Part-time Raw! LOL! AKA eating canned and adding raw

[parsleysage]

I'm definitely committed to transitioning Joni & the boys to raw within the next three months - still have some financial changes on the horizon but after the 3 months it will even out and I'll have a steady budget to work with where I know I'll be able to purchase the right amounts of food.  I'm considering homemade as I think it is the most cost effective for us - once I get the proteins/transitions down, it will probably end up cheaper than canned, and certainly cheaper than grain-free canned!  (That Wellness price tag gets me every time....)

In the meantime, I have.... a FEW questions.

JUST A FEW!

Is it okay to give them, say, raw chicken breast meat as a treat or even a meal occasionally?  I think I've read that some people do this, right?

Should I do the probiotics/enzymes even if the amount of raw I give them is very little - or will they not need that until they start on the raw full-time?  And while we're at it, should ALL cats, even kittens/junior cats with no discernible health problems, use the probiotics/enzymes, or only sensitive kitties?

If I want to get them chewing for dental health, what's the best way to start?  Can they start with a raw chicken wing, or just start with the chunks of meat, then move on to bone?  Which bone is best to start with?

I think that's it for now??? Boy, reading all these transitions, I could talk someone's ear off about what to do, rattle off a list of do's and don't's and what-not's - but putting it in practice with your own kitties makes you so nervous and second-guess everything!

 

[Willowy]

I feed my cats "part-time raw". Right now they're getting Nature's Variety, Nature's Menu, and raw chicken breast. They seem to only like chicken right now. I feed this in addition to their canned food (not replacing a meal, just replacing one can) because some of them won't eat raw. But I have lots of kitties and can't feed them individually :tongue2:. With fewer cats it's different.

I find commercial raw to be cheaper than high-quality canned food. About the same price as Fancy Feast, in fact (which is way overpriced because of those tiny cans, but still). At least the brands I buy. I guess if I order RadCat or another pricey food that would be different. It's convenient to have ready-made little patties like those brands offer.

But, yeah, I was surprised at how quickly they took to the raw chicken breast. I cut it in large chunks and they tear right in. Some cats might prefer bite-size pieces, though. I just buy the big bag of frozen chicken breast at Sam's Club or Wal-Mart and it's pretty cheap. Even some of the cats who don't like the commercial raw food like the chicken. I have tried wings in the past but I don't think they're up for bone-in meat yet. Just chewing on the meat chunks will have dental benefits anyway. Sometimes I cook up one of the breasts for the kitties who don't like them raw. Good meat protein.

Are your kitties beggars? Do they hang around the kitchen hoping for scraps to fall? Do they show interest in "people food"? If so, it'll be easier to get them to accept raw meat. You might have to cook the meat at first just to get them used to eating something other than cat food, then gradually cook it less and less until they're taking it raw. If they're already on canned it'll be easier, too.

ETA: I don't add any enzymes to their raw food. Sometimes I put ProZyme in their canned food, but only if someone has diarrhea or is throwing up a lot. Not very often. But it wouldn't hurt.

 

[melesine]

I've done it, fed both raw and canned. This started because our kitties were stealing the dogs raw food when we were preparing it lol. As far as finances, home prepared raw is significantly cheaper than canned food and commercial raw. We don't supplement. Chicken wings are mostly bone and skin, there really isn't much meat on them. Ours started with chucks of meat that we cut off for them after they tried to drag off the dogs whole pieces of chicken, but they were kittens. Then they moved onto chicken thigh pieces that were cut into chunks with the bone.

 

[Willowy]

I saw the thigh chunks at Wal-Mart. . .are those bones too big for cats? Do they eat around the bones? They were really cheap. So I considered buying some but chickened out (:tongue2. The bones looked too small for the dogs and too big for the cats.

 

[feralvr]

HI and glad to see you joining in on the raw band wagon!!!! I do feed my cats canned and commercially made raw together. It is a good way to introduce the raw in a very small amount to get them started. Walden and Wendall though are now at 100% raw and they don't need the canned mixed in anymore. The other four - well - let's just say this :frusty: :disturb: :spin: :rotate: ...... apparently they don't think that they are "carnies" :lol3: Good luck

 

[ldg]

How exciting!

Yes - when it comes to your own, it's different! :lol3:

You can TOTALLY offering them some just meat. :nod: It's funny... Gary and I always offered them some of whatever meat we were eating - but once it was cooked. We work on getting a little of the middle out, and offer them very small amounts.

Once they were eating raw, the first time I went to the supermarket and said to myself, "I think I'll pick up some chicken for the cats" was strange.

