (if there isn't enough "meat juice" to dissolve what I've added.  (he actually gets the egg yolk lecithin as an appetizer

)  I sure hope he's getting everything he needs.  I really think I've got it covered by using the Alnutrin with egg shell powder until he graduates to chicken wings (making a BIG assumption that THAT will ever happen

)   I've got to find other meats now to introduce to him.  I've got some chicken thighs in the freezer for us, that should work.  I've tried pork in the past and it was a no go, but I'll try again. 

Callie is back on raw again, thank goodness.  Sometimes she still wants a little canned food in her dish, but she won't eat it, she just wants it in there next to her raw.  But now she is being so finnicky.  She will ONLY eat ground chicken mix from HT, and before she wouldn't give that the time of day.  I'm just afraid she will soon tire of that and then never touch it again.  I think I  may try to sneak in one or two of her (what used to be) beloved duck hearts, finely chopped, tomorrow and see what happens.  

Tinky is mainly eating HT ground turkey mix.  Sometimes he will eat Primal beef/salmon.  I tried to steer them away from that by buying HT beef mix and adding a little salmon, but the HT has tripe in it, and they do NOT like it at all.  I'm constantly sniffing at it myself wondering if it's gone bad, and it's only got 7% in it. 

Today I ended up contacting the PHX BARF group and giving away 10 lbs of the HT beef and four 24 oz tubs of Radcat lamb just because my furbabies have rejected it one too many times.  Boy, I had barely posted it when the emails came flying in from people saying they wanted it, so at least it's not going to waste, AND I now have room in my freezer to do another order from HT

   I've got an email in to Tracy to see if she can do ground beef mix without tripe...much cheaper than buying Primal even after paying for shipping. 

 

[ldg]

Wow Sally, what a great update! They really keep you on your toes, that's for sure! :lol3: (Sorry, I do NOT mean to laugh at your frustration! ).

That is just too funny about Callie, wanting the canned food on her dish, but not wanting to eat it! SILLY KITTIES!!!!!!

I'm so sorry you had to give away the beef and the Rad Cat - I bet those emails were flying! Must be a lot of disappointed people out there.

I know you'd have to order 2 pounds of beef kidney to try it... but have you tried kidney with Darko yet? I have four cats that won't eat kidney, so they get 10% liver, instead of 5% liver, 5% other organ. But Tuxedo loves kidney so much, it actually makes a good topper for him. :lol3:

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I know you'd have to order 2 pounds of beef kidney to try it... but have you tried kidney with Darko yet? I have four cats that won't eat kidney, so they get 10% liver, instead of 5% liver, 5% other organ. But Tuxedo loves kidney so much, it actually makes a good topper for him.

The person I ended up giving my "rejects" to actually told me where I could get beef kidney locally (about one mile from my house!), so I could easily try it without buying too much.  I may have to do that...or not.  I still remember Carolina's story

I've also found local resources for ground chicken mix, ground beef mix (without tripe), chicken livers and hearts and even a ground Venison and Elk mix for $3/lb.  I'm going to try that since my beasties all liked beef at one time.  I located a turkey mix, but it doesn't include organ meat, so am still going to have to order the turkey organ mix from HT, along with the boneless turkey thigh chunks, but it will certainly cut down on my bill.  And the chicken mix is about $.60 cents per pound cheaper than HT, BEFORE shipping charges, so, if the kids like it, I should end up saving quite a bit. 

Now, if I can just convince these other two to get on Frankenprey. 

Oh, the experiment giving Callie tiny pieces of duck hearts in her ground chicken failed miserably

.  She ended up not eating anything at all because that was in her bowl. 

  I tried giving her another bowl with just the chicken, but it was too late...she was turned off of food by that time

.  But at least I was able to sneak in some mid morning snacks for her so she didn't get sick on me

 

[ldg]

Wow - that's all great!

Well - except Callie. What is up with that???? From week-to-week, I can count on Lazlo either loving or hating venison. :dk: So odd, kitties! :lol3:

 

[feralvr]

Oh, the experiment giving Callie tiny pieces of duck hearts in her ground chicken failed miserably .  She ended up not eating anything at all because that was in her bowl.  :doh3:   I tried giving her another bowl with just the chicken, but it was too late...she was turned off of food by that time .  But at least I was able to sneak in some mid morning snacks for her so she didn't get sick on me

:lol3: You know, I have been battling with my rincess: for one and a half years and just last week I finally got her to eat a small piece of a duck heart doused with Fortiflora. She didn't retch or spit it on the wall in her usual fashion. She didn't fall for it again though even doused with Fortiflora or WL. I know much about having to sneak snacks to Perla too when she refuses her meal. It breaks my heart because I can hear her tummy growling but she is just that picky - she will run off.

Pretty awesome that you are going for bnls. FP these days. for DARKO!!!!!!

 

[harleydiva]

My guys are all very accepting of the meat/bone ground mixes and have no ill effects from them.    They will also eat strips of meat, as well as chicken hearts and gizzards.  They don't seem to have any desire to chew on a bone in the form of chicken wings, etc.  I just discovered I have 8 pounds of a mix that has no bone....so added a bag of Alnutrin with eggshell calcium to my last order to use with it.  

I would like to feed the guys more frankenprey type offerings....like meat strips.  I could sprinkle the eggshell alnutrin on it....but have no idea how much.  Does anyone do that?

I haven't tried giving them organs outside of the ground mixes.  LDG...you mentioned your guys like ground pancreas....do you feed it along with the meat chunks?  Will they eat raw liver by itself?

I guess I get nervous trying to balance things outside of the ground mixes where I know the stuff is already there, or I can easily figure out what to put in.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I would like to feed the guys more frankenprey type offerings....like meat strips.  I could sprinkle the eggshell alnutrin on it....but have no idea how much.  Does anyone do that?

I do.  For Darko, when he gets chicken hearts or boneless turkey thigh strips, he gets 1/9th teaspoon Alnutrin w/eggshell powder per 1 oz of meat, however, I did notice he was constipated the other day, so backed off a little.  But, per the instructions on my sample packets, this was the correct amount.  (package was 2/3 of a teaspoon and made up 6 oz of meat, so between DH and I we finally figured out that was 1/9 of a teas per 1 oz....please anyone correct me if we were wrong)

I haven't tried giving them organs outside of the ground mixes.  LDG...you mentioned your guys like ground pancreas....do you feed it along with the meat chunks?  Will they eat raw liver by itself? 

I gave Darko plain beef liver..he didn't really  like it too much, then I gave him plain chicken liver, which he also didn't like too much, then threw up a couple hours later.  Now he won't touch it.  So I've been supplementing with freeze dried liver. Tomorrow I'm going to try Call of the Wild instead of using the Alnutrin OR freeze dried liver and see how that works.

I guess I get nervous trying to balance things outside of the ground mixes where I know the stuff is already there, or I can easily figure out what to put in.

  Me too, but LDG, as always, has been very helpful.  Others too 

 

[vball91]

I would chime in that the math is right. If the package said to use 2/3 tsp for 6oz of meat, then 1/9 tsp for 1oz is correct.

As for organs, it seems to be an individual preference. Mine LOVES chicken liver, and I know LDG's Flowerbelle does too. But other cats don't like organs or can't tolerate them as well, especially as a full meal. It's definitely a trial and error process.

I haven't used Alnutrin. I use COTW and eggshell calcium to balance each meal, but it's not hard.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I would chime in that the math is right. If the package said to use 2/3 tsp for 6oz of meat, then 1/9 tsp for 1oz is correct.

As for organs, it seems to be an individual preference. Mine LOVES chicken liver, and I know LDG's Flowerbelle does too. But other cats don't like organs or can't tolerate them as well, especially as a full meal. It's definitely a trial and error process.

I haven't used Alnutrin. I use COTW and eggshell calcium to balance each meal, but it's not hard.

Thanks for the math confirmation.

  I just wondered, since Darko got constipated on it, if it our calculation was wrong.  Guess he just doesn't need as much calcium

.  Even on Primal Beef/Salmon I occasionally needed to add in pure ground turkey to "dilute" it, plus I always added water to it to give him additional fluids.   Oh, and I tried giving him chicken livers mixed with his favorite (strips of turkey thighs),and he wouldn't even TRY to eat it.  This was several days after he had thrown an entire meal of them up

. 

But back to constipation, if you are using COTW AND eggshell calcium, isn't that too much?  My impression was that COTW was a complete package and no additional calcium was needed

.  BTW, did you see this product.  I think I linked to it in my other thread talking about Callie's BUN and creatinine, but was specifically talking about their kidney aid product.  This one is similar to COTW, has liver and calcium added.  http://felineinstincts.com/store/products-page/my-natural-cat-small-with-chicken-liver/.  So, in my way of thinking anyway, similar to COTW  This morning I gave Darko COTW and he liked it, so now I can't decide which one I want to go with:

1)  Alnutrin with eggshell powder and give him freeze dried liver  OR

2)  COTW  OR

3) Feline Instincts Premix with Chicken Liver

Decisions/decisions 

.  I guess i could always switch it up and use a different one every month for variety.

 

[vball91]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I use COTW sometimes and eggshell calcium sometimes, not together. I use the eggshell calcium when feeding liver since Aria does like liver, but since I still have have a lot of COTW left, I still use it sometimes when not feeding liver.

I did see the Feline Instincts premix, and it looks good too.

I think you can do any or all of those options. I like the idea of variety.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

.  I just discovered I have 8 pounds of a mix that has no bone....

I am now LOOKING for mixes that don't contain bone, but still have the organs in it.  May I ask where you got yours?  Since I posted about Darko eating Frankenprey, thing have changed with Callie, and we need to get her off ground bones and onto eggshell powder, but since she doesn't like Frankenprey, that is posing a slight problem

Anyway, HT sells ground organ mixes without bones, but not too much in the way of ground meats.  I know they sell ground chicken breast, and Callie likes chicken, but I don't want to give her just the breast meat combined with the organ meat.  And my little princess HATES turkey