I got home, cut of a few small slices, and offered to each as a treat. Every single one of them ate it. So for dinner that night, I took out their bowls, and cut up one ounce of raw chicken meat chunks - small. They ate it! Tuxie and Lazlo looked at me funny, so I sprinkled some dehydrated Whole Life chicken on it to get them going... but they gobbled it up after that!

For me, I think, one of the main things is that the food has to be room temperature. If I forget to warm it up, a couple of them really balk at eating it. :nod:

But you can feed up to 15% of their daily intake in non-balanced food, and it won't hurt them.

And mine liked dark meat. I got them chicken thighs. I didn't offer them the bone. Mine are still working on getting used to all that chewing. :nod: I'd make sure they're good with chewing first, then worry about adding bones.

The best bones to start with are small. Chicken necks are not small, and something they have to work up to. Quail wings/ribs, chicken wings/ribs are the best place to start.

 

[ldg]

Oh! As to the digestive enzymes and probiotics... I think all cats should be on probiotics for life. :nod: It was the first thing the hoslitic vet had me do when we rescued Chum, was have me put him on probiotics. I take them daily. They promote healthy gut flora, and there's simply no reason not to use them, no matter the diet - but yes, even more important to maintain healthy gut flora when on a raw diet. :nod: They are also absolutely ESSENTIAL if you have a sick kitty that needs antibiotics while on raw food. Antibiotics kill EVERYTHING, so a couple hours after you give antibiotics, you give the probiotic.

Digestive enzymes: I'm really glad I discovered these with the raw feeding. Both Lazlo and Spooky recently had x-rays, and it is clear from the x-rays that they are not digesting all of the bone bits in the commercial foods. A number of the sites recommend using the digestive enzymes for all cats for the first 4-6 weeks. Given that there can be issues as you introduce new proteins, I think that at least for the first month or two, it's just a good idea to use them, just to make the transition easier on their digestive system. I mean - if you're living on cereal and canned stew, and start eating raw veggies, your system is going to go through a lot of turmoil. :lol3: It's kind of the same thing, switching to raw. The digestive enzymes just help them... keep up. And, of course, it can be used with the canned (with any food, in fact), so it's not like you have to wait until they're at 100% raw. In fact - it may help them get there. :nod:

 

[parsleysage]

Are your kitties beggars? Do they hang around the kitchen hoping for scraps to fall? Do they show interest in "people food"? If so, it'll be easier to get them to accept raw meat. You might have to cook the meat at first just to get them used to eating something other than cat food, then gradually cook it less and less until they're taking it raw. If they're already on canned it'll be easier, too.

They do, actually.  I have them trained enough to back off with a hiss and a wave of the hand, but they still try.  When I cook I have spectators!  I am going to try the chicken breast tonight, maybe they will take to it readily!

I've done it, fed both raw and canned. This started because our kitties were stealing the dogs raw food when we were preparing it lol. As far as finances, home prepared raw is significantly cheaper than canned food and commercial raw. We don't supplement. 

I'm definitely hoping the homemade raw is cheaper.  When you say you don't supplement, what do you mean?  


I'm hoping mine will be the same as far as eating the raw chicken chunks.  I'm going to start with smaller pieces, but not bite-sized.  They're still kittens after all, and I'm 

 that I haven't canned and kibbled them out of the knowledge that they are carnivores!  I'll definitely start with warm food - that way if they don't like it I'll know it's not because it's cold.  I'm warming up their chicken breast now!  Wish me luck!

Oh! As to the digestive enzymes and probiotics... I think all cats should be on probiotics for life.

It was the first thing the hoslitic vet had me do when we rescued Chum, was have me put him on probiotics. I take them daily. They promote healthy gut flora, and there's simply no reason not to use them, no matter the diet - but yes, even more important to maintain healthy gut flora when on a raw diet.

Sounds good!  I've read y'all using the ProZyme, I assume that's the digestive enzymes?  Any recommendation for probiotics?

 

[Willowy]

ProZyme is a probiotic and enzyme product. There may be better brands. . .that's all I've used for an enzyme. For probiotics I've also used human probiotic brands.

 

[parsleysage]

They loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Wow - even though I had high expectations given the fact that they are young and so easy to feed in general, they exceeded them.  I gave them the raw chicken breast, warmed slightly (though some parts near the middle were still a bit chilly), cut into medium-sized chunks.  A bit larger than a quarter - something they definitely had to chew and couldn't swallow in a bite.  No encouragement needed whatsoever!  It was like I had put their normal food down - they just chowed down.  

Joni has this thing about any kind of food she gets that's not cat food specifically - she gets really possessive and runs off with it - so she did run amuck a bit with her raw pieces, and played with at least one of them, but ate them all!  The boys were all business - chowing down, chewing, it was so weird to hear them chewing! lol! I guess I've never heard it before.

I'm not sure how much I gave them - I chose a really small breast and some of it I didn't use because it was all fat (should I feed that part or not??) - so maybe 3 medium-sized chunks each?  They were definitely still hungry so I gave them canned afterwards, and they ate all of that, too, haha!  Oh well.  I'll definitely need a scale before I begin the full-time enterprise...

 

[ldg]

Little carnivores, ready-to-go! Gotta love it! :bigthumb:

 

[feralvr]

Good for your little carnies They are naturals. Great report

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

(I must admit, I'm a little jealous)

 

[feralvr]

(I must admit, I'm a little jealous)

OMG - I wanted to say that too :anon:..... the jealous part.......

 

[parsleysage]

OMG -

I wanted to say that too

..... the jealous part.......

I knowwwwwww lol!  I felt so conflicted... like, "Hey guys... don't you want to at least sniff it and try to cover it a couple times?  Hold out for some Fortiflora or something?!"  I just got so lucky with their temperaments as well as the fact that they are young and haven't had any health problems or stomach/digestive issues that would cause them to be picky or suspicious.  I'll probably only pop in with questions, not document the whole transition process, since, "Ate another full raw meal with no problems!" would be both boring and cruel.

I'm asking Simon, Garfunkel, & Joni to send vibes to y'all's kitty crews that HEY GUYS, RAW IS REALLY YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO YOU HEAR ME??! EAT, EAT, EAT!

 

[ldg]

I knowwwwwww lol!  I felt so conflicted... like, "Hey guys... don't you want to at least sniff it and try to cover it a couple times?  Hold out for some Fortiflora or something?!"  I just got so lucky with their temperaments as well as the fact that they are young and haven't had any health problems or stomach/digestive issues that would cause them to be picky or suspicious.  I'll probably only pop in with questions, not document the whole transition process, since, "Ate another full raw meal with no problems!" would be both boring and cruel. I'm asking Simon, Garfunkel, & Joni to send vibes to y'all's kitty crews that HEY GUYS, RAW IS REALLY YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO YOU HEAR ME??! EAT, EAT, EAT!

Aw, I LOVE it! But do let us know when they're eating like... 50% raw, and 75% raw, or when you go 100%, OK? We can at least celebrate milestones for your GREAT little carnivores! :bigthumb:

 

[parsleysage]

Just wanted to pop in really quick and say we are on 100% canned now!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

  I finished up the last bag of Simply Nourish dry food about two weeks ago, intending to buy more as always and just... didn't!  

  I haven't noticed any real changes, but they were more than half canned anyway.  They are still eating mostly Sophistacat (now called Great Choice) but 1 meal per day is high-end grain free like Wellness Core.  (Sophistacat's label doesn't say grain free but there are no grain sources listed in the ingredients, so no corn or rice or wheat - but, it is primarily by-product based so not the best protein in the world.)  

As finances ease up I want to up that good quality grain-free to all meals, adding probiotics/enzymes along the way, then probably just drop "cold turkey" frankenprey on them by summer!  LOL!  ("Cold turkey" is such an interesting phrase to use in relation to raw feeding haha!  My kitties would say, better NOT be COLD turkey!!! 

)  As far as frankenprey goes I plan to set up a rotation pretty closely based on Laurie's 

 All you raw pioneers are making this so easy for us stragglers!  WE LOVE YOU!!!!  

 

[Willowy]

If you think it'll help them to adjust to raw faster, you can buy some plain old chicken breasts and/or thighs and just give them a few small pieces with every meal. Chicken is usually inexpensive and you could always use most of it for human meals! :lol3:

 

[ldg]

Isn't it fun just to ... NOT buy kibble?

FYI, the only change I'm making to my rotation schedule for now is changing out chicken breast for chicken thigh. The dark meats are more nutritious.

OH! I've discovered the kitties prefer the raw food a little chilly, NOT room temp! Go figure.

 

[feralvr]

:bigthumb: TOTAL CANNED FOOD NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good job on your part and I am sure there were a few of "those" days during the process. It seems all the cat's are liking fresh raw meat fairly well :bigthumb: I am about to offer up some Organic Chicken thigh for dinner tonight. I am finding that the cat's seem to like the raw meat better than the ground. I just am not ready to go boneless FP yet but like you, am reading and appreciating the "FP Raw Pioneer's" daily updates :lovegrin: Also - I am noticing too that my cat's are just fine with "chilled" meat :dk: Go FIgure :lol3: Makes it easier on me anyway Keep the updates coming - never boring :boring: :lol3: Love the positive news :happy3: